Access to higher education falls on voters’ shoulders
Access to higher education falls on voters’ shoulders
Written by Julia Kennedy Jayes Thursday, 07 September 2006
Austin Community College has served the needs of Austin students for decades, providing affordable and accessible education and degrees to taxpayers and their families. Most residents of outlying cities are unaware of the process required to bring a community campus to their town. They assume that part of their taxes are going to fund the college, and that they are due access to those courses and classrooms.
“Each community has to approach ACC and ask for annexation,” explains Veronica Obregon, public information and college marketing spokesman for ACC. “They have to ask for a campus or for greater offerings. They have to collect signatures from 5% of registered voters in their ISD to bring a ballot about.”
Usually, a steering committee is formed, like the one headed by Stacy Dukes Rhone for Pflugerville. While Pflugerville is taking steps to bring ACC to the area, no official actions have been taken.
In Round Rock, residents have been particularly confused by the newly opened Round Rock Higher Education Center, which many believed to be a fully-fledged ACC campus.
“Round Rock Higher Education Center is an outgrowth of a collaborative effort that came about when the Avery family donated 100 acres of land to Texas State University for the purpose of bringing higher education to the area,” says ACC president and CEO, Steve Kinslow. “The state paid for the building, ACC is providing the courses and faculty for the freshman and sophomore years, and Texas State is covering the more specialized courses for the final two years.”
Neither ACC nor TSU offers a full course load independent of the other. The arrangement allows each institution to specialize in the areas in which they are strongest – core curriculum from ACC, and specialized, upper class courses from Texas State.
“As Texas State’s enrollment increases, this arrangement will begin to shift,” Kinslow said. “Over the next five years or so, ACC’s presence will decline at RRHEC as TSU requires more and more space. It is our hope that the community’s efforts toward annexation will pay off during that time, allowing us to build a wholly separate ACC campus with full course offerings, including workforce education and specialized sciences.”
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