Texas Southmost College plans to start registration in May for Fall 2013 classes, officials say.

Students are asked to stay informed for updates by accessing the college’s website (www.tsc.edu).

“Whatever is happening for the UTB students will be the exact same for the TSC students for the summer [sessions],” said TSC Associate Vice President of Student Services Mike Shannon, “and it’s after the summer, that the split takes place and so, we’ll open up registration [for TSC students] in May for fall.” 

UT-Brownsville Vice President for Enrollment Management Réne Villarreal told The Collegian in a March 6 phone interview that May and summer registration  for UTB and TSC students will open April 2.

In order to facilitate registration for TSC students, a One-Stop Student Services and Registration Center is being built in the Arnulfo L. Oliveira Memorial Library, which should be ready in time for the programmed registration of Fall 2013 the first week of May.

“The facility is under construction. The first floor, the portion that was used for book storage, we’re remodeling that area and it’s going to be our one-stop shop for our students, where they’ll have admissions, financial aid, testing, our Veterans Center, will all be located in that one area. So, students can all go to that one area and complete that process,” Shannon said.

He said the college will contact students as soon as they are ready to release information on registration.

“So, we’re going to be very proactive in letting currently enrolled students and future students know what the process is that is going to take place and it’s very similar to UTB and any other college or university. … Our focus is really going to be on making sure that we’re extremely customer service-oriented, very friendly and doing the best we can to remove any barriers that exist to students in the registration process.

“We’ll also have an option online, very similar to UTB, where, for example, returning students can go online and register.”

Asked what the tuition will be for TSC students, Shannon replied it will remain the same for summer but a lower rate is still being determined for the fall semester.

“Our board and our president are still looking at cross-analyses, looking at what other schools in the state are charging and trying to come up with the lowest tuition and fee rates that we can charge students,” he said.

TSC is still hiring employees and positions are being made available presently, he said.

“We have [the hiring process] open; in fact, we just announced it at the board meeting today, we have a new application process online that’s completely automated, which is going to greatly enhance our ability to process applications quickly and improve our communication with the people who are applying,” Shannon said. 

Over the next few days, about 40 positions will be posted. Then there will a pause while the college makes hiring decisions, he said.

TSC plans to continue with the same academic programs in the fall, he said, but will make adjustments as the college moves forward.

“We’re planning on continuing the same programs in the fall,” Shannon said. “We looked at the schedule and what was available and we felt like it was solid, so we didn’t want to make any drastic changes right away. There’s enough change happening right now.” 

Orientation activities for Fall 2013 classes are scheduled the week before the semester starts on Aug. 26. All new students and transfer students with 12 or fewer credits will be required to take a one-credit orientation course their first semester, he said.

“One of the things I believe strongly is we don’t do late registration,” Shannon said. “You need to be in class the first day of class. Data shows that if you show up late for a class, you start the second or third day, you’re much more likely to get a D or an F in the course, and we’re focused on student success.”