North Central Texas College

North Central Texas College
Established	1924
Type	Community college
President	Eddie Hadlock, Ed.D.
Admin. staff	N/A
Location	Gainesville, Texas, USA
Campus	Rural, 110 acres (0.45 km2) main campus
Endowment	N/A
Colors	Blue and white
Mascot	Lion

North Central Texas College (NCTC) is a community college serving Cooke County, Denton County, and Montague County, Texas. NCTC operates four campuses, the main campus in Gainesville, campuses in Corinth, Bowie, and a branch campus in Graham.

As defined by the Texas Legislature, the official service area of NCTC consists of the following:^[1]

• all of Cooke and Montague Counties, and
• all of Denton County excluding the cities of Frisco and The Colony, and those portions of the county included within the Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Celina, and Prosper school districts.

NCTC also has a Lifelong Learning Division that recently held the first-ever Weld-Off with over 155 registrations and 42 participants. Known for its welding programs and state-of-the-art facility, the Lifelong Learning Division offers students a chance to go to school to learn a new trade or technique. Courses offered under Lifelong Learning consist of job skills and development, adult basic skills, computer training, and community education including English as a Second Language and GED courses.

History

As with many of the early community colleges, NCTC began as an extension of the local school district. In NCTC's case, a branch of the Gainesville Independent School District known as Gainesville Junior College was proposed by Superintendent Randolph Lee Clark, who previously started a junior college that later became Midwestern State University. The Gainesville college was established May 20, 1924, and held its first classes in the fall of that year^[2].

For the first 22 years of the school's existence, it shared the same building with Gainesville High School, also sharing teachers and administrators (not until 1957 were separate teachers hired for the college). In 1946 a building located next to the high school was purchased and the college had its own building.

However, by the mid-1950s the college grew to the point that sharing space with the high school was no longer practical. Local citizens passed a bond issue to build separate facilities for the college. However, discussions took place as to whether a separate entity, apart from the Gainesville ISD, should be created (including assessment of a property tax to support it). With the support of citizens such as W.T. Bonner (who donated the first 5 acres (20,000 m²) of the current campus and later sold 45 acres (180,000 m²) more to the college), Cooke County voters approved the creation of the new district, and Gainesville Junior College became Cooke County Junior College (the Junior was later dropped in the 1970s). In 1994, the institution's name was changed to North Central Texas College to reflect its increasing instructional offerings in two Denton County cities--Lewisville and Denton.

During this time, NCTC operated under a "gentlemen's agreement" with the other junior colleges, and thus no separate schools were formed in neighboring Denton and Montague Counties.

In 1992, president Ronnie Glasscock led the school to two major accomplishments. First, the "gentlemen's agreement" was codified into state law (however, neither Denton nor Montague are included in NCTC's tax base). Second, Glasscock lobbied for a name change, realizing that Cooke County College would handicap the college's effort to be a true regionally focused college. He was successful, and on June 1, 1994, the Regents voted to change the college's name to its current designation.

In January 2000, NCTC opened a branch campus in Bowie (to serve Montague County). The citizens of Bowie voted a 1/2 cent sales tax increase to build the 16,000-square-foot (1,500 m²), $2.196 million facility. NCTC also opened the Corinth campus (to serve Denton County) at the same time.

The current president of NCTC is Dr. Eddie Hadlock, a 33-year veteran of the college. Dr. Hadlock previously served as the Director of Counseling, Registrar, Director of Continuing Education, Dean of Student Services, and Vice-President of Instruction.

Oldest Continuously Operating Community College in Texas claim

NCTC claims to be the oldest continuously operating public community college in Texas, having been approved for operations in May 1924. (A historical marker outside the Administration Building supports its claim.) It stakes its claim based on the following:

• Four junior colleges opened prior to NCTC, but over time evolved into four-year institutions:
  • Stephenville College started in 1893, and became a public college in 1898, but financial troubles led to its buyout by Texas A&M in 1917, and later it grew into today's Tarleton State University.
  • El Paso Junior College (no relation to the current El Paso Community College) opened in 1920, but eventually became the University of Texas at El Paso.
  • South Park Junior College opened in 1923, but grew into today's Lamar University.
  • Wichita Falls Junior College, also opened by Randolph Clark, later became Midwestern State University.
• An additional four junior colleges (Carr-Burdette College in Sherman, Clifton College in Clifton, Gunter College in Gunter and Wesley College in Greenville) ceased operations.
• Weatherford College in Weatherford dates its history back to 1869, and can claim the title of oldest junior college in Texas. However, it began as a Masonic institution and later became a Methodist school, operating as a four-year institution until 1921 when it reorganized as a two-year school. Even so, it was operated as a private instutution until 1949 when Parker County took over operations.
• Hill College opened in 1923, one year prior to NCTC, and still operates today. However, it did not operate during the 1950s.

References

1. ^ Texas Education Code, Section 130.190, "North Central Texas College District Service Area".
2. ^ "The Rich History of NCTC", North Central Texas College, Retrieved 28 July 2011.

External links

• North Central Texas College