Central Texas College (aka The Other Community College)

     Rotarian of the Day, J. Brown, introduced Dr. Jim Anderson, Chancellor of Central Texas College (“CTC”).  Dr. Anderson is an Air Force retiree who has been with CTC for about 22 years.  After noting that Temple College and CTC are friendly rivals, his presentation focused on what distinguishes CTC from other community colleges. 

    CTC is one of 50 community colleges in Texas.  It educates those students who desire a two-year college experience before attending a four-year institution.  In addition CTC has vocational and technical programs that help prepare students to enter the workforce. Dr. Anderson offered some additional “bonuses” available at CTC such as The Mayborn Planetarium, aircraft and a radio station. 

     CTC is the 11^th largest community college in terms of enrollment.  Dr. Anderson said one extremely impressive statistic is that CTC is 50^th out of 50 community colleges in terms of the percentage of its budget that comes from local taxes!  He did, however, note that the current climate is a financial challenge for all community colleges as they have been asked to identify ways to reduce State funding to the institutions.

     CTC has 6 campuses, 24 world contracts and 70 memoranda of understanding.  Dr. Anderson made it clear that community colleges are part of an industry that must identify and meet customer demands.  CTC has been doing this for many years.  For example, soldiers are a key customer base for CTC.  CTC must compete for those 24 world contracts and 70 memoranda of understanding.  The military looks for the best product for the best value. 

     For 25 years CTC has had a contract for education in Asia (e.g., The Republic of Korea aka South Korea, Diego Garcia, Guam and Okinawa).   Dr.  Anderson explained that each contract is for 5 years, thus, CTC has had its contract renewed multiple times.  That result only happens when a customer considers your “product” worthwhile.  The current situation involving the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (aka North Korea) has brought a heavy dose of reality to the CTC services in parts of Asia.  CTC services in South Korea, along with many other U.S. operations in South Korea, will be shifted to a geographic area south of Seoul, Korea.

     The CTC contract in Europe (e.g., Italy, Greece, Germany, Spain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Djibouti) has lasted for 30 years.   Lest you think your writer is geographically-challenged, Dr. Anderson noted that the programs in the Persian Gulf and the Horn of Africa are administered out of Italy!

    CTC services for the Navy pose a very interesting educational challenge.  Generally those services are centered out of the Killeen campus.  The Pacific area of the U.S. is served out of San Diego, CA.  The Atlantic area of the U.S. is served out of Norfolk, VA.  Dr. Anderson explained that faculty assignments on naval vessels are often for three months, although one faculty member had an assignment that lasted for about 2 years.  If a ship does not have “berthing” space for faculty, CTC accommodates student needs with distance learning programs.  In 2008 there were 12,160 students enrolled in the naval programs.

    On the more local front, CTC serves 11 Counties, including Bell, Burnet, Coryell, Hamilton, Lampasas, Mason, Mills, San Saba, parts of Williamson and parts of McCulloch).  Dr. Anderson considers Gatesville CTC’s bailiwick.  He also noted that the CTC Fort Hood facility makes CTC the only college with a building at a U.S. military installation.

Dr. Anderson listed the following challenges facing CTC:

·    Competition from “new entrants” into the market (i.e. University of Phoenix, etc.) means that now there are hundred’s of institutions vying for contracts, memoranda of understanding

·     Presentation platforms are technologically varied (i.e., course availability on iPods or smart phones), costly to develop and will continue to evolve

·     Distance Learning

·     Personnel (i.e., 15 of the 18 department chairs at CTC are eligible for retirement)

·     Deployment Impact

·     Mayborn Planetarium (i.e., CTC expended $1.6  million to switch the Mayborn Planetarium from analog to digital equipment)

·     Dual Credit (CTC does not currently have a program akin to the Temple Independent School District, Temple College, Scott & White collaboration allowing high school students to receive college credit for courses)

·    Foundation Initiatives

     Dr. Anderson noted that over 600 soldiers and service members who have taken classes through CTC have lost their lives in international conflicts.  He would like to erect a monument recognizing these individuals.  However, he acknowledged that the monument is on hold in these troubled financial times.

     Dr. Anderson ended with an open invitation for Rotarians to visit one of the unique resources at CTC—The Mayborn Planetarium.  For the modest price of about $3 you can have a heart-thumping, eye-popping trip to outer space, inner space (e.g., oceans, caves and caverns), and other exotic places.