Contact: Ann Hatch
214-378-1819;
ahatch@dcccd.edu
For immediate release – Feb. 18, 2015
(DALLAS) – On Tuesday, Feb. 17, members of the Dallas County Community College District’s board of trustees approved a recommendation made by Dr. Joe May, DCCCD chancellor, to appoint Dr. Robert Garza as the next president of Mountain View College. Garza, who currently serves as vice president for student success at Palo Alto College in San Antonio (part of Alamo Colleges), will begin his tenure April 15, 2015. Dr. Preston Pulliams has served as interim president since the retirement of Felix Zamora last year.
After the vote during the board’s regular monthly meeting, Trustee Charletta Compton, chair, said, “Approving a president to lead one of our colleges is an important responsibility of the DCCCD board of trustees. We have established districtwide goals and objectives, as a board, and Dr. May oversees the work which is done to achieve those goals. Dr. Garza will play an important role – along with our six other college presidents – to move forward and ensure student success. On behalf of the board, I want to congratulate Dr. Garza and welcome him to the DCCCD community.”
“As we express our thanks to Dr. Preston Pulliams for his service as interim president, I also am excited to welcome Dr. Robert Garza as our new president of Mountain View,” said May. “DCCCD conducted a national search for those positions, with the assistance of Greenwood/Asher Associates. We were fortunate to interview a total of four outstanding candidates, and Dr. Garza brings excellent credentials to his new position.”
May added, “We are focused on student success as DCCCD’s top priority, and Dr. Garza’s experience – working with students in the areas of admissions, transfer programs, career and job placement, and student services – provides the foundation he and the Mountain View College community can build on to help students succeed.”
“I would like to thank Dr. May, the DCCCD board of trustees and members of the Mountain View College family for giving me the opportunity to work with a dynamic faculty and staff who are committed to the success of our students,” said Garza. “I am both humble and excited to begin this journey with the college community.”
Garza has 19 years of experience in higher education, online education and student services. In his current position, he leads a division comprising 90 full-time professional and support staff members who strive to provide quality and effective student services in the areas of admissions, advising, graduation, transfer programs, career and job placement, child care, financial aid, scholarships, Alumni y Amigos, federal programs, pre-college programs (including dual high school/college credit instruction and an early college high school program), student life, student recruitment and veterans affairs.
Under Garza’s leadership, Palo Alto College has experienced record enrollments of more than 9,000 students, plus 2,000 dual credit students. The college was recognized by
G.I. Jobs as a Military Friendly School in 2011 and in the College Board’s
2011 Catalog of Effective Practices: Programs and practices that expand options for students from low-income backgrounds.
Garza established a partnership with the University of Texas at San Antonio to provide Army ROTC opportunities for Palo Alto students, and he has served as the keynote speaker during Palo Alto’s Veterans Day observances for the past several years. He recently was recognized by the Veterans Student Organization and the Student Government Association for the support and guidance he has provided to both organizations. He also was an inaugural recipient of the Alamo Colleges Excellence Award in 2012.
Garza earned his bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University-College Station and a master’s degree in public administration from UTSA. He holds a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Texas at Austin, and his dissertation focused on
faculty perspectives in online learning. The study used interactive qualitative analysis to identify challenges associated with online learning and to capture faculty perceptions about online learning.
He is married to Dr. Esther Garza, an assistant professor of bilingual education at TAMU-San Antonio, and they have two children, Victoria and Robert.
For more information, contact Ann Hatch in the DCCCD office of public and governmental affairs at 214-378-1819 or at 940-595-5552.