Articles
Chancellor’s statement regarding proud service to HCC and leadership transition
Mar 3, 2023
Dear HCC Family,
Yesterday, the Houston Community College Board of Trustees declined to extend my contract beyond August 31, 2023. We will therefore all be working to support the Board, the College, and most importantly the students in the upcoming transition to a new chancellor.
During my nine-year tenure as HCC’s chancellor, we have made phenomenal progress in student success, fiscal stability, and planning for the future. Working as “One College,” over the last few years, we have reduced the time to graduation for first-time-in-college students by more than a year, increased the college-level achievement for first year students in reading to 68% (up 15%), in writing to 63% (up 15%), and in math to 39% (up 12%), and we continue to be recognized as an Achieve the Dream Leader College. We have built a financial reserve of $256M, $109M more than required by policy, and reduced debt by over $300M. We have Embraced Houston’s Future by adopting a strategic plan that allows us to react to the unexpected, like the COVID-19 pandemic. As we have Embraced Houston’s Future, so have Houston and our community, business, and education partners embraced us in an interdependence to jointly build a vibrant and resilient Houston. We have done this because all of us; the Board of Trustees, the faculty, staff, administration, and the HCC Foundation have put students first. Our actions have been driven by the college’s mission, values, and strategic priorities (i.e., student success, diversity and equity, personalized learning, academic rigor, community investment and college of choice). And, this rightly positions us to continue with the success of this great institution.
I am proud of my service as chancellor of HCC and of the many accomplishments, awards, and recognitions we have achieved together since May 2014. The best is yet to come and we must all keep advancing the institution’s goals – keeping true to our North Star, the ultimate student experience, which shines bright and guides us from good to great in every aspect of our college’s service.
Sincerely,
Cesar Maldonado, Ph.D., P.E.
Chancellor