News

Clarendon College today reported its third highest fall enrollment in school history.

Clarendon College’s fall headcount is 1,347, a decrease of 236 from the fall 2010 record enrollment of 1,583. The second highest enrollment was 1,422 in fall 2009.

This fall’s enrollment reflects the loss of the prison education system which cut almost 200 students from the college’s enrollment this fall.

These students were taught through the prison education system at the Roach and Jordan units of TDCJ, and were not funded by the state for this biennium.

Comparing enrollment from last fall to this year without taking into consideration the prison enrollment, enrollment is down 48 students, and semester contact hours increased by 21,056.

“While we are disappointed in the decrease in headcount this fall, we have to look at our decline realistically,” CC President Dr. Phil Shirley said. “We have to compare the numbers without including the figures from the prison.”

Fall 2010 contact hours were 312,144, but when the prison contact hours are removed from those numbers there were 289,216. This fall CC reports 310,272 contact hours.

“If we compare apples to apples, without the prison in 2010, we are up 7.2% in contact hours,” Shirley said. “Comparing apples once again, we are down 48 in headcount, but since our funding is based on contact hours, we made up where it counts in contact hours.”

Clarendon’s College ability to make up for such a large amount of contact hours can be attributed, in part, to students taking more courses and the addition of new technical programs.

“We have fewer students, but they are carrying bigger course loads this fall,” Tex Buckhaults, CC Acting Dean of Instruction said. “We also started a nursing program in Childress this semester which helped make up for part of what was lost from the prison system.”

In addition, the college has expanded its online course offerings.

“We’ve really seen the number of students taking online courses grown in recent semesters and this fall is no exception,” Buckhaults said. “In tough economic times it is beneficial for students to take courses online while they continue to work and these courses also allow them to save on the cost of commuting.”

“Overall we can’t help but be excited about the genuine effort of our staff, faculty, and administration,” Shirley said. “The final analysis is we are excited about the increase in contact hours.”

Clarendon College is planning to build on this year’s enrollment.

“It is our intention to recover that loss and set new records in overall achievement,” Shirley said.

Enrollment by location is Clarendon 389, Pampa 410, Childress 59, Dual Credit 388, and Distance Learning 101.

A petition to hold a local option election in Hedley is valid, but voting to legalize the sale of alcoholic beverages in that city won’t happen until May.

Donley County Commissioners reviewed the petition containing 82 signatures during their regular session Monday afternoon and found it to be legal and in the proper format, but county officials say petition backers did not get it filed soon enough with the county clerk’s office to be placed on the November ballot.

“A petition like this has to be in my office for 30 days, and then [the commissioners] have to vote on it prior to the 71st day before an election,” County Clerk Fay Vargas told the Enterprise.

But that doesn’t mean there was anything wrong with the petition itself, Vargas said. And with a new law in place as of September 1, petition backers can now take their quest directly to the City of Hedley, where the Board of Aldermen will order the issue be placed on the May ballot.

“The city will now have to bear the cost of having that election instead of the county,” Vargas said.

Petitioner Tonja Ruthardt was not unsettled by the news, telling the Enterprise Tuesday morning that she wanted the election to be held in May anyway.

“Everything is good,” she said.

At press time, Ruthhard did not know when she would present the petition to the city.