TSTC Women’s Team to Fly in Air Race Classic

(WACO) – Three of Texas State Technical College’s finest pilots will head across the country on Wednesday, June 17 to prepare for this year’s Air Race Classic.

The all-women team, consisting of Aircraft Pilot Training students Alexandra Harayda as pilot, Meagan Kesler as co-pilot and teammate Megan McBride, will leave the terminal at TSTC Airport for Virginia at 8 a.m. Wednesday, June 17, where they will make preparations for the cross-country flight. The race, which will be from June 22 through June 25, will start in Fredericksburg, Va. and end in Fairhope, Ala.

The team will begin their pre-flight preparations and packing the plane around 7 a.m. to prepare for an 8 a.m. takeoff.

This will be pilot Alexandra Harayda’s second year participating in the race.

“I feel more prepared this year,” Harayda said. “We have a better knowledge of what the race consists of and strategies that will help us improve our times from last year. Since I’ve flown the race in the past I can better prepare my co-pilot and teammate on what to expect before we leave. We also have lots of support from last year’s team helping prepare and working to make this year a success.”

The students participating in the race will be available for photos and interviews all day on Tuesday, June 16.

TSTC Cyber Security Expert to Serve on Summit Panel

(MARSHALL) – Texas State Technical College’s Associate Vice President of Student Learning, Randy Haley, will serve on a panel at the Longview Chamber of Commerce’s Cyber Security Summit, Thursday, June 18. The summit will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Pinecrest Country Club in Longview.

Before accepting the AVP position, Haley was the Director of IT Studies at TSTC and responsible for all Information Technology programs.  He was director for two years and during that time he re-tooled TSTC’s cyber security Associates program to better meet the demands of industry. Randy actively holds his Certified Ethical Hacker, and Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator certification from EC-Council as well as CompTIA’s Security+ and Network+ certifications.

With the recent security attacks on large companies like Target, Home Depot, Apple’s cloud and even the city of Longview, security is a big issue for all.

“Everyone needs to know about Cyber Security,” Haley said. “Whether you are a fortune 500 business or a grandmother checking email on her computer, knowing about cyber security will go a long way to protect your assets and identity. Any business that has a connection to the internet should attend this conference, especially when dealing with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and Payment Card Industry compliance.”

TSTC in Marshall offers a two-year Associate degree and level one and two certificates in Cyber Security. The program teaches basic computer security, and how to install, configure and troubleshoot network hardware, peripherals, and protocols. For more information on the Cyber Security program, call 903-923-3316 or visit http://www.tstc.edu/mar_cybersecurity.

For more information on the summit, or to register to attend, visit http://goo.gl/bPHl2W.

Edgar Rojas

 Welding student Edgar Rojas is first graduate from TSTC’s North Texas campus.

(NORTH TEXAS) – Edgar Rojas is celebrating several firsts. He is the first in his family to graduate college. He is the first in his family to get a welding certificate. And, he is the first graduate ever from Texas State Technical College in North Texas.

The 19-year-old Ferris native walked across the stage at the TSTC’s Spring Commencement Ceremony in Waco this month to receive a Certificate in Welding.

School and studies have never come easy for Rojas.  He wanted to drop out as far back as junior high school but his parents, immigrants from Mexico who came here to give their children a chance at an education,would not let him.   And, high school was an even bigger challenge.

“I really struggled in high school.  Bookwork and paperwork just wasn’t my thing,” remembers Rojas.  The only thing I liked was FAA and Ag Mechanics.”

Rojas became increasingly frustrated with his academic disappointments. He began to hang around with the wrong crowd and eventually got into some legal trouble.

“During my junior year I got a DWI.  I thought my life was over.  I felt like a real failure,” said Rojas.

But, his parents, his five older siblings and some teachers would not let Rojas give up.  Those educators, aware of the teenager’s hands-on skills, started motivating him to apply to TSTC.

Rojas says when he submitted his welding application he didn’t expect to be accepted.  When he finally became a college student, burdened by low self-esteem and a fear of academic disappointment, he almost dropped out.

“It came to a point that I wanted to give up.  It’s hard.  I didn’t trust myself that I could do it,” said Rojas.

But Rojas’ TSTC instructors believed in him and challenged him to put in the extra time and work needed for him to succeed.

“Edgar is a great student. Yes, he kind of struggled with bookwork but he’s a real quick learner once you show him what is expected,” said Welding Instructor Samuel Elizondo. “(Instructor) Mr. (Mark) Lipscomb and I guided him and mentored him to where he was confident in completing our curriculum.”

Motivated by his instructors, Rojas persevered. Today he says hands-on learning was critical to his success.  The majority of TSTC technologies on the 11 campuses are 60 percent hands-on instruction.  It’s a cornerstone of a TSTC education that makes graduates very valuable to hiring industries in Texas.

“If you like working with your hands, TSTC is for you. I feel really proud of myself,” said Rojas.  “A hundred doors will shut in your face.  But I’ve learned, you only need one door to open and change your life.”

Today, Rojas is focusing on those positive changes and his renewed confidence.  He is presently in the middle of job interviews and remains optimistic that he’ll be joining the workforce in the near future.

In addition to North Texas, TSTC offers Welding Programs in Breckenridge, Brownwood, Harlingen, Marshall, Sweetwater, Waco  and Williamson County.   For more information, go to www.tstc.edu.

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Early College High School valedictorian also graduates TSTC as Regents Scholar

Early College High School Valedictorian Anthony McIntosh, TSTC Chancellor Michael L. Reeser and Interim President Stella Garcia attend TSTC's Spring Commencement.

Early College High School Valedictorian Anthony McIntosh, TSTC Chancellor Michael L. Reeser and Interim President Stella Garcia attend TSTC’s Spring Commencement.

There was nothing ordinary about Anthony McIntosh’s high school career.

From half days to learning time management on his own as a junior, McIntosh took the unconventional route through high school.

But in the end, it paid off and the Early College High School Valedictorian is set to attend the University of Texas in Austin this fall.

“It’s definitely different,” McIntosh said of ECHS. “But I very much enjoyed every aspect of it … from the freedom it gives you, to taking my college courses at TSTC.”

Early College High School students have an opportunity to take dual enrollment courses across the street at TSTC.

Students can choose to enroll in one of the programs offered by TSTC but the majority of students opt for the Academic Core Certificate of Completion, which covers the basic courses students usually take as freshmen and sophomores in college.

McIntosh was one of nearly 450 spring graduates and one of 12 Board of Regent Scholars at TSTC in Harlingen.

“During my junior year I began taking advantage of that freedom,” McIntosh said. “I was able to choose my classes and my professors, like I was in college. Many times I was able to get done early and some days I would be done with school by 12:45 p.m.”

That’s when McIntosh felt he matured and became better prepared for college.

“There were times when I had other projects or homework I had to take care of,” McIntosh said. “But it’s when you don’t have that extra work that you need to learn to manage your time.”

McIntosh plans on majoring in business administration but hasn’t decided if he wants to go to medical school or pursue a Masters of Business Administration.

“I haven’t decided yet,” McIntosh said. “I still have some time.”

TSTC campuses in Harlingen, Waco, Marshall and West Texas also have Early College High Schools. Only Harlingen offers an Academic Core Certificate.

Texas State Technical College (www.tstc.edu) is the technical college of Texas with campuses in Abilene, Breckenridge, Brownwood, Fort Bend County, Harlingen, Ingleside, Marshall, North Texas, Sweetwater, Waco and Williamson County.

TSTC Graduate Begins Internship at Augusta National Golf Club

(WACO) – Mitch O’Brey, a May 2015 graduate of TSTC’s Golf Course & Landscape Management program, begins a year-long internship at the Augusta National Golf Club today.

The Augusta National Golf Club, located in Augusta, Georgia, is known for being the site of the Masters Golf Tournament. Typically wealthy and accomplished, members include Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Condoleezza Rice.

Joe Todaro, Golf Course & Landscape Management Department Chair, says from day one Mitch said he wanted to work at Augusta National.

“I agreed it would be a wonderful experience, but warned him that a lot of people share that same dream and he might focus on some of the great courses here in Texas,” said Todaro. “One evening I saw a tweet about the Augusta internships.  I shared the tweet with Mitch, who texted back immediately and said he already saw it and was working on his resume!”

O’Brey is excited to begin his internship, and fulfill his dream.

“I’ve always admired Augusta National from watching the Masters year after year,” O’Brey said. “My dream from day one at TSTC was to go to the historic course, and I couldn’t have picked a better school to help me accomplish my dream.”

You can learn more about TSTC’s Golf Course & Landscape Management program athttp://www.waco.tstc.edu/programs/waco/glm/.

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TSTC in Fort Bend gains campus status from Legislature

(FORT BEND) – House Bill 658 passed the Senate by a unanimous vote on Tuesday, authorizing Texas State Technical College’s small extension program in Fort Bend County to expand to a full campus. With the governor’s signature, the bill will be effective immediately.

The bill was co-authored in the Texas House of Representatives by Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond; Rep. Rick Miller, R-Sugar Land; Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City; Rep. Phil Stephenson, R-Wharton; and Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson, R-Waco. The bill was sponsored in the Texas Senate by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham and will allow TSTC in Fort Bend County to better serve the larger Houston region.

Fort Bend County is one of the fastest-growing counties in Texas. This growth has created the need for welders, plumbers, HVAC technicians and other trades for which TSTC offers programs.

“The community support has been tremendous,” said TSTC Chancellor, Michael L. Reeser. “Between area businesses, local governments, economic development corporations and foundations, the region has pledged about $40 million. A community investment of this magnitude is unprecedented for TSTC and it means that the campus in Fort Bend County will start at a much larger scale than otherwise would have been possible.”

Reeser continued, “We value the relationships that brought us to the region and look forward to expanding our presence here.”

TSTC is well known in many parts of Texas for its affordable tuition and its impressive track record of teaching job-related skills that qualify graduates for well-paying jobs.

 The TSTC Extension Center in Fort Bend County opened in 2001 as a partnership with Wharton County Junior College. Currently, TSTC offers Air Conditioning & Refrigeration, Diesel Equipment Technology, Mechanical Engineering and Machining at the WCJC Fort Bend Technical Center.

Last month, TSTC unveiled plans to build a permanent campus in Fort Bend County following requests from area residents to increase its course offerings in the area. The initial plans call for two buildings totalling approximately 150,000 square feet of space. Ultimately, the campus will have the capacity to support 4,000 to 5,000 students annually.

TSTC will break ground for Building I in June, and plans to open for classes in the fall of 2016. This first building will allow TSTC to increase its offerings to include Industrial Maintenance, Welding, Computer Networking and System Administration, Network Security and Telecommunications Technology.

Offerings will expand further when Building II opens in the fall of  2017. Offerings for this building may include Biomedical Equipment Technology, Instrumentation, Robotics, Electrical Power & Controls and Occupational Safety & Environmental Compliance Technology.

 

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TSTC North Texas gains campus status from Legislature

(NORTH TEXAS) – House Bill 1051 passed the Texas Senate unanimously on Monday, upgrading the status of Texas State Technical College’s extension center in Ellis County to a campus. The bill is now before Governor Greg Abbott awaiting his signature.

HB 1051 was co-authored by Rep. John Wray, R-Waxahachie, and Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Grand Prairie. The bill was sponsored  in the Senate by Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, and will allow TSTC to better serve the Dallas-Fort Worth region. There is a growing need for skilled workers to attract and retain employers in this area.

TSTC is well known in many parts of Texas for its affordable tuition and its impressive track record of teaching job-related skills that qualify graduates for well-paying jobs.

Local community leaders brought TSTC to the region two years ago when they contributed land and resources for the extension center. It was again at the community’s urging that the extension center be elevated to a full campus. By becoming a campus location, the TSTC in Ellis County is eligible for a wider range of funding sources,” said TSTC Chancellor, Michael L. Reeser, “It means we can better meet the fast-growing demand we think there will be in Ellis County.”

“We have enjoyed partnering with Red Oak and the surrounding ISDs,” said Reeser. “Our first graduate from the North Texas campus just walked the stage – the first of what is sure to be many – as more North Texans pursue careers in technical fields.”

“We carefully selected programs that prepare students for high-demand jobs in this region so we expect that the North Texas location could be serving thousands of students in the years ahead,” added Reeser.

On January 24, 2014, TSTC North Texas broke ground for its first major facility in Ellis County – a $10 million, 103,000 sq. ft. technical education facility, located on a 29-acre parcel of land behind Red Oak High School. The Industrial Technology Center building opened Sept. 2, 2014 and houses the Welding, Logistics, High Voltage Electrical Systems, Diesel and Industrial Maintenance Departments.

TSTC’s academic and Information Technology Departments are located at the Career and Tech Education building about two blocks away. There, students study Computer Maintenance Desktop Support, Cyber Security, Computer Systems Network Administration, Computer Aided Drafting and HVAC.

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TSTC to Hold Annual Blossom Day Camp

jessica coxJessica Cox, the first person to fly a plane with only her feet, will speak at the event.

(SWEETWATER) – TSTC will hold their annual Blossom event at the Sweetwater and Abilene campuses on May 19, and the Breckenridge and Brownwood campuses May 20. The camp will take place from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

TSTC’s Blossom event aims to teach young women about STEM programs, and raise awareness of the different fields available to them. Registration will begin at 8 a.m. The day will include team building exercises, a guest speaker and tours of the different programs TSTC offers.

Pilot Jessica Cox will speak at the event. Cox, born without arms, is the first person in aviation history to fly a plane with only her feet. Cox holds the Guinness World Record for being the first armless person to earn a pilot’s certificate. Not only can she fly a plane, but she is also a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, she can surf, scuba dive, play the piano and live a normal life using her feet as others use their hands.

A tentative schedule for all four campuses can be seen here.

Blossom at the Abilene and Sweetwater campuses are full, but interested teachers and students (ages 13 and up) can register for the event at the Breckenridge and Brownwood campuses at https://docs.google.com/a/tstc.edu/forms/d/1mhehDeLZL3U0lypBDalBziW-fRps4hMrMjAKCVk9nO4/viewform.

 

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Value-added rankings measure economic impact of college

Washington, D.C. – New data and analysis of two- and four-year schools released by the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program provides fresh insight into how well colleges prepare students for high-paying careers.

According to the report, Texas State Technical College ranks seventh in the nation for two-year colleges with the highest value-added with respect to mid-career earnings. The findings show that TSTC graduates are predicted to earn $55,527 annually at mid-career, but the actual earnings are $65,000, which is a value add to the alumni economic outcomes of 16%. To put that into perspective, the average value add of all two-year or lower colleges is -2%.

TSTC was the first college system in the nation to adopt the Value-Added Funding Model. The model, which links state funding directly to graduate earnings, took effect in 2014. “Since TSTC’s state funding is set by our graduates salaries, our entire operation is focused on preparing our students for a high-value career, ” explained TSTC Chancellor Michael L. Reeser. “So, we’re very gratified, but not shocked, to find that TSTC is ranked in the nation’s top-10 colleges whose graduates beat salary expectations,” said Reeser.

The report, “Beyond College Rankings: A Value-Added Approach to Assessing Two and Four-Year Schools,” by Brookings Fellow Jonathan Rothwell and Senior Research Assistant Siddharth Kulkarni, fills a large information gap in higher education of relevance to state education officials, college administrators, and workforce development leaders. It also offers a new tool to help prospective college students think about where to apply and where to attend.

The report is the first to develop measures of “value added” for a broad array of two- and four-year colleges. To do so, it analyzes data on economic outcomes for graduates of these institutions, adjusting them for the characteristics of their students at the time they are admitted, and other factors. The resulting measures capture the contributions that the colleges themselves make to their graduates’ eventual economic success.

Using a blend of government and private data (from LinkedIn and Payscale), the report’s analysis shows:

* A college’s mix of majors and the skills it provides students are highly predictive of economic outcomes for its graduates. Colleges where many students pursue degrees in fields like engineering, healthcare, computer science, and business see higher earnings among their alumni.

* Colleges can boost economic outcomes for students by encouraging higher completion rates and offering generous financial aid.

Compared to popular college rankings, the value-added method focuses on how well colleges contribute to student economic success, rather than simply their ability to attract top students. The new Brookings value-added database provides:

* Value-added scores on at least one economic outcome for as many as 4,400 postsecondary institutions, compared to the 600 or fewer ranked by non-academic publications.
* At least two measures of college quality for over 7,000 colleges, allowing prospective students to readily compare four- and two-year colleges on the factors predictive of success.
* More accurate predictors of college performance relative to popular non-academic rankings.

While imperfect, these value-added measures improve on conventional rankings and fill a demand for greater transparency and accountability in higher education. This report identifies those factors that colleges can influence to improve alumni economic outcomes. It also helps close the information gap for the huge number of community colleges and non-selective colleges that conventional rankings fail to acknowledge.

“College is a major investment for individuals and the taxpayers who subsidize it,” said Rothwell. “So, the public has a huge stake in promoting quality. No ratings system can capture everything about a college that matters, but these data can shed some light on how colleges compare in their contributions to student success and, hopefully, spark further research with even better data.”

The Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings provides decision-makers with cutting-edge research and policy ideas for improving the health and prosperity of metropolitan areas. To learn more, please visit: www.brookings.edu/metro.

Governor awarded honorary welding degree from TSTC

TSTC graduate Justin Friend and Chancellor Michael L. Reeser present Governor Greg Abbott with a personalized welding helmet and heat-resistant gloves at TSTC's 50th Anniversary Celebration.

TSTC graduate Justin Friend and Chancellor Michael L. Reeser present Governor Greg Abbott with a personalized welding helmet and heat-resistant gloves at TSTC’s 50th Anniversary Celebration.

The last few months have been a whirlwind for Justin Friend. The TSTC Welding graduate was featured in a Wall Street Journal article, got a shout out from Gov. Greg Abbott in the state of the state address and was called on to surprise Abbott at TSTC’s 50th Anniversary Celebration, presenting him with a one-of-a-kind welding helmet marking the occasion. The attention has made Friend, who earned $140,000 in 2014, the face of the case for technical education in Texas.

“This experience has been great,” said Friend. “I want to inspire future generations to go to technical college and fill the need for skilled workers.”

Abbott stressed the need for skilled workers as well. His remarks reflected those of his state of the state address: “For many, a two-year degree is far more than a piece of paper. It’s a key that opens the door to economic freedom. As just one recent example: Justin Friend attended Texas State Technical College in Waco and received a two-year degree in welding. In 2013 – his first full year as a welder – his income was about $130,000. Last year, the 24-year-old’s income rose to about $140,000. I’m thinking if this Governor thing doesn’t work out, I’m going to TSTC to get a welder’s certificate.”

Well, now he’s got the credentials to do it. TSTC Chancellor Michael L. Reeser presented the Governor with an honorary TSTC welding degree, and Friend was on-hand to present a personalized Texas welding helmet and heat-resistant gloves to the governor.

“I’ve got to tell you I could use those in my current job,” joked Abbott. The room erupted with laughter.

“I will proudly display my honorary welding degree in my office. With my very own welding gloves and helmet now I’m really ready to get to work,” said Abbott. “TSTC graduates like Justin Friend are proof that in Texas, and with a degree from TSTC, anyone can achieve anything if they are willing to work hard and dream big.”