| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, The Houston Community College System is marking its |
|
|
40th anniversary in 2011, and this occasion presents an ideal |
|
|
opportunity to recognize this outstanding institution; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, In early 1971, voters in the Houston Independent |
|
|
School District approved a community college district that would |
|
|
share the district's facilities; initial course offerings that fall |
|
|
centered around occupational and technical training, and academic |
|
|
courses were added the following January; within three years, the |
|
|
initial enrollment of approximately 5,700 students had nearly |
|
|
tripled; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Enrollment increased rapidly through the 1980s, and |
|
|
HCC officially separated from HISD in 1989, gaining taxing |
|
|
authority and its own elected board of trustees; following a |
|
|
restructuring in 1991, the president of HCC became system |
|
|
chancellor with responsibility for five regional colleges and the |
|
|
College Without Walls; an innovative partnership between the City |
|
|
of Stafford and HCC enabled the construction of the Southwest |
|
|
College, and in 1999 the system celebrated the opening of the new |
|
|
Northeast College campus, the West Loop Center, and the John B. |
|
|
Coleman Building for Health Sciences, which later became the |
|
|
Coleman College for Health Sciences, replacing the College Without |
|
|
Walls; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, By 2001, HCC was ranked the second largest community |
|
|
college in the nation by Community College Week, and the subsequent |
|
|
passage of a $150 million bond set the stage for continued growth; |
|
|
HCC received an Achieving the Dream grant from the Bill and Melinda |
|
|
Gates Foundation in 2004 to expand the system's groundbreaking |
|
|
programs designed to improve college completion rates for |
|
|
low-income and minority students; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Dr. Mary Spangler became the seventh chancellor of |
|
|
HCC in 2007, and under her skillful leadership, the system has |
|
|
continued to flourish, reaching a record enrollment of 72,000 |
|
|
students for spring 2010; today, HCC has six full-service colleges, |
|
|
and its 22 instructional sites serve an area of more than 600 square |
|
|
miles; it offers academic courses for transfer to four-year |
|
|
institutions, as well as terminal degrees and certificates in more |
|
|
than 70 fields of work; in addition, it provides continuing |
|
|
education and corporate training, lifelong learning and enrichment |
|
|
programs, and the largest adult education program in Texas; the |
|
|
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has rated 26 of the |
|
|
system's workforce programs "exemplary"; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Over the past four decades, Houston Community |
|
|
College has proven a powerful force for educational opportunity and |
|
|
economic development, and it has enriched the lives of countless |
|
|
students; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby commemorate the 40th anniversary of the founding |
|
|
of Houston Community College and extend to all those associated |
|
|
with this notable institution sincere best wishes for continued |
|
|
success; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
|
prepared for Houston Community College as an expression of high |
|
|
regard by the Texas House of Representatives. |