A Message from the President

The 2009-2010 academic year will mark the start of my 36^th year at NCTC as well as the 85^th anniversary of the college.   Over these eight and a half decades, the college has undergone many changes, including four name changes and growth that was unimaginable when I joined the college family.  But two things have remained constant at NCTC.  First is our commitment to serving students and to providing easy access to quality, affordable higher education and workforce training opportunities to those in our service area.  Secondly, there’s our dedication to being a good citizen, to providing a wide range of community services that are far too numerous to document in this letter.  We truly do have much to be proud of and much to celebrate.

Just as our growth was unimaginable a few years ago, emerging technologies and other factors promise an equally unimaginable and challenging but very exciting future.  To be prepared for whatever that future may hold, we must not only be visionary but committed to wise planning.  That’s why our Strategic Plan, that so many of you have worked so hard to create, is so vitally important.  It outlines a vision for the future of North Central Texas College with identified directions and priorities for the next five years.  The plan incorporates information and ideas contributed by many members of our staff, the board of regents, as well as information obtained through community forums.  Considerable time was given to researching both internal and external environmental factors that will influence the college’s ability to achieve its mission.  As a part of the process to develop our plan, our mission, vision, and value statements were reexamined to ensure that students and their success central to our efforts.  Simply stated, NCTC is dedicated to student success and institutional excellence.  With student success as the central theme, our plan emphasizes the necessity of utilizing data to expand and refine programs, and to better track student progress and assess student learning. 

The development process utilized a “construction” theme in which five major frameworks were identified to serve as blueprints to achieve the vision and mission of the college.  For each of the frameworks, goals have been established to provide guidance for planning and budgeting initiatives to make this plan achievable.  It is imperative that all employees become familiar with the plan and contribute to the achievement of the plan. I thank the Strategic Planning Committee, faculty, staff, students, board members, and community members for their active participation in the strategic planning process.  While it is important for the college to celebrate its 85 years of providing educational opportunities to the community, it is imperative that we are constantly focused on the future to meet the needs of students.  This plan will guide our shared efforts to confidently meet the future needs of our service area.

Sincerely,

 
Eddie C. Hadlock