DCCCD New President for Mountain View College

On Tues., Feb. 17, members of the Dallas County Community College District’s board of trustees approved a recommendation made by Dr. Joe May, DCCCD’s chancellor, to appoint Dr. Robert Garza as the next president of Mountain ViewCollege.  Garza, who currently serves as vice president for student success at Palo AltoCollege in San Antonio (part of Alamo Colleges), will begin his tenure on April 15, 2015.  Dr. Preston Pulliams has served as interim president since the retirement of Felix Zamora last year.

Garza has 19 years of experience in higher education, distance education and student services.  In his current position, he leads a division comprising 90 full-time professional and support staff members who strive to provide quality and effective student services in the areas of admissions, advising, graduation, transfer programs, career and job placement, child care, financial aid, scholarships, Alumni y Amigos, federal programs, pre-college programs (including dual high school/college credit instruction and an early college high school program), student life, student recruitment and veterans affairs.

Under Garza’s leadership, Palo AltoCollege has experienced record enrollments of more than 9,000 students, plus 2,000 dual credit students.  The college also was recognized by G.I. Jobs as a Military Friendly School in 2011 and in the College Board’s 2011 Catalog of Effective Practices: Programs and practices that expand options for students from low-income backgrounds.

Garza established a partnership with the University of Texas at San Antonio to provide Army ROTC opportunities for Palo Alto students, and he has served as the keynote speaker during Palo Alto’s Veterans Day observances for the past several years.  He recently was recognized by the Veterans Student Organization and the Student Government Association for the support and guidance he has provided to both organizations.  He also was an inaugural recipient of the Alamo Colleges Excellence Award in 2012.

Garza earned his bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University–College Station and a master’s degree in public administration from UTSA.  He holds a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Texas at Austin, and his dissertation focused on Faculty Perspectives in Online Learning.  The study used interactive qualitative analysis to identify challenges associated with online learning and to capture faculty perceptions about online learning.

He is married to Dr. Esther Garza, an assistant professor of bilingual education at TAMU-San Antonio, and they have two children, Victoria and Robert.

For more information, contact Ann Hatch in the DCCCD office of public and governmental affairs at (214) 378-1819 or at (940) 595-5552.