Mail Service In Bryan/College Station Affected By Hurricane Beryl

Texas A&M Announces First Dean Of The School Of Performance, Visualization, And Fine Arts

Texas A&M has its first permanent dean of the school of performance, visualization, and fine arts. Tim McLaughlin has held the interim position since the school was founded two years ago and before that spent 13 years as a department head. The school’s academic programs includes visual and performing arts, visual computing, and humanities. A&M continues searches for two deans…at the school of architecture and the graduate and professional school…along with the ongoing search for the university’s next vice provost of faculty affairs. News release from Texas A&M: Tim McLaughlin has been named the dean of the Texas A&M University School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts, and the inaugural recipient of the Ray Rothrock ’77 Endowed Dean’s Chair. McLaughlin has served as interim dean since the school was established in September 2022. “The School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts is a major component of the realization of Texas A&M’s commitment to being the premier land-grant public university in the country,” McLaughlin said. “Being selected as the first dean of the school carries an honor and a challenge.” Under McLaughlin’s leadership, the school has experienced growth in student enrollment and faculty and staff hiring, along with expansion of academic programs across the visual arts, performing arts, interactive media, visual computing and humanities. A new undergraduate Theatre degree is joining the existing majors Dance Science; Performance and Visual Studies; and Visualization in the fall semester. Additional degrees are moving through the approval process. Eight new minors have been added since the school began. “We’re elevating and bringing together the existing arts programs on campus,” McLaughlin said. “At the same time, we’re expanding offerings to all students and cultivating interdisciplinary practice within the school between the arts, science and technology.” The emerging Virtual Production Institute, which is part of the School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts, will open in the fall both on the main campus in Bryan-College Station and at Texas A&M-Fort Worth. The Texas Legislature appropriated $25 million for faculty, staff and equipment for the institute. The school is also developing extensions of its academic, research and creative works programs for the Fort Worth campus as well. McLaughlin was the founding head of the Department of Visualization from 2007 to 2020, with a focus on innovative approaches to blending art, design, computing and the humanities. He has been principal investigator on grants from the National Science Foundation and the Simons Foundation’s Science Sandbox. McLaughlin’s research includes animation systems, remote collaboration in creative projects and expanding interest in visual computing. McLaughlin earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Design from Texas A&M University in 1990 and a Master’s Degree in Visualization Sciences in 1994. He then worked in visual effects at Industrial Light & Magic and Lucasfilm Animation until 2007, leading teams of artists and engineers in developing computer graphics techniques for digital creatures. His film projects include “Star Wars: Episode I,” “Van Helsing,” “War of the Worlds” and “Mars Attacks!” He also worked on “Project 880,” a virtual production proof-of-concept project for James Cameron’s “Avatar.”

College Station ISD Unveils New Logos

For the first time in at least 46 years, College Station ISD has a new logo. An explanation was given during the CSISD school board’s June 18th meeting. Communications director Austin Dunson says the new logo follows other districts building their own identifiable brand. Dunson says the new logo reflects CSISD’s mission statement of “Success: Each Life, Each Day, Each Hour”. Dunson said a new version of CSISD’s gold star, where one side points inwards, represents the first sentence of the district’s vision statement. Another side of the star, which points outward, represents another part of CSISD’s vision statement that also includes the district’s mission statement. In addition to a new district wide logo, there are new logos for each CSISD campus and many of the district’s departments. Click below to hear comments from Austin Dunson during the June 18, 2023 College Station ISD school board meeting.  

Bryan ISD School Board Budget Approval Includes A New Budget Schedule

Bryan ISD school board members at their June 17th meeting changed the district’s budget year to begin July 1. Click HERE to read and download budget information from the June 17, 2024 Bryan ISD board meeting. The new budget that was adopted includes personnel cuts through attrition while giving new and returning employees more money. Click HERE to read and download employee compensation information from the June 17, 2024 Bryan ISD board meeting. For the fourth year, BISD is giving bonuses for returning employees and new teachers. But this is the first year the bonuses are coming out of state and local money and not from federal pandemic grants. Board president Julie Harlin said teachers are taking home less compared with five years ago, in part because state funding has stayed the same. Board member David Stasny brought up when local districts receive more property tax money, there is a reduction in state funding. All returning BISD employees get a minimum $500 dollar bonus in stages through the next academic year. New teachers in BISD will receive a $1,000 dollar sign on bonus in August. Click below to hear comments from the June 17, 2024 Bryan ISD board meeting.