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TEXARKANA, Texas — Texarkana College Trustee Anne Farris submitted her resignation from the board at Monday’s meeting after serving in Place 3 board position since 2013.
A DeKalb native, Farris has spent more than four decades in education. She served as the first female superintendent of schools in DeKalb, and the first female superintendent in all of Bowie County’s history. Her connections with school districts that she’s previously worked within include Hooks, New Boston, Pleasant Grove, DeKalb, Atlanta and Redwater ISD’s.
“I’ve been in this business a long time, and I can tell you that being a member of this board has been one of the highlights of my 42-year career in education,” Farris said during the meeting.
TC board president Kaye Ellison said Farris’ service has been a huge asset to the college and her dedication to student success and commitment to progress has led to many achievements.
“Mrs. Farris is an icon of education excellence in Northeast Texas,” Ellison said. “Her service to students who live in rural school districts is unmatched and is a vital part of TC’s mission.”
During her board terms, Farris helped lead the college during pivotal times in the history of the institution.
Milestones during her time as a Trustee include, include establishment of TC’s Honor’s College program and Presidential Scholarship; participation in the national Achieving the Dream initiative and recognition as a Leader College; leading the college to win the prestigious Leah Meyer Austin Award in 2018 — the highest national honor a community college can receive for student success; expanding TC’s dual credit program and establishing a dual credit scholarship program for economically disadvantaged students.
Graduation rates have been in the top percentile in the state since 2016; the industrial maintenance program was established, and the Betty &Amp; Buddy Ledwell Workforce Training Center was constructed.
TC President Dr. Jason Smith said Farris brought invaluable insight to the TC Board.
“Thank you so much for your service,” Smith said. “We appreciate you as an educational leader for Texas and our region. From your commitment to students in K-12 to those in higher education, you have impacted thousands of lives.”
In other news from the meeting, vice president of Instruction Dr. Donna McDaniel announced that TC will participate in a National Science Foundation grant award in support of campus cyberinfrastructure.
The two-year grant is for $890,000.
Six Texas higher education institutions are part of the initial grant managed by LEARN.
“TC will join Texas Lutheran University and Trinity Valley Community College as newcomers to the project,” McDaniel said. “This collaboration with LEARN provides partner institutions with advanced network services and connectivity, expertise and training to adopt and manage the new technology.”
(For more information about LEARN, visit tx-learn.org/ online.)
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