CC summer enrollment posts gains

Clarendon College’s summer enrollment is showing impressive gains, according to information presented to the Board of Regents during their June 15 meeting in Pampa.

President Robert Riza said the college’s spring mini-session saw its enrollment shoot up 172 percent from 79 students to 215.

“This was the second time we’ve done this two-week mini-session, which is all online,” Dr. Riza told the Enterprise, “Our marketing is why that is so huge. We specifically marketed this session as well as marketed online classes and our online degree.”

The college also saw a big jump in its 12-week summer session for its career and technical classes. Those numbers are up 41 percent from 168 last summer to 238. Those numbers include students enrolled in cosmetology and nursing.

The traditional five-week Summer I session is up 53 percent, from 202 students last year to 309 this year. Riza said enrollment on the Pampa campus grew from 22 to 60, which the administration largely attributes to changes in the nursing program and encouraging those students to get prerequisites taken care of before the fall semester begins.

The Summer I growth also includes a rise in distance education, or online, classes from 159 last year to 229, which Riza said again reflects marketing efforts.

By comparison, Summer I traditional sessions at area colleges have been as follows: Amarillo College up 13 percent, West Texas A&M up 5.25 percent, and Frank Phillips College down 4 percent.

Enrollment for the Summer II session is ongoing with classes to start July 12, and Riza said the CC is already seeing growth in Pampa and Childress for that session.

“Our enrollment growth overall is a result of the hard work of a lot of people,” Riza said. “From getting the word out and doing things differently, it continues to pay off. We’ve also got a faculty and staff that are willing to get it done.”

In other business at the June meeting, Regents approved an extension of CC’s contract with Great Western Dining, set the tuition and fee schedule for 2017-2018, and authorized requirements for nursing degree and admission requirements.

The board also ratified the hiring of LaRoyce McAdoo as the high school equivalency / adult education and literary success coach, Angela Fennell as an administrative assistant in Pampa, Lukas Ziegler as the assistant livestock judging coach, and Lori Beesely as the GED instructor.