The Northeast Texas Community College Board of Trustees met for its regular November meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 26th. Six trustees were present. The first order of business was the President’s report.
President’s Report
Dr. Ron Clinton started his report with the recent announcement that Dr. Wynn Rosser has been named the new Texas Commissioner of Higher Education. The position was vacated after the previous leader, Dr. Harrison Keller, was named president of the University of North Texas. Clinton remarked that Rosser has strong ties to northeast Texas and has been an advocate of rural colleges in his previous work with the Trellis and Greater Texas Foundations.
“We are very pleased with this choice and are happy to have a friend of community colleges in such a prominent role,” Clinton said.
In legislative news, he said that a record number of bills were filed on November 12th, the first day that legislators could submit bills for consideration during the upcoming 89th session. The Texas Association of Community Colleges will focus heavily on working with legislators to ensure that the HB8 performance-based funding model is fully funded based on the increased completion outcomes that NTCC and other community colleges in the State have achieved during the current biennium.
In student news, Clinton congratulated the Honors program on their recent trip to the National Collegiate Honors Council in Kansas City. Four students presented a breakout session, where they discussed their annual honors film project. He also reported that seven students in the Carroll Shelby Automotive Program recently attended the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. They were able to attend the trade show and enjoyed a special event hosted by Shelby American and the Carroll Shelby Foundation.
“These are both excellent examples of unique learning opportunities for NTCC students that go beyond the classroom,” Clinton said.
Clinton also announced that a new HVAC program, geared toward working adults, will kick off in January. The 13-week program will culminate in a certification that prepares students for entry level work in the field. He also congratulated NTCC’s Vocational Nursing program for achieving a 100% pass rate on state board exams for the fourth year in a row.
In the giving report, Dr. Jon McCullough said that the foundation raised $245,888.04 during the month of October, with a good portion of that coming from athletic fundraising. McCullough also reported that the college’s rare Shelby GT500KR was transported to Las Vegas for SEMA. It will remain on display in the Shelby museum there until it is auctioned at a Barrett-Jackson event sometime in 2025.
Strategic Plan Update
Dr. Clinton also gave the five-year update on the Destination 2025 strategic plan. The plan was recently revised from five goals to three. These are:
- Student Success
- Great Place to Work & Learn
- Community Engagement
Clinton acknowledged that the passage of HB8 in the last legislative session led to a need to shift some of the original goals. He noted that two key areas of the plan where the college excelled were Student Retention and Student Completion. He reported a 7.8% improvement in retention from the 2022/2023 academic year to the 2023-2024 academic year. Completions were also up 12% over the previous school year.
“Improved retention and completion rates are very good news for the college, as this is a key measurement for how we are now funded. Even more importantly, this shows that our students are successful and that is a win for us all,” Clinton said.
While some Key Performance Indicators fell slightly short of their goals, Clinton said he feels good about the progress being made.
“The strategic plan is a living document that helps us make sure that we are focusing on the things that really matter. While we want to achieve all of our goals, we also want to set them at a level that promotes continuous improvement,” Clinton said.
Action Items
After adjourning for an executive session, the board reconvened to go over the action items on the agenda. After approving the consent agenda, the board considered Approval of Easement Agreement for Transmission Lines with Prairie Branch Solar LLC. A representative from the company was in attendance to answer questions. This action item had been tabled at previous meetings as trustees had questions about the project – which involves providing easement access across college property to allow for transmission lines. The board approved the agreement unanimously after a brief discussion.
The board took no action on engaging a firm to outsource the upcoming search for NTCC’s next President due to the recent announcement that Dr. Clinton will be retiring at the end of June, 2025.
Personnel Action
In personnel action, the board approved hiring the following employees:
Hunter May – College Navigator
Laurencio Velazquez, Jr. – College Navigator
Greg Hollingsworth – Staff Sergeant
Jeff Gardzina – Director of Plant Services
As there was no other business, the meeting was then adjourned.
