Welcome to ACC Mr. President

During his first week as President/CEO, Richard M. Rhodes has faced record setting temperatures, devastating wildfires, and neighborhood evacuations. However, these challenges have neither dampened his enthusiasm nor slowed his quest to champion student success and expansion.

Student success has always been a passion for Rhodes, who began his academic career at community college. Rhodes, a native of New Mexico, admits he was not the best student initially and credits his professors/mentors with changing his perspective and putting him on the track to where he is today.

In turn, Rhodes has become an advocate of student success.

"The most rewarding experience and the greatest joy are in seeing kids, who didn't stand a chance, thrive once given the opportunity," Rhodes said.

Rhodes compliments ACC on its existing programs, and will continue to focus on increasing accessibility and retention rates through initiatives such as the Early College Start and Reverse Transfer programs. Rhodes has had great success with similar programs at El Paso Community College (EPCC) where graduation rates increased by 145% during his tenure as president.

Early College Start allows high school juniors and seniors to take up to two ACC courses per semester and Reverse Transfer allows academic credits for course work completed at a university to be transferred back to ACC to satisfy the associate degree requirements. Courses completed at a university are applied to both the associate and baccalaureate degrees.

"When students meet the requirements for a degree, they need the reward," Rhodes said.

These programs give students a sense of accomplishment and help them build their resumes as more employers value associate degrees, according to Rhodes. The Early College Start program in particular, which waives tuition for high school students within the ACC service areas, allows students, who come from low income families and often times never saw themselves as college material, a chance to get a college education.

This is part of the transformative power of community college and will contribute to growth, according

to Rhodes. Rhodes joins ACC amid an existing growth spurt. The student body is growing at a rate of 4,000 students annually and new campuses are in the works for Hays and Bastrop counties. ACC has also acquired the property at Highland Mall for academic development.

Rhodes is well versed in handling challenges posed by rapid growth. During his tenure as president of EPCC, enrollment increased by 62 percent.

"The plan is to move forward aggressively in terms of expansion. The college needs to be accessible to the community," Rhodes said.

Finances play a major role in accessibility and ACC students have recently faced three tuition increases in light of state budget cuts. Earlier this year, the board of trustees approved a tuition increase of $5 per credit hour for each of the summer and fall 2011, and spring 2012 semesters for a total increase of $15

per credit hour by the spring semester.

Rhodes can relate to students' financial struggles on a personal level. As an undergrad, his parents were not able to put him through college, so he enrolled in a co-op program where he was able to finance his education by alternating between six months of work and six months of school. According to Rhodes, the mix of work experience and academics made education come alive.

Despite the fiscal challenges, Rhodes, who began his career as a certified public accountant, said "The primary responsibility of a community college is to provide quality education while keeping tuition affordable."

Rhodes' ability to relate to ACC students goes beyond finances. In 1993 he completed his doctoral internship at ACC while pursuing a Ph.D. in Community College Leadership from the University of Texas at Austin. From doctoral intern to president of the college, Rhodes' experience at ACC has come full circle.

"I have always admired ACC. It's a tremendous institution."