The UT System created a community college vice chancellor position last week and has appointed educator Martha Ellis to the post.
The associate vice chancellor for community college partnerships position was created as part of an effort to assist students transferring from community colleges to universities. Ellis will work under the executive vice chancellor for academic affairs and will begin July 1.
About 36 percent of community college students plan to transfer to a four-year institution, and about half of them succeed, according to a recent study by the National Center for Educational Statistics. Of those who transfer to four-year colleges, 70 percent complete a bachelor's degree, the center said.
"Community college transfers represent the low-hanging fruit in the higher education world - statistics show us that those who pursue upper-division work are among the most successful to reach graduation," UT System Chancellor Mark Yudof said in a press release. "There is a relatively low percentage of community college students who choose to continue their education toward the completion of an undergraduate degree, and we should be doing everything we can to make it easier for students to move on to four-year institutions."
Ellis is the president of Lee College in Baytown and has served as faculty, provost, dean and director at Collin County Community College. She also served as president of the Texas Community College Association.
Lauren Gage, an Austin Community College adviser, said
students who do well at a community college should also do well at a university but that students sometimes need help adjusting.
"There could always be more student services to help those students," she said. "But generally the student will put forth the same effort at the university level once they get used to the setting."
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