(0:01 - 0:19)
Okay, my telephone says it is six o'clock, so let's call this meeting to order. We do have a quorum, all regents are present, and let's begin with the invocation and pledge led by Gina Guillory. Please bow your heads with me.

(0:19 - 0:43)
Father God, we come to you this evening just thanking you for another opportunity, God, just to serve you, God, just to be a part of such a great institution that you have afforded us an opportunity just to make a difference in the lives of someone else. We ask that you just come into the midst of this meeting, God, and help us to make wise decisions on behalf of this community as a whole. And we thank you for all things in Jesus' name, amen.

(0:43 - 1:00)
Amen. All right, the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

(1:00 - 1:11)
Honor the Texas flag. Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible.

(1:11 - 1:18)
Thank you. Thank you. Okay, next up is student spotlight.

(1:19 - 1:34)
Mr. Chairman, I'd like to introduce Dr. Rosemary Kaufman, who will be presenting our student speaker tonight, or Dr. Victoria Marone instead. Yeah, sorry about that. Why don't you just tell me who's coming to speak? Sorry, so good evening, Regents and Dr. Villanueva.

(1:34 - 2:12)
Tonight, before we bring our student and Dr. Kaufman, our student Priscilla and Dr. Kaufman forward, I wanted to introduce to you Dr. Kaufman, whom has been leading our Peers Against Tobacco program. Currently, Dr. Kaufman serves as our executive director of student success and well-being, which provides leadership and guidance to our veteran center, disability services, mental health services, including our new SAMHSA Suicide Prevention Grant, Title IX, and the Learning Hub, where many of you visited for our ribbon-cutting on Tuesday. She has held other roles, such as a counselor for students with disabilities, the director of counseling, and associate dean of student affairs.

(2:13 - 2:46)
Rosemary is always willing to serve in other roles and support so many individuals. For example, she's also the project director for Be Well Baytown, the advisor for our addictions counseling program, and the chair of the peers team, which is an interdisciplinary committee which provides wraparound services to referred students experiencing issues that may impact their academics. Please join me not only welcoming Dr. Kaufman forward, but congratulating and appreciating her for her soon-to-be 35 years of service.

(2:47 - 2:49)
Wow. Wow. Wow.

(2:53 - 2:56)
Applause for being old, I think. Thank you. Wow.

(2:56 - 2:59)
Call longevity. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Marrone.

(2:59 - 3:22)
Thank you, Regents and Dr. Villanueva for allowing us to come to this evening to the student spotlight. I wanna give you a little background on how we got here. In November 2016, MD Anderson united with the community of Baytown to launch the first comprehensive community-driven health initiative of its kind in the state of Texas, Be Well Baytown, with funding through Exxon Mobil.

(3:22 - 3:49)
Lee College was an inaugural member of the steering committee for the initiative. This steering committee collectively developed a community action plan aimed at creating a long-lasting culture of health within the community. As the backbone organization, MD Anderson leads the steering committee, aligns partner activities to achieve shared goals and evaluates the initiative.

(3:49 - 4:21)
It is through this partnership that we have developed some great community relationships as well as receiving funds to support both our Sun Safety Project, which was initiated in 2018, and our Tobacco Project, initiated in 2019. As of today, the college has received approximately $174,000 towards these projects with another 70,000 earmarked for this year. One of the byproducts of this initiative was the creation of our Peers Against Tobacco student group.

(4:22 - 4:50)
Started in 2019, we were the first community college in Texas to have a PACT chapter. With relationships developed through Be Well Baytown and resources from Peers Against Tobacco, we recently partnered with GCC ISD and communities in school to create peer-to-peer presentations on the dangers of vaping. Tonight, I am thrilled to introduce an amazing young woman who developed these presentations.

(4:51 - 5:12)
Priscilla Gueva is a senior at Impact High School and a member of our award-winning Lee College Mendoza Debate Society. She has been a member of PACT for three years, serving as president for the first two. I look forward to the day that I can say I knew her when, because I know she is going to make a mark on this world.

(5:13 - 5:42)
I'll turn it over to Priscilla to tell you more about her presentations to GCC ISD schools. So thank you, Rosemary Kaufman, for the lovely introduction, but I really want to extend a humongous thank you to the board for the continuous support and funding that you give not only to Peers Against Tobacco, but to the many student activities here at Lee College today. So I want to really open up with the first campus that we were able to intervene in.

(5:42 - 5:56)
Right. I would like for all of you to see the pictures. So the first campus that we really hit on was the student CPJ Baytown Junior School.

(6:00 - 6:38)
it was my alma mater middle school, so I think it was really important to first hit on it, because when we talked with the counselors and the CIC coordination groups, they identified 40 students who intervened and were found using vaping and products. So we were able to talk with these 40 students for a total of an hour and 30 minutes, but within this hour and 30 minutes, we were really able to impact them in a way we couldn't have before. And the reason why we were able to do these peer-to-peer presentations and why they were much more impactful than having just an adult speak to them was because we were able to know their struggle.

(6:38 - 6:56)
We were able to establish this already common ground. It was really easy for them to open up when we asked them questions. So these students were active in the presentation, they were asking questions, engaging with critical answers, and they were even participating in the many activities that we were able to share with them today.

(6:57 - 7:28)
They were eager to share their stories and also listen attentively to the different information and also the pamphlets that were passed out to them. So we were able to tell them about the different dangers and the effects of vaping and how to avoid, especially the negative effects of peer pressure that also causes them to start vaping as well. So now these 40 students are engaged and they're equipped with the necessary information, tools, and advocacy to be able to avoid vapes, not only within their school, but also in their community as well.

(7:29 - 7:50)
The next school that we were able to identify was the Point Alternative Center. So the Point Alternative Center is a disciplinary alternative education program, or DAEP, established in complement with a Texas education code. So they basically identify troubled students in GCCISD and send them to this alternative campus.

(7:50 - 8:20)
And unfortunately, this campus is only growing in size because of the new Texas code and legislation that's passed, basically denoting that students who are identified to even be using vaping products are sent to the Point campus. And so since it's growing in size, we really found it very important to hit on this campus, especially with a different advocacy. So we had to approach it with a different perspective than CBJ because these students were identified to use vapes instead of being identified to have a vape.

(8:20 - 8:46)
And so we gave them not only cessation support, but also taught them how to quit as well, which are two major key components that Peers Against Tobacco does on campus here in college as well. So we were able to talk with these students, and we also hit a total of 100 students as well. We were able to pass out different incentives and also informational pamphlets as well.

(8:46 - 9:05)
Now, these incentives really helped the students to be engaged in the presentations, especially since there were different age varieties. We hit from sixth grade all the way to 12th graders. So it was really important that we were able to impact them in a way that we couldn't have if not without the Peers-to-Peer presentation.

(9:06 - 9:32)
And so the next slide basically shows a lot of the different pictures and also the communities and schools. So this not only was Peers Against Tobacco effort, it was also an effort in collaboration with GCCISD. And I find it really highlighting the fact that Lee College and GCISD has a wonderful collaboration, not only with the Impact Early College High School, but also with different organizations under GCISD.

(9:32 - 9:49)
And I find it really important to also strengthen these bonds as you are all lovely doing today. So I want to really appreciate you all for strengthening these, quote, diplomatic ties with GCISD and also strengthening the academic success of your student leaders today. Thank you so much.

(9:58 - 10:06)
That may be the best student presentation I've ever heard in the 20-something years. I just want to say. That was phenomenal job.

(10:06 - 10:21)
I prefer excellent, excellent presentation. I was thinking, I continue to be amazed at the Impact students, how well they speak, how comfortable they are in front of a crowd, how pointed your presentations are. I'm just blown away.

(10:21 - 10:32)
Congratulations. Thank you. Do y'all have feedback on how, feedback here, on how successful you're, you know, you're going in and you're talking to the students at Point and CBJ.

(10:33 - 11:11)
Are you hearing feedback that it's really resonating with them and they're stopping vaping? Right, so in one of the activities that we did with Point and the CBJ campus is a wide thing, and this wide thing means I ended up applying to those where they were able to write on these cards on what motivates them to get up in the morning, brush their teeth. There are a lot of those, you know, part of the reason we did that was because a lot of those students that applied to the Point and CBJ class were wanting to be in the community, that they wanted to be in the community. A lot of them had to be in the community.

(11:12 - 11:33)
And so that was the first activity that I was able to do. I was able to do that with Point and CBJ. Of course, our middle name, which is also very similar to the CBJ name, is the Board of Education and Vacation, using our products to stop what we're doing in the community and to help people in the community.

(11:34 - 11:45)
Awesome, thank you. Very good, thank you. Okay, next on the agenda is disposition of minutes.

(11:45 - 12:14)
We have Board Audit Committee meeting from October 18th, Board Building Committee meeting from October 18th, Board Policy Committee meeting from October 19th, public hearing on the tax levy October 19th, board meeting October 19th, and new Regent orientation meeting on October 23rd. Do we have a motion? Second. Right, we have a motion by Regent Cotton and a second by Regent Geralds.

(12:15 - 12:36)
Any discussion on the minutes? Okay, all in favor of approving the minutes as submitted, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay, next up, report of the chairman.

(12:37 - 12:55)
So, first I wanna begin by congratulating Regent Guillory on her recent appointment to the ACCT and the Committee for Governance and Bylaws, thank you. Committee for Governance and Bylaws. All right, wonderful.

(12:55 - 13:18)
I know you'll represent the college well. And next, I wanna give a special shout out to our security group for their amazing work last week. Thank you guys for what you do every day in keeping us safe and secure and especially for your activities last week.

(13:18 - 13:26)
So, appreciate you guys. That concludes my report. Next up, we have Building Committee.

(13:27 - 13:35)
Mr. Chair, the Building Committee has not met since our last regular board meeting. We are scheduled to meet Monday, November 27th. Policy Committee.

(13:36 - 13:42)
We have not met, sir. Audit and Investment. We will be meeting the Wednesday after the Thanksgiving break.

(13:42 - 13:56)
Okay. Report of the president. Yes, Mr. Chairman, I wanted to also kind of just add on to the thanks to our security team.

(13:56 - 14:31)
And I wanted to do that by, and I just can't say it any better than our faculty assembly did, who unanimously voted on sort of a proclamation that they wanted to issue for the security team. So, it says, colleagues, by unanimous vote of the Lee College Faculty Assembly on November 8th, 2023, we would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation to the Lee College security team for their dedication to helping keep this campus safe for our students and employees. This week's incidents remind us all that your vigilance and professionalism help keep all members of this campus community safe and productive.

(14:32 - 14:45)
And we would like to formally recognize your efforts in this regard. Your commitment to this college occurs quietly and without fanfare. And it should not require a crisis moment to remind us how valuable you are to the campus community.

(14:45 - 15:02)
With that in mind, please accept the heartfelt thanks of the faculty assembly for all that you do to keep Lee College operating smoothly and safely. So, I just couldn't say it any better than the faculty assembly. Thank you.

(15:02 - 15:23)
Thank you again. I wanna thank everyone who participated in this week's ribbon cutting and the grand reopening of the Student Center. It really was a great event and it was wonderful to spend time with our community partners and donors who truly and clearly care about ensuring our students have everything that they need to complete their educational goals.

(15:24 - 15:37)
I wanna thank Celia Tacconi and Carrie Hurlburt for all their efforts to coordinate the event. But my thanks also go to Regent Morfantino for speaking on behalf of the chairman. It was very gracious of you to do that.

(15:37 - 16:12)
I'd also like to congratulate seven Honors Program students who successfully presented their work at the Gulf Coast Intercollegiate Council Honors Conference recently at Lone Star College. They are Lena Cantu, Rebecca Curry, Giovanni Arellano, Karis Gray, Kaitlin Prejean, Leila Leah, and Yaritza Serrano. I'm so grateful to all the faculty who instruct these amazing students, including Dr. Georgianne Ward, Dr. Javier Ramirez, Dr. Portia Hopkins, Ms. Lauren Hoyt, and Ms. Brianne Daly.

(16:13 - 16:43)
I'm also very deeply appreciative to the board who continues to support this amazing program. But on a related note, I want to share with you to the board that Dr. Georgianne Ward, who's been leading the amazing Honors Program for many years, has decided to step down from her leadership role to focus more on teaching. And while it was difficult to accept that, it's a good thing because she's an amazing faculty member and she really is just an even more amazing human being.

(16:44 - 17:01)
And so she's going to be helping whoever steps into that role. And I just want to thank her for her deep commitment to serving all of our students. And I know that we're gonna have a continued wonderful Honors Program.

(17:01 - 17:27)
I know that we're all anxious to resume our efforts on the branch campus. In Mount Bellevue, I shared with the board that Barber's Hill has begun collecting petition signatures that are necessary to submit with our application to the coordinating board. I spoke with Dr. Poole earlier this week, and on Tuesday, he let me know that they have approximately, at that time, 600 signatures of the 950 that they need.

(17:28 - 17:58)
But he assured me that they would have, well, in excess of the 950, which is in true Barber's Hill fashion. So it is our goal to have the application submitted on time, which is, by the way, required 45 days before the January board meeting. So I encourage everyone to tell their Mount Bellevue friends and colleagues to sign the petition and look forward to sharing more information as we have learned from the coordinating board what happens.

(17:58 - 18:34)
So we're just looking forward to it, and it's just finally good to be moving forward on that again. As is customary, the leadership of the Texas Association of Community Colleges has changed hands, and I'm certainly very proud to represent Lee College on the TAC Executive Committee, but I also wanted to share with the board that I've been asked to continue my role on the TAC Legislative Committee. And so this is a very important committee, given the many legislative priorities that the college has, and so I look forward to continuing in that role, and we'll certainly keep the board updated as we move forward.

(18:35 - 19:01)
In related news, I'd like to share that Dr. Walzers and myself have been asked to join the Upskill Houston Executive Board. They're really trying to focus on supporting industry in the Gulf Coast region, and they are particularly interested in how we can collectively support the hydrogen projects that are developing in our region. So I'm very grateful to Dr. Walzers, and we look forward to serving and representing Lee College.

(19:02 - 19:32)
I wanted to share with the board that I, and a couple of other Baytown community members, this past week had the opportunity to have lunch with Van Jones. If you don't know Van, he's a CNN correspondent, and was a former special advisor to Barack Obama. He came to Houston as part of a larger tour to better understand how this region is the energy transition capital of the United States, and specifically he wanted to learn more about the innovation hubs that are contributing to a low-carbon energy future.

(19:32 - 19:52)
But he came to Baytown in particular because he wanted to meet with members of the community just to talk about the ways that we partner with ExxonMobil. And it's always very easy to do that. So it was a good lunch, and it was a wonderful conversation, and he spoke very highly about the role that Lee College plays in the community.

(19:52 - 20:18)
So it was good to be a part of that. And finally, I also wanted to echo the congratulations to Regent Guillory for being chosen to serve on the Government and Bylaws Committee of ACCT. We are certainly gaining a great deal of national attention, and I know that you're going to do a fantastic job of representing Lee College, and we all look forward to supporting you.

(20:19 - 20:24)
Congratulations. And Mr. Chairman, on that very positive note, I conclude my report. Thank you very much.

(20:25 - 20:41)
We move right into report of Lee College resignations and retirements. Dr. Lee. Yes, we are sad to see Jennifer Garcia go, but very happy for her as she's taking on a new role, and she leads the area of college advancement.

(20:44 - 20:59)
Next up is a financial report by Annette Ferguson. Well, I was going to ask the student to do my report. She left.

(20:59 - 21:33)
Priscilla already left. You're on your own. So the financial resignation results that we'll be looking at tonight are year-to-date results through October 31st.

(21:33 - 22:07)
Our cash continues to be strong. You know, we do have a different cash flow this year, and so we are watching it very close to make sure that we do have sufficient funds to support our operations, and there's no scare of that number. It's not happening, but we are working to develop some cash flow reports so that we can make sure that we stay on top of that until we become familiar with the flow again.

(22:09 - 22:43)
Our tuition and fee revenue, right now we're about 46% of our budget, which means we're pretty much right on target, maybe a little bit ahead. I'd be a little more comfortable if we were more in the 48% range, but right now we still look positive to reach our budget. State appropriations, we talked about this a little bit last month, but we did get our first payment from the state in October, and it was 50% of our allocation.

(22:43 - 23:19)
Then we'll get two more payments at 25% and 25%. Our taxes have not really started coming in yet, so not much going on there. Other revenue, big amounts that we've received in from our TDCJ contract, 117,000, vending machines and food service on campus, and so overall, our other revenue is around 300,000, and our interest income, around 300,000 as well.

(23:21 - 24:04)
Our restricted funds, federal grants, we're behind on pulling down by about 347,000, and you can see where that lies here, 117 of that is like in the Title IV-A, about 100,000 or so in loans, 83,000 in Perkins grants, so as soon as those funds become available, we will continue to pull them down. If we look, budget versus yearly date projected actuals, our tuition and fees, like I said, we're just a little bit above budget at this point, but we'll continue to monitor that. State appropriations, taxes, pretty much right on track, and others just slightly over.

(24:05 - 24:45)
Looking at our, uh-oh, our projected net revenue, right now we're projecting an operating revenue of a little over a million dollars, and you can see not much of that is coming from payroll, only about 68,000 is coming from payroll. We had some other expenses, we have a little bit of a gain there. Our revenue is just slightly over tuition and fees, 129 of the revenue, about 106, so we will be watching expenses very closely and making sure that we do control those.

(24:48 - 25:50)
So as of October, we're about 17% of our operating expenses, and when you divvy it up between salaries, operating and debt, we're pretty much just right on target. I don't know if you remember, but last month on this operating cost, it was flipped, and I mentioned that we had a timing issue on when an expense was budgeted versus when it got recognized, and so this is not concerning, it's just coming back from last month, and this is the same situation here. Our expenses versus budget, right now, we are anticipating that we will be under on salary and benefits as well as operating costs, and that is my report, sir, unless anyone has any questions.

(25:53 - 26:01)
Thank you. Thank you. Next up is public comment.

(26:01 - 26:32)
Do we have anyone signed up to speak? No, we have not, Mr. Chairman. Next, moving on to personnel. Okay.

(26:32 - 26:49)
Okay, the administration recommends that the board approve the new hires as presented below. We can agenda items for our move that we take all items of consent. Okay, I have a motion by Regent Guillory and a second by Regent Cotton.

(26:50 - 27:04)
Any discussion on this item? All right, hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? New business.

(27:07 - 27:30)
Consideration of resolution casting ballot for board member of Chambers County Appraisal District. Ah, I'm having a fat finger here, sorry about that. I'm having all kinds of computer issues today.

(27:33 - 27:49)
Okay, here we go. Consideration of resolution casting ballot for board member of Chambers County Appraisal District. The administration recommends that the board authorize the president or her designee to submit a ballot and resolution of the Board of Regents vote for Joey.

(27:50 - 28:03)
Present all for board member of the Chambers County Appraisal District. Do we have a motion? I move. Okay, I've got a motion by Regent Guillory and a second by Regent Morfano.

(28:03 - 28:13)
Is there any discussion on this item? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay.

(28:14 - 28:28)
All right. Next item is discussion of the ACCT Leadership Congress. So this was our workshop that got canceled last week.

(28:29 - 28:51)
So basically just kind of want to go around the table and talk about anything of note that we learned while we were in Las Vegas. Who would like to begin? I'll start. I think several of us attended one or two cybersecurity sessions.

(28:51 - 29:21)
And I think just in general, hearing some of what our peer colleges have gone through when they have been attacked through a very simple email that someone clicked on and it went through their system and not only shut them down, locked them up, but millions of dollars out of their bank accounts in hardly any time at all. And it all looked very legitimate. I think, I know we do a good job and all institutions do a great job with cybersecurity, but we are all still vulnerable.

(29:22 - 29:38)
And so I would just like maybe at some point an update on what our cybersecurity measures are here. I know that we, like everyone else, we stay on top of things. And maybe a little presentation down the road would be good for us, calm our minds a little bit.

(29:39 - 29:55)
As I was listening to this presentation about how phone calls were made and people answered their phones, I got a call from my bank and they wanted some information over the phone. I told them it was very poor timing on their part. They were not getting anything from me over the phone.

(29:55 - 30:06)
And it just, so it immediately put me on alert. And even though it was the number from my bank, that's what they do. They make it look like it's coming from your bank.

(30:06 - 30:12)
They know the people's names at your bank. They know the account numbers. I mean, it's just amazing what they can get into.

(30:12 - 30:23)
And to be honest, I don't know how we defend against it. But anyway, in summary, just maybe a presentation down the road on what our cybersecurity measures are. I know some of the others participated as well.

(30:24 - 30:46)
I took some notes from the session I was in on that. And a couple of takeaways that I had was, it was stated that the ransomware attack is the most common disaster facing community colleges. We always think of natural disasters, but in today's world, it's the cyber attack that is the most common disaster facing us.

(30:46 - 30:58)
And the price tag can go up pretty quickly. I actually attended two sessions on this from two different colleges. The first one was more about emergency planning around this.

(30:58 - 31:36)
But the second was a small New England college that was the victim of a cyber attack like four years ago. And this was a follow-up to what had gone on, complete with the president of the college going to New York City to testify at the trial because they caught the culprit of this cyber attack. But in their case, I think it was approaching seven or $800,000 of wires that were able to go out of their account before it was found.

(31:36 - 31:50)
And the only reason it was shut down is I think there was a limit of five wires in a day. And so that's why it got shut down. So I know everybody has different security protocols, but I thought that was interesting.

(31:51 - 32:29)
And so it's very, very easy for recovery costs to get up into the millions. And so they emphasize that scenario planning is the first step. And it brought some questions to mind that I had, which is does our insurance that we have cover ransomware? Is that a covered cost? And then the other thing was this particular presentation, they actually practice this in their emergency operations, it's actually run scenarios on a ransomware attack.

(32:29 - 32:47)
I found that to be interesting. So anyway, just those were my takeaways from it. And I would just add, I was in that same, he actually demonstrated very rapidly how people can gain access to accounts and so forth.

(32:47 - 33:10)
But the attack on the college happened, they were on top of it very rapidly, but it was very well planned and they still had, whatever that number was, 700 jobs. So it was a rather amazing presentation. It wasn't just the financial impact, it shut their systems down, their enrollment, grades, everything.

(33:10 - 33:23)
Everything you do with technology these days, it shut it all down. So it was very crippling to the institution. And I may add, I know, I'm sure the college offers, their employees require training on this every year.

(33:23 - 33:38)
Maybe the idea for us to also be required to take that training, because we do have email and other accesses to the colleges that we make. We may be the point that fails. So we should be included in that same training.

(33:40 - 34:04)
I found my notes, it was nine, 12 attempted transactions, nine were successful for a total of $807,130. And after one year, they managed to recover 678,000 of it. But they spent $150,000 with Ernst & Young for Forensic Accounting Services.

(34:04 - 34:19)
And most scary of all, Annette, they were cut off from state funding for a period of time. Anyway, very scary stuff. No, it will not be replaced.

(34:20 - 34:36)
Thank you. Anybody else have something interesting that they said? I do. I attended one, it was titled, How Data and Analytics Moved the Needle in Meeting Student Success Goals.

(34:36 - 34:56)
And so I'll just talk about a couple of the nuggets. They just talked about the graduation rates and the importance of focusing on the data, like course completion, retention, graduation, transfer. And one of the comments they said was that everything starts with the data.

(34:57 - 35:13)
And we do a really good job. One of the things that I was so impressed about sitting in, not just this one, but several, is things that these colleges were talking about that they use and they do, we already do. So it was really nice hearing them talk about it.

(35:14 - 35:36)
And it's like they were behind us. But talking about just making good student connections, having dedicated counselors, hiring people that truly care. And then one of the comments they made was more graduates on the streets of our community makes for the best community.

(35:36 - 36:07)
And so the more that we can obviously get across the stage. And then talked about having a strategy for re-enrollment to encourage adult students to return and come back. So by doing that, you increase maybe course flexibility, obviously having more dedicated advising that follow them from the beginning, from the time they come in, all the way to the time that they go across the stage and beyond that.

(36:07 - 36:21)
Just to see from the stage, were they able to secure employment and to follow them even out. And then also focused on meeting the basic needs. Again, things that we already do very well.

(36:22 - 36:31)
And it just encouraged everyone to turn your ideas into action. So we have so many great ideas. Sometimes they get put on the shelf, sometimes we don't make it back to them.

(36:32 - 36:48)
And then one of the processes that they use, they remove the graduation holes. They paid off some of the past balances that were preventing people from coming, all of which we do. So it was exciting.

(36:48 - 37:17)
And then one last comment on this one was a comment they made was the graduation ceremony. And they were talking a lot about basic needs and the importance of helping students with the basic needs to meet the goal of getting them across the stage. And so there was a lot of people asking questions in relation to is that really the responsibility of the college to do basic needs? And that whole thought process, which I understand it.

(37:17 - 37:39)
But the comment that was made said 75% of our graduates could have possibly made it without the basic need help. But 25% would not have been able to make it. And so you focus on everyone, but you do it so that you don't lose the 25% that would not have made it otherwise.

(37:44 - 38:05)
I'll share another one unless somebody, I don't want to take. I have, I have, the first day, the longer session that I went to that first day, it was about a SNAP, Employment and Training for Student Success, which is basically a food stamp. And it's a supplemental, it said what a SNAP, E and T. It's a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.

(38:05 - 38:28)
The ultimate goal is that people no longer need the program. But the neat thing about this was it connects recipients of SNAP to education training and support services, connects them to third party providers to gain skill sets to connect them to good paying skilled jobs. In each, the positive thing is all the states do this.

(38:28 - 38:38)
Each state has to operate a SNAP system. The downside was when I said, well, how does Texas get involved? And she was like, oh, Texas is a whole different animal. So I think it's a little bit more difficult.

(38:39 - 38:54)
But it was really neat because the grant amplifies to reduce student basic needs to increase enrollment and completion outcomes. And the grant can build on what the college is already doing well. You don't have to create new programs for this money.

(38:54 - 39:12)
And here's how it works. It says colleges are reimbursed 50% of their expenses, staffing, student services, indirect materials, and more to expand, enhance or provide services for students receiving SNAP. And it says you can set aside some of this reimbursement.

(39:12 - 39:24)
It does not have to be spent that year you get it. It can actually be monies that are set aside for the next year. To be eligible for SNAP employment training, they have to be receiving benefits from SNAP.

(39:24 - 39:45)
So if we already have students who are getting SNAP, the college could be, if you can get with the right people, can be eligible to receive money back from SNAP. It said so far this grant has no financial limit. And it's also about adult education, not just a student getting out of high school.

(39:47 - 40:08)
And it said the next step is to talk to your Health and Human Service Agency. Build a relationship to connect and see if you can, if you fit in with your state's goals. Case management is a requirement to partner with SNAP, connect with community-based organizations to help support the college in areas that they're an expert in.

(40:08 - 40:30)
Coaching is very important. So to me that was very exciting because it's money that apparently SNAP is wanting to give away. And they said also that we probably have a lot of college students who are eligible for SNAP and they either don't know that they're eligible or they feel a little embarrassed to receive the benefits.

(40:31 - 40:46)
And I think if we could kind of get away from that stigma and know that help is help and if you need it, you need it. But to me this was very exciting because it's, so far it's unlimited financial amount. And it can go to any, you don't have to create a whole new program.

(40:46 - 40:53)
It benefits what we're already doing. So I don't know who you need to talk to or who needs to do it. Sounds like it might be a little tricky in the state of Texas.

(40:54 - 41:28)
But the money's there if we can get connected with the right people. I attended a session put on by Salt Lake Community College and representatives from the community college and the president from the University of Utah. And what they were talking about was the fact that they were realizing they had students who wanted to transfer to the University of Utah and were eligible but they were not.

(41:28 - 41:42)
So they began to really just dig into the numbers, to the stats and realized that their definition of a transfer student was skewed. So they did some research. They redefined what a transfer student was.

(41:43 - 42:12)
And by doing that, they were able to include all these other students who were sort of being left out of the equation. And so by the process of that, they were able to create initiatives that help these students make sure that they were ready to transfer, eligible to transfer, on target. And they saw these huge increases in GPA, in AA and AS degrees, in their transfer rates and their completion of a bachelor's in four years.

(42:12 - 42:22)
So I have that presentation. It was very interesting. Go ahead, Jane.

(42:23 - 42:44)
I just want to say, I did a lot of campaigning. But I really hope that the board takes advantage of ACCT Connect. This is a new service that the Membership Services Committee has implemented.

(42:44 - 43:10)
And many times we're wondering, what do other colleges do? How should we tackle a problem? Well, there is a community of learners throughout the country that post the questions. And like us, it could be us that have had that experience and we can share results. So it's a big push for the Education Committee of ACCT.

(43:10 - 43:34)
And it's another way for colleges that can't send members to ACCT conferences to still get the benefit of the knowledge base that ACCT provides. So we're hoping that we will connect through ACCT. And it's free.

(43:36 - 43:49)
And that's the difference. We pay for the conference, but this is an opportunity for everyone across the country to have some of the same benefits that can't afford to attend. Thank our community leaders.

(43:51 - 43:57)
And I got to share one more. Where can I? I got to share one more. I'll start if you can add if you want.

(43:58 - 44:10)
There was one interesting one that was kind of more related to the community. It's how to engage some of our younger members of the community to be on our college boards. And the panel was an interesting panel.

(44:10 - 44:31)
I won't go in and describe each one of them, but they seem to put the responsibility on the existing board members to go out and market to the younger folks, to go meet them where they are, to get them to be on the board. And so as we listened for a while, I had these thoughts going through my mind, so many thoughts. I just, you know, being the old guy in the room.

(44:31 - 44:39)
And I was like, you know, I was gonna talk about our board. And I said, you know, this is nothing new. We have a lot of folks who were young when they got on this board.

(44:39 - 44:49)
They just don't go away. I mean, if you think about it, the folks that have been here 20 and 30 years, they were young when they got on this board. And that's when I walked in.

(44:49 - 44:59)
And I said, and Mark walked in. I said, I'm glad my peer is here because I'm talking about him and I'd rather do it to his face and behind his back. But, you know, it was an interesting presentation.

(44:59 - 45:20)
And I think it is important that we have a diverse, you know, perspective on our boards. But, you know, the boards oftentimes resemble the culture of the community. And it's not that we don't want younger folks here, but we have had younger folks here, right? You guys were a lot younger than you are now.

(45:20 - 45:28)
Yeah. Right? At some point they were. I mean, there was, I mean, and folks have, there are many folks who've spent over 30 years on this board.

(45:28 - 45:47)
The point there is, I think, you know, these positions are open to everyone in our community. When you have nine region positions and seven city council positions and seven school board members in a population of 100 and something thousand people, there are only so many people that are gonna get elected to serve. And if there aren't any term limits and people continue to serve.

(45:47 - 46:07)
So I think if you look at our city council, there are some younger folks there. I think our school board has some younger folks. And I think we will, you know, the pendulum will swing at some point, right? And, you know, but it was interesting as how it was the responsibility of the current board to go meet the younger folks where they are.

(46:07 - 46:21)
And I thought that was interesting that we, we should go find them and get them here instead of, you know. Well, if you start soliciting the young folks, you might get sued out. Well, and that's okay, but I'm just, it was just in perspective.

(46:22 - 46:35)
And I would like to add, because as that continued and I got to thinking about our board with the exception of Gina here, you know, we're all very close to the same age, you know. And I think you're the youngest person. Yes, I am.

(46:35 - 46:42)
I just wanted to make sure that you knew that. But she's not as young as I thought she was. Hey, don't start talking numbers.

(46:42 - 46:56)
Just stick with it. She's the baby. With the exception, the presentation had some unusual places to go find younger board members that I may have taken some exception to, but the concept was right on target.

(46:56 - 47:06)
And I guess we particularly fall in to that category of an aging board. And I don't mean that in elderly or anything. That's just where we are today.

(47:07 - 47:28)
I don't know if there's, maybe we can go to this ACCT Connect because I have heard of junior board members or, you know. Student board members. Student board members, but the student board members, you know, they're not, I think we were talking about young adults or middle-aged adults from our community.

(47:29 - 48:01)
How, if we could just start there, how could we implement or put together a program or involve people that would be interested? There may be some community colleges across the country that appointed for a year, somebody that was interested, that was younger and wanted to tag along or something. I mean, I don't know, but my mind ran in those directions of how we could do it rather than going to, you know, rock concerts and try to recruit or whatever. Or certain shops where, anyway.

(48:02 - 48:14)
Yeah, certain shops. May I just add a comment to that? Yeah. Alamo Community College has a student board representative and it is a one-year appointment.

(48:15 - 48:32)
And the student, I know because I got a chance to really work with a student and they were in college. It was a college student and they were very, very interested in serving. And they were at our CAT meetings and one did a panel.

(48:33 - 49:06)
And one of the things that we did, conference that was, CAT had a session for student trustees. So at the state level, we are looking at what would that value be and what would it look like for student trustees. Yeah, and I truly believe that our community has opportunities for younger folks to cultivate themselves in leadership roles.

(49:06 - 49:21)
Our service organizations are great places. You know, Rotary's had some young presidents and that's a good leadership opportunity in the community role. You know, the struggle is a lot of young folks have jobs and young families and it's a lot of time.

(49:22 - 49:31)
I would hope that this board is attractive to a lot of folks. I can tell you right now, I never wanted to have anything to do with city council. Right, or the school board.

(49:31 - 49:50)
This is some mad mamas out there. But here, you know, we pretty much are dealing with a very focused group of our students and most are adults except the dual credit students. And I've enjoyed what we do and the focus that we have and the way we handle business.

(49:50 - 50:03)
And I would think anybody looking at this board would say, hey, I wouldn't wanna be on that board. I think there's a lot of good stuff going on there. So I think we have a lot to do with it as well as making it attractive to some of our folks in our community.

(50:04 - 50:16)
Anyway, that was not the most impressive one I went to, but it was one I wanted to share. And if I can, I'll jump in also. I thought I had written the title of this one.

(50:16 - 50:42)
I think it was boards, bonds, and communities, how they engage with the community. But they did a spinoff in that one to talk about connecting and getting students, again, going back to the whole graduation and enrollment. One of the things that they did that I thought was kind of cute was they had signage on the campus, on the perimeter, like as cars are passing by.

(50:43 - 51:00)
And the signs said $25 an hour jobs this way and walk in for more information. And so not, you know, but just that. And they said they just put them around the perimeter as you drove by, it would catch people out.

(51:00 - 51:09)
So I thought that was really neat. And then it talked about one of the other ways that they use for enrollment. Everyone's enrollment isn't as great as ours.

(51:10 - 51:29)
And so they were trying to get their enrollment up. And one of the things that they did was with the dual enrollment. Dual enrollment, if they committed to come directly to Lee College, then their first, of course, we have free at Lee, but they would get the first two years.

(51:30 - 51:41)
With the two years, if they came, that would be free. Through a scholarship, of course. And then the other thing was transportation, talking about basic needs.

(51:42 - 51:55)
And so I think I had sent a message to you, Dr. V, but they talked about the challenge with students making it to campus and with their transportation. And so we used to have a partnership. I know the city headed along with the county.

(51:56 - 52:28)
And when it originally started, Lee College was the first one to sign up, but actually before the city did, to where our students either rode for free or a quarter or something really minimal. And so I just would like, I know we're probably talking about it, revisiting that, but I think that would be great to bring back to give our students an opportunity to give that type of transportation. And then lastly, my note said that we're talking about removing barriers.

(52:29 - 52:57)
And I'm not educated enough in this to know exactly the impact it could have. So I don't mean to offend any of the faculty or anything, but it sounded really good. And when you say remove barriers, it talked about removing the barrier between credit and non-credit and taking those barriers out so that all students, when they came, they feel the same, welcomed, and you don't have them coming.

(52:57 - 53:14)
If you're credit, you come this way, and if you're non-credit, you go, and then there's this line of division and you gotta do certain things for this one. And so I thought it was really interesting that they talked about that. That was one of the key ways that they were able to also show community and engagement and get students in.

(53:15 - 53:26)
They said, get them, keep them, and then transition them, which the transition was the transfer portion of it. So that's all I have. Very good.

(53:29 - 53:38)
Anything else? All right, next up, executive session. I believe you said we do not have executive session. So next up is matters of concern for future agendas.

(53:42 - 53:50)
Hearing none, next up is adjournment. Now, before we get up and run off, hang around, guys. We're gonna take a picture with the security team.

(53:50 - 53:54)
All right, meeting adjourned.