Alvin Community College

Alvin Community College
Alvin Community College A Building
Established	1948
Type	Public, 2-year, Community College
President	Dr. A. R. Allbright
Dean	Dr. John Bethscheider, Dean of Instruction/Provost
Students	5,736
Location	Alvin, Texas, United States
Mascot	Dolphin
Website	http://www.alvincollege.edu/

Alvin Community College (ACC) is a community college in Brazoria County in the U.S. state of Texas. Alvin Community College provides educational opportunities in workforce training, academics, technical fields, adult basic education, and personal development.

As defined by the Texas Legislature, the official service area of ACC is the following:

• all territory within the Alvin, Danbury, and Pearland school districts, and
• that portion of the Angleton Independent School District annexed by ACC prior to September 1, 1995.

History

The Alvin Community College District, a two-year public community college, was approved by the qualified voters of the Alvin Independent School District on November 2, 1948. From its inception until 1971, the College was administered by officials of the Alvin Independent School District. The 1971-72 academic year marked the beginning of a new era in the history of Alvin Community College. A separate administration, tax district, and College Board were established to assume the management, control, and operation of a newly created Alvin Junior College District.

Initially, when the College and public schools were in the same system, the College was part of Alvin High School. The first classes began on September 12, 1949, in facilities which grouped grades 11 through 14 in one building and which placed Alvin under a system known as the 6-4-4 plan.

One of the more important changes at Alvin Community College was the building of a separate facility for academic work at the college level and dropping of the 6-4-4 plan in favor of a 6-3-3-2 arrangement. The college program was strengthened by additional facilities, by an enlarged faculty, and by successfully meeting the standards of the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools (1959). Alvin Community College moved to its present campus in the summer of 1963.

By a vote of both the original district and voters of adjoining territories, the college district was enlarged to nearly twice its geographical size in 1974. Then, in the spring of 1975, an $8 million bond issue was approved, providing funds for the facilities necessary to meet an expanding enrollment. Several new buildings were added to the growing campus.

In 1998 the College expanded into its service area with the establishment of the Pearland College Center in Pearland, Texas.

The enrollment of Alvin Community College has grown from 134 students in 1949 to over 5,000 students today.

Academics

Alvin Community College offers a wide variety of career programs and majors that lead directly to the job market. ACC offers degrees in Associate of Applied Science (AAS), Associate of Arts (AA) and Associate of Science (AS), as well as many certificate programs. ACC participates in the Texas Common Course Numbering System, or TCCNS, a voluntary cooperative effort by many Texas colleges and universities to create a standard set of course designations for transfer students at the freshman and sophomore level. This allows students to take classes which will transfer to a university. ACC Department of Continuing Education and Workforce Development also offers a variety of programs that allow students to further or begin new careers in a number of fields including health care, professional services, industrial arts and more.

Campuses

• Alvin Community College Campus

3110 Mustang Rd Alvin, TX 77511

• Pearland Campus

2319 N. Grand Blvd. Pearland, TX 77581

In addition, a museum devoted to the baseball career of Alvin's most famous resident, Nolan Ryan, is located on the ACC main campus. Ryan studied veterinary medicine at ACC, then known as Alvin Junior College, during a few off-seasons early in his career.

External links

• Alvin Community College Website
• Alvin Community College from the Handbook of Texas Online