Bill Text: TX HR463 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Congratulating Austin Community College on its 50th anniversary.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-03-17 - Reported enrolled [HR463 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HR463-Enrolled.html
| H.R. No. 463 | ||
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| WHEREAS, Austin Community College is celebrating its 50th | ||
| anniversary in 2023; and | ||
| WHEREAS, In the fall of 1973, ACC opened under the auspices of | ||
| the Austin Independent School District, welcoming more than 1,700 | ||
| students; the former L. G. Anderson High School building in East | ||
| Austin served as its main campus, dubbed Ridgeview, and it also | ||
| offered night courses at Crockett, Reagan, and Austin High Schools; | ||
| just two years later, nearly 10,000 students registered for fall | ||
| classes; ACC was able to accommodate them by taking over the former | ||
| Austin High campus on Rio Grande Street, as that school moved to a | ||
| new location; and | ||
| WHEREAS, ACC was fully accredited as a public, two-year | ||
| community college by the Southern Association of Colleges and | ||
| Schools in 1978; in the 1980s, it established its own board of | ||
| trustees, expanded to serve Leander ISD residents, and opened a | ||
| third campus on East Riverside Drive with vital space for the health | ||
| sciences program; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Helping to meet ever greater workforce needs, ACC | ||
| has grown to become one of the largest colleges or universities in | ||
| the country; it serves approximately 70,000 students annually at 11 | ||
| campuses across Central Texas; in recent years, it has transformed | ||
| the former Highland Mall into centers of learning, completely | ||
| renovated the Rio Grande Campus, and developed the ACC Bioscience | ||
| Incubator, which supplies research space for biotech companies and | ||
| real-world training for aspiring professionals; and | ||
| WHEREAS, ACC has earned wide recognition for innovation and | ||
| academic excellence; data from the Texas Higher Education | ||
| Coordinating Board indicates that it has the fastest-growing | ||
| graduation rate among its peer colleges; nearly 80 percent of the | ||
| school's alumni stay in the area; in 2022, voters in its district | ||
| approved a $770 million general obligation bond to increase | ||
| training capacity for high-demand fields, build and upgrade | ||
| campuses, and expand student support services; and | ||
| WHEREAS, For half a century, Austin Community College has | ||
| provided students with an outstanding education and a solid | ||
| foundation for advancement, and it has been an important engine for | ||
| economic prosperity in the region; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas | ||
| Legislature hereby congratulate Austin Community College on its | ||
| 50th anniversary and extend to all those associated with the | ||
| institution sincere best wishes for continued success; and, be it | ||
| further | ||
| RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
| prepared for the college as an expression of high regard by the | ||
| Texas House of Representatives. | ||
| Hinojosa | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Speaker of the House | ||
| I certify that H.R. No. 463 was adopted by the House on March | ||
| 16, 2023, by a non-record vote. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
