History of Community Colleges and HCC Narrative_5.3.10
Content
1 History of Community Colleges and Houston Community College
Community Colleges Nationally
The demands of a changing society, from the pressures of industrialization in the 19th Century to World Wars and economic challenges in the first half of the 20th Century, created a need for higher education that was formulated to meet the needs of that changing society. In its conception, the American community college was designed for that purpose. Community colleges grew out of the need to train a growing and increasingly diversified workforce, to provide a low-cost education that is geographically convenient, and to be accessible to all adults in a community. Industrial innovations at the end of the 19th Century, such as mass-production, mechanization, and faster modes of transportation and communication, drove rural Americans and an influx of immigrants into the cities to find opportunities in the burgeoning urban industries. These new industries opened up jobs, but those jobs required training. Many secondary schools or religious-affiliated institutions began to offer post-secondary, academic and vocational courses. Joliet Junior College, founded in 1901 in Illinois, is the first recognized community college in the U.S. As the new century progressed, there was a shift in educational philosophy. University presidents viewed scientific inquiry and the devotion to the advancement of knowledge as upper-level university endeavors, while developmental and introductory courses to the arts and sciences should be handled within the first two years of a baccalaureate program.1 Educators felt that high schools or small liberal arts colleges should fulfill those educational roles. This vision for higher education and the pragmatic demands on America’s workforce presented by foreign conflicts and economic crises became the foundation upon which community colleges were built. The first stage of initial community college development occurred between 1900 and 1920, with the first period of significant growth in new institutions in the second half of that time period. In 1921 the American Association of Junior Colleges was formed to provide a forum for the new institutions. The second stage of community college development, 1920 to 1945, was ushered in by the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917. This law provided for federal support of vocational education below the four-year university level. The importance of this became painfully apparent during the economic depression of the 1930s. Community colleges became an important resource in the development and training for occupational programs. The third stage for America’s community colleges came after World War II when competition for jobs reached a peak as servicemen returned to civilian life.
1
Educational Encyclopedia, StateUniversity.com, Net Industries, 2008, Community Colleges - The History of Community Colleges, The junior college and the research university., The Community College Mission, <http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1873/Community-Colleges.html>, accessed 2/7/2008.
2 Although community colleges had always been in tune with their communities’ needs, the post-World War II environment emphasized a shift from academic-centered to community service-centered programs on the community college level. Community colleges enjoyed another growth spurt throughout the 1950s. The prosperity of the post World War II years eventually gave way to a conservative population base that weighed the advantages of new school startups against the burden of added taxation. In the 1960s, the number of new community colleges began to slow down. It is that burden of taxation that presented the most difficulty for the Houston Independent School District’s steering committee for a public junior college for Houston.
Houston Community College
In light of Houston’s growing population and booming economy requiring an educated workforce, leaders from thirteen Harris County school districts conducted a study in 1968 to determine the need for an area community or junior college. The need to provide accessible and affordable higher-education and vocational training to an underserviced, college-aged population was obvious. Harris County voters, however, voted against creating a community college district, as well as a 65 cent tax and $75 million bond. Community leaders and educators stepped back and regrouped. They understood that as the population of the Greater Houston area grew more diverse, the job market was equally diversifying. Because of Houston’s pivotal role in the booming oil and gas industry, the city was becoming a major economic force. The expanding business interests in southeast Texas required a workforce that had adequate training and education. Knowing the growing needs of the population and the county, Harris County’s public school leaders tried again in 1971 and on May 18 the Houston Community College System, as a component of the Houston Independent School District, was official. As a component of HISD, HCC used HISD facilities for evening classes. The new community college relied upon only tuition and state-designated monies for operation expenses, and therefore did not put any burden on Harris County taxpayers.2 Dr. Joseph Champagne and HISD’s Superintendent for Vocational Education, J.B. Whiteley, were instrumental in the effort to establish a community college for Harris County. Dr. Champagne was chosen as HCC’s first president from 1971 to 1973. J. Don Boney was HCC’s second president. J. B. Whiteley headed the community college as its third president from 1975 to 1990. Because of Mr. Whiteley’s understanding for the Houston area’s need for vocational training, the community college’s first offerings were occupational and technical classes at the Houston Technical Institute (housed in HISD’s San Jacinto High School on Holman). Five thousand, seven hundred and eleven students registered for those classes in August of 1971. The following January, HCC offered its first academic or university parallel courses at six area high schools.
2
Marilynn Back Liddell, Historical Documentary of Socio-Political and Socio-Economic Factors in Creating Houston Community College (1967-1971), A doctoral dissertation presented to the graduate faculty of the College of Education, University of Houston, December, 1982.
3
In 1974 HCC housed administration offices in a building in southwest Houston, and conducted classes at eight HISD campuses and the Houston Technical Institute. By 1976, a total of 28,093 students were enrolled in HCC classes for the academic year. HCC received accreditation from the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges in 1977, and the accreditation was extended for another 10 years in 1982. In 1978 HCC and HISD built a facility in the Texas Medical Center for health care programs. HISD transferred the Houston Technical Institute (the old San Jacinto High School) to HCC. In 1980 the San Jacinto High School building received a $5 million renovation. Throughout the 1980s, enrollment in HCC’s career or job-related educational programs increased. By 1985 over 112 vocational and technical programs were offered. In 1986, 32,943 students were attending HCC classes. May 30, 1987, the Texas governor approved a bill to establish an HCC Board of Trustees, separate from HISD. Initially appointed by the HISD Board, HCC’s trustees afterwards were elected public officials. Also passed at this time was a bill to allow HCC to collect a tax equal to its share of the HISD tax. In 1988 enrollment was up to 48,554. The same year, the college annexed the Stafford School District in Fort Bend County and increased its instructional sites to 37. HCC officially separated from HISD with its own elected Board of Trustees and taxing authority in 1989. HCC named Dr. Charles Green its fourth president in 1990. HCC restructured in 1991, created five regional colleges and the College Without Walls, and selected presidents for each. The president of HCC then became the HCC System Chancellor. In 1996 Dr. Ruth Burgoss-Sasser became HCC’s fifth leader, Chancellor of Houston Community College. She was the first female Hispanic to head a major Houston institution of higher learning. Dr. Bruce Leslie was named HCC’s sixth Chancellor in 2001. A first-of-a-kind partnership between the city of Stafford and HCC spearheaded the construction of a new building for the Southwest College in 1995, and culminated with an entire campus in 1998. By 1998, HCC was the nation’s tenth largest, singularly accredited, higher educational institution with 50,898 students enrolled. In 1999 the new Northeast College campus, the West Loop Center, and the John B. Coleman Building for Health Sciences opened. The Coleman building became the Coleman College for Health Sciences in 2004, replacing the College Without Walls.
4 HCC was ranked the second largest community college in the nation in 2001 by Community College Week. With the passage of a $150.8 million bond in 2003, HCC began a Capital Improvement Plan that promises continued growth. In 2004 HCC was considered among the top community colleges bridging the digital divide. Enrollment had reached 55, 090, and the college received the Achieving the Dream Grant to increase the success of underserved students. Dr. Mary Spangler joined HCC as the college’s seventh chancellor in March, 2007. From occupying HISD classrooms in the evening to six full-service colleges, HCC continues to grow. Today HCC serves an area that spans 623 square miles and has 22 instructional sites throughout the area. Enrollment for the Fall 2009 passed 65,000. In 2008 facilities in Missouri City, the new Northline Campus and the Alief Campus opened. New facilities at Central, Northeast, Southeast and Southwest Colleges opened in 2009. A Learning Hub will become a centralizing and standardizing building for student and community use at each of these colleges. In 2008 the Alief Community voted four to one for annexation into the HCC District. In 2009 North Forest residents voted to join the HCC District. For Alief and North Forest, this means 50 percent reduction in tuition costs to students to attend classes at HCC, and more jobs will be created for the community. In the Spring of 2010, HCC exceeded the 72,000 student enrollment mark, the largest enrollment in the history of the college. Houston Community College’s success illustrates its dedication to the initiatives originally set forth for the college. Although the Official Statement of Purpose has changed its wording over the last three decades, HCC’s purpose has remained steady. HCC provides academic courses for transfer to four-year institutions, terminal degrees and certificates in more than 70 fields of work, continuing education and corporate training, lifelong learning and enrichment programs, and the largest adult education program in Texas. Twenty-six of HCC’s workforce programs have been rated exemplary by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Houston Community College’s goal is to make sure everyone in and around Houston has the opportunity to realize, not only their own potential, but Houston’s potential. Works Cited Educational Encyclopedia, StateUniversity.com, Net Industries, 2008. Community Colleges - The History of Community Colleges, The junior college and the research university., The Community College Mission, accessed 2/7/2008. <http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1873/Community-Colleges.html>. Liddell, Marilynn Back. Historical Documentary of Socio-Political and Socio-Economic Factors in Creating Houston Community College (1967-1971). An unpublished doctoral dissertation presented to the graduate faculty of the College of Education,
5 University of Houston, December, 1982. Houston Community College, 35th Anniversary. Commemorative pamphlet. Houston, Texas: Houston Community College, 2006.
Community Colleges Nationally
The demands of a changing society, from the pressures of industrialization in the 19th Century to World Wars and economic challenges in the first half of the 20th Century, created a need for higher education that was formulated to meet the needs of that changing society. In its conception, the American community college was designed for that purpose. Community colleges grew out of the need to train a growing and increasingly diversified workforce, to provide a low-cost education that is geographically convenient, and to be accessible to all adults in a community. Industrial innovations at the end of the 19th Century, such as mass-production, mechanization, and faster modes of transportation and communication, drove rural Americans and an influx of immigrants into the cities to find opportunities in the burgeoning urban industries. These new industries opened up jobs, but those jobs required training. Many secondary schools or religious-affiliated institutions began to offer post-secondary, academic and vocational courses. Joliet Junior College, founded in 1901 in Illinois, is the first recognized community college in the U.S. As the new century progressed, there was a shift in educational philosophy. University presidents viewed scientific inquiry and the devotion to the advancement of knowledge as upper-level university endeavors, while developmental and introductory courses to the arts and sciences should be handled within the first two years of a baccalaureate program.1 Educators felt that high schools or small liberal arts colleges should fulfill those educational roles. This vision for higher education and the pragmatic demands on America’s workforce presented by foreign conflicts and economic crises became the foundation upon which community colleges were built. The first stage of initial community college development occurred between 1900 and 1920, with the first period of significant growth in new institutions in the second half of that time period. In 1921 the American Association of Junior Colleges was formed to provide a forum for the new institutions. The second stage of community college development, 1920 to 1945, was ushered in by the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917. This law provided for federal support of vocational education below the four-year university level. The importance of this became painfully apparent during the economic depression of the 1930s. Community colleges became an important resource in the development and training for occupational programs. The third stage for America’s community colleges came after World War II when competition for jobs reached a peak as servicemen returned to civilian life.
1
Educational Encyclopedia, StateUniversity.com, Net Industries, 2008, Community Colleges - The History of Community Colleges, The junior college and the research university., The Community College Mission, <http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1873/Community-Colleges.html>, accessed 2/7/2008.
2 Although community colleges had always been in tune with their communities’ needs, the post-World War II environment emphasized a shift from academic-centered to community service-centered programs on the community college level. Community colleges enjoyed another growth spurt throughout the 1950s. The prosperity of the post World War II years eventually gave way to a conservative population base that weighed the advantages of new school startups against the burden of added taxation. In the 1960s, the number of new community colleges began to slow down. It is that burden of taxation that presented the most difficulty for the Houston Independent School District’s steering committee for a public junior college for Houston.
Houston Community College
In light of Houston’s growing population and booming economy requiring an educated workforce, leaders from thirteen Harris County school districts conducted a study in 1968 to determine the need for an area community or junior college. The need to provide accessible and affordable higher-education and vocational training to an underserviced, college-aged population was obvious. Harris County voters, however, voted against creating a community college district, as well as a 65 cent tax and $75 million bond. Community leaders and educators stepped back and regrouped. They understood that as the population of the Greater Houston area grew more diverse, the job market was equally diversifying. Because of Houston’s pivotal role in the booming oil and gas industry, the city was becoming a major economic force. The expanding business interests in southeast Texas required a workforce that had adequate training and education. Knowing the growing needs of the population and the county, Harris County’s public school leaders tried again in 1971 and on May 18 the Houston Community College System, as a component of the Houston Independent School District, was official. As a component of HISD, HCC used HISD facilities for evening classes. The new community college relied upon only tuition and state-designated monies for operation expenses, and therefore did not put any burden on Harris County taxpayers.2 Dr. Joseph Champagne and HISD’s Superintendent for Vocational Education, J.B. Whiteley, were instrumental in the effort to establish a community college for Harris County. Dr. Champagne was chosen as HCC’s first president from 1971 to 1973. J. Don Boney was HCC’s second president. J. B. Whiteley headed the community college as its third president from 1975 to 1990. Because of Mr. Whiteley’s understanding for the Houston area’s need for vocational training, the community college’s first offerings were occupational and technical classes at the Houston Technical Institute (housed in HISD’s San Jacinto High School on Holman). Five thousand, seven hundred and eleven students registered for those classes in August of 1971. The following January, HCC offered its first academic or university parallel courses at six area high schools.
2
Marilynn Back Liddell, Historical Documentary of Socio-Political and Socio-Economic Factors in Creating Houston Community College (1967-1971), A doctoral dissertation presented to the graduate faculty of the College of Education, University of Houston, December, 1982.
3
In 1974 HCC housed administration offices in a building in southwest Houston, and conducted classes at eight HISD campuses and the Houston Technical Institute. By 1976, a total of 28,093 students were enrolled in HCC classes for the academic year. HCC received accreditation from the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges in 1977, and the accreditation was extended for another 10 years in 1982. In 1978 HCC and HISD built a facility in the Texas Medical Center for health care programs. HISD transferred the Houston Technical Institute (the old San Jacinto High School) to HCC. In 1980 the San Jacinto High School building received a $5 million renovation. Throughout the 1980s, enrollment in HCC’s career or job-related educational programs increased. By 1985 over 112 vocational and technical programs were offered. In 1986, 32,943 students were attending HCC classes. May 30, 1987, the Texas governor approved a bill to establish an HCC Board of Trustees, separate from HISD. Initially appointed by the HISD Board, HCC’s trustees afterwards were elected public officials. Also passed at this time was a bill to allow HCC to collect a tax equal to its share of the HISD tax. In 1988 enrollment was up to 48,554. The same year, the college annexed the Stafford School District in Fort Bend County and increased its instructional sites to 37. HCC officially separated from HISD with its own elected Board of Trustees and taxing authority in 1989. HCC named Dr. Charles Green its fourth president in 1990. HCC restructured in 1991, created five regional colleges and the College Without Walls, and selected presidents for each. The president of HCC then became the HCC System Chancellor. In 1996 Dr. Ruth Burgoss-Sasser became HCC’s fifth leader, Chancellor of Houston Community College. She was the first female Hispanic to head a major Houston institution of higher learning. Dr. Bruce Leslie was named HCC’s sixth Chancellor in 2001. A first-of-a-kind partnership between the city of Stafford and HCC spearheaded the construction of a new building for the Southwest College in 1995, and culminated with an entire campus in 1998. By 1998, HCC was the nation’s tenth largest, singularly accredited, higher educational institution with 50,898 students enrolled. In 1999 the new Northeast College campus, the West Loop Center, and the John B. Coleman Building for Health Sciences opened. The Coleman building became the Coleman College for Health Sciences in 2004, replacing the College Without Walls.
4 HCC was ranked the second largest community college in the nation in 2001 by Community College Week. With the passage of a $150.8 million bond in 2003, HCC began a Capital Improvement Plan that promises continued growth. In 2004 HCC was considered among the top community colleges bridging the digital divide. Enrollment had reached 55, 090, and the college received the Achieving the Dream Grant to increase the success of underserved students. Dr. Mary Spangler joined HCC as the college’s seventh chancellor in March, 2007. From occupying HISD classrooms in the evening to six full-service colleges, HCC continues to grow. Today HCC serves an area that spans 623 square miles and has 22 instructional sites throughout the area. Enrollment for the Fall 2009 passed 65,000. In 2008 facilities in Missouri City, the new Northline Campus and the Alief Campus opened. New facilities at Central, Northeast, Southeast and Southwest Colleges opened in 2009. A Learning Hub will become a centralizing and standardizing building for student and community use at each of these colleges. In 2008 the Alief Community voted four to one for annexation into the HCC District. In 2009 North Forest residents voted to join the HCC District. For Alief and North Forest, this means 50 percent reduction in tuition costs to students to attend classes at HCC, and more jobs will be created for the community. In the Spring of 2010, HCC exceeded the 72,000 student enrollment mark, the largest enrollment in the history of the college. Houston Community College’s success illustrates its dedication to the initiatives originally set forth for the college. Although the Official Statement of Purpose has changed its wording over the last three decades, HCC’s purpose has remained steady. HCC provides academic courses for transfer to four-year institutions, terminal degrees and certificates in more than 70 fields of work, continuing education and corporate training, lifelong learning and enrichment programs, and the largest adult education program in Texas. Twenty-six of HCC’s workforce programs have been rated exemplary by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Houston Community College’s goal is to make sure everyone in and around Houston has the opportunity to realize, not only their own potential, but Houston’s potential. Works Cited Educational Encyclopedia, StateUniversity.com, Net Industries, 2008. Community Colleges - The History of Community Colleges, The junior college and the research university., The Community College Mission, accessed 2/7/2008. <http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1873/Community-Colleges.html>. Liddell, Marilynn Back. Historical Documentary of Socio-Political and Socio-Economic Factors in Creating Houston Community College (1967-1971). An unpublished doctoral dissertation presented to the graduate faculty of the College of Education,
5 University of Houston, December, 1982. Houston Community College, 35th Anniversary. Commemorative pamphlet. Houston, Texas: Houston Community College, 2006.
