The Northeast Texas Community College Board of Trustees met for its regular April meeting on Tuesday, April 23rd. The first order of business was the presentation of the Adjunct Faculty Teaching Excellence Award. Jennifer Sparks presented the award to Monica Graves on behalf of the faculty. Graves teaches Learning Frameworks for NTCC.
“Part-time instructors play a critical role in student success at NTCC. Ms. Graves is passionate about teaching and she consistently goes above and beyond for her students. We appreciate her, and all of our hardworking adjuncts, for all they do to support our students and departments,” Anna Ingram, Associate Vice President for Instruction, said.
Graves worked in K-12 education and administration for 34 years. She retired from Mount Pleasant ISD in 2020. She has worked as an adjunct instructor and instructional coach at NTCC for two years.
In the President’s Report, Dr. Ron Clinton said that NTCC is preparing for its largest graduation ever on May 11th. The college will host three different ceremonies with more than 430 students receiving degrees and certificates. Commencement ceremonies will be at 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Graduates will be provided with tickets for guests and events will be streamed live online. He also reported that this is a very busy time of year, with numerous student awards/induction ceremonies and events taking place daily.
Under Items of Information, the Board heard a brief report from Amy Adkins, Executive Director of Human Resources, on the District Update 47 Affecting Legal Policies. She said that the changes were largely just clarifications of existing policies and changes that resulted from HB8 and SB1445. There was no further discussion on the topic.
In Action Items, the Board approved the Consent Agenda and then Dr. Clinton presented the Texas Success Center Board of Trustees Institute Action Plan. Clinton stated that he and Chuck Johns, Board Chairman, recently attended the institute, where they were tasked with developing an action plan for the Board to implement over the next year. The plan presented involves analyzing regional wage data to determine which NTCC programs lead to a “living wage” upon completion.
“It was quite eye-opening to see the numbers and what actually constitutes a living wage in today’s economy. The data from our region showed that a household with two working adults and one child would need to make around $36,000 each (combined $72,000 household) to live comfortably. We need to make sure we are training students for jobs that make this attainable,” Clinton said. The Board approved the plan unanimously.
The board also approved a Resolution to Convey Real Property in Camp County. This will allow the City of Pittsburg to develop the property in hopes that it can be successfully returned to the tax roll in the future.
There was some discussion on the topic of Tuition and Fee recommendations for the 2024-2025 academic year. The administration proposed adding a $4 increase to its tuition and fee schedule per credit hour. Dr. Clinton said these changes were recommended in response to needed salary raises for adjunct faculty and full-time staff, as well as the rising instructional, student support, and plant services costs due to inflation. The board approved the proposal as presented.
In personnel action, the Board approved releasing the Dean of Health Science from their contract and approved all employee contracts for the 2024-2025 academic year. There was no executive session and the meeting was adjourned.
