The gist
The Nancy Dillon Itz Greenhouse will provide space for students in the college’s Agricultural Sciences Academy to get hands-on experience propagating and growing plants, according to an HCC news release.
The details
The structure is named after Nancy Dillon Itz, mother of David Itz, who serves as chairman of the HCC Foundation Board and endowed $365,000 to HCC to build the greenhouse.
“We would like to thank the Itz Family for their continued contribution to HCC and for making this milestone at the Katy campus possible,” HCC Northwest College President Zachary Hodges said in the release.
Construction costs totaled $333,523, with the remaining funds going toward landscaping and project management fees, an HCC spokesperson said in an email.
HCC’s Agricultural Sciences Academy is a co-enrollment program that launched last fall in partnership with Sam Houston State University, according to the release.
By co-enrolling in both colleges, full-time students can take agricultural science courses at HCC-Katy while taking core classes for the first two years, Mehmet Argin, dean of the Engineering Center of Excellence, said in a previous interview. Students can then transfer to SHSU to finish the remainder of their degree program at the School of Agricultural Sciences.
Digging deeper
Agricultural sciences students began using the greenhouse at the start of the spring semester, an HCC spokesperson said in an email.
“It completes the science lab experience outside of the classroom, preparing students for careers in modern agriculture and environmental science,” Chris Qualls, program manager for agricultural sciences, said in the release.
