Texarkana College Trustee Anne Farris, a DeKalb native, submitted her resignation from the board at Monday’s meeting after serving in Place 3 board position since 2013. TC board president Kaye Ellison said Farris’ service has been a huge asset to the college and her dedication to student success and unwavering commitment to progress has led to many achievements throughout her terms.
“Mrs. Farris is an icon of education excellence in Northeast Texas,” Ellison said. “Her service to students who live in rural school districts is unmatched and is a vital part of TC’s mission. She serves as a role model for aspiring students to take every opportunity to earn a college credential and leave a legacy of progress.”
During her board terms, Farris helped lead the college during pivotal times in the history of the institution.
“Mrs. Farris brought valuable insight to her position as a trustee,” Ellison said. “As a board, we’ve had to make tough decisions during her terms and her experience as an educator and administrator has been instrumental in helping us make great strides in student success and completion rates resulting in several record-breaking years.”
Milestones during Farris’ service include establishment of TC’s Honor’s College program and Presidential Scholarship; participation in the national Achieving the Dream initiative and recognition as a Leader College; leading the college to win the prestigious Leah Meyer Austin Award in 2018—the highest national honor a community college can receive for student success; expanding TC’s dual credit program and establishing a dual credit scholarship program for economically disadvantaged students; TC graduation rates continuously ranking in the top percentile in the state since 2016; and approving the development of TC’s new industrial maintenance program and the construction of the Betty & Buddy Ledwell Workforce Training Center.
TC President Dr. Jason Smith said Farris brought invaluable insight to the TC Board.“Mrs.Farris is looked upon as a dependable and reliable source of educational leadership and knowledge throughout Bowie and Cass Counties,” said Smith. “As an educator, she served as the first female superintendent of schools in DeKalb, and the first female superintendent in all of Bowie County’s history. Her connections with school districts in both Bowie and Cass Counties benefitted TC and helped support the partnerships we have with school districts where she previously worked including Hooks, New Boston, Pleasant Grove, DeKalb, Atlanta, and Redwater, Texas. We are blessed by her service to TC.”
In other business, TC Vice President of Instruction, Dr. Donna McDaniel, announced that TC will participate in a National Science Foundation grant award in support of campus cyberinfrastructure.
“Dr. Cat Howard, TC’s dean of science, technology, engineering, and math, was a collaborative investigator on the NSF grant proposal submitted by Texas-based Lonestar Education Research Network (LEARN) adding Texarkana College and two other participating schools to an existing LEARN grant which provides regional network connectivity for smaller colleges and universities in Texas,” said McDaniel.
The two-year grant titled CC* Regional: LEARN Extending & Accelerating Participation in Science (Texas LEAPS), is a $890,000 award to LEARN who will serves as the lead organization. “There are already six Texas higher education institutions participating in the initial grant managed by LEARN, and now TC will join Texas Lutheran University and Trinity Valley Community College as newcomers to the project,” said McDaniel. “This collaboration with LEARN provides partner institutions with advanced network services and connectivity, expertise and training to adopt and manage the new technology.”
For more information about LEARN, visit https://www.tx-learn.org/
