Potential bond election, new satellite center in Cypress to aid in meeting demand at system's biggest campus
As the new school year begins, Lone Star College System officials are preparing for another potential bond election and the addition of a new satellite center in Cypress.
The new endeavors are a reaction to the growth LSCS has experienced over the past few years, as it is the fastest growing community college system in the country. Enrollment at LSC–CyFair has increased from 6,899 students to nearly 20,000 since it opened in 2003, making it the largest campus in the system.
"While growth is exciting, the levels that we're seeing here are unprecedented," said Richard Carpenter, LSC system chancellor. "We can't look to how others have dealt with this kind of growth because no community college system has ever seen it before. It's incredibly challenging making sure that we maintain the academic integrity and that we're attracting the best and the brightest faculty and staff."
The LSCS board of trustees has elected to float another bond referendum, in part to keep up with the growth, which could be up for voter approval by next May.
"We go into various communities and assemble the community committees and they meet separately and look at their specific college," Carpenter said. "All of that will fold up under an umbrella and it all gets prioritized so all the recommendations come to board before Christmas."
LSC–CyFair opened two new buildings— the Center for Academic Success and expansion of the Health Sciences center—during the 2011-12 academic year, which were paid for through the system's last bond election.
"We had all those students [to fill the new buildings] here, they were just in temporary housing," said Audre Levy, LSC–CyFair president. "We really don't have that much space for growth if we are going to grow any larger or add any programs. That's why we are looking at adding our Cypress Center out at Fry [and Clay roads.]"
The college's other satellite center— located near Hwy. 290 and Beltway 8— houses about 3,500 students and has no more room for expansions.
"We typically try to look at a center 10 miles from the mother campus," Levy said. "Our goal is for the Cypress Center to be very much like Fairbanks, but we wanted to add more workforce programs there. It's our hope we can start construction this fall."
While the Fairbanks satellite center offers more traditional education classes, the Cypress Center will provide more workforce opportunities, Levy said. Although enrollment at LSC–CyFair was expected to reach 20,000 last semester, it may have been affected by outside factors such as the lack of public transportation and changes in the economy, Levy said.
"I tell people that would be an ideal goal just because it's a number people recognize, but in terms of an ideal goal for the college, we always want to serve the needs of the students," she said. "Having more doesn't mean you could be as efficient as you would like to be to serve the students. Our goal is to try and create a more educated workforce for our community so that students can advance."
