This is a forum for Amarillo College’s president, Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, to connect with readers of The Ranger. Each edition he sits down with The Ranger to give insight on what’s happening at AC. It’s a deeper, more exclusive look into the mind of the man behind the bowtie.
Amarillo College introduced eight-week classes this semester. Here’s Dr. Lowery-Hart’s viewpoint on the new option:
“The goal is two-fold. The goal, primarily, is to help improve your learning as a student. The secondary, but still really important goal, is to improve your time to degree.“
“Seventy percent of our students are part-time. Our system, and our three-year graduation targets given to us by the State and the Feds, is set up to ensure that full-time students can complete in three years, but not part-time students. If seventy percent of our students are part-time, I have to figure out how to change the system rather than changing the student.”
“Eight-week classes allow students to focus on their learning in a more concentrated way. All the research says that if you can focus on two classes at a time, in a short amount of time your learning increases, and your commitment to goal increases. When students get overwhelmed by the process and life issues get in the way, and they don’t see the goal as attainable. In an eight-week format, you blink and you’re at the end.”
Check out the next edition of The Ranger to find out about some of Dr. Lowery-Hart’s favorite movies and what he expects out of the Oscars!
Leave a Reply