NCTC Faculty Attend Virtual Leaders Conference
On September 30 through October 1, 2022, NCTC Faculty Senate Officers Jane England and Misty Hamner, Faculty Fellows Graham Cox, Cary Crawford, and David Smith, and History Professor Pat Ledbetter attended the 42nd Texas Community College Teachers Association (TCCTA) Leaders Conference. Even though the Conference was held online, the program offered informative presentations that allowed attendees to interact with presenters and colleagues. Faculty Fellow Graham Cox felt that “the process of asking questions on the chat seemed to go very well to me, and I'd recommend keeping that format when there are many attendees. It created some really good discussion.”
The first session on Friday was a “Legislative Update” in which TCCTA Lobbyist, Beaman Floyd and TCCTA Director Richard Moore discussed the current political atmosphere in Austin, the problem of balancing workforce training and academic transfer, the controversy regarding tenure, the recommendations of the Texas Commission on Community College Funding, and other pertinent topics. Mr. Floyd shared the good news that Texas has weathered the economic turndown better than the rest of the country and, because of the oil and gas industry, has a $13 billion surplus! The NCTC attendees agreed that Mr. Floyd’s session was a highlight of the conference. Pat Ledbetter noted that she, “found Beaman’s discussion about possible legislative issues most helpful. As usual, he alerted us to issues that are likely to impact our work, such as proposed funding formulas and increasing concerns about academic freedom.”
The second session was a presentation by Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Assistant Commissioner Tina Jackson entitled “Building a Talent Strong Texas through Workforce Education Initiatives.” Dr. Jackson discussed the sources for and particulars of various grants, internships and financial aid projects that are available to community colleges. After a break for lunch, the program resumed with a session on “Getting Involved as a Leader Through Your Faculty Senate or Association,” co-hosted by Austin College Professor Missi Patterson and Texarkana College Professor Michelle Smith. The final Friday session was a discussion of “Data Literacy” by Austin College Vice Chancellor of Institutional Research and Analytics Jenna Cullinane Hedge. Faculty Fellow Cary Crawford found this presentation especially useful. She commented, “As a statistics teacher, I love data, and Dr. Hege's suggestions about focusing the scope of data, and answering the pertinent questions, as well as being aware of an audience's threat response/defensiveness were definitely insightful and beneficial.”
The Saturday, October 1th, program began with an overview of the projects developed by Austin Community College’s Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Campus Center. Campus Center Director Dr. Khayree O. Williams described lectures, faculty/staff training, workshops, discussion forums and other programs that are available to college employees, students and members of the community. The conference concluded with a presentation on “Legal Issues in Higher Education” by Attorney Monica Narvaez of MKim Legal. Ms. Narvaez discussed recent higher education court cases involving Family Medical Leave, Americans with Disabilities, retaliation, contracts and teleworking.
In conclusion, the TCCTA Leaders Conference is an annual event that establishes a venue in which faculty from across the state engage in meaningful discourse with fellow educators, get up-to-date information on current trends in higher education and gain insight into problems facing community colleges.The presentations were recorded and will be made available to thosewho were unable to attend all of the sessions. This was Faculty Fellow Cary Crawford’s first TCCTA Leaders Conference and her overall evaluation of the event was positive. She noted that she “was very impressed with all the speakers. They kept their presentations organized and informative, making it easy to stay engaged. The coordinator did a great job keeping us informed, and giving us background on each speaker.I appreciated the convenience of the virtual setting, and they did a great job keeping it all running smoothly.”
