Texarkana Gazette

TC floats idea of shorter semesters

College president: Plan would boost graduation rates

- By Jennifer Middleton

Students attending courses at Texarkana College could soon have eight-week semesters in many of their courses, something school leaders say will increase graduation and retention rates.

Choosing to move some core classes to the shorter semesters was identified by TC’s Board of Trustees on Monday as a top goal during the annual strategic planning session.

Dean Dr. Mary Ellen Young said she has taught some of the mini-courses and that they were successful.

In order for the change to be fully implemente­d, faculty would have to change lesson plans and schedules. Daily class times would also be extended.

“I think their concern is it truly going to be best,” TC President James Henry Russell said of faculty members’ questions. “None of us know. There’s a lot more data out there today than two years ago saying it is better, and I think that’s why

the vast majority of us are willing to take a chance on this.”

Odessa College has fully implemente­d the eight-week semesters, Russell said, with Amarillo College putting them in place for the 2018-19 school year.

“There is not a community college in Texas that has not looked at this,” he told the board and leadership team. “Not many have fully adopted it, but I would say there’s not a single one of them that’s not exploring it heavily.”

He said Odessa compared data from 2010, when it had a traditiona­l schedule, to that of 2017, when the program was put in place.

“You see attendance better, you see persistenc­e better and you see the graduation rate is solid due to the eight-week class schedule,” he said.

Course changes would begin in classes, which consists of 42 hours.

“A lot of work, research and team building will be involved,” he said. “It’s a big change and we’re going to be all in for it.”

Trustees also identified other strategic goals for the 2018-2020 time frame, including upgrading facilities and establishi­ng a multimilli­on-dollar long-range capital plan for those upgrades. The Texarkana College Foundation reaching $10 million in assets to provide presidenti­al scholarshi­ps is another goal, along with the college becoming actively involved in a regional economic developmen­t effort by June 20, 2020.

“Regional economic developmen­t is huge, a big, big part,” Russell said. “What’s the purpose of educating people if we don’t have an economy for them to go and get a job? Community colleges all across the nation are drivers of the economy, so to get a regional focus is important.”

Additional goals include:

Expanding health science programs and including night and weekend offerings

Evaluate and expanding degree offerings in response to community and high demand workforce needs

Broadening and specializi­ng tutoring services and develop a marketing plan to bring awareness to tutoring resources

Allocating resources to ensure campus safety and security

Increasing enrollment of economical­ly disadvanta­ged dual credit students to 450 within Bowie County by 2020

Piloting the Learning Frameworks class to economical­ly disadvanta­ged dual credit students as catalyst for scaling to all dual credit students

Taking leadership in the The Texas Higher Education Coordinati­ng Board’s regional target initiative to help move the needle in the upper East Texas region to reach the regional target of 48 percent of residents ages 25-34 attaining a higher education certificat­e or degree by the year 2030

The strategic plan will be reviewed during the May meeting and adopted in June.

In other business, the board approved continuing a memorandum of understand­ing with Northeast Texas Community College for collaborat­ion with the truck driving academy at TexAmerica­s Center, and heating and air system upgrades and restroom renovation­s in the CEC building.

The board also voted to change the May board meeting from May 28 to May 21 due to the Memorial Day holiday.

 ?? Staff photo by Jennifer Middleton ?? ■ Texarkana College President James Henry Russell outlines several ideas for the college’s 2018-2020 strategic plan during a Board of Trustees retreat Monday. Trustees identified creating shorter semesters, a multimilli­on-dollar long-range capital plan...
Staff photo by Jennifer Middleton ■ Texarkana College President James Henry Russell outlines several ideas for the college’s 2018-2020 strategic plan during a Board of Trustees retreat Monday. Trustees identified creating shorter semesters, a multimilli­on-dollar long-range capital plan...

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