ACCD News & Events

Alamo Community College District Participates in Relief Efforts for Hurricane Katrina Evacuees

For Immediate Release
September 6, 2005
Contact: Kay Hendricks, Coordinator of Comunication
(210) 208-8006
khendric@accd.edu

The Alamo Community College District (ACCD)—in conjunction with its four colleges—Northwest Vista College, Palo Alto College, St. Philip’s College and San Antonio College—is coordinating efforts by its students, staff and faculty to provide assistance to those displaced by Hurricane Katrina, including the evacuees who will be housed in San Antonio as well as those in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

On its website at www.accd.edu , ACCD has posted links to area organizations heading up the relief efforts—the American Red Cross at www.redcross.org , the San Antonio Food Bank at www.safoodbank.org and the Salvation Army at www.redshield.org/crisis .

Contact persons have been designated at each college and the district offices to coordinate relief efforts. The contact persons and their phone numbers and email addresses are listed on the main ACCD web page. The ACCD colleges’ efforts include collecting canned food and other needed items, and counselors volunteering their services at the Kelly USA shelter.

ACCD also has offered local organizations leading the relief efforts use of the video conferencing facility at the district’s Advanced Technology Center, located at Kelly USA, Building 210, 312 Tinker Drive. ACCD also has loaned computers to support the intake efforts at Kelly USA, and provided technical support as well.

To help meet the more long-term needs of the evacuees, the ACCD Board of Trustees approved charging displaced students in-state and in-district tuition rates, which are one-fourth the rate normally charged to out-of-state students. The Board also authorized Acting Chancellor Dr. Daniel R. Derrico to coordinate the implementation of the program with the educational institutions of origin of impacted students.

ACCD colleges have already begun to counsel prospective students displaced by the hurricane to prepare them to enroll in the Fall Flex II semester, which begins on October 17. ACCD is also coordinating with Alamo WorkSource to meet job training needs for evacuees.