Lamar State College Port Arthur 2016-2017 Catalog Revised 9-13-16
General Information
Accreditation
Lamar State College Port Arthur is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges( SACSCOC) to award degrees at the associate level. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call( 404) 679-4500, at http:// www. sacs. org for questions about the accreditation of Lamar State College Port Arthur.
The College is approved by the Texas Education Agency for training veterans under all classifications. The College is also a member of or approved by the American Bar Association, the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs( CAAHEP), the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, the Texas Certification Board of Addiction Professionals, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the Texas Board of Nursing, the Accreditation Review Council on Education in Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting( ARC / STSA), the U. S. Department of Education and the Veterans Administration.
Government
A board of nine regents, appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate for terms of six years, governs the Texas State University System. The Board of Regents delegates the direction of affairs to the president, campus administrative officers, and faculty.
History
John W. Gates of New York City, one of the founders of Texaco, established Port Arthur Business College in 1909, to train people for the petrochemical industry, then in its infancy. The College became Port Arthur Collegiate Institute in 1911, when the school was presented to the Board of Education of the Methodist Episcopal Church North, a forerunner of the present United Methodist Temple.
The church operated the growing campus until 1918, when it was turned over to a non-profit Texas corporation, which had no capital stock and was overseen by a self-perpetuating board of trustees. The name of the school was changed back to Port Arthur Business College and finally, in 1932, to Port Arthur College.
Another milestone in the school’ s history was reached July 31, 1974, when W. Sam Monroe,
President of Port Arthur College and a Lamar University regent, presented a resolution to merge the College into Lamar University. The 21 trustees agreed that a merger would be in the best interests
John Gates
of both institutions and their constituencies.
The 64th Texas Legislature authorized the merger and appropriated $ 600,000 for creation of the Lamar University Center at Port Arthur. On Aug. 21, 1975, the trustees presented the deed for Port Arthur College to the Lamar University Board of Regents. Classes began on the Port Arthur campus on Aug. 28, 1975.
In the years following the merger, enrollment increased from 151 students to a peak of more than 3,000 and the curriculum expanded to more than 50 areas of study.
In 1977, the 65th Legislature approved House Bill 1134 renaming the school Lamar University-Port Arthur and dropping the“ Extension Center” designation.
In 1983, the 68th Legislature passed three bills that directly affected the College:
1. Senate Bill 409 deleted the restrictive language of HB 130( passed in 1971 by the 63rd Legislature), making Lamar University-Port Arthur eligible, on an equal basis with other state institutions, for state funds to be used to buy land and / or buildings.
2. Senate Bill 410 provided Lamar University regents with the authority to levy a fixed student fee and the authority to bond against said fee for construction of a Student Center on
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