A team of TVCC staff and faculty are leading the effort to enhance students’ experiences and education, to ensure seamless transitions and transfers while eliminating barriers to make higher education accessible.

Through Talent Strong Texas Pathways (Pathways), a comprehensive, statewide strategy to redesign the student experience through guided pathways with several integrated components, TVCC is creating strategic in-house plans that focus on four foundational pillars: Mapping pathways to student end goals, helping students choose and enter a pathway, keeping students on their pathway, and ensuring students are learning. Through these pillars, TVCC strives to deliver a comprehensive and student-centered educational experience that supports both academic and career achievement at every stage of their college career.

“Pathways is about removing barriers that our students may encounter,” Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs Erica Richardson explained. “We are removing all barriers and creating pathways for our students.”

Richardson shared that some of the major points of Pathways is aligning TVCC curriculums with industry standards, creating pathways for students – not just focusing on the student’s major, providing students with time and assistance so they aren’t rushed to graduate or transfer. Pathways is also focusing on renovating lessons plans by creating an active learning environment instead of lectures. Plus, providing instructors assistance with course redesign and professional development.

Pathways prioritizes and emphasizes consistent check-ins to support students and their instructors throughout their journey.

“We ensure ongoing touchpoints to monitor students on their journey,” Richardson explained. “It begins with the recruiting team engaging with students, followed by leveraging our admissions and advising systems to guide them as they start their pathway. We then maintain communication with instructors to ensure students' needs are being met.”

Richardson explained that instructors are asked to send out early alerts to the Student Retention Specialist Daniela Martinez when a student isn’t attending classes. Once Martinez receives the alert, she will reach out to the student to see how they can be assisted.

“Dani is great at reaching out to the student and seeing if their schedule can be adjusted or if they need further assistance,” Richardson added. “Maybe the student is struggling due to housing, transportation, or finances? We are able to provide that assistance.”

By prioritizing students' overall well-being and addressing their needs beyond academics, TVCC supports students' basic needs and foster a sense of belonging. Richardson highlighted the crucial role of Associate Vice President of Student Advocacy Services Melinda Berry and her team in ensuring these needs are met.

“We are focusing on the whole student,” Berry expressed. “Every student is a student and TVCC’s staff and faculty’s responsibility is to support the entire student. We are breaking down silos and creating an even playing field for every student.”

The team is proud to share the current accomplishments, which include:

• Adding directional signs on campuses.
• Implementing a system to remove the wait time during advising high times.
• Provide a laptop loaner program.
• Increasing the number of articulation agreements/Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) to improve transfer opportunities.
• Increasing the number of university days on campus and tours to visit other colleges and universities.
• Increasing presence of faculty/division chairs at orientation to improve the dissemination of information about our programs to new students.
• Creating an industry certification training center to serve our workforce students.

Though the initiative is creating an environment of empowerment on the campuses, it wouldn’t happen if there wasn’t a team at its helm focusing on making the efforts happen, Richardson explained.

The dedicated team consists of representatives from various campus departments, including recruitment, registrar, financial aid, advising, retention, innovation and support, student services, marketing, adult and continuing education, education, academics, workforce, and dual credit. These members meet throughout the year to develop and implement strategies aligned with the four pillars.

“This is a group of driven and dedicated individuals who are focusing on the student, their needs and how we can break barriers to make education accessible,” Richardson shared.

Berry agreed and added, “We are seeing all areas of TVCC come together and make things happen that directly impacts our students. Our leaders, TVCC President Dr. Jason Morrison and Vice President of Instruction Spencer Wagley, share a similar mindset as our team and their ideas and excitement continue to sprinkle down to us. This a magical thing happening at TVCC.