{"id":2342,"date":"2017-12-12T21:52:14","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T21:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=2342"},"modified":"2017-12-12T21:52:14","modified_gmt":"2017-12-12T21:52:14","slug":"tstc-is-gold-a-look-into-the-past-and-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=2342","title":{"rendered":"TSTC is Gold: A Look into the Past and the Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TSTI<\/a>(HARLINGEN) – Texas State Technical College\u2019s Harlingen campus is celebrating 50 years of service to the South Texas region, and some prominent locals are reminiscing on how it all started.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a small campus when I started working there, about four buildings, military barracks that served as dorms and an RV park where the library is today,\u201d TSTC retiree Mike Buck remembered.<\/p>\n

Buck worked at TSTC for nearly 32 years from 1976 to 2008. When he retired he was the Vice President of Administrative Services and had seen the campus undergo numerous changes through his tenure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember when it was a campus of 600 students,\u201d said Buck. \u201cAnd now the college is serving thousands of students in the area and statewide. That\u2019s significant.\u201d<\/p>\n

TSTC was first introduced to the region in 1967 as the James Connally Technical Institute. In 1969, it turned into an independent state system and became Texas State Technical Institute.<\/p>\n

Finally, in 1991, TSTI was designated a college and renamed TSTC that many know it as today.<\/p>\n

Since 1970 to most recently, the college has built and dedicated at least 26 buildings on campus equipped with state-of-the art technology labs and offers nearly 35 programs of study.\"TSTI<\/a><\/p>\n

Interim Provost Rick Herrera said this milestone recognizes TSTC\u2019s presence in the Rio Grande Valley.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been 50 years since the first class started at TSTC in Harlingen,\u201d said Herrera. \u201cAnd it\u2019s important to recognize the significant impacts TSTC has made while serving the Valley and the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

To date close to 30,000 students have graduated from TSTC\u2019s Harlingen campus into the state\u2019s workforce, earning certificates and associate degrees in high-demand technical careers. These students join the more than the 100,000 who have graduated from the college\u2019s 10 campuses statewide.<\/p>\n

Serving as TSTC\u2019s leader for more than 30 years, Dr. J. Gilbert Leal was on the front lines and recalls some of the college\u2019s history like it happened just yesterday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to believe 50 years have flown by and TSTC is still here doing great things,\u201d said Leal. \u201cMany people gave us a chance and TSTC has proved time and time again that although it was a challenge to grow, we persevered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leal began at TSTC as an Adult Basic Education instructor while TSTC was still TSTI sitting on only 25 acres and offering a handful of programs.<\/p>\n

As the campus and its services grew, he served front and center as the Director of Admissions, then the campus\u2019 General Manager from 1978 to 1983 before he was promoted to President of TSTC in Harlingen.\"TSTC<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cTSTC has transformed so many lives through the years,\u201d said Leal. \u201cI\u2019m proud to have played an integral role in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Leal means is that early on TSTC has been the leader of training and providing students with the technical skills they need to be successful, placing these same students in good-paying jobs throughout the state and attracting industry to the areas where TSTC campuses are located.<\/p>\n

Retired TSTC Provost Al Guillen, who worked at the college for 26 years and as the Vice President for Student Learning, said the introduction to industrial advisory committees had a positive impact for the students in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach program has an advisory committee that guides faculty and staff in a program\u2019s curricular evolution as industry changes,\u201d said Guillen. \u201cAdvisory committee members also serve as direct graduate placement contacts which has led to TSTC\u2019s high job placement rates, many before graduation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guillen added that the Rio Grande Valley is very fortunate that TSTC has been in the region for the last 50 years because much of the population has benefited from hiring local TSTC graduates while many families gained their first college graduate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe college has helped break socio-economic cycles that had existed for generations by providing its graduates with employment qualifications that allow them to become professionals and influential citizens of the state,\u201d said Guillen.<\/p>\n

Executive Director of Workforce Solutions Cameron and retired TSTC Provost and Vice President of Instruction Pat Hobbs calls TSTC\u2019s presence in the Valley an extremely positive factor in economic development as a training provider for current and incoming industries.<\/p>\n

\"TSTC<\/p>\n

\u201cTSTC is renowned for its industry-trained faculty and high quality graduates with a consistent job placement rate over 95 percent,\u201d said Hobbs. \u201cIn the current economy, where up to 80 percent of jobs require technical credentials above the high school diploma, but not a bachelor’s degree, the value of a premier technical college in our workforce area puts our region at a distinct advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hobbs added, \u201cOur Valley would not be what it is today without TSTC in Harlingen\u2019s contributions to workforce development.\u201d<\/p>\n

Javier Deleon, TSTC\u2019s Executive Vice President of Governmental Affairs, has been with TSTC for 30 years and said it has been an honor working with TSTC Chancellor Mike Reeser, former TSTC President Cesar Maldonado, President Emeritus Leal and other colleagues like Guillen.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder Leal\u2019s and Maldonado\u2019s leadership TSTC saw huge transformations in campus size, program offerings and student population,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd now Chancellor Reeser is catapulting us to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deleon said he is excited to see where the next 50 years takes TSTC, especially with the new direction the college is taking with its outcome-based funding model and money back guarantee initiative recently implemented.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are where we are today because of progression,\u201d said Deleon. \u201cAnd because of the support we have received from past and current state legislators and community leaders. Without them nothing could have been possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deleon encourages everyone to remember TSTC\u2019s past, but to also look toward the future and how TSTC is leading the way in higher education.<\/p>\n

In the words of Guillen, \u201cLong live TSTC and long live TSTC in Harlingen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – Texas State Technical College\u2019s Harlingen campus is celebrating 50 years of service to the South Texas region, and some prominent locals are reminiscing on how it all started. \u201cIt was a small campus when I started working there, about four buildings, military barracks that served as dorms and an RV park where the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-harlingen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2342"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2349,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2342\/revisions\/2349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}