Kristin Tow-Walker, executive director of the Texas State University System (TSUS) Polk County Center presented the program for Tuesday’s learning lunch hosted by the Livingston-Polk County Chamber of Commerce.
Tow-Walker has 24 years’ experience in two-year colleges and has done everything from writing grants to serving as dean of student services to managing careers in tech education as well as general education curriculums.
Founded in 1911, the Texas State University System was the first higher education system established in the State of Texas and was initially formed to support and manage state teacher colleges. It is governed by a nine-member Board of Regents.
There are seven schools that comprise TSUS – four four-year universities (Lamar University, Sam Houston State University, Sul Ross State University and Texas State University) and three two-year state colleges (Lamar Institute of Technology, Lamar State College Orange and Lamar State College Port Arthur).
Tow-Walker explained that the difference between state colleges and community colleges is that state colleges are funded by the legislature and community colleges are funded by ad valorem taxes.
Looking at TSUS by the numbers, there are seven institutions on 15 campuses spanning 700 miles. TSUS has a total enrollment of 95,000+ which is a 32% increase since 2010 and awarded 22,000 degrees this past year which is a 46% increase since 2010.
TSUS has $168 million in research expenditures, a 305% increase since 2010, and $1.2 billion in endowments, a 580% increase since 2010, and boasts 525,000 alumni worldwide.
“The Polk County Center is one facility with three colleges – Lamar Institute of Technology whose primary focus is preparing students to go to work; Lamar State College Port Arthur which has residence halls and athletic programs (the only state college that has athletics); and Lamar State College Orange which touts affordable education and lots of scholarship opportunities,” Tow-Walker said. “In August 2024 we moved in and determined who’s going to do what.”
She distributed handouts that illustrate the various degrees and programs offered through the Polk County Center. There are five different pathways – business, industrial technology, workforce and continuing education, public service and healthcare. Each pathway provides an array of courses.
“We are hiring local people. We are constantly looking for people who want to pour in to our students,” Tow-Walker said. “There will be a face to face component. Everything we’re doing is face to face, although we do want to maximize technology so we can do the most things possible.” She also explained hybrid courses in which some content is online and some content is face to face.
“We started our first classes in August 2024 and enrollment picked up in January. We do most of our promotions via social media – Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn and do live chats every Tuesday,” she said, encouraging everyone to “follow” TSUS-PCC on social media.
She also mentioned the wealth of resources and information that is available on the website (pcc.tsus.edu) regarding the testing center, tutoring that is provided, career services, library services and scholarship opportunities.
An additional offering is “Timely Care,” a mental health care service that is available to all seven TSUS schools and is basically free virtual health and wellbeing services at your fingertips.
