Collin is giving students a different route toward an associate’s degree.

Starting the fall of 2006, the college will offer the Mexican-American Field of Study Program. The field of study totals 18 hours of core classes with a focus on Mexican-American culture.

This fall, five courses will be offered including English, humanities, history, government and Spanish. The courses, are fully transferable to most Texas universities like most courses at Collin.

Dr. Lisa Roy-Davis, professor of English who specializes in Latino and Latina literature, was named the director of the Mexican-American Field of Study Program Task Force. The task force has been working on publicity and programming for the new field of study.

“We have an opportunity to attract people from the community and have a program that appeals to them,” Roy-Davis said of the field of study. “I think we are offering a degree program that is exciting as well as accessible and affordable."

The Mexican-American Field of Study Program is the result of a Texas bill that requires community college districts with a substantial or growing Mexican-American population to create a corresponding program with the approval of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Collin’s enrollment mirrors the growth of the Hispanic population of the area. About 10 percent of the college’s enrollment is Hispanic. 

“The program is constructed for several of our divisions, and it is really intended to appeal to a broad section of students interested in Mexican-American literature, politics, history and art,” Gerry Perkus, interim dean of the Communications and Humanities Division, said. “We are hopeful the enrollment will be significant because we are meeting a need that has never been addressed. We have had Mexican-American curriculum of this kind in bits and pieces but never in a fully articulated program.”

The program will prepare students for careers in education, business, journalism, public service, law, criminology, social work, psychology, urban affairs and foreign affairs.

Perkus also cited the avenues for events and programs throughout the year celebrating the Mexican-American and Hispanic cultures instead of just during Hispanic Heritage Month. Also, Perkus and Roy-Davis want to incorporate all the campuses and other programs – such as Learning Communities – into the fold.

“Our hope, eventually, is that we will be able to have Learning Communities classes within the Mexican-American Field of Study,” Perkus said. “It lends itself to the Learning Communities and we want to develop those kinds of classes in themes related to Mexican-American studies. 

“It is not a closed system. The idea is this is where we will be starting, a firm base on which to build a great program.”

For more information on this program, see the college catalog or Collin’s e-schedule, which can be downloaded from www.ccccd.edu . The e-schedule includes a list of class times, days, professors and important class notes for the fall 2006 semester.

Registration for fall classes begins Tuesday, June 27.

Students can register for fall online via Webline at the college website or by calling 469.452.2222 for Dallas and Collin county residents, or 469.757.2222 for Rockwall County residents. All other students can call toll free at 1.877.COLLIN1. Early registration is available online or by phone from 8 a.m.-11 p.m. daily.

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