The House Committee on Higher Education met on February 20, 2019, to take up invited testimony from community colleges.

This report is intended to give you an overview and highlight of the discussions on the various topics the committee took up. It is not a verbatim transcript of the hearing but is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.

 

Del Mar College

Mark Escamilla, President

  • Community colleges have wide net of education offerings
  • Roughly 23% from state, 40% local property taxes and 37% from student tuition and fees
  • Provides background on students served in continuing education
  • Some industrial trades have increased significantly and have impacted upward mobility
  • Supports unprecedented growth of workforce
  • Salaries for their graduates can be between $60k-$80k in the area of career and technical education
  • Dual credit – enrolls almost 3k from almost 25 ISDs, classes include economic, CNA and welding

 

Austin Community College

Richard Rhodes, President

  • Reviews history on Early College High School
  • Target population of ECHs, those who don’t typically think they are college material
    • Lower economic, students of color, first generation students
  • Have 12 ECHs, 6 P-TECH academies and 10 career academies – over 1,500 students today
    • Will have excess over 6k students when it is full rolled out
  • 37% Hispanic, 80% African American in overall population but in ECH reaching different students
  • SB 2118 (85th) for baccalaureate degree to all registered nurses to obtain bachelor
    • Described process for approval – Board Trustees had to approve BSN in Dec 2017, Approval of Texas Board of Nursing, Approval from Coordinating Board and accreditation board in 2018, etc
    • Had site visit in fall of 2018 and final approval in Dec. 2018
    • Over 10 different steps in total to be able to offer this
  • Started off with cohort of 28 students
  • 75% in first cohort are over 30, all are registered nurses.
    • Hospitals see value in nurses getting BSN.

 

Southeast Campus of Tarrant County College

Bill Coppola, President

  • Dual credit is a useful program.
  • 8 early college high schools within district.
  • Arlington Collegiate High School good example of collaboration between high school and community college.
  • 78% of college in US have a community college transcript.
    • Make it easy to transfer credit between community college and universities.
  • Model with UT Arlington ensures students take classes relevant to major and credits will transfer.

 

Clarendon College

Robert Riza, President

  • Faculty driven program in developmental education.
  • Increasing number of high school students with credentials.
  • Doubled dual credit enrollment in last 10 years.
  • 42% of dual credit grads finish bachelor’s degree in 4 years or less.
  • Work with foundations and local groups to offset cost for students with free or reduced lunch.
  • Transfer graduation rate at Texas Tech and West Texas A&M is around 70%.
  • Button – How do you help students to decide to major in a marketable field?
    • Riza – It comes down to advising. Not everyone needs a bachelor’s degree, everyone does need something past high school. At Texas Tech they offer courses that applied to multiple majors while students figure out what they want to do. Some of the responsibility is on the student to figure out what they want to achieve.
    • Coppola – We need to have transfer pathways.
  • Johnson – 93% of career and technical education is provided by community colleges. Workforce readiness is a huge issue, how do we align community college course offerings with what the business community is looking for?
    • Witness – Takes long-term relationships building with companies in the area. Establishment of advisory councils and boards with particular fields, which guide curriculum in that area.
    • Richard Rhodes, President of Austin Community College– Get feedback directly from professionals in the field to faculty and staff. Focus on advanced manufacturing, IT, healthcare, and skilled trades.
    • Johnson – Have the agreements been formal or informal?
    • Rhodes – It was not contractual, but there is a document that is widespread in the community.
    • Riza – We are able to tweak curriculum and programming to ensure the courses are marketable. We speak directly with industries to determine what students need to know.
    • Johnson – There is a higher success rate for community college transfers than direct enrollment, why don’t we do more to incentivize students to make the transfer and get a 4 year degree? Could we have a top 10% of automatic acceptance into 4 year colleges for community college students?
    • Rhodes – “That is music to our ears”. Make sure students take the right core courses for the major. Where students usually have trouble is the last 8 hours of the associate degree. Those hours will transfer but will not necessarily apply to the degree, that is where we usually see a breakdown.
    • Coppola – Working on articulation agreements. We serve undergraduate students, our basic classes like English 1301 is the same at community college as at a university.
  • Frullo – What type of collaboration is done between ISDs, CCs, and state colleges to make sure credits transfer easily?
    • Mark Escamilla, President of Del Mar College – It is imperative for colleges to reach down to school districts, superintendents to find out where their problems are. Regional universities are usually satisfied with transfer students. Endorsements are very useful.
    • Rhodes – Bring together superintendents from service area, have meeting to discuss endorsements, meta-major, what is working.
    • Frullo – What happens when you get outside your service area, are there things that are not accepted?
    • Rhodes – Even within our service area, there are problems with the last 18 hours. Those hours will transfer but maybe not apply to the degree.
  • Wilson – Expand on CTE and high school overlap?
    • Escamilla– National certifications for CTE are set by industries. The overlap is being played out, by next academic year the scenario should be very different from where it is now.
    • Wilson – Is there an agreement with DoD Depos in Corpus Christi?
    • Escamilla – Yes we have agreements, our aviation maintenance program is very robust.
    • Wilson – Have you found that because of that Depo there are other industries moving in looking for that expertise?
    • Escamilla – Yes there are many contractors in the area, and it carries over to them.
    • Wilson – Concerns about what is being taught in CTEs and what is driving demand, what is the future demand for degrees and certificates?
    • Escamilla – Process technology has been evolving to keep up with new developments. Some of the old fashioned programs like millwright programs are highly needed, things like that do not change. We could shift to cybersecurity, that is a field that moves very quickly.

 

University of Texas at Arlington

Vistasp Karbhari, President

  • Fastest growing university in the nation.
  • Designated as a Hispanic serving institution.
  • 3rd in nation for transfer students.
  • #1 in Texas for service to veterans.
  • UTA is emerging research institution.
  • Presence of tier 1 universities fuel economic growth.
  • Need to produce entrepreneurs in Texas.
  • Pursue academic knowledge, workforce skills, and discoveries through research.

 

University of Texas at Dallas

Richard Benson, President

  • In 2009 Texas had only 3 universities in highest R1 research classification.
    • TRIP and NRUF put in place to help emerging research universities achieve higher classification.
    • In 2019 there are now 9 R1 universities.
  • $182m backlog in state match for TRIP funds, one of top priorities is to erase that backlog.
  • UTD has made investments in research, increased quality of students and faculty, increased endowment.
  • Significantly increased number of degrees awarded in past 10 years.
  • Took cuts across the board after 2017 legislative session due to formula funding.
  • Emerging research universities are providing a great development for the communities where they are located.

 

University of Houston

Paula Myrick Short, Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

  • UH is an emerging research institution
  • Working toward AAU membership, benchmarking work against what is required for membership
  • Designated top tier research university by Carnegie Foundation
  • Research expenditures have grown steadily
  • Research publications have increased 91% since 2006
  • Governor’s initiative to recruit 5 new National Academy members was very helpful, would like to have more.
  • Increase in 6 and 4 year graduation rates. Expect 6 year graduation rate to b e 61%, a significant growth over the last 10 years.
  • Significant increase in US News ranking

 

University of North Texas

Neal Smatresk, President

  • Emerging research funds and NRUF competition have been useful for state.
  • Nationally prominent universities provide careers for citizens, economic development for the state.
  • UNT emphasizes integration of arts, humanities, and technology.
  • Increased research activities are more integrated than in the past, partnerships with UT Arlington and UTD.
  • UNT is a creative institution, does not necessarily follow model of other universities.
  • Button – When Amazon turned down Austin, Dallas, or anywhere else in Texas they said it was because we had a talent gap. When I look at our universities I say, “what is the talent gap you are talking about”. But our universities are not on the level of MIT, Stanford, or Cal Berkley. I would like to offer my personal help with talking to Greg Bonnen in his capacity as chair of S/C on Article III in getting TRIP funding.
  • Walle – It is important to get funding, would be good for the state to have multiple flagship universities.