![A gear depicting the Corps' six growth focuses](https://corps.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/FWDMARCHGEARS.jpg)
WHAT:
Though many key elements of the Corps experience have remained the same, the Corps has advanced throughout the years to fit the ever changing needs of local communities, states and the nation as a whole.
As a result of The Forward March: Corps Advancement Plan, the organization’s most recent advancements have emerged in an effort to ensure relevance in relation to present day leadership needs. This enhanced wrap-around experience provided through the Corps positions members of the organization to be successful leaders, prepared to make impacts in all facets of their lives.Â
WHY:
Membership in the Corps of Cadets bears no military obligation and is among the strongest leadership development pathways for students at Texas A&M. For over 145 years, the Corps has leveraged its tradition rooted, military-based cultural model to provide a one of a kind experience to those willing to step up to the challenge.Â
Through a combination of superior academic support, leadership development opportunities and career readiness coaching, cadets are prepared for a lifetime of value driven service to our communities, our state and our nation across all sectors.
With a growth in Corps membership, opportunities that are available to cadets will also see growth, ensuring an endless range of academic, professional and physical enrichment options.  Â
HOW:
As the Corps continues on the path forward, the organization must evolve and transform to reflect today’s society and tomorrow’s workforce demands, while also remaining firmly grounded in the history and traditions that have defined and reinforced the organization’s reputation.Â
Six areas of focus, all rooted in the Corps’ most iconic, time-proven features, have been identified as interconnected initiatives for the future.
AREAS OF FOCUS
Growth in the coverage and visibility in the Corps’ recruiting efforts was identified early on as an important aspect of the Corps’ overall growth. A major driving force in the new recruiting efforts is the shift from passive to active recruiting methods. This shift is most well defined as the physical, regular presence of the Corps Recruiting team at key events and locations. Â
The most immediate and visible initiative accelerant was the hiring of Term Recruiters to the Corps Recruiting team’s staff. These Term Recruiters are recent graduates of Texas A&M and the Corps of Cadets, and are embedded in Texas A&M’s Prospective Student Centers (PSCs), which are Texas A&M’s dedicated recruitment centers in key markets across the state of Texas.Â
The Corps is also actively building strategic relationships with youth-serving organizations whose members are likely to pursue leadership development opportunities in college. The Corps has increased visibility and established a presence within several key organizations through sponsorships and physical presence engagements at the district, state and national levels.Â
The Quad in its present form is not built to accommodate a membership base beyond 2,600. In preparation for the membership growth of the Corps, the construction of two new dorms was approved. The next step in the process is adding the dorms’ development to a specific fiscal year’s plan for the university, which is currently pending.Â
As part of the university’s space allocation survey, the Corps is exploring avenues for developing the south end of the Quad. These developments, to include the potential overhaul and update of Duncan Dining Hall, will expand the Corps’ footprint across campus. Developments both aim to improve the Quad for cadets and seek to create an interconnected space for the center of the Corps’ activities with the rest of Texas A&M’s student body. Â
Further information regarding the development of the two new dorms and the south end of the Quad, including funding initiatives, will be released when available.
The Office of the Commandant has worked with Faculty Affairs to identify four Leader Development Advisors (LDAs) to serve as Professors of Practice.Â
LDAs will facilitate the integration of leadership theory taught in the classroom with practical application, creating an immersive leadership development experience that touches every aspect of cadet daily life.Â
These new members of the Office of the Commandant staff will have extensive experience as leaders in the military or private sector and have an educational background in leadership and organizational development.
In conjunction with the LDAs, four other roles will comprise an informal Cadet Advisory Team. The existing Scholastics Performance Specialists will partner with the re-tooled Military and Operations Advisors (formerly known as Cadet Training Officers) and the newly created Corps Performance Coaches (CPCs) to offer wrap-around support structure for cadets in the Corps.Â
The Office of the Commandant has been restructured, to include staff title changes and the introduction of functional embedded units.Â
Embedded units focus on strategic support and engagement, operations, cadet life and cadet engagement. An effort to mirror other groups and organizations on campus, these functional groups will ensure that the Office of the Commandant is appropriately and effectively aligned against the university.
An integral piece of the present-day Corps experience, the Hollingsworth Center’s continued growth and development is key to the success of the Corps’ growth initiatives.
Working in conjunction with the Corps’ military based structure, the Hollingsworth Center presently teaches ethical leadership theories and application and provides career and leadership coaching that is fit for every career path and professional endeavor.Â
Though the primary population focus of the Hollingsworth Center is Drill & Ceremony (non-commission seeking) cadets, the skills and knowledge that the Hollingsworth Center imparts are applicable to all students in the Corps and at Texas A&M. Â
The Office of the Commandant is closely evaluating ways to make joining the Corps a less costly endeavor for its members.Â
Present focuses include avenues for funding cadet sports passes and uniforms, both of which are current, additional required costs placed on cadets. Reducing, or eliminating, these costs will minimize the financial burden to cadets, eliminating a barrier that may prevent otherwise interested students’ participation in the organization.
Though specific avenues for funding these expenses have not yet been identified, further information on how individual donors can contribute will be provided as it becomes available.
OUR CADETS
As members of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets, students are given the space they need to learn, lead and inspire those around them. Though there is no military obligation tied to their membership in the organization, students benefit from the Corps’ military-based structure, which promotes discipline, determination and a drive to constantly improve. A strong complement to the leadership lessons taught and experienced during students’ time in the Corps, these refined traits result in successful leaders.
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