PUBLIC SAFETY
2023 HIGHER EDUCATION GUIDE
Houston Community College graduates 5 with inaugural 911 dispatcher class
BY JACK DOWLING
always going to have a job,” she said. To graduate from HCC’s dispatcher program, students must pass a series of certi cations and take a state exam. Students took part in simulations to test their knowledge, listening and multitasking skills as well as the ability to operate under pressure. “We have a high enrollment of students that are interested, but we tell them, ‘You’ve got to do a 30-page background [check],’ and those num- bers start to get low,” Bordeaux said. This is one of the course require- ments to become certi ed with the Texas Commission on Law Enforce- ment. Texas dispatcher certi cations require candidates to receive their TCOLE certi cation within a year of passing the state exam, but HCC includes it as part of its curriculum. The program was conceptualized in 2020, formalized in 2021, and its rst students signed up in 2022.
Twenty-year-old Wendi Uk became the fourth of ve graduates to the Houston Community College’s inau- gural Public Safety Telecommunicator, or 911 dispatch, program during a cere- mony at the West Houston Campus on March 24 in Missouri City. The eight-week course trained students in the critical moments during and after emergency medical and police calls, professor Vedron Bordeaux explained. “Those moments when you call 911 and someone picks up the other line—those moments are critical,” he said. “You have to have someone that knows how to calm the person down enough to gather information.” Prior to taking the course, Uk said she worked in the fast food industry. The dispatcher program is an opportu- nity for stable income, she said. “[No] matter where you go, you’re
Houston Community College faculty and sta stand behind the inaugural Public Safety Telecommunicator class after a graduation March 24. (Jack Dowling/Community Impact)
graduating class members 5
rst students sign up 2022
course 8
conceptualized 2020
week
program
SOURCE: HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE COMMUNITY IMPACT
The college is also exploring a 10-week course to include re certi - cations. The program’s second cohort began April 10. Madeline Burillo-Hopkins, HCC West Loop Campus president, said the
campus will remain the site for the dispatcher programs moving forward. “We have partnerships with Sugar Land, Missouri City,” she said. “It makes sense for this to be the primary campus for this program.”
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SUGAR LAND MISSOURI CITY EDITION • APRIL 2023
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