College Profiles

Southwest Texas Junior College

Background

The four campuses of Southwest Texas Junior College (SWTJC) serve residents in 11 rural counties, which cover 16,812 square miles, along the U.S.-Mexico border in southwestern Texas . Many of the region’s residents live in poverty, but they consider themselves richly blessed with traditions and a history of working together.

Several recent initiatives that expanded distance-learning opportunities have helped the federally designated Hispanic-serving institution grow by 49 percent in five years. Eighty-one percent of the SWTJC’s students are Hispanic and enrolled in college for the first time; 79 percent of the students are low-income.

Achieving the Dream Goals

SWTJC leaders want to establish a culture of evidence to ensure that educational quality remains high as access expands. Other priorities include improvements in developmental and gatekeeper courses, and college-wide adoption of Learning Organization philosophies and practices. The college wants to

·        Enhance the developmental education placement process;

·        Increase the pace of students’ progress in developmental education courses;

·        Improve gateway course enrollment and completion;

·        Strengthen student engagement in learning;

·        Expand the college’s culture of evidence.

The college plans to revise its placement process and developmental education curriculum. It will test learning community concepts in developmental education courses, and will strengthen and personalize student advisement, with more interventions and extensive use of technology. Faculty will receive training on the use of data. Faculty efforts to grow professionally, especially via the use of learning organization principles and practices, will be recognized by the college.