TC Trustees Hear Report on Enrollment Trends and Black History Month Activities

At today’s board meeting, Texarkana College Trustees heard news from President Dr. Jason Smith that data on TC’s new 8-week academic terms indicates that students are enrolling in more classes than previous years. Dr. Smith said he is pleased to see that recent data underscores the success of the new course delivery model.

“During the 2023 Fall Semester, we rolled out a new course delivery model that offers academic courses in two 8-week terms per semester replacing most of our longer, more traditional 16-week academic courses,” said Dr. Smith. “The shorter, 8-week schedule allows students to complete a course faster and concentrate on fewer courses at one time. Students typically enroll in two courses during the first 8-week term, and then another two in the second 8-week term resulting in completion of four total classes over the duration of the traditional semester.”

Smith said that current data shows a 6% increase in the number of filled seats for the 2024 Spring Semester.

“Our new 8-week course delivery model provides students with greater freedom to enroll as full-time students because they can complete faster and have fewer classes to juggle per term,” said Dr. Smith. “Students are taking full advantage of the shorter, more manageable schedule to complete their course work which provides two start dates within a semester.”

In other business, Dr. Smith announced that throughout the month of February, TC sponsored several Black History Month activities. Dr. Smith introduced Lee Williams, III, Executive Director of Student Success, Retention, and TRIO-EOC, who provided the trustees with a highlight presentation of the month’s events.

“Black History Month at TC was filled with enriching and engaging activities for our students and community,” said Williams. “We kicked off the month with a concert featuring Soprano Candace Taylor singing Jacques Offenbach’s Barcarolle from the opera The Tales of Hoffman. The concert was performed in front of a packed house in the Music Hall of the Stilwell Humanities Building.”

Williams said two additional events were also well attended and included a Lunch and Learn hosted by Williams talking about his travels to Africa, and a lecture hosted by TC’s Black Student Association (BSA).

“The BSA event featured guest speakers Chiara Thompson and Marie Ferdinand-Harris who shared their stories and words of empowerment and encouragement with students,” said Williams. “BSA is one of TC’s largest student organizations and it provides a vibrant and engaging college experience for students who participate in the club activities. We were pleased to offer this this lecture as a culmination of the events of the month.”

Photos from TC’s 2024 Black History Month events can be found online at https://www.flickr.com/photos/texarkanacollege/albums.