The Austin Community College District (ACC) Board of Trustees held its regular meeting on Monday, October 16, at Highland Campus. This was the first board meeting for ACC’s new chancellor, Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart.
Trustees heard from a scholarship recipient in ACC’s Honors program who works with NASA, were introduced to ACC’s 2023-24 Leadership Academy cohort, and witnessed the swearing-in of the 2023-24 Student Government Association officers (pictured above).
Below are highlights from the meeting.
ACC District Police Department Report
The ACC District Police Department (ACCDPD) presented its annual training and commendations report, which highlighted the department’s recruiting and training initiatives. The ACCDPD completed 4,748 contact hours of training over the prior year. Other highlights of the report include the department being recognized by the Texas Police Chiefs Association Best Practices Program and achieving a clean Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) audit of training and personnel files.
ACC Police Chief Lynn Dixon also reported that the force is currently down 10 officers and several dispatchers due to a competitive recruiting environment for police officers. The department is investigating new and innovative recruiting strategies to help fill the ranks.
Chancellor’s First 100 Days
Dr. Lowery-Hart shared some recent college highlights and spoke about his First 100 Days plan. He told trustees that the goal of his first 100 days is to visit as many places and meet as many people that are relevant to fulfilling the mission of the college as possible, and “to be as transparent and reflective in this transition so that when we do start tackling opportunities, looking at our processes, and building systems that can love our students to success, it’s fully rooted in the experiences that our students and faculty have on a daily basis.”
He informed trustees about the First 100 Days website and that he will start to integrate conversations with the external community.
View all recordings from the meeting here. Recordings are usually available by the Thursday following the meeting.