Austin Community College District (ACC) held its April Virtual Employee Town Hall on Friday, April 10. Nearly 1,000 employees attended this month’s meeting, which covered updates regarding our budget forecast, upcoming changes to our telework policy to comply with state law, upward evaluations, and our ongoing Theory of Change (TOC) work.

At the start of the discussion, Russell asked employees to share their stories of helping a student to success. 

Below are some key takeaways from the Town Hall conversation:

Budget Updates & FY27 Outlook

For the first time since 2011, ACC is facing budgetary challenges, primarily driven by local economic deflation and flattening revenues. Chancellor Russell Lowery-Hart and Executive Vice Chancellor of Finance & Administration Neil Vickers briefly outlined our proactive approach to ensuring the College’s long-term financial health.

Vickers said the revenue outlook for fiscal year 2027 is projected to be flat. Leadership is undertaking an extensive reallocation process to scrub the budget and make better use of existing dollars.

The goal is to build a budget that can survive broader economic crises. Despite the flat revenue, leadership is still planning to propose some level of raise this year. 

A deep dive into the Free Tuition Pilot Program will be presented at next month’s Board meeting and shared with the College.

Telework Policy Update

Chief of Staff Aaron Henry provided an update on how ACC is aligning its telework policies with state law SB2615. He reassured employees that telework is not being eliminated as an option at the College. The College is reviewing exemptions and standardizing the application process to ensure equity, consistency, and a mission-aligned approach that prioritizes the student experience.

Henry said that the updated policy will focus on fairness so we do not create two different classes of employees, while recognizing that different departments have different operational needs.

The updated telework administrative rule will be refined over the coming weeks, but the finalized telework plan will not be implemented until fall 2026. Supervisors will soon receive a brief survey to assess current telework arrangements.

Upward Evaluations 

To move our core values into daily practice, Vice Chancellor of Human Resources Kelly Torrico, Associate Vice Chancellor of Campus Planning, Construction & Sustainability Aziz Hussaini, and HR Managing Director Elma Benavides introduced the new Upward Evaluation process.

Rooted in the recommendations from the Demonstrated Practice of Caring (DPOC) Theory of Change Design Team, this confidential evaluation tool allows employees to provide feedback on their supervisors. It is an opportunity to support manager growth, identify themes that will inform training and development, and recognize strong leadership across the College. It is not a grievance process, but a structured way to strengthen how we lead and work together.

Confidential questionnaires will go out May 1. This first year will serve to establish a baseline with manager training on how to effectively use the results taking place in June, followed by team-level coaching and goal-setting in late summer.

The first DPOC implementation roadshow will be held on April 24 from 10–11 a.m. in the Highland Campus Boardroom. 

Employees can view the values-based behaviors that managers will be evaluated on and preview the upward evaluation questions at austincc.edu/upwardevaluation.

Theory of Change: Strategic Scheduling

Nancy Stano and Sarah Wright shared recommendations from the Strategic Scheduling Design Team, which focuses on creating a cross-departmental scheduling ecosystem that reduces friction for students and creates a more predictable framework for faculty and staff.

Recommendations include shifting to year-long registration, establishing a single active award plan so students have clarity in course planning, and creating a unified, user-friendly portal to guide decision-making and streamline navigation. This approach is supported by centralized strategic scheduling stewardship, multi-year planning, unified space reservation governance, and automated technologies that replace manual, spreadsheet-based processes, resulting in a more coordinated, transparent, and efficient system aligned to institutional goals and user needs.

Russell Reflections & Community Care

Russell celebrated the incredible and talented employees across the College who have put our values into action—including the Queen Samantha award winners from the ACC Teaching & Leadership Awards ceremony and the employees who performed in the Employee Talent Show. He also shared a couple of updates:

  • Anonymous Button Removed: He acknowledged that the anonymous option has been removed from the Town Hall’s virtual Q&A, encouraging employees facing retaliation to contact the Office of Human Resources in order to ensure concerns are addressed on a case-by-case basis and pursuant to College policies and procedures.
  • Hourly Staff Survey: HR has distributed a survey to gather feedback from hourly staff and their supervisors. Recipients are encouraged to participate in order to support improved governance in this important section of the College’s workforce.

Watch the full town hall recording at austincc.edu/townhall.