Recognitions and Distinctions

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (2005) – Richland College is the first community college to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, presented by the President of the United States and the Secretary of Commerce. This award is the nation’s highest honor for performance excellence.

Texas Award for Performance Excellence (2005) – Richland College is the first accredited institution of higher education in Texas to receive the Texas Award for Performance Excellence, presented by the Governor of Texas and the Quality Texas Foundation. This award is Texas’ highest honor for performance excellence.

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (2012) – Richland College received Recognition of Excellence from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) for its Thunderwater Organizational Learning Institute Faculty Professional Development Program.

Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (2010) – Richland College reached U.S. Department of Education’s designation as an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution, becoming Texas’ only college or university with this recognition.

Tech Titan of the Future Award (2005 and 2008) – Richland’s associate of science engineering degree received the first Metroplex Technology Business Council’s Tech Titan of the Future Award in 2005 for its innovative approaches to promote tech-related knowledge transfer. Richland Collegiate High School received the 2008 Tech Titan of the Future Award for its innovative approach to closing gaps in K-16 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (2010) – Richland College was selected as one of the Founding Colleges of the Carnegie Foundation’s Statistics Pathway (Statway) Network and the Carnegie Collaboratory to develop an accelerated pathway for developmental mathematics through transfer-level statistics in one year.

Achieving the Dream (2009-present) – Richland was selected to join a national Lumina Foundation Achieving the Dreaminitiative to help more community college students of color and low-income students to succeed in college completion.

Association of American Colleges and Universities (2007-Present) – Richland College is one of only two community colleges in the AAC&U report, “College Learning for the New Global Century,” as a leading examplar of the four “Essential Learning Outcomes” that form the core of a 21st-century education.

Earl W. Eames Award (2008) – United Nations Association (UNA) Dallas Chapter in partnership with Richland College and the LeCroy Center for Educational Telecommunications received the UNA/USA’s national Earl W. Eames Award for progress and contributions in the use of electronic communication technology.

Vanguard Learning College Project (2000-2005) – Richland College was one of 12 American and Canadian community colleges selected by the international League for Innovation in the Community College to develop institution-wide learning college models during a five-year project.

National Conference Athletic Championships – Richland College’s five nonscholarship athletic teams are the first in NJCAA or NCAA history to hold simultaneously three national titles (in men’s soccer, women’s soccer, and baseball) and have won more than a dozen national championships.

WasteWise College/University Partner of the Year (2010 and 2011) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery has twice named Richland College as the winner in the nation’s first national voluntary solid waste reduction program for Richland’s strategic efforts in waste prevention, recycling, and recycled content purchasing policies.

RecycleMania (2010, 2011, 2012) – Richland has won Grand Champion in the state of Texas for three consecutive years, with the highest recycling rate as a percentage of its overall waste generation. Richland has also placed in the top ten of the national category of college and university RecycleMania competition.

Sabine Hall LEED Platinum-Certified Science Building (2009, 2011, 2012) The Richardson Chamber of Commerce Business and Industry Awards honored Richland for achieving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum-level U.S. Green Building Council certification. Sabine Hall received the 2010 Best Green Project–Public award from Dallas Business Journal, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2011 Honor Award by the AIA Dallas Chapter, and the prestigious 2012 Louis I. Kahn Citation by American School & University (AS&U) magazine, honoring design excellence in education projects.

Topping Out Award (2010) – Richland College Garland Campus was named by the Metroplex architectural and construction community as a Top Ten Finalist for having the first public project built as part of the master-planned redevelopment for downtown Garland and the first USGBC LEED Gold-certified project in Garland.