History of Lee College Huntsville Center
Lee College started offering college courses for credit in the Texas Department Criminal Justice (TDCJ) in 1966. Dr. George Beto, director of TDCJ at the time, wanted to offer programs that would prepare an offender for life in the outside world. Dr. Beto contacted Dean Walter Rundell of Lee College, who was a friend of his, and the program was born. Dean Rundell was impressed with the plan its potential and the Lee College Board of Regents agreed to participate in the program with the understanding that the full cost of the program would be borne by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
The academic program began in the fall semester of 1966 with five classes and 176 students. Vocational classes were first offered in the spring of 1967. By the fall semester of 1968, 688 students were enrolled in 25 academic and vocational classes.
Full-time instructors teaching just in the prison extension program were first hired for the vocational classes in 1967. Academic classes were initially taught by instructors from the main campus. Increasing academic class loads in the prison program resulted in the hiring of the first academic instructor working full time in the prison extension program in 1978. Shortly after that, an administrator, located in Huntsville, with full-time administrative responsibility for the prison extension program, was hired, and in the years that followed a full complement of Huntsville-based full-time academic and vocational instructors were hired as well. By 1984, the program was run, as now, as a separate extension of Lee College, based in Huntsville.
LCHC Today
The Huntsville Center currently offers certificate and degree programs to qualified student offenders at nine TDCJ correctional facilities in the Huntsville area, including Navasota and Dayton. With an average enrollment of 1,200 students per semester, the Huntsville Center is highly recognized as a leader in correctional education programming since its inception in 1966.
At present, the Executive Director of the Huntsville Center supervises over 30 full-time academic and technical faculty, as well as a Director of Advising, 4 academic advisors/recruiters, one IT Manager and 3 PC technicians, one data analyst, a Director of Reentry and 3 reentry specialists, and an office staff of 5 members. Further, the Executive Director manages an annual operating budget of over $2 million and student completion rates approach 90 percent.
In addition to full-time academic instructors, the Huntsville Center recruits highly qualified and specialized adjunct instructors.
Pathways
Lee College is committed to providing students with a clear pathway to success in the classroom and beyond.
Our Pathways offer a variety of connections from education to career. Many pathways lead to completion of certificates and associate degrees for immediate employment. Other fields require further education and lead to transfer. Browse the options below for more information about careers and courses. Then talk to an advisor to customize your educational plan.
Pathway plans provide logical course sequences to help students build knowledge, skills, and abilities as they move toward a certification, a degree, or transfer. Lee College divides the courses in Pathways plans into three categories: Foundations, Knowledge Building, and Completion.