1.
2012 state of
the college
Oct o b e r 1 9 , 2 012
T h e J uni o r Le a g ue o f Hou s to n
Hou s t o n, T e xa s

2.
An address by
Dr. Mary S. Spangler,
HCC Chancellor
I want to begin by thanking each of you for being here this morning. We are
so blessed with the committed community here in Houston where this college
operates. I know you believe in HCC and believe in where we’re going. I also
believe in you. You all have helped me and my team take us to heights no one
would have thought possible 41 years ago when Houston Community College
was founded.
Before I begin my address, I want to thank the members of our Board of
Trustees for their deep commitment to this great institution. As Board Chair
Perez mentioned, they volunteer their time and talents to benefit our students.
Houston Community College held its 5th annual State of the College
address to provide an overview of the institution’s accomplishments I want to thank you for being here this morning. Thank you for believing in our
and transformational approach to student learning, operations, the college. Thank you for believing in our students. Thank you for believing in our
city’s workforce as well as the Houston economy. faculty and executive leadership. And thank you for recognizing the impact the
institution is having on Houston.
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3.
working to be
innovative and
forward thinking
Today’s comments are about how we keep Houston working. My address is going
to depart from previous years’ that were somewhat laden with data. In this 5th anniversary
address, I want to capture for you the energy and focus essential to training today’s
workforce as well as tomorrow’s. Both are vital to our community’s economic stability.
Houston is the most economically viable city in the country and depends on a strong and
job-relevant community college like HCC. We are an asset that drives the economy; we are
proud to keep Houston working!
Our future is not preordained. The future of our city is our responsibility to fashion and
create. We must have a skilled, trained workforce to compete in the 21st century global
economy. Our students must have the skills to compete for the jobs of the future. One of the
great attributes of this institution is our ability to respond quickly to the needs of employers
and businesses.
We are working to be the most innovative, forward-thinking institution. We are so fortunate
to have a strong, vibrant economy in Houston. But the reality is that many people don’t
have access to affordable higher education. At HCC, we work to bring new opportunities,
new experiences, and new programs to our students. Our students benefit. So do
our communities.
As one of the largest community colleges in the country, our top priority and mission are
to serve both students and communities. We are proud to be #1 in the state and #2 in
the country for awarding 2-year degrees and technical certificates. In fact, HCC leads
in transfers to U. of H., U.T. and A&M. I can report that 78% of students who completed a
degree at a four-year institution in Texas had previously enrolled at a two-year institution.
That certainly drives home our relevance!
Speaking of keeping Houston working… we rank #1 for placing students in jobs. In fact,
over 90% of HCC students are placed in a job or the military or transfer to upper division.
We are proud of our track record for our students and our community. We are proud to
be educating over 70,000 students—that’s unduplicated headcount by the way—each
semester at our six colleges.
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4.
We have developed several innovative partnerships to give students opportunities to go
further than many of them would have ever dreamed of.
One example is our recent partnership with the University of Texas at Tyler. This new
creative pathway for engineering students is to complete their ABET accredited
90% of our students
Associate degree at HCC and then transition to UT Tyler to complete their Bachelor’s
degree while still at the HCC Alief campus. They will take classes at the Alief campus to give
them even more opportunities for careers in the engineering field in the Houston region.
Interning will provide them on-the-job experiences; give them entrée to potential employers,
experienced success in
one form or another.
and even help them earn stipends.
Another example is our three-way partnership with the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small
Businesses initiative. This is having a noticeable impact on small businesses in our area.
Hundreds of Houston area business owners have completed the accelerated 80-hour
Executive MBA program that offers an enriched upper-division curriculum from Babson
College while in residence at HCC’s Northwest College campus. Retention and persistence
data are close to 100%. We are partnering also with the City of Houston, and Houston And another example is our partnership with the Houston Texans! We are so proud to be
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Funding to help existing businesses move up to the next the official education partner of the Houston Texans. And this year we launched an
level is the desired outcome. And it is working. historic, innovative program called the HCC Field of Opportunity to provide students
with scholarships to HCC. The program builds on HCC’s Opportunity 14 scholarships
Of HCC’s 15,222 first-time in college students who entered in Fall 2006, we have outcomes administered by the Houston Community College Foundation. Each time the Texans score 14
worth publicizing. Five years later, 12% had earned HCC degrees and awards; 40% had points, a scholarship is awarded. In addition, when the Texans hold an opponent below 14 points,
transferred to upper division institutions; 32% left in good standing; and 6% were still another scholarship is also awarded. The scholarships will be presented in both wins and losses –
enrolled at HCC. So another way to frame these percentages is to say, 90% of our students recognizing that with education there is always a winner. To date, the Texans have won 8 scholarships
experienced success in one form or another while 10% were no longer enrolled. for us! This is a terrific program! How about those Texans!
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5.
One example is in our grants office, which we are transforming from an area receiving grants
Educational opportunity
totaling $30 million/year to $100 million/year within the next 5 years in order to offset
state budget cuts. Identifying new funding streams has been a focus of mine since coming to
HCC. In fact, six years ago we received only $5 million in grants each year, compared to
$30 million today. We are all proud of the entrepreneurial culture we are developing.
is the best resource We are forward-thinking in every aspect of our institution. We recently launched Career
Coach, an interactive software tool that allows current and prospective students and
our community a valuable tool to help guide the process of career selection. Education
we can provide for the implies an investment of time and resources, and this resource provides real time data on career
projections, that can help individuals in determining the return on their investment in specific
fields of choice.
future of our great city. The institution is working hard to identify ways to meet the needs of the emerging labor force.
We recently held a Manufacturing Skills Summit, the first in a series of summits to bring together
industry leaders and educators to address the need for skilled and credentialed workers, the
future of the manufacturing industry, and the best way to partner with industry to train the next
generation of manufacturing workers.
The 4th Annual Chancellor’s Symposium on Engineering brought together middle and
high school students, along with our community college students, in order to give them
We are so proud of the exponential growth and impact that the HCC Foundation and
a chance to see the vast potential in terms of opportunities in the engineering field. The
its board have had on our community. The Opportunity 14 Scholarship program is an
event was held at Space Center Houston, and 1,400 students across Houston attended
innovative way to ensure all students - regardless of their financial circumstances - have a
and enjoyed hands-on learning opportunities, exposure to problem solving, and working
chance at an affordable higher education. Educational opportunity is the best resource we
collaboratively. Parents, teachers, and counselors also attended. So what I hope you have
can provide for the future of our great city. We continue to find ways to work better as an
heard so far are a few of the ways we are being innovative and forward thinking for our
institution and continue to refine the institution’s reorganization as we grow and serve the
students and our community.
needs of our community.
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6.
Working for
our region’s
economy
But we are also doing much more; we are working for our region’s economy. Recently we
published the results of our latest economic impact study, and each of you received a copy
today. I wanted to share a few of the highlights to show you how HCC is a meaningful and
significant investment from multiple perspectives.
What we’re doing is paying off.
• Taxpayers see an 8.2% return on their investment.
• HCC adds $2.2 billion to the region annually.
• Associate degree graduates can expect to earn an average of $63,800 more per year
than someone without a high school diploma or GED.
• In fact, we know post-secondary education reduces crime, unemployment, and
welfare, saving Texas taxpayers more than $17 million annually.
This institution has come a long way. We are dramatically changing the lives of the students
who are looking for academic advancement. We are dramatically impacting individuals who
are looking for a better way of life. 80% of HCC alums stay in Houston and 95% remain
in Texas to contribute to its economic impact. We are proud of our impact on the local
economy and honored to provide critical services to the communities we serve.
80% of HCC alums
stay in Houston and
95% remain in Texas.
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7.
Working for
the Future
of Houston
We have also spent a great deal of time over the past year to set the course for the
college’s future. Our new three-year strategic plan, Creating Opportunities for Our
Shared Future, creates new opportunity, has continuing relevance, and is essential to the
future of the college and the city.
Through a Board-led, comprehensive and inclusive strategic planning process that utilized
environmental scanning, opinion survey, community input, and current literature review, the
District’s leadership identified seven strategic initiatives, building on the recently completed
strategic plan. These initiatives have been incorporated into the new plan to help address
what the college, Houston, and our nation require from a premier higher education institution
that strives to be the most relevant in the United States.
Seven initiatives will guide us through 2015:
1. Increase student completion through advanced educational opportunities
2. Respond to the needs of business and industry for skilled workers
3. Ensure instructional programs provide the knowledge and skills required for 21st
century learners
4. Enrich institutional capacity for faculty and staff professional development and student
leadership development
5. Support innovation as a means to improve institutional resilience
6. Cultivate an entrepreneurial culture across the institution
7. Leverage local and international partnerships for
institutional and community development
We know our strategic plan will continue to evolve as our city’s needs change. Our institution
will continue to respond to the needs of area businesses and our community at large. We
will continue to do everything we can to put qualified students to work.
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8.
Working to build
the workforce
of tomorrow
With Houston’s rapid growth and increasing population, the future is now. Our
institution recognizes our actions today will define the Houston of tomorrow.
In August the HCC Board of Trustees voted to put a $425 million bond referendum before
the voters on the evidence of HCC’s aging infrastructure, overflow capacity, technology
needs and, most important, input from all of our stakeholders. We need more than the
amount of this bond, as this is the first phase of our 25 year Master Plan. Yet, this is the
amount that’s vital to get us where we need to be.
In order to meet student and community needs, especially in high-demand areas such as
health sciences, as well as science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education,
we developed a growth plan for the future.
A few highlights include:
• Needing to build new buildings to keep up with HCC’s growth. Since 2007, the
college has experienced a 40% growth in the student population. We have
grown from 50,000 to 75,000 students. We are at 92% capacity. We have
buildings in need of repair because of the wear and tear over the years, and quite
honestly, overuse.
• In some cases we are either near capacity or have exceeded capacity. For instance,
HCC Coleman College was originally built to accommodate 1,500 students. Today
we are accommodating 3,500 students and are turning away 9 out of 10 nursing
students because we cannot accommodate any more than what we are currently able
to enroll. Yet, in Houston there is a significant nursing shortage. This isn’t about HCC.
This is about the needs in our city.
• In that same healthcare area, we train nurses and medical technicians who require
the most recent technology to get certified. That means purchasing expensive medical
equipment to meet the training demands for those jobs.
We’ve worked hard to educate and engage the community about the bond program, and
have held 15 community forums throughout the 625 square mile region that HCC serves.
We’ve also participated in radio and TV interviews and over 230 community events.
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9.
Conclusion
We are optimistic about our region’s future. I hope each of you understands the
impact HCC is having. We are working hard for you, for our city, and for our students to
make sure our economy remains strong.
We’re working hard to make people productive and our community successful.
Researchers expect the next census will name Houston as the 3rd largest city in the
country. Our Master Plan for the future will help us be prepared with the facilities to
educate our growing population using the newest technologies and teaching methods.
We have a stable, experienced administrative team that has worked to ensure and
then received confirmation of our recent reaffirmation of accreditation in June 2012
without any negative or adverse actions. We continue to maintain a strong financial
base with a good reserve and have earned an unqualified audit despite having our
state appropriations reduced this biennium by $64 million. And, we have worked
together collaboratively across the institution to find ways to reduce institutional costs
and create organizational efficiencies without reducing force to build an institution that
will continue to remain a vital part of our community.
In short, what I hope you’ve heard today is that Houston Community College is
keeping Houston working through our efforts and your support.
Thank you,
Chancellor Mary S. Spangler, Ed. D., and HCC Board of Trustees
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10.
Board of trustees
2012
Mary Ann Perez Bruce A. Austin Neeta Sane
Chair, District III Vice Chair, District II Secretary, District VII
Yolanda Navarro Flores Carroll G. Robinson Richard M. Schechter
District I District IV District V
Sandie A. Mullins Eva Loredo Christopher W. Oliver
District VI District VIII District IX
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11.
HCC’s Vision
Houston Com m un i t y Co l l eg e w i l l be
th e m ost rel evan t co mmuni t y
colle ge in the count ry. We w i l l be
th e opportuni ty i ns t i t ut i o n fo r
every stude nt we s erv e – e sse n t ial
to o ur c om m unity’s s ucces s .
Approved, 2008
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