In response to an ongoing shortage of health care professionals in the Rio Grande Valley, 80 industry representatives and school districts recently gathered at South Texas College to discuss how to support and encourage students to pursue careers in the medical field. Currently, health care is a field that occupies more than 25 percent of the region’s total employment. As the first institution in the nation to offer a registered…
To address a nationwide teacher shortage and encourage more students to consider the profession, South Texas College and Teach Us Texas have joined forces by signing a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate a pathway into the company’s alternative teaching certification program. The partnership will allow STC students pursuing an associate degree in Teaching or a Substitute Teacher & Teacher Assistant continuing education certificate a seamless transition into the program. “Our…
In partnership with leadership from South Texas College and STC’s Dual Credit Programs, Roma Independent School District launched its first-ever early college academy this week. Two years in the making, the new academy will enable students to earn at least 40 hours of college credit once they graduate high school, the equivalent of taking their core classes before they even graduate. “For the students, I want to be sure they…
Andrew Garza spent over a decade in the fast-food industry, rising to management positions at Chick-fil-A and Pizza Hut. He enjoys working in teams and helping to lead them. Garza figured there was another industry where his experience would prove valuable. “The green energy field is growing, here in the Valley and around the world,” Garza said. “I see really good opportunities in wind energy technology. Hopefully, at some point,…
SpaceX has more than gained a foothold in southern Cameron County with its imposing rockets looming over Boca Chica Beach. More than 2,000 employees work at Starbase, a production and launch site just across the Laguna Madre from South Padre Island. Keeping such a large operation going as it pursues audacious goals related to space travel requires vast amounts of skill and know-how from its teams of employees. South Texas…
Normally a 10 year old would be considered a child; however, at the age of 10, Diego Medina saw himself as a young man when his parents divorced. He began working in the fields and mowing lawns on the weekends to assist his mother with their household bills. Over the years, Medina had countless setbacks, and he found it more and more difficult to get ahead. In his early 30s,…
The McAllen ISD Board of Trustees officially approved Rene Gutierrez as the district’s new superintendent of schools at a board meeting Monday night. The approval paves the way for the two-time Regional Superintendent of the Year to return to the district where he attended school and graduated from McAllen High in 1983. “We are elated to have Dr. Gutierrez as our new superintendent,” said School Board President Debbie Crane Aliseda.…
Hailing from the only two-year institution that competed, for the first time ever, at a national student team competition, South Texas College Sociology students took second place at the Association of Applied and Clinical Sociology Client Program Competition. STC students Cristian Mandujano, Claudia Ginez and Taylor Wurm competed at the event during AACS’s annual conference recently in Tampa, Fla. At the competition, the students presented their solution to an issue…
South Texas College continues to top the charts in higher education, recently being named a “Top 10” college in the nation by Hispanic Outlook on Education Magazine for associate degrees granted, its enrollment as a four-year school and for its majors in Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting and related services. Hispanic Outlook on Education Magazine tracks the national advancements of Hispanics in higher education and spotlights Hispanic Serving Institutions like…
The Mission Economic Development Corporation has awarded nearly $1.5 million in financial aid to 872 students from the City of Mission through a scholarship fund it established with South Texas College 10 years ago. This year alone, a record-breaking number of students applied for the Mission Economic Development Authority Scholarship Fund. Of the more than 300 applicants, nearly 64 percent received aid. “We have been able to invest in our…