TSTC hosts Rep.-elect Orr for visit to Waco campus

(WACO, Texas) – Texas State Technical College hosted state Rep.-elect Angelia Orr, R-Itasca, for a tour of the Waco campus on Thursday, Dec. 15. 

“From the Texas dirt to the Texas sky and beyond, TSTC is ready to equip Texans for the workforce of our future,” Orr said.

Orr, led by TSTC administrators and staff, visited the on-campus Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners testing facility, along with the Aviation Maintenance, Diesel Equipment Technology and Welding Technology programs.

“I think it’s very beneficial for them (legislators) to see that it is not just book learning,” said Bryan Christian, lead instructor in TSTC’s Aviation Maintenance program. “Having hands-on experience is invaluable. It can be difficult work. In this industry, we have people’s lives at stake.”

Orr learned about TSTCYou, which meets students where they are through a flexible, performance-based education that works with busy schedules. In the performance-based education model, students work with an enrollment coach to develop a schedule in two-hour time blocks. Lectures, videos and other learning content are on Canvas, a learning management system.

Orr also learned about the college’s returned-value funding model and the Money-Back Guarantee program, which enables students in specific programs to have their tuition reimbursed if they do not get a job in their field of study within six months of graduation.

“We are able to showcase what a wonderful job our instructors and staff do and what they instill in our students,” said Jerome Mendias, associate provost of TSTC’s Waco campus.

House District 13, which Orr will represent starting in January, encompasses a portion of McLennan and all of Bosque, Falls, Freestone, Hill, Leon and Limestone counties.

More than 640 students from House District 13 attended TSTC’s campuses statewide during the fall semester, said Andrew Parks, TSTC’s director of Government Relations.

For more information about TSTC, go to tstc.edu.