The Northeast Texas Community College Board of Trustees met for its regular October meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 25th.
In his President’s report, Dr. Ron Clinton announced that NTCC’s reaffirmation site visit with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) went very well. The ten-member team of reviewers that visited the campus in late September were highly complimentary of NTCC’s ongoing work to improve student success and capped their visit by providing the college with four recommendations for future improvement.
“The reaffirmation process is very important to the college and a lot of work goes into preparing reports, developing the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) and coordinating the site visit. I want to thank all of our faculty and staff who went above and beyond in their efforts to ensure a successful reaffirmation,” Clinton said. The reaffirmation process will not officially finish until next summer, when the SACSCOC Board of Trustees votes to approve the college’s reaccreditation.
Clinton also announced that the college recently learned it will receive another federal Title V grant for $3 million over five years. The funds will be used to improve the transfer process, provide extra assistance for underserved students and create up to nine new grant-funded positions at the college.
“These are very competitive grants and we are thrilled to receive another one. This is a great opportunity to direct a substantial amount of federal dollars into our local economy, create jobs, and provide NTCC with more resources to support our mission of empowering students to succeed,” Clinton said.
Clinton also said that NTCC received approval from the Department of Education to use additional resources from another federal grant program to renovate and repurpose the original physical fitness annex building into a simulation lab for health science programs. The project is currently out for bid.
Under Items of Information, Clinton gave a report on the recommendations from the Texas Commission on Community College Finance. The commission was established during the last session of the Texas legislature and was tasked with reevaluating the current Texas community college funding model. The 12-person Commission was made up of community college presidents, business leaders, and legislative representatives knowledgeable in community college operations.
The Commission recently released its recommendations, which will be fully considered during the upcoming 88th Legislative session. The outcomes of this could positively change the way all 50 community colleges in the State, including NTCC, will be funded moving forward.
"When the current funding model was devised, over 50 years ago, Texas community colleges received more than three quarters of our funding from the state of Texas to support instruction. Today, because of continual declines in the level of support, NTCC receives only about a quarter of its funding from the State,” Clinton said. This new set of recommendations, if funded during the upcoming legislative session, would provide much needed additional support.”
The report consisted of three major areas of recommendation: State Funding for Outcomes, Affordability for Students and Investments in College Capacity.
Clinton said that the State Funding For Outcomes is probably the most significant of the three. It would move from paying colleges for the number of contact hours taught to paying them based on how well they move students through the educational process.
“The Commission looked closely at state workforce needs and found that community colleges are poised to be our best option for training the workforce Texas needs to maintain its healthy economic environment into the future. We are already doing the heavy lifting of educating the majority of Freshman and Sophomore students in the state, especially those who are the neediest,” Clinton said.
State Funding for Outcomes
Specifically, the Commission is recommending funding be tied to colleges based on how well they do at awarding Credentials of Value, degrees and/or certificates that have high returns on investment; produce students qualified to work in High-demand Fields that are critical to the Texas economy; foster Transfer Success, making it easy for students to transfer to a four-year university; and offering comprehensive Dual Credit opportunities, which give high school students a head start on credentials before they graduate.
“Overall, we are happy with this recommendation. While the plan lacks details at this point, we fully support moving to a model that rewards colleges for student success. We have always worked closely with area business and industry to help meet employer needs and this plan would help us do that even more effectively,” Clinton said.
Affordability for Students
Under the Affordability for Students recommendation, the Commission contends that adjustments in funding should be made for helping students who need additional support services (low-income, academically underprepared adults who want to reskill/upskill) and to help offset higher operating costs for smaller colleges.
“Small rural colleges like NTCC are very different from districts in the high-growth metropolitan areas of Texas. We are very glad that the Commission recognizes this and plans to make allowances that will help smaller colleges,” Clinton said.
The recommendation also addresses the affordability of dual credit classes by giving the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THEBC) responsibility for administering dual credit and setting a maximum tuition rate for dual credit classes.
Finally, the plan calls for more financial support to help students participate in work-based learning opportunities such as internships.
Investments in College Capacity
The Investments in College Capacity section of the plan recommends that the state provides additional funding for one-time seed grants to supplement the high start-up costs for training programs in high-demand fields needed to meet regional and state workforce needs. These funds would be administered through the Texas Workforce Commission with priority given to short-term workforce programs developed in partnership with local businesses.
The plan also calls for more shared services between colleges, which would increase operational efficiency and expand the range of academic and workforce programs offered.
Clinton also reported that Representative Gary VanDeaver, who represents District 1 in the Texas House of Representatives, which includes Morris County, served on the Commission. He has also been tapped to sponsor legislation on the House side that will be instrumental in moving the recommendations through the legislative process.
“We are very appreciative of Representative VanDeaver’s contribution to the work of the Commission. The substantive report they produced has caught the attention of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor and we anticipate that community college funding will be given a high legislative priority during the upcoming session.”
In action items, the Board approved the consent agenda and voted to employ Jennifer Sumrow as Director of Dual Credit.
