December 9, 2015 | SharkAdmin As we conclude our semester and close the 2015 calendar year, I want to thank all faculty, staff and students for the work we’ve accomplished this year. In October, we had a successful SACSCOC visit and received reaffirmation of accreditation. The SACSCOC visiting team praised our Quality Enhancement Plan to InF– USE information literacy skills into student-learning outcomes. The work put into that plan and subsequent progress, the research, writing and editing of our SACSCOC report as well as hosting the SACSCOC team at NVC showed tremendous collaboration and commitment to student success. During this time period, our student enrollment grew by 5.44 percent from fall 2014 to fall 2015.* The number of degrees and certificates awarded has skyrocketed by more than 39 percent.** We received a $2.3 million dollar Title V grant for “Project Math Paths” from the U.S. Department of Education. NVC’s commitment to improving math completion and graduation rates through “Project Math Paths” was praised by U.S. Congressman Joaquin Castro, who visited NVC in November. NVC’s “College Connections” recruitment program was also listed among the “Bright Spots” in education for the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics through the U.S. Department of Education. The list identifies organizations that are closing the achievement gap for Hispanic students. In September, we opened the Veteran’s Lounge and Resource Center in Pecan Hall and honored the memory of NVC professor Miguel Muñoz. Our commitment to veterans is evident through our Vet2Vet program and the work of the Veterans Affairs office. This year was the sixth consecutive year that NVC received the Military-Friendly designation from Victory Media. NVC also made the Best Colleges list this year on the BestColleges.com website. We were ranked No. 2 in Texas among community colleges for key performance indicators like acceptance, retention, graduation, enrollment rates and loan default percentages as a measure of graduates’ success. Moving forward, we have been granted the opportunity to lead the Higher Education Council of San Antonio, which provides a comprehensive voice for all college students. Thank you for your hard work and dedication in making NVC one of the best colleges. Enjoy your holidays. * Compared fall 2014 enrollment of 15,797 to fall 2015 enrollment of 16,657 (does not include fall flex II term). ** Compared 1,786 degrees and certificates awarded in 2013-2014 degrees and 2,485 degrees and certificates awarded in the 2014-2015 academic year.
