EWCHEC Moving Forward
At their monthly meeting, the Interagency Support Council of East Williamson County heard from guest speaker Chuck McCarter, the Executive Dean of the East Williamson County Higher Education Center.

With the passage of recent legislation, plans for developing the flagship building for the EWCHEC institution got off to a kick-start, McCarter told the audience. Planners expect to see lenders return to bidding to fund the project.

“The legislation ... is going to make the pot a little sweeter,” McCarter said. “And we can move forward on building our first campus. We hope to turn some dirt out there October of this year, and we hope to have our first round of classes the spring of 2010.”

EWCHEC officials are also working on “a number of grant opportunities,” McCarter said, to further fund the project, as well as to help expand the programs currently offered.

“We’ve got to at some point turn this into a weekend college, because this closes up Friday afternoon now,” McCarter said.

Further expansions include an accelerated program and the possibility of a master’s degree program with the help of Texas A&M Central Texas, a recent addition to EWCHEC’s list of partners.

McCarter’s dream is to begin modern students thinking about college as early as possible.

“It doesn’t have to be anything more than providing a schoolteacher with a college flag,” McCarter said. “The kids start asking questions, and you begin to start talking about college.”

McCarter hopes to one day expand the current P-16 education system, which integrates all levels of schooling from preschool through a four-year college degree, to a P-20 system, which also includes job training and additional post-collegiate skills.

The application of a P-20 system will in theory smooth the transition from each level of education to the next to better prepare students to be productive citizens in the workforce.

The progressive Legacy Early College High School is one such program, in that it helps prepare students for college early and save time and money on a degree through an intensive dual-credit curriculum.

“I know this system works because Legacy gives kids that same college readiness opportunity,” McCarter said.

Other issues on the table include a transportation system to help local students get to the new EWCHEC campus and an agreement with the Interagency to office out of the new EWCHEC building.

“I see our role as getting our families ready and excited about college so that they support their kids as they go off to school,” Interagency Director Marge Tripp said. “(EWCHEC) is really targeting families who don’t understand how to get into higher education, just how to graduate from high school and get a job.”

Tripp hopes to have a resource office somewhere within the new campus to help tend to students with questions about attending college, earning their degrees and achieving their goals, she said.

“Interagency’s dream is that we will staff that office, not only for volunteer opportunities in Taylor, but if some student has family issues or whatever, they could stop in and learn how to get help there,” Tripp said.