The Legislature, Community Colleges, and TCCTA

The 86th Session of the Texas Legislature saw the passage of several pieces of legislation of interest to two-year college educators.

House Bill 1, by Rep. John Zerwas, provides an increase in formula funding of $67.8 million, or about 3.8 percent over the 2018-19 biennium. This is a significant increase and follows a $19 million increase in the 85th session. The new budget allocates a slightly higher percent to outcomes-based funding, compared to last biennium, at $203 per point. HB 1 also maintained funding for the Texas Workforce Commission administered Skills Development Fund, which helps community colleges provide customized job training programs for businesses to train new workers or upgrade the skills of the existing workforce. This program was funded at just over $44.8 million for the biennium. The Jobs and Education for Texans (JET) Grant Program was funded at $10 million for the biennium.

SB 25, by Sen. Royce West, includes several measures to improve student advising and facilitate credit transfer. Higher education institutions must develop at least one recommended course sequence for each major offered. Each sequence must:

• identify all required lower-division courses for the applicable certificate or degree program;

• include the applicable course number or equivalent under the common course numbering system and the course equivalent in the

Also In This Issue…President’s Message ……………………… Page 2

“A Surprising Under-Utilized Resource for OERs” …………………… Page 3

From the TCCTA Blog ………………… Page 4

Faculty Fellows Program ……………… Page 5

Faculty Leaders Conference …………… Page 6

“Value the Past While Connecting to the Future” ……………… Page 8

2020 Convention Preview ……………… Page 10

2019-20 Enrollment Form ……………… Page 12

VOLUME LVI SEPTEMBER 2019a publication of the texas community college teachers association

Copyright © 2019, Texas Community College Teachers Association. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reprint articles provided they are reprinted in their entirety and ap-propriate credit is given to the author and to the TCCTA Messenger. Brief quotations and statistical data may be reproduced provided that the TCCTA Messenger is cited as the source.

NUMBER 1

tccta.orgtcctaThe

TCCTA Messengertccta texas community college

teachers association

(from left to right) Jason Smith, Jessica Carpenter, Mary Ellen Young, Richard Moore, and Doug Saffel

Lower-Division Academic Course Guide Manual; • be designed to enable a full-time student to

obtain a certificate or degree within two years for a 60-hour degree or certificate or four years for a 120-hour degree; and

• include a specific sequence in which courses should be completed to ensure completion of the applicable program within those time frames.

The law also requires each public university to prepare a report describing any courses in the ACGM for which a student who transferred to the institution from another institution was not granted academic credit or for which such a student who had declared a major and had not changed majors was not granted academic credit toward the student’s major at the receiving institution. The report must be provided to the Coordinating Board and the Legislature by March 1 of each year and include:

• the course name and type; • which institution of higher education provided

academic credit for the course; and • the reason why the receiving institution did not

grant academic credit for the course. Each public junior college must prepare a report on

courses taken by students who, during the preceding academic year, had transferred to a general academic teaching institution or had earned an associate degree at the college. The report must be provided to THECB and the Legislature by March 1 of each year and is required to include the total number of:

• courses attempted and completed at the college, including the total number of semester credit hours for those courses, disaggregated by whether the course was in the Workforce Education Course Manual or the ACGM;

• courses attempted and completed at the college that were not in the recommended core curriculum developed by the Coordinating Board; and

• dual credit courses attempted and completed at the college.

The law also requires all college students, not just those attending community college, to file degree plans after earning 30 semester credit hours. Dual credit students must file degree plans not later than the end of the second regular semester or term immediately following the semester or term in which the student earned a total of 15 or more semester credit hours of dual credit.

[Continues on page 7...]

2 TCCTA Messenger

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A Publication of theTEXAS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

TEACHERS ASSOCIATION

5113 Southwest ParkwaySuite 185

Austin, Texas 78735

Toll-Free (800) 288-6850In Austin (512) 328-2044

Fax (512) 328-1086tccta.org

BILL SIMCIK President

❈

RICHARD MOOREExecutive Director

❈

TCCTA Messenger (ISSN 1091-398X) is published four times annually, in September, December, January, and April, by the TEXAS COMMU-NITY COLLEGE TEACH-ERS ASSOCIATION, 5113 Southwest Parkway, Suite 185, Austin, Texas 78735. Annual dues $45, $5 of which is for subscription to TCCTA Mes-senger. TCCTA Messenger is abstracted and indexed in the ERIC monthly abstract journal, Resources in Educa-tion. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas. POSTMAS-TER: Send address changes to TCCTA Messenger, 5113 Southwest Parkway, Suite 185, Austin, Texas 78735.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGEWelcome to the new

academic year of 2019-20 and a new year in the life of TCCTA and its 5000 members. I think I speak for most of us when I say the beginning of a new year is bittersweet. The sweet is, of course, the opportunity to reconnect with our colleagues and meet a new group of

students who we will encourage, teach, cajole, help, befriend, advise, and mentor as we each apply our talents to the challenges that each new semester offers. The bitter is found in mentally shifting from summer teaching or summer vacation to the in-service meetings, students asking to be admitted to already full classes, pressures of preparing class materials, and the worry over which classes will make, be canceled, or require last minute creation. It is the nature of a new academic year to be an emotional hodgepodge of joy and anxiety, but ultimately the vast majority of us embrace the work because, in the end, the profession of teaching offers the satisfaction and reward of knowing that we have helped students and their family onto the path to a better life that is more knowledgeable, compassionate, and tolerant of other world views.

The new academic year also marks the start of a new year in TCCTA and a new theme: “Teaching at the Intersection of Creativity and Data,” a theme that embraces the value of data but also considers data’s limits. In this issue, I would like to expand on my article in the April 2019 TCCTA Messenger where I first introduced the theme and its inspiration, but before I do that, I’d like to encourage you to think about submitting your travel requests early to your college in order to attend the 2020 TCCTA Annual Convention. Although some sessions will be data-driven, other convention sessions will focus on the importance of those things that faculty members do that go unmeasured—either because the culture of modern higher education believes some efforts are simply anecdotal, having no direct impact on student success—or because many things faculty do simply cannot be measured, including offering compassion and respect to students at precisely the time it will make the most impact. In fact, at the convention there will be a powerful panel discussion exploring this important intersection between the unmeasurable and the data-driven world of higher education, but I’ll save the identification of the panel members for my December message. For now, in this article, I want to offer my thoughts on some of the things faculty do, highlighting the value of these unmeasurable (not immeasurable) efforts that contribute so much to student success.

Last spring at Lone Star College, I was part of a system-wide meeting in which 10 faculty from each of our seven campuses were asked to participate in a day long meeting to define Faculty Qualities of Excellence (FQEs). We were tasked with identifying a list of qualities which described successful faculty members and that could be applied to faculty throughout the college system and used in all processes relating to faculty: hiring, evaluation, awards, etc. The day long

✯meeting was exhausting, but by the end of the day, we had compiled a list of four qualities that stated that a faculty member should be student invested, a content expert, institutionally dedicated, and pedagogically excellent. There are no surprises here. However, in that room full of faculty senate presidents, professional development moderators, Masters and Ph.D.s, new faculty (with the most current knowledge of their fields), and senior faculty (with 30-40 years of teaching experience), there was a problem. We had identified a fifth category that no one in the room could adequately pin down, but one that included compassion, patience, and respect, qualities that we all knew were central to fostering a culture of student success and collegiality. Since no one quality, phrase, or single characteristic truly captured the spirit of what we were trying to convey, and since many committee members were worried precisely because these characteristics could not be measured, we labeled these qualities “transcendent.” Ultimately, the FQE committee chose to place these important but hard-to-measure qualities in a preamble that attempted, with moderate success, to describe the overarching spirit of the unmeasurable realm of what faculty do. I think almost everyone left that meeting well aware that faculty do many things that count but cannot be counted. Accordingly, I must admit some apprehension about choosing this year’s theme because like that preamble, this year’s TCCTA theme is about recognizing the incredibly complex, organic, and in some cases thickly veiled work we do both inside and outside the classroom to educate our students and tomorrow’s leaders. It is my opinion that faculty with boots on the ground intuitively know that some of the most important qualities they display go far beyond what they can measure or maybe even articulate. This paradox is a bit like the first chapter of the Tao Te Ching which states that the Tao that can be spoken is not the true Tao. In other words, perhaps the education that can be fully measured is not the true or complete education that we offer our students.

Here’s an example of unmeasured work. A colleague of mine has had the good fortune to have taught English over the last six years to three very bright and talented home-schooled siblings, and she has been asked to write multiple letters of reference for each one. Her efforts have contributed to their acceptance at major universities and competitive programs of study and to their receiving significant scholarship support. The coaching my colleague offered these students in their application processes and the time she spent in crafting quality and targeted letters, played a direct role in the success of those students. As a result, she is held in the highest esteem by the entire family, and frequently receives invitations to graduations and award ceremonies, and she is the first person each of these students call when they receive notification of an admission or an award. Clearly, their parents know the value of her contribution. Job well

FALL CONFERENCE COMMITTEE MEETINGS

The TCCTA Legislative, Membership Servic-es, Professional Development, and Publications committees will meet at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, September 27.

September 2019 3

OER resource

presentation slides,

by Carrie Git, can be

accessed at, bit.ly/

OERresourcesLibrary

✯done, but her efforts are unmeasured and uncounted in her workload, faculty evaluations, success rates, enrollments, retention rate, and other traditional measures of faculty success.

Additionally, I have known another colleague for decades, and while I have never said this to her, I have noticed that despite the many years that she has been at our institution, she has never waned in her energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to the college, her colleagues, and her students. In fact, I admire that as a senior faculty member she is not resting on her laurels but is actively engaged in her profession. She is a chair, a leader in state-wide organizations, and a mentor to adjunct, new faculty, and potential chairs. In fact, some years ago, she decided to mentor a new hire and has worked with him throughout the years—not just for a semester. For example, she invited him to attend professional conferences, encouraged him to run for state office, and has been showing him the ropes of being chair. But I suspect none of her compassion, dedication, and guidance, most of which was likely delivered by informal conversation, will ever be noted on her workload, or appreciated for improving morale and the work environment, or credited for encouraging faculty engagement at the state level in higher education.

Yet these examples are not unique; we all have our stories of work that we or our colleagues do that directly contributes to student success. But because that work doesn’t fit in the parameters of what is measured in higher education, it remains unseen. My hope is that our college boards, legislators, and the general public become aware of the limits of the data used in making important decisions, such as funding. But in the meantime, faculty

One of the sessions during the last TCCTA convention was in the library section about Open Educational Resources. The presenter, Carrie Gits, is a head librarian at Austin Community College.

The session’s PowerPoint slides (referenced with permission) give an excellent overview of what open resources are, what is free (and not) to use, and why a librarian should be included. Some key takeaways from that session:

• Librarians should be the first resource for people considering Open Education Resources but, Steven Bell’s study found that they are the least consulted resource used

• There are 5Rs for Open Resources; Retain, Reuse, Revise, Remix, and Redistribute

• Creative Commons has six different classifications depending on how much freedom you have to adapt, change, and distribute material (creativecommons.org)

• Open is Free + Permissions (the 5Rs referenced). Just because something is freely available does not mean it is openly licensed for reuse, remixing, retaining, and redistributing. What makes a resource an OER is the license attached to it, which can be something in the public domain or something that has been

A Surprising Under-Utilized Resource for OERsby Virginia Hanning, San Jacinto College–Central, Carrie Gits, Austin Community College

and Karen Blakenship, San Jacinto College–Central

will continue to do the unmeasured work because it produces a significant measure of student success.

So, I invite each administrator, institution, and board member of the 50 community colleges in Texas to financially support your faculty so they can attend the upcoming TCCTA Faculty Leaders Conference in September, in Austin, and the 73rd Annual Conference in February, in Frisco, Texas. These events will not only discuss the role and importance of data but also explore the intangible duties and services that faculty provide that are not, and likely cannot, be measured numerically. As long as we rely only on numbers or only on measurable data, we cannot have a clear view of the road ahead for higher education. As we are all fellow travelers at this intersection of creativity and data, we have the responsibility to “look both ways” when entering the crosswalk. While some are firmly on the road of data-driven decisions, we must be alert and recognize that others are on a path equally committed to the unmeasured aspects of our profession. Neither view is singularly complete, but our current general perception of what produces well-educated students in higher education is failing to bring us to our planned destination of true and complete student success.

But let’s discuss and debate this topic more at the Faculty Leaders Conference in Austin at the end of September and at the 73rd TCCTA Annual Conference in Frisco in February 2020. Hoping you each have yet another semester full of unmeasured successes!

released with an open license such as a Creative Commons license

• Librarians can help locate open resource material and determine the copyright status of the resource you would like to use

• Content may be freely available online but it may still have a traditional copyright. There may be restrictions on reproducing and reuse of the content

• Texas SB 810 created a statewide OER grant program and established protocols for OER course designations, including a way for students to find OER courses

Does any of the above sound confusing? Or perhaps more guidance is necessary? Librarians have extensive experience identifying OERs and interpreting Creative Commons Licensing. Make an appointment with your campus librarian and see if there’s an OER out there for you.

As a side note, this is a great example of how you can attend a session at the convention outside of your discipline on a subject that interests you.

[Virginia Hanning is a professor of mathematics at San Jacinto College–Central, Carrie Gits is a head librarian at Austin Community College, and Karen Blakenship is the library director at San Jacinto College–Central.]

Bill Simcik

4 TCCTA Messenger

Better Some than None. Texas high school graduates who never earned a post-secondary credential after enrolling in college fared better professionally than individuals who never enrolled in college at all.

Significant new research has found “very substantial increases in employability and income” for this group of former students, who attended community college or a four-year institution, said Paul Attewell, a professor of sociology at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center, who co-wrote the paper with Matt Giani, a research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin’s Office of Strategy and Policy, and David Walling, a software developer at the Texas Advanced Computing Center at UT. It’s reported by Paul Fain, in Inside Higher Ed.

For Texas community and technical college educators, these findings are significant. Previous research report-edly indicated that many high school graduates might be better off entering the work force without attending college. You can read about the methodological challenges involved, but apparently this is not the case, in particular for low-income students.

Some commentators have argued that college is a waste of time and resources if students don’t graduate. Hence the massive effort in recent years to raise graduation rates by, among other strategies, encouraging full-time enrollment.

Obviously full-time attendance is preferable, but let’s not dismiss part-time attendance. That’s the important takeaway from the new study.

When you think about the underlying reasons why even a few courses pay off regardless of subjects taken, it probably has less to do with added knowledge than the fortitude and tenacity of these students. They may not have finished a degree or certificate, but they achieved actual academic success before getting derailed. Part-time students who keep plugging away should be helped and encouraged.

Obviously we want more students to graduate from college, but the information provided in the new research is worthy of sharing, and the effort to enroll all high school graduates in college will likely pay off for everyone.

Since the study cited in the piece reflects the Texas post-secondary universe, it’s of added importance to us. ✩

CBE Takes Hold in Texas. Several commu-nity colleges in Texas are adopting competency-based education (CBE) as part of the Texas Affordable Bac-calaureate (TAB) program.

TAB calls for institutions of higher education to launch accelerated bachelor’s degrees with the goal of getting students to complete faster and thus save money on tuition, as reported by Ellie Ashford, in Community College Daily.

Under TAB, students pay a set fee per term and can progress through as many online modules as they want during that term. As a result, their cost for higher

“Significant new

research has found

‘very substantial

increases in

employability

and income’ for

employees with some

higher education

experience.”

Star Award Finalists Announced. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has an-nounced the names of seven finalists for the 2019 Star Awards for exceptional contributions toward meeting one or more of the goals of the Texas higher education plan, 60x30TX. The Coordinating Board received 45 nominations and 37 applications for this year’s Star Award program.

Five community colleges made the list:• Austin Community College: Z Degrees (Zero

Cost Textbooks)• Citizens 1st Bank, Perkins Foundation, Rusk,

and Tyler Junior College: Rusk TJC Citizens Promise

• El Centro College, Garland ISD, and Garland Fire Department: Triple Credit Model Fire Academy

• El Paso Community College: Pasos Program• San Antonio College: Student Advocacy CenterThe Star Award program recognizes exceptional

contributions toward meeting one or more of the 60x30TX goals:

• Increasing the postsecondary educational at-tainment level of the state’s 25- to 34-year-old population (Educated Population Goal).

• Increasing the number of students completing a certificate, associate, bachelor’s, or master’s degree from an institution of higher education in Texas (Completion Goal).

• Increasing the number of programs with identi-fied marketable skills at Texas public institutions of higher education (Marketable Skills Goal).

• Implementing programs or cost efficiencies that help to ensure undergraduate student loan debt will not exceed 60 percent of first-year wages (Student Debt Goal).

Star Award finalists will be publicly recognized for their efforts. The winner(s) will be announced on Nov. 22 during the annual Star Awards luncheon and cer-emony that will be held in conjunction with the 2019 Texas Higher Education Leadership Conference on Nov. 21-22, in Austin.

The annual leadership conference brings together regents, trustees, chancellors, presidents, chief academic/instructional officers, and other higher education lead-ers to discuss critical higher education issues such as the 60x30TX strategic plan. Interaction among higher education stakeholders will be a key part of the confer-ence. The orientation/conference sessions on Nov. 21 will satisfy the training requirement for newly appointed regents and elected trustees (Texas Education Code, Sec-tion 61.084). Conference registration is available at thecb.state.tx.us/2019leadershipconference. ✩

From the TCCTA Blog

STATE OFFICER NOMINATIONSRecommendations of nominees for 2020-21

officers for consideration should be submitted by November 1, 2019 to Dr. Annie Benifield at, Annie.J.Benifield@lonestar.edu

[Continues on page 7...]

September 2019 5

T C C TA W E L C O M E S . . .

F A C U LT YF E L L O W S

tccta texas community collegeteachers association

Contact the TCCTA State Office

5113 Southwest Pkwy., Ste. 185

Austin, Texas 78735

kagnew@tccta.org

(800) 288-6850

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO BE A FACULTY FELLOW?

HOW CAN OUR COLLEGE PARTICIPATE?

A faculty member who has held the position for five years or less.

College Presidents and Faculty Associations Should Contact the TCCTA State Office to Enroll Two Faculty Members!

Participating Fellows Receive:

Membership

Registration to the Faculty Leaders Conference, September 27–28 2019,

as well as hotel and parking accommodations

Admission to the Annual TCCTA Convention, February 27–29, 2020

Complimentary Banquet Ticket at the Convention’s General Session

Reception and Leadership Development Programs Especially Designed for New Faculty

Legislative Briefing

Leadership Training

Conversations with Statewide Education Leaders

Two Web Conferences on Key Issues

Participation in Vibrant Community of New Faculty Leaders

Cost: $550 per faculty member

6 TCCTA Messenger

N A M E

T I T L E

C O L L E G E

A D D R E S S

C I T Y

S TAT E Z I P

E - M A I L

P H O N E

Y E A R S I N C U R R E N T P O S I T I O N :

P R I M A R Y M O T I V AT I O N F O R E N R O L L I N G :

D I E TA R Y O R D I S A B I L I T Y C O N S I D E R AT I O N S :

M E T H O D O F $ 9 5 . 0 0 P AY M E N T:

C H E C K V I S A M A S T E R C A R D

N A M E

C A R D N O .

E X P. D AT E C V V

Faculty Leaders Conference

— TO REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE —

To register for the Faculty Leaders Conference, please com-plete the registration form and send it by mail, email, or fax, to the TCCTA State Office by September 20, 2019. Hotel accommodations should be arranged directly with the DoubleTree by HIlton Hotel.

TCCTA State Office:

5113 Southwest Parkway; Suite 185 Austin, Texas 78735 Phone Number: (512) 328-2044 ext. 14 Fax Number: (512) 328-1086 Email: kagnew@tccta.org

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel:

6505 N Interstate Hwy 35 Austin, TX 78752 Phone Number: (512) 454-3737

— estimated cost —

Payable to TCCTA: Conference Registration: $95.00 Includes registration, Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast and lunch, and refreshments throughout the conference. (No refunds after September 6, 2019)

Payable to DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel: Accommodations*: $129.00 $10 overnight parking Does not include applicable taxes or incidentals.

Approximate Total: $234.00

*Cost of hotel is approximate and should be paid directly to the hotel at time of checkout.

DoubleTree by Hilton HotelAustin, Texas

September 27 - 28Deadline to Register: September 20

tccta texas community collegeteachers association

24 hours dedicated to issues directly related to the role of faculty organizations in the college decision making process!

September 2019 7

“TCCTA has

been involved

in discussions

throughout the

session and

will continue to

participate with the

interim committee

between now and

next session.”

The Coordinating Board is required to make recommendations to the Legislature regarding the feasibility of implementing statewide meta majors for institutions of higher education. The board would have to establish an advisory committee to assist in completing the study and to provide subject matter expertise and analysis.

The advisory committee will consist of equal representatives of community colleges and universities, with a majority of the committee members representing institutions at which at least 25 percent of students enrolled for the 2018 fall semester were classified as transfer students. TCCTA has been involved in discussions related to this bill throughout the session and will continue to participate with the interim committee between now and next session.

Two pieces of legislation, SB 212, by Sen. Joan Huffman, and HB 1735, by Rep. Donna Howard, address issues related to sexual assault and misconduct, dating violence, and stalking on college campuses.

SB 212 requires employees of Texas postsecondary institutions to report certain sexually related incidents against a student or employee to the institution’s Title IX coordinator. The law creates an offense for failure to report an incident or making a false report. The CEO of each institution must annually certify to the Coordinating Board that it is in substantial compliance with the law’s requirements. If the Coordinating Board determines that an institution is not in substantial compliance, it may assess an administrative penalty of up to $2 million. In determining the amount of the penalty, the Coordinating Board must consider the nature of the violation and number of students enrolled at the institution.

HB 1735 requires public and private postsecondary educational institutions to adopt a policy on campus sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking. Under the law’s provisions, each peace officer employed by a postsecondary educational institution must complete training in trauma-informed investigation into allegations of sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. In responding to claims in such cases, each institution shall, to the greatest extent practicable based on the number of counselors employed by the institution, offer counseling provide by a counselor who does not provide counseling to any other person involved in the incident.

Institutions must require entering freshmen and undergraduate transfer students to attend an orientation, either in person or online, on the policy before or during the student’s first semester.

The Coordinating Board may assess an administrative penalty of up to $2.0 million against an institution that failed to substantially comply with the law. A postsecondary educational institution found in violation of this law may not pay an administrative penalty using state or federal money.

TCCTA will continue to monitor activities in Austin affecting employees at Texas community colleges. ✩

The Legislature, Community Colleges, and TCCTA

[Continued from page 1...] education can drop by nearly half, the article reports.TAB “upends traditional higher education,” says

Kelly Carper Polden, assistant director of external relations for the Texas Higher Education Coordinat-ing Board. “Traditionally, time is fixed and learning is the variable. But with the competency-based Texas Affordable Baccalaureate degrees, learning is fixed and time is the variable.”

South Texas College offers five bachelor’s de-grees—the maximum allowed for Texas community colleges—in organizational leadership, computer and informational technology, medical and health services management, and nursing.

Also from the article:In 2017, the state coordinating board funded

the development of an all-online CBE bachelor of applied technology degree in computer information technology, with STC and Austin Community College (ACC) partnering on the project. All of the existing CBE courses at Austin’s associate of applied science degree will seamlessly transfer into STC’s CBE bachelor’s degree.

Last year, the Coordinating Board expanded TAB to include a partnership of Houston Com-munity College (HCC) and the University of Houston-Downtown. A CBE curriculum for an associate of applied sciences degree in business management at HCC will be transferable to a bachelor’s degree in applied public administration and leadership at the university.

ACC and the Dallas County Community Col-lege District also offer some CBE courses that are not part of the TAB program, says James Fountain, executive director of the Institute of Competency-Based Education based at Texas A&M Commerce. The institute is encouraging as many CBE programs as possible in the state, with the goal of driving down the cost of higher education, he says.

Tuition plus room and board now cost $70,000 to $80,000 at some of the state’s regional colleges, Fountain says. “That’s not feasible. If we don’t do something, it’s going to implode.” ✩

From the TCCTA Blog[Continued from page 4...]

ARE YOU COVERED?Check out TCCTA’s optional, low-cost

professional educators liability insurance. Do you have the financial ability to defend

yourself in the event of a claim against you involving:

• Supervision, tenure, salary, leave of absence or dismissal

• Allegations of improper discipline of contact with a student

• Allegations of sexual harassment• Allegations of a violation of civil rights• Certification or licensureClick on the “Liability Insurance Brochure”

bulllet under tccta.org/forms_archives to learn more.

8 TCCTA Messenger

“Community

colleges continue

to provide our

students with

the potential to

improve their

lives.”

Our family lives would have been very different if Royal M. Hanning, my dad, had not earned a bachelor’s degree, which would have been impossible without attending the nearby community college North Texas Agricultural College (NTAC), now University of Texas at Arlington. Both of my parents earned bachelor’s degrees after high school: Mom from Austin College and Dad from Texas A&M University. When I started teaching at San Jacinto College, Dad filled in the details of how he got into the University in the first place.

In many ways, Dad’s story is similar to many of our students. He would be the first in his immediate family to graduate with a bachelor’s degree. The family did not have money, but his mother was a teacher with some college work and wanted him to get a college education. In fact, both of my grandmothers, who realized the value of higher education, had taught in elementary school without a bachelor’s degree, which was not required in the 1920s. Dad was drawn to NTAC because of his interest in agriculture and in the U. S. Air Force. Dad learned to fly at Perrin Field, in Sherman, which was an Army Air Corps Base in WWII and later became an Air Force base and is now a regional airport. A poor farmer’s son, he graduated with a major in Animal Husbandry and became a pilot in the Air Force, which changed everything. His Texas A&M University Class of 1950 was the first one to be commissioned into the Air Force instead of into the Army Air Corps.

Dad started classes after high school graduation in 1946. His family was in the dairy farming business, so the more than 70-mile journey from his farm meant that he had to figure out how to get there. There was something called the “interurban” or “electric railway” that he could take for most of the way. He then caught rides with different students or hitchhiked (it was not frowned upon then). Dad worked on the dairy farm on the weekends while taking classes. His family helped as much as possible, even picking pecans and selling them to help pay for him to go to school.

A catastrophe occurred in his last year at NTAC when one of the cows developed brucellosis, and the entire herd had to be destroyed. It was a concentrated family effort that helped him to be able to graduate from NTCA and attend Texas A&M University. After his graduation, he spent over 27 years in the Air Force before retiring to live in Grayson County. Like my father, many of our commu-

nity college students face financial hardships and depend upon the sacrifice of others for the opportunities to earn their degrees. Many similar crises threaten to sink their academic careers, but somehow many manage to persevere.

Among the details that my father shared with me was that when he found a need for retraining in something different, he again chose a community college. Upon his retirement from the Air Force, he realized that he needed training in the new computer technology. He chose two nearby community colleges, Grayson and Collin County, to learn how to write MS DOS. Eventually, he became a computer consultant. Without the opportunities that the community college provided, he could not have attained the degree from Texas A&M University that provided him even greater success. Community colleges continue to provide our students with the potential to improve their lives. As a community college instructor, I recognize the potential for our students and desire for our students to take advantage of the opportunities to be as successful as my dad.

Many of the community colleges today evolved from the efforts in the late nineteenth and early twentieth cen-turies to establish a system of free public education. The community college that Dad attended has an interesting twist. North Texas Agricultural College (NTAC) was considered an “extension” of Texas A&M University as a result of Governor James Ferguson’s action. Its name was changed five times over 28 years, from Arlington College in 1895, to Carlisle Military Academy in 1902, to Arling-ton Training School in 1913, and to Arlington Military Academy in 1916. The State of Texas began funding it in 1917 under the new name Grubbs Vocational College. It was eventually named North Texas Agricultural College (NTAC) in 1923, which was its name when my dad at-tended. It became Arlington State College (ASC) in 1949 and then a four year institution in 1959. A 1963 reorga-nization of the Texas A&M University system focused on College Station, even though there were more students at ASC than at Texas A&M University in College Sta-tion. That prompted officials at ASC and the residents of Arlington to get the Texas Legislature to let them separate from the Texas A&M system. Governor John Connally agreed, and in 1965, it became part of the University of Texas system. It is now University of Texas at Arlington.

[Virginia Hanning is a professor of mathematics at San Jacinto College–Central,]

Value the Past While Connecting to the Futureby Virginia Hanning, San Jacinto College–Central

Come Ready to Give Your Personal and Professional Goals a Boost!TCCTA’s Faculty Leaders Conference, September 27-28 is only $95 and focuses on issues related to the

role of faculty in the college decision-making process and offers programs that relate immediately to your class-room. Schedule your trip:

• beginning Friday, September 27th at 1:00 p.m. • formally wrapping up Saturday, September 28th at 1:45 p.m.

Reserve a room at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Austin by calling, (512) 454-3737; mention TCCTA to get the $129/night room rate.

“A great conference. I wish we could have all faculty here.”

tccta.org/2019-faculty-leaders-conference

September 2019 9

73rd ANNUAL CONVENTION

Teaching at the Intersection of Creativity and Data

A TCCTA Convention badge is your all-access pass to the best classroom

pedagogy and technology, community college specific exhibitors, nationally renowned

speakers, and a state-wide network of peers and education partners.

The Convention welcomes over 80 colleges and offers over 150 programs.

• Great Ideas for Teaching Students

• Financial & Retirement Seminars

• Health Benefit Seminars

• Liability Insurance Session

• Legislative Updates

• Technology Seminars

• And more!

Join usfor the biggest event of the year!

tccta.org/convention-2020/

FEB27-292020

Dallas-Frisco Convention Centerand Embassy Suites

Registration: $105

Future Annual Convention Dates: Feb 25-27, 2021 March 3-5, 2022 March 2-4, 2023 March 1-3, 2024

10 TCCTA Messenger

The Dallas-Frisco Convention Center and Embassy Suites Hotel welcomes back TCCTA for our 73rd Annual Convention, February 27-29, 2020! Relax in a two-room suite featuring a separate living room with a sofa bed and private bedroom. Enjoy internet access, refrigerator, and microwave. Start your day with a free made-to-order breakfast or grab a bagel and coffee from Starbucks. In the evening, gather for a complimentary evening reception. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Embassy. TCCTA Group Rates: $155/night

Convention registration is $105 for professional members, $75 for adjunt members, and $150 for all others. Renew your membership today at tccta.org.

Make your hotel reservations today by calling (972) 712-7200 and visit tccta.org/convention-2020/ for maps, a complete list of restaurants, stores, and other attractions.

Make Hotel Reservations Early!

TCCTA 73rd Annual ConventionDALLAS-FRISCO CONVENTION CENTER AND EMBASSY SUITES HOTEL

FEBRUARY 27 - 29, 2020 • FRISCO, TEXAS“Teaching at the Intersection of Creativity and Data”

THURSDAY—FEBRUARY 27, 20207:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Special Meetings and Pre-Conference Events12:00–6:00 p.m. Convention Registration2:00–4:00 p.m. TCCTA Professional Development, Legisla-

tive, Membership Services, Convention, and Publication Committees

4:00–5:00 p.m. TCCTA Faculty Fellow Event4:30–6:30 p.m. Exhibits Open3:00–4:00 p.m. TCCTA Resolutions and Auditing Committees5:00–6:00 p.m. TCCTA Election Committee5:30–6:30 p.m. Exhibits Opening Reception6:30 p.m. BANQUET7:15 p.m. GENERAL SESSION

FRIDAY—FEBRUARY 28, 20208:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Convention Registration8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Election of Officers

8:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. Exhibits Open8:00–9:15 a.m. Financial Planning Seminar8:00–9:15 a.m. Great Ideas For Teaching Students

(GIFTS)9:30–12:45 p.m. Section Meetings1:00–4:15 p.m. Student Success Workshops4:30–5:30 p.m. Section Meetings and Receptions4:30–5:30 p.m. Legislative Update 5:45 p.m. Raffle, Music, and Refreshments

SATURDAY—FEBRUARY 27, 20208:00–11:30 a.m. Convention Registration9:00–11:45 a.m. Section Meetings10:30–11:45 a.m. Financial Planning Seminar11:45 a.m. Adjournment12:30–2:30 p.m. Special Meetings

Convention-At-A-Glance

Nearby attractioNs

iFly Legacy Park

Texas Sculpture Garden

shoppiNg

Bella Boutique

Blue Door Boutique

Bittersweet Ivy

Sam Moon Trading

Shops at Legacy

Stonebriar Centre

Torrid

DiNiNg

Babe’s Chicken House

Blaze Pizza

Fish Bowl Poke

Gloria’s Latin Cuisine

Hutchins BBQ

Mash’d

MOMO Japanese Cuisine

Piada Italian Street Food

TruFire Kitchen & Bar

…and more!

September 2019 11

tcctaThe

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