Clarendon College President Robert Riza reflected on the successes of 2017 and put attention on new opportunities in 2018 when faculty reported for All College Day last Thursday, January 11, to get ready for the spring semester, which got underway this week.
“We’ve come a long way, but we’re not done,” Dr. Riza said. “The bus continues to roll.”
The president pointed to the college’s new commercial driver’s license program, which already has graduates who are employed in the industry, and said, “Career technical programing has to be important to Clarendon College.”
Other success from the last year that Riza pointed to were the implementation of an Honors College, the renewal of CC’s horse judging program, and the development of the WT Safety Net program.
Riza said it was okay to make mistakes while trying to achieve, noting that “Failure is an option; failure to learn from it is not.”
He also discussed the shattering of all college enrollment records in the spring, spring-mini, summer, fall, and fall-mini sessions.
“I greatly appreciate all of your efforts in setting those records,” Riza told the faculty and staff.
Enrollment and high graduation rates at Clarendon have gotten attention at the state level.
“There is a reason Clarendon College matters in Austin,” Riza said. “It’s what you do on a daily basis.”
The president quoted motivational points from Kansas State University Coach Bill Snyder before discussing new initiatives for 2018, particularly greater partnership opportunities with West Texas A&M University and the development of an Education Aide Program.
Numbers in the dorms this spring are ahead of fall 2016, Riza said, and enrollment is trending ahead of 2017 as the college looks to continue to grow.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.