Presidents @ COM

Larry Stanley was originally from Wichita, Kansas. Stanley came to COM in 1970, as a music instructor. His prior experience included teaching music at Wharton County Junior College, and Howard County Junior College in Bib Spring, Texas. He received a Bachelor of Music from Baylor University in 1961 and a Masters of Arts Degree from Sam Houston State University, 1964.

Stanley was the first faculty member to develop a vocal music program. Four years later, he was made Director of Fine Arts and was also the Director of COM Singers. He composed and arranged music for the COM Theater productions. He was the Project Director for the Fine Arts grant to develop a cooperative fne arts programs with five area high schools and Project Director for the AIDP Federal grant to administer curriculum development projects. 

In 1983 the Board of Trustees of the college named Dr, Stanley him President of the College of the Mainland.

During his tenure at the College, Stanley also served as President of the Texas Association of Administers and Board of Trustees, President of the Texas Junior College Association, and an Officer of the Gulf Coast Intercollegiate Conference.

Dr. Stanley served as President of College of the Mainland from 1983-2000. At 17 years, that makes him the longest serving president at the College. 

• Larry Stanley is appointed President of College 1983. 
• Enrollment for the fall semester registers a 22 percent increase in contact hours.
• Local displaced workers learn new skills while earning wages in a new, innovative “Learn and Earn” COM program.
• Landscaping and beautification plan is launched to make campus a more visually attractive environment.
• Art Gallery scores a “first” in the Houston area with an exhibit of eight New York artists nationally recognized as the New Realists.
• A new photo typesetting program is launched to keep pace with the new technology in the graphic arts industry.
• Continuing Education program offers more than 700 classes, workshops, tournaments, lectures and recreational events.
• Financial Aid Office awards $535,321 in grants, scholarships, loans and part-time campus employment.
• Gulf Coast Future Issues Council is organized to research, assess and forecast the impact of local, state and global trends upon the community.
• Automotive Technology program registers 22 percent increase in students enrolling in classes featuring “state-of-the- art” equipment.
• Senior Adult program serves approximately 1,300 residents 55 years or over.
• A Fast Track Real Estate program involving 600 students is launched in the Clear Lake area.
• Two new degree plans are established: Associate in Business Administration and Associate in Science.
• Art Galler’s show, “Houston Figurative Art,” is acclaimed throughout the area and named one of the ten best exhibits of 1984 by the Houston Chronicle.
• Division of Business launches computer-aided accounting courses with state-of-art microcomputers.
• College of the Mainland receives re-affirmation of its accreditation for the next ten years from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
• An impressive $1.5 million addition to the Technical-Vocation Building opens for the fall semester; the 20,000 square-foot facility features computer science classrooms and labs, a modern Child Development Center, as well as offices for faculty and staff.
• A Dislocated Worker project is launched under a $275,000 federal grant to retrain displaced workers.
• A Labor Studies Institute is launched, incorporating a Labor Studies program and the Apprenticeship program.
• Graduates of the Nursing program achieve a 100 percent pass rate on the state licensure exam.
• Law Enforcement graduates attain a 99.8 percent success rate on the State Police Officer Licensure Exam.
• Enrollment in the Continuing Education program rises to an all-time high of 16,224-a 14 percent increase over the previous years.
• College registers 593 more students than the previous year – a seven percent increase and an all-time in student enrollment for a single year.
• COM Jazz Ensemble wins’ group and solo awards at the annual Sam Houston State University Jazz Festival.
• An on-campus Texas Sesquicentennial celebration features a Cinco de Mayo Festival, a COM Art Festival and Texas folklorist.
• COM launches a satellite campus for its Continuing Education courses at Deauville Mall, Webster.
• Division of Business opens the Center for Business Training and Management to assist businesses and prospective entrepreneurs in the community.
• Adult Basic Education program receives a $40,000 grant from Texas Education Agency to help undereducated and hearing impaired adults improve their reading, math and daily living skills.
• COM receives a second grant in the amount of $282,000 to retrain an additional 270 laid-off workers for alternative careers; the federal grant was funded under the Job Training Partnership Act.
• COM registers 3,260 students for fall semester-the highest in its 20-year history and a six percent increase over the previous year.
• The Gulf Coast Future Issues Council, in partnership with the Texas City/La Marque Chamber of Commerce, produces the first economic database profile of the Central Corridor of Galveston County.
• College receives $75,457 federal grant to develop a program with Hitchcock Independent School District to help reduce dropout rate.
• Twenty high school seniors receive full scholarships to attend Summer SuperStart, a unique new program combining college courses, field trips and recreational activities.

Go to the President Stanley photo album.