On Tuesday, Laredo College officially announced that it will be offering a second bachelor’s degree program starting next January.
The Bachelor of Applied Sciences in Organizational Leadership was approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and will benefit students looking to be business leaders, supervisors and managers, Interim President Dr. Marisela Tijerina said.
Tijerina added that the degree will give students the opportunity to serve in organizational leadership positions. Meanwhile, they may see higher salaries or officially be promoted to the supervisory role now that they have a bachelor's degree.
“This high-quality, affordable program will allow students to complete an online degree in four years or less while also incurring no student loan debt,” LC stated. “Students will also benefit from being able to transfer all undergraduate credits from academic or workforce programs into this program, which will aid in the elimination of lost credits, time and money.”
Director of the Organizational Leadership Degree Dr. Marissa Guerra said that those who attain the degree will be able to reach the next level of their career regardless of where they work.
An example she gave was a Border Patrol agent with years of experience who may have taken leadership responsibilities as they can now improve those with the bachelor’s degree. She added that this could potentially increase their chances at being promoted to a supervisor position with higher pay.
Another example Guerra gave was a child development employee at a childcare center who may want a managerial position. They may be interested in managing the center but feel like a four-year degree in elementary education is unnecessary for their field. That is where the organizational leadership degree comes in.
However, as noted, years of experience in the field may trivialize the courses as one may already have a firm grasp on the concepts taught. In those cases, competency-based education is used where the program evaluates the student and their experience and allows them to speed through the class modules.
Students can expect online course modules and a pre-test before them. Depending on their performance in the pre-test, Guerra said that some can accelerate to the post-test while others take the time they need to ace the test. Students, however, cannot expect to breeze through every class, regardless of experience, as some courses may focus on distinct leadership roles that may differ between careers.
To help, students will have an academic coach and adviser assigned to them who will guide them through the semester, checking-in occasionally to review the progress. Guerra said students can talk to their coach or adviser on their shortfalls and how to best address them. They can also be guided to the resources necessary to improve their course performance.
Several sessions will be conducted throughout the semester that will give students a chance to review the course offerings and see if it is right for them. Discussions will focus on the competency-based education and the expectations of the program.
After House Bill 3348 was signed by Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott in July, community colleges can now offer up to five four-year bachelor’s degree programs. According to LC, the proposal for this program had been in development for two years and was recently approved by the THECB. It is currently pending approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
While the SACSCOC approval is still pending, Tijerina said that they are still promoting the program as the approval is hoped to be received later in the Fall 2021 semester. Once received, the launch will tout the full approval and continue moving forward for the Spring semester.
Both Tijerina and Guerra said that multiple analyses and surveys were done to find the best bachelor’s program to build a proposal for and to implement at the college. Like the bachelor's degree in nursing, both programs undergo strict review by the boards to ensure that they can indeed provide what students are looking for.
Proposals are not easy and require time and studying. From analyzing and determining the community’s need and the employment market’s needs to the college’s ability to facilitate the courses, everything is reviewed by the state to see if it is a viable program.
Guerra was excited to say that they were approved, and it can move forward. Now, LC looks to the future.
“We are brainstorming for the future bachelor’s degrees and what bachelor’s we can pursue for Laredo College,” she said. “At the moment, we don’t have concrete discussion on it, but just conversations have been stirring.”
cocampo@lmtonline.com
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