Panhandle Community Colleges Form Unique Partnership

It is no secret that higher education is experiencing budgetary constraints that naturally hamper the expansion of student opportunities and often supersede the creation of new programs. Therefore, the three community colleges of the Texas Panhandle have agreed to leverage their resources to meet these and other challenges head-on.

Amarillo College, Clarendon College and Frank Phillips College formalized the Panhandle Community College Connection (PC3) at a formal document-signing ceremony on Nov. 30, 2011. Signatories at the formal event were Dr. Paul Matney of AC, Dr. Phil Shirley of Clarendon College, and Dr. Jud Hicks of Frank Phillips College.

PC3 is a partnership that is unique in the state of Texas and is aimed at making students’ lives easier by instituting policies that ease and improve transferability between the institutions; align programs and program offerings; and provide greater overall options for students.

“Each of our colleges is committed to student success, to enriching the lives of our students and our communities,” Matney said. “We’ve been excellent neighbors for a long time.

“Now we are faced with difficult economic times and our challenges are many. It is therefore incumbent on us to work together more closely than ever before to ensure the removal of barriers to success and to increase opportunities and options for all the students we serve. Our students deserve it, and our future workforce depends on it.”