Energy is high this week on the Clarendon College campus with students beginning the fall semester this week and an administration looking forward to continuing a tradition of student success.
CC President Robert Riza set the tone for the semester last Thursday during All College Day as he listed statistics that make Clarendon stand out from other community colleges.
“Our average time to complete a degree is 2.3 years, the state average is 4.4,” Dr. Riza told CC faculty and staff. “Our average hours to a degree is 66, and the state average is 90. These figures make us number one in the state, and we’ve made that known in Austin.”
Riza said student success points have gone up for CC because the work of everyone at the college, and he also pointed to the college having a 10 percent increase in credentials earned as a sign of the dedication of its employees.
“Everyone’s job here matters,” Riza said.
Delivering a keynote address later in the morning, former Amarillo College president Paul Matney reinforced Riza’s message.
“There is an air of excitement as this semester starts,” Matney said, noting the success of CC students Wyatt Casper with the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association saddle bronc riding championship and Hosea Nelson and Michael Cruz, who were drafted by Major League Baseball teams, and the recent agreement with Texas Tech that will give CC students earning and Associates Degree in Nursing automatic admission to Tech’s nursing bachelor’s program.
“Student success is the heart and soul of this college,” Matney said. “It is the business of the business.”
Matney praised the accomplishments CC has achieved over the last couple of years, and reiterated the statistics that Riza listed earlier.
“A degree in an average of 2.3 years? Nobody does that,” Matney said. “Great things are happening at Clarendon College.”
Clarendon’s impressive statistics come in part from its innovative approach to developmental education in which students with remedial needs are immersed in traditional college classes with added tutorial help rather than having to spend multiple semesters in developmental classes.
The program began in the math department and has taken a system that previously got students ready for college-level math over a period of 2½ years and accelerated it to 16 weeks.
The method was pioneered by CC math instructors Linda Rowland and Dr. Jeremy Sain, and Riza recognized the pair last week for having won the “Texans Caring for Texans” award just days earlier in Canyon.
Riza also recognized CC Rodeo Coach Brett Franks and Enrollment Services Coordinator Martha Smith for going above and beyond their duties to make improvements to the college campus on their own time.
The president also recognized three employees for promotions Brad Vanden Boogaard as Dean of Student Affairs, Bryan Fuller as Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Ashlee Estlack as Chief of Staff.
Looking forward to the new academic year, Riza said CC will be focused on improving student services, will expand and co-mingle technical offerings where appropriate to better equip students for the workplace, and will continue to strengthen relationships with area school districts to provide greater opportunities for students, such as the recent expansion of the PEAK scholarship program at Clarendon ISD.
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