Chancellor Erma Johnson Hadley kicked off the 2010-11 Program Year for the Minority Leaders and Citizens Council luncheon Wednesday with an invitation for the community group to join Tarrant County College as it meets the needs of its constituents.
Johnson Hadley, one of MLCC’s organizing members 33 years ago, told the group how well TCC students perform once they transfer to four-year institutions, but she also told the group of the educational challenges faced by some students. She said 65 percent of TCC’s students need help in one of three remedial areas – reading, writing or mathematics. Of those students, 40 percent need help in two remedial areas and 20 percent of the group needs help in all three areas.
“We are a true community resource,” she said, adding that the TCC recently finished Vision 2015, the College’s strategic plan, and recently joined more than 130 institutions in launching Achieving the Dream as the tool TCC will use to achieve its goals. ATD uses data to identify problems that prevent students from succeeding and develops programs to help them stay in school and graduate.
“Help us educate people. Education is the great equalizer,” said Johnson Hadley, adding that it not only helps people better themselves but they pass it on. “At TCC, we are all about student access and student success.”