Texas Tech University System officials announced Friday plans to develop a veterinary school and veterinary medicine doctoral program, possibly in Amarillo, that Tech officials say is in response to student demand and industry needs.

It’s a proposal that triggered a quick and critical response late Friday from Texas A&M — the only veterinary school in the state — but that Tech officials said would help meet the state’s growing needs.

The Tech campus, proposed for the Panhandle city, will serve as an ideal location for this initiative, according to a news release from Tech.

But Chris Cook, managing director of the Office of Communications and Marketing at Tech, said that location is not confirmed.

In addition to its health care system that serves more than 2.5 million people throughout 108 counties, Tech officials said the Health Sciences Center in Lubbock will provide expertise, facilities and regional support. The university’s faculty and numerous schools, particularly its School of Pharmacy, can collaborate on curriculum development, course instruction and research.

The Tech College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources and the TTUHSC are combining forces to develop a program that provides important animal health solutions and veterinarians to address the unique agricultural challenges facing this region and state, the release said.

Michael Galyean, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, said in a phone interview Friday evening the first step will be to seek approval from lawmakers in the next legislative session in 2017.

“It’s a long road,” 
Galyean said. He said the Tech Health Sciences Center in El Paso recently took more than three years to open.

TTU System Chancellor Robert L. Duncan said in a statement from the university that addressing veterinary education needs in Texas is crucial because of both the regional and state history with agriculture and ranching and for those industries’ continued prosperity.

“Our vision goes beyond the establishment of a veterinary school, setting out to transform the landscape of veterinary medicine education and provide innovative solutions for the industry’s future,” Duncan said.

The chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, John Sharp, said he informed Duncan last weekend as a courtesy the A&M School of Veterinary Medicine would announce a presence in several A&M System schools.

“In response, Mr. Duncan comes up with this long-rejected claim we should fund a vet school at Texas Tech. The Coordinating Board has specifically rejected the notion, and the Legislature has rejected this for 40 years. We will proceed with our announcement as planned,” Sharp said in a statement sent to the Avalanche-Journal on Friday evening.

Cook said Tech officials would not respond late Friday to Sharp’s comments.

Texas is the nation’s leading producer of cattle, a $13 billion industry in 2012, according to the Texas Department of Agriculture. There also are more than 248,000 ranches and farms in Texas, the most of any state in the U.S., with large animals and food-producing livestock.

Tech has been at the forefront of agricultural research and discovery since its founding, according to Tech President M. Duane Nellis.

“As our population grows, so does the reliance on agriculture. Increased and enhanced infrastructure is necessary now and will continue to be in the future. Texas Tech is offering solutions to meet those needs,” Nellis said in the statement.

Officials from Tech said there are more than 150 students in pre-veterinary education in the College of Agriculture Sciences & Natural Resources currently, but the lack of veterinary schools prohibits many qualified students from becoming veterinarians. The new veterinary school will serve the needs of both Texas students and agriculture.

Galyean said Texas A&M currently has the state’s only veterinary school, and takes on about 130 students per year. That, combined with an aging population of veterinarians, means there is a need for a veterinary school in this area. At least some of those 150 Tech students who would like to become veterinarians would probably stay in Lubbock for their education, he said.

“I’d be the first to tell you that all of those kids won’t make it into vet school,” Galyean said, but he said a number of them could.

Oklahoma State also has a vet school, but Galyean said while OSU told Tech it has 155 applicants from Texas, it only takes a total of 100 students each year, including students from Oklahoma and other states.

Tech intends to build a four-year program, 
Galyean said, and with a strong agriculture college and a historically strong health sciences center, could make that possible. TTUHSC has a lot of expertise in building medical schools in this part of the world, he said.

West Texas and the Panhandle have a large need for veterinarians, particularly those who work with food animals, Galyean said. Students would have a lot of opportunities to work with those animals in this area, he said.

“There’s no place like it in the country. That alone would be a very educational opportunity,” Galyean said.

Tech has been committed to serving the agricultural industry since its establishment in 1923, and the university has a goal to be a national leader in animal health, food animal production and biosecurity, he said.

Information provided by Tech says the College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources is one of the largest non-land grant agricultural schools in the nation with academic and research programs, world-renowned faculty and staff, and award-winning students and national championship titles. The college consists of 11 research centers and institutes, including the Burnett Center & Feedlot, the International Center for Food Industry Excellence, the Texas Tech Equestrian Center, the Beef Cattle Center & New Deal Farm and the Department of Animal & Food Sciences, which offers the only animal science doctoral degree in the region.

“When TTUHSC was founded, its primary mission was to bring more health care providers to West Texas and provide health care services to an underserved region and population that provides food, fiber and fuel for the world,” TTUHSC President Tedd Mitchell said in the statement from Tech. “In honoring this promise, we are now making a global impact. TTU shares this principle and vision for addressing the needs of the agricultural industry, and we are a natural fit to help transform veterinary medicine education.”

While the discussion of having a veterinary school goes back decades, officials said the announcement comes after intensive internal planning, discussion with higher education colleagues and interests from agricultural industry representatives and philanthropists. The Tech system will continue discussions throughout 2016 and will seek appropriate approvals by the Texas Legislature and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.