Western Texas College
Improving student achievement and retention are top priorities for Western Texas College. With Achieving the Dream, the college will:
- Improve the first year experience by introducing a mandatory orientation course and implementing a Campus Honor Code;
- Increase developmental students’ persistence and success through improvements in course delivery, format and advising;
- Establish special counseling, programs, and orientation sessions solely for developmental students;
- Provide additional resources and tools for faculty and staff working with persistence issues and
- Hold focus groups throughout the year to identify needs, challenges and concerns.
Current initiatives that complement the college's Achieving the Dream efforts include a program that prepares low-income students for careers in high-demand technical occupations; a project with Texas State Technical College to broaden Hispanic and low-income populations' access to high-demand programs; concurrent enrollment opportunities with Texas Tech University; and a developmental education initiative that uses evidence-based improvement strategies.
Western Texas College (WTC) serves an ethnically diverse, sparsely populated 9,000-square mile area in rural west Texas. It has a championship rodeo team and in 2009 was the fastest growing community college in Texas. In Fall 2009, the college had 2,475 students; 36% were students of color. In the Achieving the Dream cohort entering WTC in Fall 2009, nearly 30% of students of color were enrolled in developmental education courses. In 2009, more than 90% of the college’s students received financial aid.
Residents living in the college's service area contend with particularly challenging socioeconomic conditions, with 17% living below the poverty line in 2009; of that 17%, 26% are Hispanic. The Hispanic population in the region is growing, and accounted for 36% of Scurry County’s residents in 2010. Nearly 25% of the school-age children in the county are living in poverty.
The Achieving the Dream Model
Achieving the Dream community colleges commit to our Student-Centered Model of Institutional Improvement. Based on four principles, the model frames the overall work of helping more students, particularly low- income students and students of color, stay in school and earn a college certificate or degree.
Each college approaches the work differently, but Achieving the Dream’s five-step process provides practical guidelines for keeping the focus where it belongs and building momentum over time. Throughout the process, Achieving the Dream coaches offer customized support and help each college’s core team implement data-informed programs and policies that build long-term, institution-wide commitment to student success.
