President's Review: TCC in 2011
12/14/2011 -
It was another exciting year for Texas Chiropractic College in 2011 as we built on the successes of our past while striving for continued excellence in our future.
Of our many highlights during 2011 was the reaffirmation of our accreditation by the Council on Chiropractic Education. I was pleased to welcome our on-site review committee to our campus in April and appreciated their insight and feedback about our programs. In the past three years, we have successfully navigated the reaccreditation processes for both CCE and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and I applaud the efforts of everyone involved in both reviews.
We welcomed many new faces to campus during 2011, and not just the new students. Starting in January, we introduced our new Dean of Clinics, Dr. Barry Wiese. Then over the course of the year, we added to our faculty with Drs. Patricia Moore, Michael Ramcharan, Debra Bonnefin and Catherine LeDuc-Ramcharan. We welcomed a new director of student support services with Mary Suttle, a new director of development with Jackie Medina, and created the new position of director of alumni affairs with our own Gabrielle Greenwade taking the reins. We had many other new staff members join the TCC family as well.
2011 was also a year of growth for the College in terms of our outreach in the community and in the profession. In March we announced our new dual-degree program with the University of Houston – Clear Lake, providing TCC students the unique opportunity to earn a MS degree in fitness and human performance while also working on their DC degree. This program, which launched in the fall trimester, marks the first time a chiropractic college has partnered with a public university for a joint degree.
The fall also brought the launch of our newest community partnership. We are now teaming with El Centro de Corazón to provide chiropractic care to members of the public served by their Eastwood Clinic. While this is a wonderful opportunity for TCC to offer care to members of the community, more importantly, we are honored to aid El Centro in its mission to promote the individual, community, and social health of Houston’s East End.
In addition to the preparation of highly qualified chiropractors, TCC’s mission includes serving the needs of the profession through scholarship and research. After bringing in noted researchers to join our faculty in 2009 and 2010, this year saw the construction of our new biomechanics lab. Additionally, we’ve put all these pieces together with the creation of the Center for Health Promotion and Human Performance (CHP2), headed by Dr. Will Evans. The CHP2 has already begun collaborating with other institutions on research opportunities, in addition to ongoing projects by TCC faculty which are already appearing in peer-reviewed journals.
We also continued with our campus face-lift that began in 2010. We had many more palm trees planted at the campus entrance and have plans for more improvements to the campus green space in coming years. I’d also like to give special thanks to the Intern Campus Renewal Effort and the many students and staff who gave their time for additional beautification efforts. These volunteers planted flowers and shrubs around the Garcia fountain and also painted the pavilion, adding greatly to the presentation of our campus for everyone who visits.
2011 was another outstanding year for Texas Chiropractic College, and it is a credit to every member of the TCC family that we continue to grow and achieve. Thanks to all of you for our 102nd year of excellence!
Happy New Year,
Richard G. Brassard, D.C.
President, Texas Chiropractic College
