ACC President Dr. Rodney Allbright speaks about his final year at the college during the faculty/staff workshop on August 21.

Alvin Community College faculty and staff members participated in several workshops on August 21-22  to prepare for the fall semester.

 

The workshops covered several topics such as classroom management, mental health issues, campus security, legislative changes, dual credit courses, marketing and more.

 

ACC President Dr. Rodney Allbright spoke about how the upcoming year will be his last with the college. He has served the college for 45 years. While he will be leaving ACC after 38 years as president, he has no doubt the college will still provide quality education and workforce development for the community.

 

"The majority of those years have been great because of you," he told the faculty and staff. "The college is going to continue to be successful because you will work to keep it successful."

 

ACC staff members, including attorney Jonathan Brush, presented information on classroom management and security measures. In the wake of incidents at colleges across the country and in our area, it was emphasized that faculty need to ensure that they are using good practices when it comes to student behavior.

 

Instructors must draft a clearly stated discipline policy on attendance, classroom disruption, cell phone use and more, Brush said. Those rules should be enforced equally and documented in the event that a student files a grievance against the college, he said.

 

ACC also has a Behavioral Intervention Team to help identify and address potentially dangerous issues before they escalate.

 

The workshops also included information on the Robert Turner College and Career High School which opens on August 26. So far, more than 400 Pearland ISD students have enrolled to take dual credit classes at Turner. To date more than 200 have signed up for the dual degree program.

 

"This is a huge opportunity for us," said Dr. Drew Nelson, dean of Academic Programs.

 

For more information about ACC, call 281-756-3500 or visit www.alvincollege.edu.