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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Texas State Technical College is celebrating its |
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50th anniversary in 2015, and the attainment of this milestone |
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offers a fitting opportunity to celebrate this unique educational |
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institution; and |
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WHEREAS, Created by Governor John Connally and the 59th Texas |
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Legislature in April 1965, the James Connally Technical Institute |
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of Texas A&M University was intended from the start to be, in the |
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words of Governor Connally, "the most sophisticated |
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technical-vocational institute in the country"; and |
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WHEREAS, Under the leadership of its first director, Dr. Roy |
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Dugger, JCTI opened its first campus at the former James Connally |
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Air Force Base in Waco, and in 1967, the institute opened a |
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bilingual technical institute at the former Harlingen Air Force |
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Base; and |
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WHEREAS, JCTI was made independent of Texas A&M in 1969 and |
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renamed the Texas State Technical Institute; over the next two |
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decades, the success of TSTI led to the creation of additional |
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campuses in Amarillo, Sweetwater, McAllen, Abilene, Breckenridge, |
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Brownwood, and Marshall; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1991, the Texas Legislature elevated the status |
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of the campuses, designating them as two-year technical colleges |
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with a new name, Texas State Technical College, and in 2013, the |
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funding method for the TSTC System was placed on a "returned-value" |
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basis, making it the first college system in the nation whose |
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funding depends entirely on student success; in the years since |
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that change, TSTC has seen a 23 percent increase in student awards, |
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and a 60 percent increase in first-year earnings for graduates; and |
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WHEREAS, Today, working in close collaboration with |
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industry, government agencies, and other institutions of higher |
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learning, the 11 locations of the TSTC System across the Lone Star |
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State offer vocational students 124 associate degrees and 133 |
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certificate programs, preparing them for successful, well-paying |
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careers through excellence in technical education; and |
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WHEREAS, During its first half-century, the TSTC System has |
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produced nearly 100,000 graduates and truly lived up to the vision |
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of its founders by becoming one of the most sophisticated technical |
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and vocational institutions in the nation; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas |
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Legislature hereby commemorate the 50th anniversary of Texas State |
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Technical College and extend to its administration, staff, and |
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students sincere best wishes for continued success; and, be it |
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further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for Texas State Technical College as an expression of high |
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regard by the Texas House of Representatives. |
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Kacal |
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______________________________ |
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Speaker of the House |
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I certify that H.R. No. 825 was adopted by the House on March |
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12, 2015, by a non-record vote. |
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______________________________ |
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Chief Clerk of the House |
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