As the 2011-2012 academic year winds down, I want to take a moment to share some exciting developments with you. This past year the boundaries for the nine HCC representative districts were redrawn and District 3 now serves the areas around HCC Southeast Campus and HCC Central Campus. I have had the pleasure of representing Southeast College since first joining the HCC Board of Trustees two years ago and am looking forward to a more active role at Central College.

I was elected Board Chairman in January. During the course of this year, I will continue to support our recruitment efforts that have resulted in record enrollment and will focus on HCC’s commitment to student success. As Board Chair, I am hosting The Chairman’s Report on HCCTV. Each week I sit down with some of the most important education leaders and decision makers in Texas to examine the key issues facing higher education today. The program airs Saturdays at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. HCCTV is found on Comcast Channel 19, TV Max Channel 97, Phonoscope Channel 77 and Cebridge Channel 20 and is available 24 hours a day via Internet streaming at hccs.edu.

While access to higher education is vital to our community, a major concern for our students, the citizens of our communities and their leaders is the successful completion of that education. Community college education is known to be a major cost saver for students; however, it can also become an expensive endeavor if those enrolled don’t complete their degrees. Students must graduate to acquire the skills needed to compete in today’s marketplace. I am proud to say that HCC is making great strides towards that end as a record number of students graduated this year. More than 5,000 students completed their associate degrees or certificates of completion, and almost 1,000 students earned their General Education Development or GED certificate. Our graduation ceremony was a splendid event as 2,046 of those students walked across the stage to receive their well-deserved recognition for successfully achieving their educational goals. Nine thousand-plus family members, friends and neighbors filled the stands to watch and cheer for their graduates.


Students need the continued support of their family, community and school. Demonstrative of HCC’s commitment to our students and community outreach, we have established a new scholarship program that is geared towards those traditionally underserved. HCC Trustee Eva Loredo, District VIII, and I began the HCC Hispanic Scholarship Committee (HSC) last year. HSC’s mission is to provide educational opportunities for the young people of Houston and specifically to raise scholarship funds for students who want to attend HCC.

We want to help Houston’s Hispanic youth acquire the education they want and need to secure their role as a driving force in the future of the area. Houston’s Hispanic population is growing faster than any other in our city, making up 54% of the Houston Independent School District’s current enrollment and 57% of Houston children under the age of five years old. Our economy depends on having a well-educated, diverse workforce. Given the economic obstacles many Hispanic families face, it is crucial that we provide them with the educational opportunities necessary for their own and our city’s future success.

Both Southeast and Central Colleges are growing. Southeast College just opened its new Workforce Building. The three-story, 60,000 square-foot building will be the home for workforce programs that will train students for professions that are in demand by the region’s growing industries. Central College is undergoing a renaissance with the renovation of the San Jacinto Building and the surrounding campus and a new partnership with the Buffalo Soldier’s Museum. The quality education and collegiate environment in which our students can study, work and play provide a learning experience that can only reinforce their dedication to their education goals. The Board of Trustees wants HCC to not only provide the opportunity for all who want and need an education, but to also see each and every one of them walk across that stage at graduation in celebration of their accomplishment.

San Jacinto Memorial Building

The San Jacinto building will become a functional academic center for Central College. All core curriculum courses will be housed there. The college administration will also be based in San Jacinto. The interior will be completely new. While the classrooms throughout the building will be updated with the latest technology, the interior architectural elements will reflect the historic essence of the building. Doors will have bronze fixtures and the windows will be restored to their original look and style. The gym will be preserved and will serve as a new fitness center with state-of-the art exercise equipment. The renovation of the original auditorium will include protecting its historic features and upgrading the presentation facilities.

Labs will have the latest equipment and there will be a tutoring emporium located on the third floor. Students will be able to seek inter-disciplinary tutoring and access the largest computer lab in the building. Alumni of San Jacinto High School will recognize this area as the old cafeteria. The conservatory that holds the San Jacinto Memorial Museum will remain, but will be enhanced so that students and visitors can have access to the archives. Preliminary plans call for making it a u-shaped gallery for passers-by.

San Jacinto Memorial Building

As part of the initial project research, considerable historical information has been discovered that has raised the building’s importance within the community, state and nation. Based on the initial historical findings, HCC has decided to pursue a listing of the property in the National Register of Historic Places.

This legacy building has served many different educational purposes through various institutions, touching many areas of the community and beyond. The original core building was constructed as the innovative South Side Junior High School in 1914. Later, symmetrical building wings and the gym were added and the complex became the San Jacinto Senior High School in 1925. Between 1927 and 1934, the campus was the location of Houston Junior College, which eventually became the University of Houston. In 1962 a technical program was added to the campus and it became the Houston Technical Institute. The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts was located in the San Jacinto building from 1971 to 1981. Also in 1971, The Houston Community College System, as a component of the Houston Independent School District, was created. Because of Houston’s need for vocational training, HCC’s first classes that fall were occupational and technical training for 5,711 students at the Houston Technical Institute in the San Jacinto Building. In 1978 HISD transferred the Houston Technical institute to HCC and in 1981, HCC purchased the school grounds.

The San Jacinto Memorial Museum exhibits high school-era artifacts in commemoration of the prominent Houstonians who attended the high school. Notable alumni include Dr. Denton Cooley, Walter Cronkite, A.J. Foyt, Jr., oilman and entrepreneur Glenn McCarthy, columnist Maxine Messinger, author David Westheimer, former Houston Mayor Kathy Whitmire and actress, singer Gale Storm.

San Jacinto Memorial Building

Please join HCC and the research consultants in developing a comprehensive story about this venerable educational facility and the personages connected to this prominent landmark. To ask questions, share your stories or submit photographs or artifacts, please go the San Jacinto Memorial Building submission form in the HCC Web site Media Room.

Cosmetology Department reception, June 12, 2012.

The program offers specialty courses in Esthetician, Salon Management, and Cosmetology Instructor courses. Typical instruction includes lectures, demonstrations, lab assignments, presentations from guest artists, field trips, and other relevant practice. The degrees offered are an Associate of Applied Science or Certificate in the Cosmetology Operator or Instructor course. Other degrees and certificates available are Barber/Stylist, Facial Specialist and Salon Manager.

Cosmetology Department reception, June 12, 2012.

Employment opportunities for cosmetology students include owning and managing a salon, or chain of salons, becoming an expert makeup or style artist, or working in entertainment as a movie stylist, manicurist, or makeup artist. Other careers include becoming a sales representative for a product or department, an educator, trainer or consultant for a line of products or at a school, and traveling as a stylist on a cruise ship. These are just a few of the many career options that HCC’s cosmetology students are trained to take advantage of. The reintroduction of this program enables students to enter the coveted world of beauty.

An HCC student has the opportunity to earn an Associate in Applied Science degree, or certificates in apparel construction, custom dressmaking and alterations, men’s tailoring and alterations, and patternmaking. Students are also chosen each year to participate in a trip to Paris to tour the city and take classes related to art and design. Other fashion capital destinations included are Milan, Madrid, London, New York, Hong Kong, and Dallas. Approximately 350 students are taking advantage of this opportunity and are working toward an associate degree in fashion design, 250 in merchandising, and another 50 to 60 in theatrical costume design.

Interior design students obtain skills in design fundamentals, textiles, color theory and rendering, and technical training in manual drafting. Students were given the opportunity to present their work at an interior design showcase. The skills design students receive in practice prepare them for employment in residential and commercial interiors.

A focus in fashion and design at HCC Central also allows students to gain membership into The Design Society, an established HCC Foundation. This society offers many opportunities for involvement in the arts community and aids in the advancement of HCC’s role as a leader in design education.

The Light Guard Armory – the new home of the Buffalo Soldiers Museum

The building is on the campus of HCC’s Central College, and the museum founder and board chair, Captain Paul Matthews, met with the president of HCC Central, Dr. William Harmon, to discuss a partnership between the college and museum. Dr. Harmon, excited that a national museum would be on campus, recognized its potential contribution to HCC’s newly developed global studies program that includes African American, Women’s and Mexican American Studies.

“Simply put, it significantly adds to the academia depth of Central. It also provides a segue to the already planned introduction of our Global Studies program,” Harmon said.

Matthews observed, “It was an opportunity for the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum to formally establish a relationship with HCC and demonstrate to the City of Houston a sincere commitment to education.”

The Light Guard Armory

For Matthews, the partnership between the museum and HCC is the avenue he was seeking to expand the museum’s educational possibilities. The museum will provide a unique educational experience through art, exhibits and interaction with men and women who have served our nation. Area students, from grade school through college, will learn about the African American military experience, from Crispus Attucks, the first casualty of the Revolutionary War to Colin Powell, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Desert Storm and the first African American to serve as Secretary of State.

The Armory will provide 23,000 square feet for exhibits, a conference room for the community, learning facilities for Houston Community College, a military-based library for students, a gift shop and administrative space. A student lounge will be supported by Reliant Energy. The Light Guard Veterans Association donated $10 thousand to the museum and the building renovation with the provision that they host their annual meeting at the Armory.

The Buffalo Soldiers Museum is dedicated to educating, preserving and promoting the history, tradition and outstanding contributions of America’s Buffalo Soldiers and the African American military experience. Exhibits and presentations feature the men and women who served our country from the Revolutionary War to today. The history of America’s Buffalo Soldiers is exciting and unique, yet portrays a consummate American military experience. While African American soldiers have served in the U.S. military in every conflict since the Revolutionary War, it was not until 1866 that all-African American Army units were created. The the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st infantry regiments were created during the Civil War. The four infantry regiments were later reorganized to form the 24th and 25th infantry regiments. The 9th and 10th Cavalry divisions, helicopters being the 21st-century mount, are still a part of today’s Army.

Soon to be the Buffalo Soldiers Museum.

Matthews acknowledges that while the museum focuses on the story of the Buffalo Soldiers, it is about American History. “When a visitor to the museum learns about and appreciates the sacrifices of these soldiers, they learn about their nation,” he said. “The experience enhances their patriotism.”

The museum offers educational experiences for Houston-area students through art, exhibits, demonstrations and lectures. With the new facilities, expected to open at the end of the summer, learning opportunities will expand for Houston-area youth and history enthusiasts. The museum plans to open with an exhibit that focuses on the men and women Matthews believes to be the educators of the military, the chaplains.

HCC Anthropology students dig into Freedmen’s Town’s history.

With the loss of so many of the structures in the Historic District, Freedmen’s Town is in danger. To maintain a historical classification a neighborhood area or district must retain a certain percentage of its original roads and structures and once those original aspects are below that percentage, then the area is no longer classified and becomes open to development. And therein lays one of the greatest threats to the neighborhood.

Houston is a wonderful modern city, but one that also has a long-standing tradition of tearing down its material history for the newer and better. The current economic climate adds to the dilemma, and city leaders have to weigh the benefits of commercial development in established areas and the creation of jobs that accompany that development and the importance of saving the area’s history. Developers and political pundits have a strong incentive to call the general area Midtown and not Freedmen’s Town in official documents in order to downplay the historical quality of the area and build upon its economic viability. What seems to be missing in this economic word-play is the recognition that the historical component of the neighborhood is just as important and can improve area property values when considering the tourist value.

Students learn to negotiate through the political and economic issues in their efforts to preserve the material history of the city. As part of their learning experience, they wrote letters to the city council to explain why archaeology in Freedmen’s Town is integral to the preservation and celebration of the community. Their efforts helped the class gain access to the site for their summer dig.

The work the students are doing is important to the community. As they uncover the material history of the area, they discover that the neighborhood was so much more than buildings, dates and names; it was and is the story of a group of people who had nothing and created a thriving community through hard work and diligence. Moore is proud of his students and how they met the challenge. He motivates his students to appreciate that the history of the community is worth preserving.

The students gained more than just a glimpse into the past, but actually travelled through time, bit by bit, as they dug down layer upon layer. In the first layer, a few inches down, the students discovered a pull tab. The 18-year-olds did not know what the small metal item was or what it was for. Luckily, the older professors present were able to explain to them the technology of late 20th Century soda pop cans. In the next layer they found a small ceramic cylinder. Again, the class was fortunate in that the item was identified as an insulator for short-wave radios that was used as such only for a short time in the 1950s. Moore observed that his class did not have to dig back 5,000 years to find history alien to modern students.

Archaeological digs take practice and patience. Moore was proud of his students who after just two weeks had become quite proficient in the methodic excavation, taking their time to dig properly, without the urge for instant gratification.

The archaeological exploration of Freedmen’s Town will continue next summer. Moore expects to head up a full summer course. He is also exploring future site possibilities for his field classes. The challenge for Moore is to get students to know and appreciate what anthropology is. His objective is to instill in his students that anthropology is a state of mind as opposed to just a class. He wants his students to view the world around them as an anthropologist. Many students take his classes, find it to be a passion and then declare anthropology as their major. Moore’s classes fill up fast, and around 250 students enroll in the classes each semester, with five or six majoring in anthropology. He adds that he has had over 50 students who have taken all of the courses he teaches, including archaeology and physical anthropology.

“They either love it or not, there is no middle ground,” said Moore.

While social sciences and anthropology programs are losing ground to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), energy and business programs in Houston-area institutions of higher education, the anthropology program at HCC is growing. Under the guidance of Professor Moore, HCC Central began to increase the number and variety of anthropology offerings. In the fall 2012 semester, four sections in cultural anthropology, seven sections in physical anthropology and two sections in archaeology will be offered. Moore wants to add a one-hour lab component to the physical archaeology course to make it a four-credit science course. The field school is a new addition to the program; this summer’s excavation was the first time HCC has offered the hands-on experience for students.

Anthropology provides a selection of career paths in business, government, energy, as well as cultural vocations in museums and libraries. To get a bachelor’s degree in archaeology, students have to have field training and many employers also require field experience. One student in this summer’s class was getting her degree at Florida A&M, and she needed the field experience, but it was not offered at her university, so she came to HCC and acquired the field experience and credit she needed for her baccalaureate degree.
With the recent trend towards minimizing social science disciplines, local universities are offering few, if any, field archaeology opportunities. The University of Houston does not offer field experience for undergrads, and Rice University only offers a six-week archaeological field school in June and July in sub-Saharan Africa. While this current lack of appreciation for the social sciences is limiting the availability of such courses, it is a positive for HCC. If HCC is the school that offers field training, that’s where the students will go.

Kim Roxie

The beauty of women – all women – is a subject near and dear to Roxie’s heart . While still in her 20s, she has spent the past eight years nurturing her self-run company, LAMIK Beauty (lamik-beauty.com). The makeup company, which has a distinct environmental bent, just took a giant leap forward by contracting with regional Macy’s stores.

Of LAMIK – an acronym for Love And Makeup In Kindness – Roxie says, “We celebrate women; we celebrate the achievements of women; we celebrate the beauty of women.” She emphasizes that her approach is to enhance the natural beauty of women. “We believe that beauty is revealed, not applied. We feel that every woman is beautiful, and that’s just a fact. A lot of times it just has to be revealed.”
A native Houstonian and former cheerleader at James Madison High School, she started off on a small scale years ago, creating makeup “concoctions” in her kitchen. “I always say God turned on my light bulb,” she says, adding “immediately I had to create a product line.”

“I have always been an artist,” the 29-year old says, noting that she trained for 10 years as a classical pianist. “I started to realize that women needed more shades, women were not being served in the marketplace by what makeup they needed, and that we were not addressing makeup correctly. We were hitting it from a cover-up basis rather than a revealing basis. So all those different aspects made me realize that I had to create this line. And I had to open up my first store here in Houston.”

Early on, she began attending classes at HCC during her summers back home from Clark Atlanta College. She returned to HCC upon graduation, earning her aesthetician license in 2006 through the cosmetology department, one of HCC’s many workforce programs.

After going to college in Atlanta, she says, “I thought, ‘I want to be in Houston, and I want to build my business here. I should go somewhere local.’ So I went to HCC.

“HCC stood out to me because I knew people at HCC who I value as people that were educated. When I saw the actual price of the program, I thought, ‘Why would I choose anywhere else when I can come here and get a substantial education and not pay some kind of crazy private cost that most people pay?’ I thought it was an opportunity.”

HCC taught her about customer service and business ethics, tools that would serve her well as an entrepreneur. “A lot of those core principles I use on my staff,” she says, “and how we should treat customers based on those ethical practices I learned at HCC during class.”

Her deal with Macy’s came as a result of the Workshop at Macy’s, which she learned about at a business conference in Miami. “Basically, they look for minority-owned or women-owned businesses that have products that could potentially sell at a retail counter,” she says. She applied, and LAMIK was one of 22 businesses accepted into the workshop.

She compares the intensive, weeklong program to getting a retail MBA. The initiative taught her how to do business with a major retailer.

“It is a great partnership, and it is a business opportunity for LAMIK as well as for Macy’s,” she says, noting that her company will fill a void at the retail chain. “We bring what they need, and that is a makeup line that provides an array of shades, that speaks to a modern woman, and is current. And that is what the beauty industry really needs right now.”

In addition to the unique approach at LAMIK, which Roxie founded in 2004, the company has had a commitment to health and the environment since it began. The makeup is paraben-free, and the packaging is created from post-recycled paper. This made LAMIK a finalist in the International Package Design Awards for green packaging.

Roxie now contributes to HCC as a speaker. LAMIK is also paying for one of its six employees to attend the aesthetics program at HCC and plans to do the same for another. “It is our way of being able to perpetuate the great cosmetology program at HCC,” Roxie says while crediting the school for launching her highly successful career as an entrepreneur.

“You don’t have to wait until you get old to discover something great,” she says. “HCC assisted me in doing that. If I did not have HCC to be that steppingstone, to get me there, then I would not be fortunate enough to be in this position to be able to launch inside of Macy’s.

“HCC boasts affordability and quality of education. HCC is not a ‘cheap’ education. You can get a great education locally.”

And that education, combined with her ideas and drive, allowed her to be a success in her hometown and to give back to Houston. “I am most proud of the fact that I took advantage of a local education and now am able to bring that kind of influence back to my community, to be able to enhance my community,” Roxie says. “You can go to HCC, a local college, and still do great things and change the whole world.”

Reprinted from the HCC Alumni Association & the HCC Foundation’s SOAR Magazine, Spring 2012 Edition
Photo: Jessica Ham

Professor Scotty Moore explains the dig process to Central College President William Harmon.

Moore’s passion for anthropology and archeology has been the inspiration for the expansion of the anthropology courses at HCC. What was originally the Sociology Department’s side offering of one or two classes a semester in cultural anthropology, is now a full program offering cultural anthropology, physical anthropology and archaeology, including field experience in the summer months. As many as 250 students enroll in Moore’s classes each semester and that number is growing. That Moore receives high approval ratings from his students may be due to his approach. He teaches his students to look at the world like an anthropologist and instills in them a mindset that the human experience is more than dates and names and buildings.

What sets Houston Community College apart is its faculty, individuals who bring theory and practice to life in the classroom. HCC’s faculty members not only teach in the classroom and are accomplished academicians, but are also successful in their respective professional fields.
With more than 3,600 professors who have a passion for teaching, HCC students benefit from a wealth of real world experience that our faculty brings to the classroom. HCC’s faculty members conduct research to further their knowledge, change the future and help their students.

Chancellor’s Symposium on Engineering
Saturday, September 29, 2012
3 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Space Center Houston

MMI Fall Golf Classic
Monday, October 8, 12012
7:00 a.m. Registration, 8:30 a.m. Shotgun start
Quail Valley Golf Club

5th Annual Houston Community College State of the College
Friday, October 19, 2012
7:30 a.m. – 9 a.m.
The Junior League of Houston, 1811 Briar Oaks Lane

HCC endeavors to serve the needs of our communities and this building is an important part of fulfilling our goals. The Southeast College Workforce Building will ensure the highest quality education for the young people of the area. The residents of Houston’s southeast side will be prepared to enter today’s competitive workforce through a meaningful course of study with real-life applications. Their knowledge and skills will strengthen their community and contribute to its prosperity.

This building is a result of the partnerships we have successfully developed with private and public entities. With the help of the businesses and industries in the area, we will be able to train a workforce with the skills that are needed and that are in demand, today and tomorrow.

The three-story, 60,000 square-foot building will be the new home for cosmetology, logistics, business management, international business, office technology, Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), Electrocardiography (EKG), Phlebotomy, accounting, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC), basic electricity, and other programs. Initially, 1,600 students will study, learn and work within the walls of the Workforce Building. Eventually, as many as 3,000 students per semester will seek training and education in the walls of this building.

The Workforce Building, its programs, faculty and staff have a big job ahead of them. They have to support the region’s growing demand for professionals and they have to do it ahead of the curve. The faculty and the curriculum have the responsibility of keeping up with the advances in technologies, advances that occur faster and faster. This state-of-the-art facility is our commitment to this endeavor.
This building is important to the community and to HCC not only due to the opportunities it makes available to students, but also because it is an important asset to the Greater Houston Area and the state of Texas to ensure long-term economic growth and prosperity. To meet the goal for student success, as mandated in the state’s Closing the Gaps program by 2015, Texas must award an additional 46,000 credentials annually by 2015 – a 28 percent increase over 2009. The role of HCC and Southeast College’s new Workforce Building in achieving this goal is critical.

The Workforce Building and the programs it will offer represent a community’s ambition to improve itself, to improve the future for its young people and to seek that improvement through education. The residents of Houston’s East End will have the opportunity motivate young people, to educate them, to increase their marketable skills in an unsure economy and to secure for them a promising future.

Parking can be an issue at most HCC campuses, but especially for one growing as fast as Southeast Campus. To help alleviate some of the problem, a multi-level parking garage will be built on the corner of Rustic and Garland, across from the Learning Hub. Construction is scheduled to begin in October and the structure is expected to be complete in May 2013. The four-level, 230,000-square-foot garage will accommodate approximately 600 cars. The design of the garage takes into account the future growth of the college. Two additional levels can be added at a future date.

More than three hundred people attended the symposium, including 115 high school and college students from East Early College, Austin and Milby high schools, HCC, Prairie View A&M University and San Jacinto College. Dr. Irene Porcarello welcomed a diverse audience composed of students, faculty, staff and administrators.

Former NASA Astronaut Jose M. Hernandez delivered the keynote address. His journey from a non-English-speaking migrant field worker to the International Space Station captivated the audience. After attaining his master’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Hernandez began working at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. In 2001, Hernandez joined the Johnson Space Center, in Houston, Texas. His space flight experience on STS-128 Discovery from August 28 to September 11, 2009 was the 128th Shuttle mission and the 30th mission to the International Space Station.

In his talk on An Astronaut’s Journey to the Stars, he presented two meaningful and interesting videos. The former was a very inspirational video where he described his origin, culture, values, and traditions as well as how his parents played a key role in his life, career and education. The latter was a comprehensive video that showed his trainings and activities as flight engineer and one of two principal robotic arm operators during his space mission.

This symposium was dedicated in memory of Stephen Grega, former HCC-STEM Chair and former NASA employee. Grega used to coordinate similar symposiums. Under his effective leadership, support and guidance, his faculty was able to learn the importance and key connection between teaching, sharing and leadership. Grega had an excellent relationship with his students. Because of his sincerity, caring nature, and great sense of humor, his students loved him and were always seeking for his friendship and advice.

STEM programs are a part of the national education agenda. HCC Southeast is working diligently to fulfill the needs of these growing industry sectors by offering quality education opportunities and developing the science, technology, engineering and math professionals that are in demand.

Ask HCC is designed to provide students with easy one-stop-shop access to information and services they need to complete their educational goals. Ask HCC provides support to our students when they have questions regarding admissions and registration, financial aid, Distance Education or general college information. Ask HCC is a self-service knowledge-based solution that allows students and staff to go online, ask a specific question and get an exact answer. The 24/7 interactive online question and answer tool, at http://www.hccs.edu/hccs/current-students/e-advising-information, is designed to provide both students and staff with answers faster and easier, while ensuring staff are more readily available for individual student support and face to face interactions.

Financial Aid TV, http://hccs.financialaidtv.com, is a self-service financial aid counseling and outreach web-based solution that frees up valuable staff resources and answers common financial aid questions. This video library of over 60 videos covers topics such as financial literacy, financial aid and financial counseling. Financial Aid TV is a natural extension of HCC’s financial aid offices’ services and is now available on the web, 24/7, in a self-service format.

Since implementing Ask HCC and FATV in December, 2011, the response from HCC students has been outstanding. Between December and February of this year, FATV videos have been viewed 20,800 times. Students have asked 23,000 questions through Ask HCC; 10,445 just in the month of February. The HCC Counseling portal, in addition to our current FATV portal, will also be 100% online. Students will not only be able to view videos that will educate them on financial literacy, but this portal will also include an assessment to ensure students have a clear understanding of the entire financial aid process, financial literacy and responsible borrowing. From a college perspective, we will be able to proactively educate and inform students regarding financial aid and responsible borrowing, as well as track their progress and perform outreach initiatives proactively.

HCC has added a Spanish video playlist to our FATV online video library. These videos can be found at http://hccs.financialaidtv.com/#playlist-1227:video-0. This playlist currently contains five video questions and answers in Spanish. In the future, a Spanish version of our entire video and counseling portal library will be added.

With the implementation of online self–service, HCC is witnessing a significant reduction in the number of calls and a better response to caller inquiries. Financial aid calls have been reduced by 40%, calls about admissions were reduced by 14% and there is an overall college-wide reduction of 10% when compared to the same time the previous year. With the ongoing efforts to establish a centralized call center, we expect to see even greater results as we continue to improve service to our students.

Ask HCC can be found at http://www.hccs.edu/hccs/current-students/e-advising-information and students can go to http://hccs.financialaidtv.com for FATV.

The City of Houston and HCC joined the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Initiative in 2011. Qualifying participants for the program are local business owners with limited financial resources, have been in operation for two years and have total revenue between $150,000 and $4 million with four or more employees.

Accepted applicants receive a full scholarship, a dynamic training program for business and management, and business advising. Through the program, Southeast College helps business owners develop a business growth plan to increase revenue and hire employees.

Owners also gain access to capital and business support services such as advice, technical assistance and networking. Loans are managed and distributed by regional and national Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) loan funds. CDFI provides loan funds to businesses that do not have access to traditional sources of capital and are partners in 10,000 Small Businesses.

By providing these services, the city of Houston will benefit from its educated local business owners’ ability to strengthen its economy. These businesses are aimed to serve economically underserved areas with the goal to create more jobs.
Houston Community College and community leaders celebrated the inaugural graduation of 53 Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses scholars during a ceremony at HCC’s Southeast College Monday, October 3, 2011.

A total of 98 small business owners have graduated from Southeast College. Applications have already been accepted for summer classes and registration for fall classes is still open. Those classes will begin October 3.

The classes are being offered through the Southeast Center for Entrepreneurship with a curriculum relevant to contemporary business. In addition to coursework, small business owners have the opportunity to attend workshops with topics such as “How to Raise Working Capital and Fund Your Business.” This recent discussion had a panel that consisted of notable business managers and vice presidents, including Alias Johnson, Assistant Vice President for Capital One Bank and Shirley Brooks, Vice President of ACCION Texas Louisiana East Region. A recently held Small Business Growth Summit provided workshops for new businesses that focused on small business growth strategies, using social media marketing, and a funders panel and exhibit fair.

The Southeast Center for Entrepreneurship also developed a summer boot camp for high school students interested in starting their own business. The program teaches the basics of business ownership, accounting, management, funding, marketing, and operations. A student that finishes the full six weeks earns six college credits and will have completed a business plan.

Houston Community College Southeast has taken on a crucial role in the success of the Houston’s southeast neighborhoods. By providing the necessary education, HCC is fulfilling Goldman Sachs’s mission to expand professional opportunities and maximize individual potential. HCC has a tradition of partnering with the local business community and promoting entrepreneurship and continues to maintain that connection.

Established around 1890, parts of it on the site of the early Texas town of Harrisburg, Magnolia Park, in Houston’s East End, eventually became home to thousands of early Mexican and Tejano settlers and their families. The great Diasporas caused by the Mexican Revolution of 1910, and the social upheavals and wars in Central America later, caused many more to immigrate, resulting in a majority Latino neighborhood that is still vibrant today.

One family’s story centers on its patriarch’s journey to Houston. As he emigrated from Mexico at the height of the Mexican Revolution, he gave a pair of gold and pearl earrings to his bride-to-be as an engagement gift. During their trek to “el norte,” however, he had to sell them so that they could finish the trip to Houston. He asked a pawnshop dealer to hold them until he could get the money to buy them back. The couple made it to Magnolia Park and had a joyful wedding soon after their arrival. The young man was able to send money to the pawnshop dealer very soon after getting settled. But when the earrings didn’t arrive for several weeks, the couple was deeply disappointed and feared they were lost forever. The earrings bought out of love for his bride-to-be finally arrived one day by pony express. The heirloom earrings are now part of the family lore and still exist today, more than 100 years later.

Stories such as this that illustrate these families’ pride, determination and love are being uncovered in nearly 100 interviews and 2,000 photographs. Telling their stories, getting their histories known is making this one-time timid community stand a little taller. The Magnolia Park Oral History Project has given the community a new sense of pride, pride to be from Magnolia Park.

The neighborhood and its residents should be proud. Magnolia Park’s identity and unique culture produced great leaders and activism in the Sociedad Mutualista Benito Juárez or Benito Juárez Mutual Aid Society, and other groups focused on advocating for barrio cohesiveness and organization. This community-building started in the early 1900s and continues today with descendants of the original families including the Varas, Partidas, Ramirez, Antes, Gonzalez and Chairez, to name but a few. These families contributed, and continue to contribute, to this living history of Houston and Texas.

This unprecedented educational and oral history archival project, when concluded, will be a 30-part series highlighting Magnolia Park’s oldest families who were present for its historic foundation and subsequent growth. They will include witnesses to history and personal stories of their beloved colonia (neighborhood) since its early days. The series will also be used as part of the curriculum of the Mexican American Studies Program at HCC Southeast under the supervision of newly appointed Humanities Department chair, Dr. Grisel Cano.

Once completed, the series will be on permanent display and available for public viewing at the soon-to-be-established HCC Southeast Museum in the new Learning Hub Building on the Southeast Campus.

Involved with the project are award-winning journalist and former KTRK Channel 13 anchor Minerva Perez and Frank Partida of the Magnolia Park Historical Preservation Association as chief historical consultant.

Perez observed the profound affect the project has had upon her. “Learning about the beginnings of Magnolia Park and its amazing people has touched not only my heart, but my cultural conscience,” she said.

HCC trustee for District 3, Mary Ann Perez, and Trustee Eva Loredo, District 8, applauded the project, and recognized the value of preserving the history of the area. Having grown up in Houston’s East End and Magnolia Park area, the history will be of great personal interest to Perez.

“I am proud that HCC Southeast is undertaking this great project. It is so important to our community and to the great city of Houston to capture the history of the area. This history is our legacy, it is who we are, it is the history of the families with whom I grew up,” said Perez.

The compilation of video interviews, combined with each family’s personal photo galleries, continues at present. It will expand with the addition of the top 10Role Models of Magnolia Park. The Magnolia Park Oral History Project is expected to be ready for its debut at a presentation that will coincide with Diéz de Septembre, and Hispanic Heritage Month this year.

For more historical background on Magnolia Park, Texas, please visit the Handbook of Texas, the website of the Texas State Historical Association at: http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hvm06

Well received by Houston’s southeast neighborhood, plans are in the works for HCC and HEB to team up again this year. HCC hopes to provide free flu shots at the Southeast Campus and Central College sometime in November.

With more than 3,600 professors who have a passion for teaching, HCC students benefit from a wealth of real world experience that our faculty brings to the classroom. HCC’s faculty members conduct research to further their knowledge, change the future and help their students.

Eagle Award winner Roger Boston, HCC Southeast

Roger Boston is approaching three decades of service with HCC after a significant career in information systems management in private industry. Having worked full-time with the computer science department since 1981, and adjunct with the Astronomy department, he is associated with a long line of firsts at HCC, including the first personal computer course, first two-way satellite conference, first online course, first Web server, first Internet course, first facilitated international town meeting, and more recently, the first courses to be taught and delivered on mobile devices. The iPhone program, made possible by the Chancellor’s Innovation Fund, made headlines and brought in fresh research on how mobile technologies enrich the learning experience.

Boston is an integral part of research programs that are pushing HCC into the academic spotlight. He has held many positions, including faculty, department head and academic chair, and he was the recipient of the first endowed chair in the U.S. for faculty at the community-college level, an innovation conceived by the “Rockwell Fund.” He has been recognized with a number of honors, including the ACCT Regional Trustees award, the President’s medallion, an Excellence award from the Instructional Telecommunications consortium, the Chancellor’s Eagle award in 2010, the NISOD 2011 medallion. His former students have added to the many thousands of dollars gifted by the Rockwell Fund to establish the “Roger Boston Scholarship” for deserving students in computer science.

Boston has made education a top priority in his career. He acknowledges that so far, it’s been rewarding. “I love the subject matter. When you teach you get to share your passion,” he said.

Staying on the cutting edge of technology, inside the classroom and out, keeps HCC’s professors tops in their fields. Students gain practical experience as well as enjoy a rich educational experience.

In preparation for that future, Matthew, 20, participated at this summer’s Salzburg Global Seminar’s week-long Community College International Study Program in Salzburg, Austria.  He brought back an understanding of global affairs and different perspectives on world events from the world-renowned study program.

In an age of new international challenges and tensions, it has become critical for Americans to understand the global economy and international relationships. HCC is ensuring its students have the skills to participate on the world stage. Faculty and students who attend the seminar present their findings and share their knowledge with the HCC community upon their return to classes. HCC has participated in the seminar every summer since 2009.

Matthew reflected on his week in Austria, “One of the main concepts I learned is to tell people about Globalization. This experience will help me when I am networking with senators and representatives in Washington.”

Matthew plans on continuing his education at the University of Houston Downtown, earning his bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a minor in Public Policy.

An aspiring writer, HCC Southeast History major Alisia Morales is an active member of the Southeast College History Club. She served as vice president in 2010-2011 and president of the club last year.

Alisia will graduate from HCC, having left her mark on the college and the Southeast Campus. She has been instrumental in bringing several community events to the campus. The activities and exhibits organized by Alisia include Dia de Los Muertos, Native American Expessions, History of weather in Houston with Anthoney Yanez, Haunted Houses in Houston, Battle Ship with Beth Turgues and a Childrens Holiday Camp, which brought over five hundred people to Southeast Campus.

The 38-year-old mother plans on continuing her education at the University of Houston and ultimately wants to travel with her children and write.

Yes, there is archaeology in Houston. Freedmen’s Town, just west of downtown and south of Buffalo Bayou, is just one site where Houston’s history thrives. The area was settled by freed slaves after the Civil War. According to the Freedmen’s Town Association, the settlement became the “economic, spiritual, and cultural focus of Houston’s Black community. There are many Freedmen’s Towns throughout the United States; however, Houston’s Freedmen’s Town is unique in that many who still live there are descendants of the original settlers.” Forty blocks of the original settlement was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a Historic District in 1985. At the time, 530 historic structures stood in the 40-block area. Today, 30 structures remain.

HCC Anthropology students dig into Freedmen’s Town’s history.

With the loss of so many of the structures in the Historic District, Freedmen’s Town is in danger. To maintain a historical classification a neighborhood area or district must retain a certain percentage of its original roads and structures and once those original aspects are below that percentage, then the area is no longer classified and becomes open to development. And therein lays one of the greatest threats to the neighborhood.

Houston is a wonderful modern city, but one that also has a long-standing tradition of tearing down its material history for the newer and better. The current economic climate adds to the dilemma, and city leaders have to weigh the benefits of commercial development in established areas and the creation of jobs that accompany that development and the importance of saving the area’s history. Developers and political pundits have a strong incentive to call the general area Midtown and not Freedmen’s Town in official documents in order to downplay the historical quality of the area and build upon its economic viability. What seems to be missing in this economic word-play is the recognition that the historical component of the neighborhood is just as important and can improve area property values when considering the tourist value.

Students learn to negotiate through the political and economic issues in their efforts to preserve the material history of the city. As part of their learning experience, they wrote letters to the city council to explain why archaeology in Freedmen’s Town is integral to the preservation and celebration of the community. Their efforts helped the class gain access to the site for their summer dig.

Professor Scotty Moore discusses the archaeological dig with Dr. William Harmon, president HCC Central.

The work the students are doing is important to the community. As they uncover the material history of the area, they discover that the neighborhood was so much more than buildings, dates and names; it was and is the story of a group of people who had nothing and created a thriving community through hard work and diligence. Moore is proud of his students and how they met the challenge. He motivates his students to appreciate that the history of the community is worth preserving.

The students gained more than just a glimpse into the past, but actually travelled through time, bit by bit, as they dug down layer upon layer. In the first layer, a few inches down, the students discovered a pull tab. The 18-year-olds did not know what the small metal item was or what it was for. Luckily, the older professors present were able to explain to them the technology of late 20th Century soda pop cans. In the next layer they found a small ceramic cylinder. Again, the class was fortunate in that the item was identified as an insulator for short-wave radios that was used as such only for a short time in the 1950s. Moore observed that his class did not have to dig back 5,000 years to find history alien to modern students.

Archaeological digs take practice and patience. Moore was proud of his students who after just two weeks had become quite proficient in the methodic excavation, taking their time to dig properly, without the urge for instant gratification.

The archaeological exploration of Freedmen’s Town will continue next summer. Moore expects to head up a full summer course. He is also exploring future site possibilities for his field classes. The challenge for Moore is to get students to know and appreciate what anthropology is. His objective is to instill in his students that anthropology is a state of mind as opposed to just a class. He wants his students to view the world around them as an anthropologist. Many students take his classes, find it to be a passion and then declare anthropology as their major. Moore’s classes fill up fast, and around 250 students enroll in the classes each semester, with five or six majoring in anthropology. He adds that he has had over 50 students who have taken all of the courses he teaches, including archaeology and physical anthropology.

“They either love it or not, there is no middle ground,” said Moore.

While social sciences and anthropology programs are losing ground to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), energy and business programs in Houston-area institutions of higher education, the anthropology program at HCC is growing. Under the guidance of Professor Moore, HCC Central began to increase the number and variety of anthropology offerings. In the fall 2012 semester, four sections in cultural anthropology, seven sections in physical anthropology and two sections in archaeology will be offered. Moore wants to add a one-hour lab component to the physical archaeology course to make it a four-credit science course. The field school is a new addition to the program; this summer’s excavation was the first time HCC has offered the hands-on experience for students.

Anthropology provides a selection of career paths in business, government, energy, as well as cultural vocations in museums and libraries. To get a bachelor’s degree in archaeology, students have to have field training and many employers also require field experience. One student in this summer’s class was getting her degree at Florida A&M, and she needed the field experience, but it was not offered at her university, so she came to HCC and acquired the field experience and credit she needed for her baccalaureate degree.

With the recent trend towards minimizing social science disciplines, local universities are offering few, if any, field archaeology opportunities. The University of Houston does not offer field experience for undergrads, and Rice University only offers a six-week archaeological field school in June and July in sub-Saharan Africa. While this current lack of appreciation for the social sciences is limiting the availability of such courses, it is a positive for HCC. If HCC is the school that offers field training, that’s where the students will go.