Message From the Chancellor
James R. Anderson, Ph. D.
James R. Anderson, Ph. D.
Chancellor, Central Texas College
2009 can best be summed up in one word – growth! We experienced significant growth in numbers as well as construction. Early in the year we broke ground on a new classroom facility on Fort Hood. Its completion a year later makes us the only educational institution to have three self-owned facilities on a military base. The new two-story structure was constructed adjacent to our existing Ft. Hood campus providing soldiers easy access to meet their administrative needs..
Later in the year, we also broke ground at the site of our new central campus nursing building. The 85,000 square foot building will consist of numerous classrooms and labs, a simulated intensive care unit and emergency room and state-of-the-art equipment to provide nursing students the best possible training. The facility will be a shared cooperative with Texas A&M-Central Texas and Metroplex Hospital. We are scheduled to open the facility with the spring 2011 semester.
Our next project will be to seek bids for the construction of a new student center.
Along with the growth of campus facilities, we have seen an upswing in enrollment numbers for both the fall and spring semesters. Student headcount at central campus for the spring 2010 semester is the highest in five years. Our total student headcount for Texas is also the highest it has been in years. The addition of new programs of study, our increased recruiting and retention efforts, changes to the GI Bill have all contributed to the increase in numbers. According to Community College Week publication we are the 13th fastest growing community college in the nation. From 2007 to 2008, our enrollment rose 13.8 percent – a figure that is sure to grow based on current enrollment figures.
This past year we were named the safest campus in Texas and fourth safest in the nation according to a study completed by StateUniversity.com. Our rating of 99.2 percent was based on campus crime statistics, per 1,000 students, accounting for the severity and frequency of crime.
Our commitment to service members has never been more prevalent as CTC was ranked the number one undergraduate school for the number of students attending (31,733) and number of enrollments/course (69,701) among military personnel using the Department of Defense (DoD) Voluntary Education Tuition Assistance program. And for the third consecutive year, CTC was named to the Top 20 Military-Friendly Colleges and Universities by KMI Media Group and Military Advanced Education publication.
We are also very proud that the first student to walk across the stage to receive a degree in the first-ever graduation ceremony for soldiers in Iraq was a CTC student. Held at Camp Victory, located in Baghdad, Iraq, the graduation consisted of 79 service members from 21 different schools with the majority of graduates (26) from CTC.
In spite of these achievements, CTC still has a bit of an uphill battle to face with state budget cuts. But as we have done in the past, we will find solutions to these challenges with minimal disruption to students. Together, as a team, we will continue to grow, succeed and provide the best quality education possible to our students at one the most affordable rates in Texas.
Thank you,
James R. Anderson, Ph. D.
Chancellor
