Austin Community College's Regional Advisory Committees (RAC) completed their initial analyses of ACC's north, central, and south regions and presented the first annual report to the ACC Board of Trustees during the November 18 work session.

The three 11-member committees, established to strengthen the link between the college and the community, were appointed by the Board of Trustees and ACC President/CEO Dr. Richard Rhodes in January of 2019. They began their work in April by visiting campuses in their respective regions, learning about ACC's programs, and conducting a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis of the three regions.

"This is a great group of very committed and passionate people — they are committed to ACC and to our mission. It's a great credit to the board and to the president for appointing people who showed up and gave their time visiting our campuses and sharing their feedback and suggestions," says Dr. Molly Beth Malcolm, executive vice president of Campus Operations & Public Affairs. "It was a large task in a short amount of time."

Below are details from each RAC presentation.

North Region | Cypress Creek, Northridge, Round Rock, and San Gabriel campuses
The North RAC developed ideas to explore additional partnerships with Texas State University in Round Rock and collaborate with nearby technology firms in the Domain.

STRENGTHS

• Strong projected economic growth
• Network of large employers
• Total array of academic transfer and workforce programs

WEAKNESSES

• Transportation options to San Gabriel are limited
• Northridge Campus has many capital improvement needs largely due to its age
• Large geographic distance between campuses

OPPORTUNITIES

• Entrepreneur or innovation lab at Northridge Campus
• Involve more parents through tours and open houses, such as Explore UT

THREATS

• Students in the area are conditioned to think a four-year college as the only option
• Navigating ACC's admissions process

Central Region | Eastview, Elgin, Highland, and Rio Grande campuses
The Central RAC suggested exploring new opportunities for collaboration with Austin ISD and examining how online learning may affect the college's future space needs.

STRENGTHS

• Excitement around Highland Campus
• Elgin capacity to expand
• Strong density of partners and nonprofit supports in the area

WEAKNESSES

• Lack of courses for first-responder or public-safety programs
• Need to increase capacity to meet regional workforce needs

OPPORTUNITIES

• Life-skills training
• Connecting with governmental partners to work on issues such as child care and transportation
• Supporting working adults who are under-credentialed
• Collaboration with new Austin ISD high school under construction adjacent to Eastview Campus

THREATS

• Space constraints

South Region | Hays, Pinnacle, Riverside, and South Austin campuses and Southeast Travis County land
The South RAC suggested that the Pinnacle campus redevelopment is crucial to the district's footprint in southwest Austin and expects that the college's land purchase in southeast Travis County will provide many opportunities to meet the future workforce needs of residents and employers in the south.

STRENGTHS

• Position in the economic corridor between Austin and San Antonio
• Proximity to advanced manufacturing, biomedical, and health care facilities
• Public Safety Training Center is an increasingly desirable training facility for law enforcement agencies

WEAKNESSES

• Lack of an ACCelerator on any southern campus
• Lack of other college facilities forces students to travel to north and central campuses
• Major renovations needed at Riverside Campus

OPPORTUNITIES

• Hays and Riverside are located in hotspots for growth
• Pinnacle could become a sandbox for innovation
• Land in southeast Travis County could include an Early College High School in collaboration with Del Valle ISD

THREATS

• Time restrictions: region's explosive growth is causing real estate to get more expensive
• Maintenance needs at Riverside could be costly
• Hays is near capacity

Following the presentations, ACC President/CEO Dr. Richard Rhodes thanked RAC members for their work and laid out the next steps that include connecting the work of the RACs with the college's districtwide campus master planning process. Those meetings are scheduled to begin in January 2020.

To watch a full recording of the report to Trustees, visit the ACC Board of Trustees webpage.