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October 26, 2016
Vol. 3, Issue 36
Board of Trustees

Chairman of the Board
Dr. Yvonne Katz
District 7

Vice Chair
Marcelo Casillas
District 4

Secretary
Dr. Gene Sprague
District 6

Asst. Secretary
Denver McClendon
District 2

Joe Alderete, Jr.
District 1

Anna U. Bustamante
District 3

Roberto Zarate
District 5

Clint Kingsbery
District 8

James Rindfuss
District 9

Emmanuel Nyong
Student Trustee

Chancellor

Dr. Bruce Leslie
Alamo Colleges
Alamo Colleges Approves Tuition Incentive Plan Allowing Students To Take Free Summer Courses
The Alamo Colleges' new Fast Completion Incentive Plan allows students to complete their degree in less time and save money.

The Alamo Colleges' Board of Trustees have approved a new Fast Completion Incentive Plan to encourage students to complete their degree in less time, saving money and using their financial aid more effectively. The plan gives students who earn 18-24 credit hours in the fall 2016 and spring 2017 terms three to six FREE credit hours in the summer semester.

Students who earn a total of 24 credit hours in the fall 2016 and spring 2017 (9+15 or 12+12) receive up to six free credit hours in the summer, allowing them to earn the 60 credit hours needed for their degree in just two years at a tuition savings of $186. Students who earn a total of 18 credit hours in the fall and spring (9+9 or 6+12) receive three free credit  hours in the summer, allowing them to complete in three years at a tuition savings of $141. The free summer credit hours must be taken in the summer term immediately following the fall and spring term, which qualify students for the incentive plan.
 
The plan was approved after student surveys and focus groups indicated that the majority of students were interested in such an incentive program and would take advantage of it. Increasing the number of students who complete at the Alamo Colleges in two or three years will save students about $15,000 per year according to Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board data for each additional year spent pursuing a degree.


Alamo Colleges - Palo Alto College Future Teachers Give Back to the Community By Teaching in Schools
PAC Teacher Education students get real-world experience and give back to their community by teaching in local schools.


Teacher Education students are required to log teaching hours in the classroom, and Alamo Colleges - Palo Alto College (PAC) students are able to earn those hours through a unique service learning opportunity. Thanks to a partnership between the college, Junior Achievement (JA), and local ISDs, students enrolled in any teacher education course are teaching local elementary students valuable lessons in financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship.

The partnership with JA, a nonprofit organization that seeks to prepare young people to succeed in a global economy, has existed for several years. In past semesters, students visited one classroom five times throughout the semester to teach the JA lessons. Now that the college does not have Friday classes, Amie DeLeon, Teacher Education program lead, worked to organize six separate "JA in a Day" sessions. On these Fridays, PAC students take over an elementary school, and pairs of students spend an entire school day teaching the JA material under the supervision of the class's teacher.

"There is nothing that could take the place of real life experience," said DeLeon. "No book, no teacher, no movie can replace the real world experience. It's on-the-job training."

SAC was ranked #9 in Community College Week's list
of the top producers of associate degrees for Hispanics.

Alamo Colleges - San Antonio College Ranked 9th in Associate Degrees
for Hispanics

Alamo Colleges - San Antonio College (SAC) was ranked in Community College Week's 2016 Top 100 Associate Degree Producer's List recently. Among the various national rankings, SAC came in #9 in the country as a top producer of associate degrees for Hispanics. 
 
San Antonio College was listed in several other categories, including:    
*  Associate Degrees: All Disciplines - Grand Total: SAC is #37. 
*  Associate Degrees: All Disciplines - Minority: SAC is #20.
*  Top 50 Associate Degrees - Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs: SAC is #27.
*  Top 50 Associate Degrees - Criminal Justice and Corrections: SAC is #38.
*  Top 50 Associate Degrees - Education: SAC is #17.
*  Top 50 Associate Degrees - Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing: SAC is #17.
*  Top 50 Associate Degrees - Parks, Recreation, Leisure, and Fitness Studies: SAC is #24.  
 
Community College Week is a bi-weekly publication which aims to be the "independent voice covering community, technical and junior colleges." The 2016 rankings were published in Volume 28, No. 29 edition on August 31, 2016.  


Let us hear from you! Send your comments on our newsletter to   khendricks@alamo.edu. 

The Alamo Colleges mission is: empowering our diverse communities for success. Our vision is: the Alamo Colleges will be the best in the nation in student success and performance excellence. The Alamo Colleges is one district with five community colleges serving more than 90,000 students annually from Bexar County and seven other counties in our service area. We provide an affordable, quality college education that leads to associate degrees, certificates and transfers to four-year universities. Hundreds of thousands of Bexar County residents who have come through the Alamo Colleges education programs are major contributors to the economy and culture of Sa n Antonio.