AUSTIN, Texas—The Community College Leadership Program (CCLP) at The University of Texas at Austin has been awarded the 2005 Mirabeau B. Lamar Medal, an honor given to an individual or institution that has provided exceptional service to Texas higher education.
The Association of Texas Colleges and Universities selects recipients for the medal, and past honorees have included Barbara Jordan, Lt. Governor William P. Hobby, Frank Erwin, the Houston Endowment Inc. and Lt. Governor Bob Bullock.
“The University of Texas at Austin had a vision 60 years ago to develop a major graduate center that would serve Texas community colleges in particular, as well as others across the nation,” says Dr. John Roueche, who is the CCLP director and holds the Sid W. Richardson Regents Chair in Community College Leadership. “That vision, the university’s subsequent commitment to our program and the good fortune to be blessed with quality faculty and the world’s best students have accounted for so much of our success.
“Casey Stengel, a former New York Yankee manager, observed that anyone could win baseball games if they had the lineup that he did as Yankee manager. I certainly feel that way as we receive the 2005 Lamar Medal. It is humbling to be recognized by one’s peers for the leadership contributions that the CCLP has made to Texas and the nation.”
The 61-year-old CCLP, which is in the College of Education, is the oldest graduate preparation program of its kind in the United States. It has produced more community college chancellors, presidents and vice presidents than any other university program in the nation.
It has received more than $15 million in grants and gifts from major foundations in the past seven years, and CCLP graduates head, or have led in the past, community colleges in almost every state in the U.S. as well as colleges in Canada. Graduates of the program also serve as presidents and CEOs of national organizations such as the American Association of Community Colleges, the League for Innovation in the Community College and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
More than 700 community colleges—from the U.S. and Canada to the United Kingdom and the South Pacific—receive professional development materials weekly through the CCLP’s National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development, with these resources benefiting about 80,000 community college professionals.
In addition, more than 400 community colleges across the U.S. and Canada are members of the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), a national consortium housed in the CCLP. Last year the CCSSE surveyed about 92,000 community college students, asking them about how they spend their time, what they feel they are gaining from their classes, how they assess the quality of interactions with faculty and what kinds of work they are challenged to complete. Survey responses were compiled from 152 colleges in 30 states, and education leaders consider the survey tool to be highly valuable as a benchmarking instrument and monitoring device.
For more information contact: Kay Randall, Office of Public Affairs, 512-232-3910.
