Professor Receives Fulbright Award
The Fulbright Program awarded Dr. Elizabeth Pintar, ACC professor of anthropology, a grant to perform archaeological research in Argentina in 2012. The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, provides funding to students, scholars, teachers, and professionals for graduate study, advanced research, and teaching. Read more.
Increased Access/Student Success
- Record enrollment growth in recent years, adding more than 13,000 credit students since fall 2005 (31,908 to 45,056 in spring 2011).
- Strong minority student enrollment over the same period, with 67 percent growth among African-Americans (from 2,383 in fall 2005 to 3,983 in spring 2011) and 59 percent growth among Hispanics (7,456 to 11,888).
- Selection for national Achieving the Dream program to improve student success (joined in 2009).
- Record scholarship awards by the ACC Foundation ($500,000+ for 2010-11 academic year).
Enhanced Instruction
- ACC’s combined transfer and graduation rate is 43 percent over a three-year period, compared with an average 34 percent for other Texas metropolitan community colleges (source: IPEDS).
- Top 100 Associate Degree Producer, 2011 nationwide rankings (Source: Community College Week). Among two-year institutions:
- Associate degrees, all disciplines – 69th
- Two-year certificates, all disciplines – 84th
- Associate degrees awarded to Hispanic students – 54th
- Associate degrees awarded to all minority students – 73rd
- Associate degrees in health professions and related programs – 8th
- Associate degrees awarded in registered nursing and related programs – 7th
- The number of degrees & certificates awarded by ACC increased 48% from 2,040 to 3,027 between the 2004–05 and 2009–10 academic years.
- ACC is the primary source of transfer students to area universities. In fall 2010, 337 students transferred from ACC to UT-Austin (34% of UT’s two-year transfers). Data show ACC’s transfer students perform as well as or better than other transfer students as well as university freshmen
Master Planning
- Purchasing land for future campuses in north Hays County, Elgin, and Leander; securing additional land for the Pinnacle, Cypress Creek, and Rio Grande campuses; purchasing facilities and acreage at Highland Mall for future college expansion.
- Planning and design for Hays and Elgin campuses under way.
Recent Tax Base Expansion
- Bringing the entire City of Austin into the ACC taxing district through a public vote (May 2005).
- Bringing Round Rock ISD into the ACC taxing district through a public vote (May 2008).
- Bringing Elgin ISD and Hays CISD into the ACC taxing district through public votes (November 2010).
College Recognitions
- ACC prominently featured in Time Magazine article, “Can Community Colleges Save the U.S. Economy?” (July 20, 2009).
- ACC Police Department honored with “Recognized Status” from the Texas Police Chiefs Association Foundation for best practices in law enforcement.
- ACC selected three times for NASA’s Microgravity University.
- Dozens of ACC professors honored with the National Institute for Organizational Development (NISOD) Excellence Award.
- Among the top CLEP testing centers in the country.
Commitment to Sustainability
- Implementation of the Green Pass program (allowing credit students, faculty, and staff to ride Capital Metro at no additional cost); adding a Capital Metro stop at Cypress Creek Campus.
- Addition of extensive solar panel systems at Eastview and Northridge campuses.
- Creation of the Women in Green Jobs program to boost female enrollment in green job training programs.
- Signing the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment, a pledge to eventually become climate-neutral.
- Creation of the Green Corridor Collaborative, composed of higher education institutions and workforce boards cooperating on sustainability initiatives and funding.
Budget and Fiscal Stability
- Increasing the Standard & Poor's bond rating to AA-
- Earning the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting, the highest recognition for governmental accounting and financial reporting, for eight consecutive years.
- Maintaining a property tax rate below state average; the maintenance and operations portion of the tax is capped at 9 cents and can’t go up without voter approval.
- The ACC Foundation has raised more than $9 million for the college, with fixed assets of $4.5 million.
- Record grant funds in FY2011 (more than $12.6 million).