1. Introduction
The Lone Star College System began in 1972 when residents in the Aldine, Humble and Spring Independent School Districts elected to create a junior college district, which became known as North Harris County College. The doors opened in the fall of 1973 with a 16-member staff and 613 students. The first classes were held at Aldine High School.
The original three school districts have been joined by eight others: New Caney in 1981, Tomball in 1982, Conroe in 1991, Willis and Splendora in 1996, Klein in 1998, and Cypress-Fairbanks and Magnolia in 2000. The number of students we serve has grown from the original 613 to more than 30,000 and the District is now 2,700 square miles in Harris and Montgomery Counties.
Lone Star College System is now the 4th largest community college district in Texas, enrolling more than 35,000 students in five distinct and comprehensive colleges:
Lone Star College-North Harris
Lone Star College-Kingwood
Lone Star College–Tomball
Lone Star College–Montgomery
Lone Star College–CyFair
and seven satellite centers:
Carver Center
Lone Star College-Greenspoint Center
EMCID Center
Center for Business & Technology Training
Lone Star College–Willow Chase Center
Lone Star College–Fairbanks Center
Educational services are also provided to high school students who attend college classes and earn credit for high school and college at the same time (concurrent credit) and by the Internet, video instruction and ITV.
Governance and Structure
The ultimate authority in the governance of the College District is the Board of Trustees. The Board is made up of nine individuals who are elected by the voters in District-wide elections. The Board meets monthly on the first Thursday of the month, except January when no meeting is held. Board meetings are open to the public and employees may, if they choose to do so, attend any meeting.
The Board of Trustees is charged by law with specific responsibilities, such as the appointment of the chancellor, the establishment of an operating budget, the approval of contracts and specific levels of purchasing, the conduct of elections, and the levying of ad valor taxes. The Chancellor is the Chief Executive Officer of the District (CEO) and the only employee reporting directly to the Board. The Chancellor is responsible for the overall operations of the District and the administration of policies and procedures to obtain the goals and mission of the District.
The Location Executive Officers (LEO), the college presidents and the vice chancellors, report directly to the Chancellor and have ultimate responsibility and budgeting control for a specific college (presidents) or specific administrative areas (vice chancellors). Among the important responsibilities of the LEO’s are:
- The establishment of the organization of the College or administrative area;
- The selection and evaluation of the managers who report directly to them;
- The preparation, submission for approval and administration of an operating budget;
- The approval of new positions, reassignment, hiring, transfer, demotions and recommendations for the non-renewal of a contract or the discharge of a full-time employee;
- The appointment of civil rights administrators and the imposition of disciplinary actions for noncompliance with civil rights policies; and
- The conduct of hearings for employee appeals and grievances.
At the college level, the president is the chief decision-maker who is responsible for the operational decisions that are unique and specific to an individual college. Reporting to the president are the vice presidents (in some cases, deans) with responsibility for credit and non-credit programs and college-level business and operational matters. The academic and instructional faculty members are organized into departments, with deans and department chairs providing direction and leadership.
Lone Star College System Multi-College Operating Philosophy
The Lone Star College System operates as a multi-college system. Consistent with the multi-college model of decision-making, many levels and operational areas of the District work together to develop and administer a single District.
The Chancellor, the vice chancellors, the college presidents, and the assistant to the Chancellor function in the Executive Council as a decision-making group for the College District. The Executive Council reviews proposed policies and district-wide procedures and serves as the District’s compensation committee. Decisions are made on a consensus basis and communicated to District employees through their LEO’s. In addition, two important councils that provide for District-wide consistency in the decision-making process are the Council of Vice Presidents for Administrative Services (VPADS), and the Council for Educational Programs and Student Development (CESD). Other groups, such as the Library Council, the Technology Deans Council, the Training Council, and the Community Education Council, provide input to the two decision-making councils.
Ongoing initiatives, such as curriculum teams, and special task forces and groups assemble to provide consistency and keep the District’s instructional and operational activities current and responsive to the various needs throughout the District.
Shared Decision-Making
Faculty members have both the opportunity and the responsibility to provide input, ask questions, and pose possible solutions to issues of interest and concern. By participating in the information-gathering and decision-making processes of the college, a faculty member takes an active role in the operations of his or her division and college. Several lines of communication between faculty and administration at Lone Star College System support faculty involvement. For example, a faculty member has direct access to the dean for his instructional division. In addition, councils and committees function both at the college and the district level to provide for faculty input. Moreover, each college has a Faculty Senate, a recognized body comprised of full-time faculty and its faculty-elected officers. This venue allows faculty to voice ideas and concerns in a safe environment and provides for communication between faculty and administration. In addition, Faculty Senate presidents meet monthly with the Chancellor, providing a line of communication to the CEO of the District, and one Faculty Senate president reports to the Board at each regularly scheduled Board meeting.
Policies and Procedures
The fundamental policies and legal requirements of the District are expressed in the Lone Star College System Policy Manual.
The Chancellor recommends policies to the Lone Star College System Board of Trustees for consideration. Prior to the recommendation to the Board of Trustees, recommended policies are reviewed by the District’s Executive Council (consisting of the Chancellor, Vice Chancellors, Presidents, and the Assistant to the Chancellor). Usually policies are reviewed by one of the Councils of the District to provide operational guidance prior to consideration by the Executive Council.
Board policies related to this manual are in Lone Star College System Policy Manual, Sections A, C D, E and F. Up-to-date Board policies can also be found on the System Office website athttp://www.lonestar.edu/3701/.
Procedures that have been accepted by the Executive Council are linked to the policies on-line as “References.”
The System Office adopts procedures that are also binding District-wide, to establish uniform and consistent manners of carrying out the business of the College District. The procedures can also be found at the Lone Star College System Policy Manual website with the corresponding policies for implementation at: http://www.lonestar.edu/3701/.
The System Office also creates handbooks, such as this Staff Handbook, to explain and communicate policies and procedures and information about District standards, goals, and expectations. Handbooks do not replace or in any way alter Lone Star College System Board policies, the terms of the employment contract, or other legally binding requirements. It is important to remember that Board policies, laws, and procedures do change from time to time and handbooks will not reflect these changes immediately. A copy of this manual is posted on the Human Resources website at http://www.lonestar.edu/59291/.
Other Sources of Information
Additional details on hiring procedures, including employee categories, search procedures, starting salaries and benefit orientation sessions, are covered in the Hiring and Compensation Guidelines, which are found at the HR Website: http://www.lonestar.edu/59292/.
The Board annually approves faculty, staff and part-time salary schedules for each academic year. The schedules and compensation guidelines can be found at: http://www.lonestar.edu/3460/.