Advocates rally support for new Round Rock campus

The city of Round Rock is now one checkmark closer to hosting its own Austin Community College campus.

After an 11th hour effort galvanized enough support from the local community, the issue now goes before the ACC Board of Trustees at an Oct. 30 meeting - the last step before the issue reaches the voting booth.

"We nuked the district," said Glen Colby, co-chair of the advocacy group ACCtion4Education, which mailed out tens-of-thousands of awareness letters to Round Rock households.

The response was significant, and signatures have eclipsed the 4,000 name benchmark required by Texas law for the issue to be placed on the May 10, 2008 ballot.

"Signatures are still rolling in," said Colby. "I'm still counting them."

This comes on the heels of a report issued by the Austin Chamber of Commerce earlier this month, which stated that ACC needs to foster growth in order to meet the city's rapidly increasing workforce demands. The chamber wants ACC to boost enrollment - already well above 30,000 - to produce more higher education graduates by 2010, the same year the new Round Rock campus would open its doors.

ACC is prepared to answer that call said Linda Young, Special Assistant to the ACC President for Governmental and Community Relations. "Certainly, [a new campus] will contribute to that."

"The college is to expand our services … in high service areas," she said. "Round Rock is one of those areas."

With more than enough names inked to the petition, the next challenge for advocacy groups becomes convincing voters that they'll see a return on their investment - an unattractive tax hike.

There is enough high profile support in the local political and corporate ranks, including Round Rock Mayor Nyle Maxwell, First Texas Bank-Round Rock, Chaseco Construction, and Georgetown Title, however, that opponents of the plan will face an uphill climb in the coming battle for taxpayer votes.

The crux of their problem may lie simply in financial backing, being outpaced by what has now become a well-oiled machine, as local businesses have given more than their vocal support to the ACC advocacy campaign.

"Lots of local businesses stepped up and contributed," said Colby. "They see this as an opportunity to get better workers. You'd be surprised how many stepped up."

Seton, among other area hospitals, has also lent its support to the new campus, which would feature nursing and healthcare programs. These programs would aim to graduate a steady stream of specialized workers into the region's booming healthcare industry.

Following tomorrow's meeting, where the college must first verify voter signatures (something Young anticipates) before making its official decision on the Round Rock Campus, Colby's group plans to go into hibernation, readying for a spring push before next year's vote.

"You'll burn people out if you get them jazzed up six months before an election," he said.

It's clear that when the time is ripe, advocates and opponents will be burning the midnight oil to try and convince the Round Rock voters to rally behind them.

Corrections

1. The Oct. 30 meeting may be incorrectly interpreted as a formal Board of Trustees meeting. The Oct. 30 meeting will actually be the official presentation of the petition to the ACC administration at the Round Rock Chamber of Commerce.

2. "Chaseco Construction" should be titled Chasco Constructors.