(0:00 - 1:58)
It's 6 o'clock. Let's call the meeting to order. We do have a quorum. 

Is Regent Morfantino joining us remotely? Okay, all right. So one absent. So let's start off with the invocation and pledge to the United States flag and Texas flag led by Regent Santana. 

Heavenly Father, I just thank you for this beautiful day you've given us in our Lee College service area. Father, as we meet tonight, just help us to be mindful of the students, faculty, staff that are here every single day meeting the needs of our community. Father, as we go through this season of Easter, let us be reminded why we celebrate. 

Father, I thank you for the gift of your son Jesus Christ who came to live with us. He taught us how to treat each other and how to love each other and it looked like the end was when he died, but that was not the end. He came back to life. 

He's resurrected and for that, he's given us the promise of eternal life. So Father, as we come together this Sunday with family and friends, let us be mindful of why we're together and thankful for the gift that you've given us. So Father, as we continue this meeting, be with us in all that we do for the best interest of Lee College. 

All these prayers I ask in Jesus name, amen. Amen. Please join me in the pledge to the United States flag. 

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. Now the Texas flag. 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.

(1:58 - 8:07)
I'd like to introduce Dr. Javier Ramirez who is going to introduce our student speaker. Thank you. We just have to put it closer. 

I first want to begin by just briefly describing Puente. Puente was established in 1981 and it is a nationally recognized mentoring program. Our mentorship is student-centered and what I mean by that is we welcome all students. 

We particularly interested those that are low-income, first-generation, because they're the ones that typically have or struggle navigating the college system. Lee College is not that big, but when you don't have the support network, when you're here alone, as I will talk about the student here, Anthony, you need a program to assist you and we provide those academic and financial resources. If I might add just a little bit more, academically I teach for the English and Humanities Division and so students will come in my office, they might be intimidated to speak with their professor. 

I break that down. I look at their work, provide them with feedback, mentor them through the writing process, because that can be very daunting for them. Our Puente faculty do the same thing. 

We offer that care and support for students, again, understanding that they might not have the same network, the same support network that other students are afforded and so we provide that care. We go to our students, ask if they're doing okay, review their work, whether it's for our class or somewhere else, and if they are struggling in another class, we can be that liaison to go and talk to another professor, see if there are certain accommodations that they'll provide them. Again, that's the academic support that we provide our students. 

Financially, again, most of our students are low-income, first-generation, they might receive some financial aid package and even before then, just filling out FAFSA, if you were unaware, FAFSA changed its process. Beginning December 31st of this year, they asked different questions, questions that our students weren't able to answer. I've had to go and help those students, students whose parents are not here in the US, who are legal citizens, they're American citizens, but their parents are in a different country and they don't know how to answer a question of, are you in contact with your parents? Yes and no through WhatsApp. 

These are some of the students that I see that I assist to be able to help them complete their FAFSA application, but even beyond that, they might not get such a robust package. That's where, again, Puente steps in, goes to the Lee College Foundation, asks if they can apply for a scholarship, see what kind of financial aid they can receive, what kind of scholarships they can get, because again, not being able to afford a tuition shouldn't be the reason why you pursue an education. Whatever kind of education that is. 

And so we step in, we assist them to see, again, there's no reason that you can't come to Lee College because you can't afford tuition. So we find that scholarship for them, because there's always a lot of scholarships. And so as I tell my students, and I'll tell y'all, Puente just means bridge, and we are the bridge to our students' success, whether at Lee College and beyond. 

And I segue into my introduction to Anthony Romero, and I'm just gonna say a few more remarks. I first met Anthony in the summer of 2021, when he walked into my office and requested to join the Puente program. Most students wait until the semester starts to learn more about the program. 

Not Anthony. Nope. He drove roughly 30 minutes to Lee College to seek me out personally and asked to join. 

What made our meeting, our first meeting, more impressive was that Anthony had been out of college for some time. He also didn't have anyone pushing him to continue his academic journey. Yet he still navigated applying to Lee College, figuring out his commute, and locating the programs he wished to join. 

I knew right then and there that Anthony's drive and determination would lead to success at Lee College. And succeed he did. I wasn't the only one to take notice of Anthony's drive and determination. 

As Puente program coordinator, I work closely with Puente faculty to assess the students' course performance and gauge what support they need academically, financially. Oops. Whenever I spoke with Anthony's professors, they praised his course performance. 

Dr. Georgianne Ward, a Puente professor and honors program coordinator, took notice of Anthony's academic performance. Dr. Ward was so impressed that she personally invited Anthony to join the honors program and take her human condition course. I'm happy to announce that the work he did in the human condition he presented at the Gulf Coast Intercollegiate Council Symposium last Friday at the College of the Mainland. 

Unfortunately, I was with my kids, but from what Dr. Ward told me, brilliant presentation. Just class. His paper, Corruption in Mental Institution, the Problem with Caregiving, focused on the film, Woman Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. 

Anthony is also the recipient of the Dorothy Cooks Hayes Award, a scholarship for outstanding students. Anthony is currently the SGA president and co-editor of the Lee Scholar, a position he's held for the past two years. Clearly, Anthony is an exceptional student. 

I could go on about Anthony's academic excellence, but I want to take just a few minutes to highlight his leadership. Anthony frequently assisted me in various Puente-related programs, events. Yet perhaps most noteworthy is Anthony's work with the Access Center Services for Students with Disabilities.

(8:07 - 10:21)
He not only tutored students, but assisted me in developing a disability course for the Puente program. I'm happy to announce, to say, or I'm happy to say that I'll be teaching a composition course that focuses on disability studies in the fall of 2024. To my knowledge, the first of its kind that focuses on a population here at Lee College. 

In the spring of 2025, I'll teach another course that includes units on televisual representation of disability. Again, the first of its kind for a certain demographic of our student population. Anthony, or these courses, would not exist if they weren't for Anthony. 

Anthony's work has undoubtedly improved Puente and how the Puente program serves its students. He'll graduate in May. I'm extremely happy and proud of his accomplishments. 

Extremely. Very proud. But I'm sad to see him leave. 

His personality, his presence is infectious and he inspires a lot of students. He leaves behind a legacy that will have a tremendous impact on students for years to come. In particular, the students that Puente serves and those students that go to the disability office and ask for accommodation. 

It is with my great pleasure to welcome and introduce Anthony Romero. First, I want to thank Dr. Merritt for the introduction and also want to thank everyone here for having me. I will say my journey at Lee College has been unforgettable and I wouldn't even think that I've done the things that I did if it weren't for the support that I received from not just the faculty but from the staff, my fellow classmates for keeping me sane, and also for everyone on the board and Dr. Villanueva's support.

(10:23 - 22:02)
And I will say, Puente literally bridged my way into Lee College because without the connection I have made, I wouldn't have been introduced to the Honors Program. I wouldn't have made the connections with Kelly Villanueva, who is the counselor at the Access Center. And now I happily do the work that I do over there with her along with my studies. 

And I can honestly say that I have had a lot more opportunities here within the span of two years that I've been here, two or three years that I've been here, than in the past five or six years of my life. And I'm 29 now and I finally feel like I'm at a place in my life where I can actually be propelled to take that next step to get to where I finally want to be in my life. And among these opportunities that I've taken advantage of, there was a archaeological and anthropological field study that I did in Ireland last summer. 

And I was able to make the connections with certain professors to help get the funding that I needed for my trip. And I was also able to, I guess you could say, crowdfund some of those funds too. And it really gave me a certain type of enlightenment to actually continue to be more interdisciplinary with what I do and to also bring a different perspective into each people's professions. 

So, I'll say from the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much. Doesn't matter what position you hold at Lee College, as long as you continue to encourage students like myself to continue to succeed, then I can see Lee College going very, very far within the next couple of decades, if not even within the next year. So, thank you all so much. 

Okay, next we have disposition of the minutes. Special board meeting, February 8th. Building committee meeting, February 14th. 

Board budget workshop, February 15th. And our regular board meeting, February 15th. Do we have a motion to accept the minutes? Okay, I have a motion by Regent Cotton and a second by Regent Guillory. 

All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay, next we have report of the chairman. 

I want to say congratulations to our navigators on a very successful season. I had the pleasure of going to Tyler and seeing them play in the region 14 tournament. Didn't make it to Kansas City, but or to Kansas, I should say, not to Hutchinson, Kansas, but they had a terrific season and I think we we have more great seasons to look forward to. 

So, also recently Regent Morfantino, Regent Warford, and myself and Dr. Walzers had the pleasure of attending the Board of Trustee Institute in Lakeway, outside of Austin. It was a very intense two half days and I have asked Regent Warford if she would give us a update on what we accomplished up there. I'd be glad to. 

So, we did get to visit with some other colleagues, some other trustees and presidents of other community colleges in the state. I wanted to also say that Dr. Walzers was invaluable, in my opinion, because as we sat together and talked about different topics, he provided data, showed us where to go get it on the website, and just a lot of insight about our programs and so it was it was a great to have him there and I'm so glad that all that I learned from him and I think we all all did. We were challenged to assess how each of our colleges are aligning with the Community College 3.0 plan and to identify opportunities to leverage House Bill 8 for stronger post-completion outcomes. 

So, that was discussed and there were presentations on that. We also listened to presentations on AI and the varied ways that it can be or it can provide benefits and agility to varieties of programs and initiatives at our college. They urged us to be cautious but to embrace it. 

In addition, there were concurrent sessions from four of our Texas Community Colleges about strategic implementation of changes in their strategic plan. One talked about upward mobility, new organizational structures from Temple College, and workforce development programs. So, those we all split up and went to different concurrent sessions. 

Those were all very interesting and, you know, just colleges right around the corner from us that had really great experiences with changes that they were making at their colleges. We were also given team strategy time and in that segment three goals were established. The first was to update the board on what we learned and the discussions that we had at the Institute. 

The second was to make certain that our current advising practices would ensure House Bill 8 positive outcomes and we identified four areas to explore along with the president and the provost. And the third goal was to develop and implement a student success agenda and ascertain that current board policy would definitely support student success. And therefore, this goal we had seven areas to explore. 

So, we will do that after this with the president and the provost and then if that's needed, if there's anything needed, we'll take steps after that. We were also able to catch up a bit with former president Dr. Martha Ellis who was there and former vice president Dr. Christy Poncey while we were there and so it was it's a great Institute. I certainly learned a lot as a newbie, but I think we learned a lot of different things while we were there. 

So, thank you for letting us go Dr. B. Well, I think it was probably more difficult because you had Dr. Walters there and he really really knows his data. So, I would I think I think Regent Gillard was kind of looking like, what? What do you mean hard? He's kind of a taskmaster too. All right, thank you very much for that. 

Now, building committee report. Policy committee report. So, we did meet and we have several policies that we reviewed today and we will bring those to the next meeting. 

Audit and Investment Committee. We did meet and probably the majority of the time we spent on the Lee College quarterly investment report which you did get a copy of that was sent out for everybody to look at what we reviewed. We did talk about the internal auditor position which is out. 

We, you know, it's posted and looking for candidates and so we're just haven't found one yet and then we did discuss the bookstore. So, those are the things we talked about. Okay, report of the president. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to echo the thanks that you gave to yourself and to Regent Warford and to Regent Morfano for taking time out of you guys's very busy schedules to attend the Board of Trustees Institute. It's, it is really intense and I want to thank Dr. Walters who attended on my behalf. 

In fact, we kind of did this, well, you go. No, I'll go. No, you go. 

So, it was this weird thing, right? How many times do we have to go back and forth? But, I attended some meetings in, in Baytown here that I needed to attend and I was just very grateful to him for being able to step in at the last moment and I can tell you if you haven't had time, the action plan that they developed is truly quality and it, it reflects so many things that I have been reviewing in looking at data. And so, speaking of that, while the college was on spring break, I went to the first of two residencies for the Aspen's President's Institute in San Diego. And it was a great deal of work and I, you know, can't hear any resentment at all that I wasn't on spring break, but, but it was also truly rewarding. 

So, what was rewarding is that in collaboration with other fellows, we spent a great deal of time reviewing data from our own colleges and discussing ways that we can increase the college's capacity to support student success. And the ultimate outcome of this experience is that I would come away with at least one to three solid initiatives that will be put into the action as part of our own college's reform agenda. And what I was very pleased about in reviewing the Board of Trustees Institute plan is that of the three things that I'm looking at right now, one of them is covered and that's advising. 

And so, we kind of really harassed the data, though, when we were in San Diego. And it, and it, and it tells us a lot, but there's some things that, that we still need to work on and, and I'll look forward to, to giving the board more updates as I move forward with that work, but it's, it's a, it's a great experience. I also want to speak about the men's basketball team. 

So, one, if you've spoken to Regent Santana, you'll know that he loved watching our team face off against Kilgore so much that he watched the same match twice during the Region 14 tournament. Do you want to say anything about that at all? No, I don't. I invested two hours on Saturday night watching the same game twice. 

The last 30 seconds, I'm like, they did that the other night. I thought you weren't going to say anything. I wasn't, but it's, yeah. 

Well, I would have outed it at some point. I know, better me than her. Thank you for pointing that out. 

So, by now, as you, as you heard from Chairman Fontenot, we secured a bid to compete in the national tournament and, and that was for the third time in the college's history. So, I think it's important to acknowledge that that's only the third time ever that that's occurred, but two times that has happened in the last three years. And so, we have every reason to be so proud, but I can tell you, if you've ever seen Coach Wade on the, on that court, he will tell you there's unfinished business and they'll be back. 

So, I look forward to watching that unfinished business be taken care of and we will be back. So, on that note, and we're very proud of them. So, I also want to spend a little bit of time discussing three recent meetings that I've attended with ExxonMobil and their partners.

(22:03 - 31:50)
First, on February 28th, the full ExxonMobil Board of Directors was in Baytown and 20 local community members were invited to attend a dinner with the group. The last time the ExxonMobil board was in Baytown was in 2016 and that was not the full board, it was a subcommittee of that board. Regent Santana was also at the dinner, although we were not seated together, you were also at the dinner. 

It was a wonderful opportunity to visit about our partnership with ExxonMobil with the highest levels of the leadership team. And so, I used the opportunity to talk about, you know, the wonderful positions that their industry provides our students and the family sustaining wages that they receive, but also used a little bit of time to talk about their proposed blue hydrogen plant, which holds great promise for addressing their commitment to low emissions, clean energy solutions, and so that was just a very successful dinner. Second, on the very next day, on February 29th, ExxonMobil hosted the chief environmental justice officer, Dr. Cecilia Martinez, from Jeff Bezos' foundation. 

And she asked to visit two different places in Baytown that ExxonMobil would say that they've had the most profound positive impact on the community. And one of those was Lee College. So, when I visited with Aaron Strick, though, from ExxonMobil and asked, we talked about, like, well, where should we take Dr. Martinez? We both kind of just looked at each other and we both said the Student Resource and Advocacy Center. 

We just knew. And so, I along with, although I should put myself last, Crystal Carrier, Kelly Ford Spears, and myself hosted Dr. Cecilia Martinez. And we were a little surprised because she brought an entire cadre. 

How many people? At least, like, in tow with her. And so, we we hosted them. They were incredibly impressed by our facilities. 

So much so that Dr. Martinez asked Crystal Carrier, our student, to, like, can you once again say exactly what you just said in front of, you know, this particular tutoring room? And she wanted to record. I mean, it was just such a great visit. So, but it was really Crystal, kind of, who stole the show by sharing her own personal journey as a student and how our supports, including the SRAC, have helped her to be successful. 

And finally, late last week, I was invited to a dinner hosted by ExxonMobil executives to once again host CNN host Van Jones in Houston. Other non-ExxonMobil guests included Dr. Jackie Burton, who is the president of the Conference of National Black Churches, Mr. John Hall, the president and CEO of the Houston Advanced Research Center, Steve King, the new president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership, Brendan Steele, VP of Future 500, and Bobby Tudor, chairman of the Houston Energy Transfer Initiative. So, the purpose of the meeting was to discuss collective ideas for supporting ExxonMobil's efforts around low-carbon solutions. 

And I can tell you all three of these meetings, I was talking with Regent Santana as we were on our way to a hospital board meeting, I was just kind of, didn't I express kind of just being overwhelmed by participating in three of those kinds of meetings in one week and being able to speak on behalf of the college and the impact of that partnership on the college, but also what it's, what it does for ExxonMobil too. And so, I don't know if that's ever gonna happen again, like three of those kinds of meetings in one week, but it was, it was just, that's why I kept trading back and forth with Dr. Walters because I would find out about this, one of these meetings and I'm like, oh my gosh, I have to be here. So, it was wonderful. 

I want to share with the board, and I know this sounds like it's early, where we're at with regard to legislative efforts. It doesn't kick off until January 14th, but I promise you, it's going to be here before you know it. And so, we've been working very hard in the legislative committee as part of TAC, and we are starting to develop and refine our legislative priorities. 

And probably of no surprise, the top of the list is the improvement and refinement of HB 8 and its continued funding. So, that's at the very top. In addition to HB 8, though, we are also concerned about clinical nursing sites that are being taken away from some of our partners by, get this, this is not good, by out-of-state for-profit schools. 

So, that's, that's a real concern for a lot of our colleagues. And additionally, we're discussing how to address Texas State, Texas Colleges, TSTCs move to develop more sites that are in conflict with the work of our collective 50 colleges. So, that came up during the last legislative session, and it's something that we're going to have to monitor very carefully, because we don't know if it's going to happen in our own service area. 

So, we have to be very vigilant about that. So, I'll continue to keep the board up-to-date as we move forward, and I know that while Regent Morfantino isn't here with us, that she's working as well at CAT and ACCT to develop legislative priorities on that front, and we're grateful to her for doing that. I wanted to commend the Small Business Development Center, who partnered with the Baytown Tourism Department and held a workshop for local hospitality and restaurant businesses focused on hiring and retaining employees, because the labor market is so constricted right now. 

The workshop was a success with 17 local businesses who participated, and we are thankful to Linda Jones-Zabranek and her team for partnering with the City of Baytown to strengthen the local economy. Next, I'd like to offer some praise to our Marketing and Public Affairs team. So, listen to this. 

There's a lot of backdrop to this, so you can understand exactly how neat this is. So, our team submitted three entries to be considered for an award by the American Association of Community Colleges National Council for Marketing and Public Relations. The award recognizes the best of the best in community college communications. 

Our three submissions were among 1,600 entries from 210 two-year institutions in the U.S. and Canada, and there are 47 different categories, and there are then three levels of achievement within each category you can receive, if you receive anything. Bronze, silver, and gold, kind of like the Olympics. Well, we were we were honored with two awards. 

Let me make sure I get this right. So, two awards in the Advertising category, and one for which we received the Gold Paragon. I'm going to pass this around. 

In the Video category, and I'd like to commend the entire team under the direction of Mr. Brian Waddell, who is here with us, but I'd also like to highlight Chris Coates, because he was the producer and the director of our Gold Paragon Award, which, by the way, was a video about our First Time Free at Lee program. So, kudos to the entire department. They also produced, as you guys requested, this poster for you guys to have on your own. 

Remember, you guys asked about this last board meeting, right? So, now you have your own, and I can tell you I'm gonna bring mine home and my son's gonna put it up in his room. I wanted to heap additional praise on to Crystal Carrier, the student that I mentioned who helped us lead the tour. She is also in student government and is also a peer mentor, but she was asked to speak about her experiences as a student in a virtual national panel in collaboration with ACCT, and the entire event is in support of Community College Month, and we're just so very proud of her, and although she, again, is not here, I want to thank Regent Orfantino and Ji-Heng Lee, the president and CEO of ACCT, for extending that invitation to Crystal. 

We know that she's going to be a great hit, and if I'm able to get a link of the program, we'll certainly send it out to the board. Finally, I wanted to share that yesterday the Montbellview Chamber of Commerce held its groundbreaking for its future new office home, and as a member of the Montbellview Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, I enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate this new chapter for the chamber and kick up a little dirt, and I will tell you that our good colleague, Dr. Poole, was also in attendance as a speaker, and he referenced the partnership with Lee College in his program remarks, so I will just say it certainly feels great to have a solid and positive relationship with our neighbors in Montbellview, and that concludes my report. Thank you very much. 

We'll move right into informational reports, report of Lee College resignation and or retirement. There are none to report tonight. Okay, then let's move right into the financial report from our fabulous CFO, Annette Ferguson.

(31:51 - 31:58)
It's getting harder and harder to build enough doors for her head to fit through. I just want you to know that. The more praise that you heap on it.

(32:11 - 39:38)
Good evening, everyone. So, it's hard to believe, but we're halfway through this fiscal year. Hard to believe. 

Cash, still strong. We're still strong in cash. Right now in operating funds, we've got about 41 million are restricted, which is board restricted funds, in addition to one small endowment of 26 million, and then other funds, which is our lost revenue and construction funds of 9.4. Our tuition and fee versus budget, it's going to be very close. 

You'll see on the final slide of my presentation, right now we're projecting out that will be like 95, 97 percent of our budget, so it will be very close to our budgeted amount. State appropriations, we did receive our payment of 5 million dollars during the month of February, and then we'll receive our final payment in June. Our taxes, our We, they had a change in valuation after we received our final certified numbers, and it actually went up for once. 

So, that's one reason why we are a little bit above budget, but the other thing that I will say is refunds are typically issued in July, so we'll see what it looks like after July, because that's when all the would come into play. Can I ask a quick question? On revenue in lieu of taxes, seems like for the second year in a row, that is quite a bit higher than what we, I know it's next impossible to project, but how does that 2.3 number compare to what we got last year? I don't remember off the top of my head, but I can certainly get that in and provide that to you. Can I ask what that number is based on? Is it like inventory in a pipeline or? The revenue in lieu of, yes, it's based on a couple of agreements that the college has. 

The main one is with Exxon Mobil, where they do pay us tax, I mean pay us in lieu of paying tax. The agreement was established well before I ever got here, and then we have recently added one other one, and it would, the one we added is based on inventory that comes in. Looking at other revenue, we are, interest were outperforming what we had budgeted, and other revenue were pretty, pretty much right on target there. 

Our restricted funds, federal grants, state grants, and private or local grants. Of course, federal grants are always reimbursing us, so that's the reason it is typically a negative amount, and the majority of that, as you can see here, is based on loans as well as federal aid, and then we have a pretty good chunk here from Perkins as well. Budget versus year to day projected actual tuition and fees, as I said, it's going to be very close. 

State appropriations, district taxes, we are projecting that will be over, and other, we are projecting we will be over our budget as well. Projected net revenue right now is $3.7 million operating surplus. Looking at expenses, again, the breakdown between salary, benefits, operating expense, and debt is right in line with our budget. 

Here, this shows that our debt service was above budget. That's a timing issue. We have budgeted that payment to be in next month, but it got paid during February, so you'll see it come back next month, and salary and benefits and operating costs, operating costs were very close, and salary and benefits, we were under budget. 

Year to date, again, the reason debt service shows to be over is because of the timing of that payment in February, operating costs and salary and benefits, we are well below, and so when you look at where we project, we're projecting salary and benefits to be at 97 percent, operating costs about 97, and then debt service will be right in line with what we had budgeted, and that is it, unless y'all have any other questions for me. All right, thank you very much. Okay, next up is public comment. 

Do we have any? No one signed up? Okay, next, we have consent agenda consideration of new hires, and we are, what's the name of the one that we're pulling? Oh, we're not. Did we get that corrected? Okay, so we're not making any changes to this part of the consent agenda. Okay, all right, do we have a motion on the consent agenda consideration of new hires? So moved. 

Second. Okay, was that you, Judy? Yes, Judy, Regent Gerald's made the motion, who was my second, and Regent Cotton made the second. Any discussion on this item? Which of the hires is not included in this? If we could pull the executive director of campus engagement. 

I didn't get that. Okay, he asked me that before, and I thought that was the one that we were, that we were, is that, that's not the one that we're discussing? No, that's an executive session in a different position. And then, so the board is not voting on, I don't know if you got my email, the board is not voting on the position, it's voting on the contract.

(39:41 - 43:07)
And legal has given us that opinion on that as well. I thought I had talked with the chairman about that being dealt with on separately, and I understood we were gonna. Okay, yes, he did. 

Okay, so, so I'm okay with pulling it. We're gonna vote on the consent agenda, all the items. Yeah, and I'm not suggesting we, can we bring it up later in the meeting? But I just want to make clear that there's a big difference between making a decision about the hires versus the position, description. 

This is, we're not, this, none of this has anything to do with making a decision about the position description. It's only about the hires. And also remember, too, that this is in a department that's also has the same name, and that is Kelly Ford Spears position. 

And the attorneys have also told us, too, that it would be not good practice to make any changes to this position until after the employee is hired so that we can move forward and make any changes that we might want to based upon concerns. Can we, can we not hire the employee tonight? That's what we're doing, right? Yeah, but not, not for the basis of which I think we're talking about. Can I give a point of order just to, to how you work a consent agenda? Yeah, yes. 

If I can, if you don't mind. Educate me. So you have an item, you have a consent agenda, you can take an item from the consent agenda, and now the vote goes forward for all the items that's on there, and it, go ahead with whatever the ruling is, and that one is just pulled off. 

And so you can pull it off and you can discuss it later or table it, but you can still vote on all the action except for the item that you've been requested to pull off. Right. And so there are no actions taken, so you're not making it, making a decision, but you can request for it to be pulled from the consent agenda. 

Okay. So if I'm understanding, I would like to pull it from the consent agenda for consideration later in this meeting, if we could discuss this also in executive session. I understand. 

Does that require a motion or anyone can just pull something? No, he can, he can pull it as long as you have a... That was my understanding. Anybody could request something be pulled, so. Okay. 

He requested from the chair, you say yes, and so now it's not a problem. Could you do it after the second, during the discussion? Is that when you normally do that? It's part of the discussion. You can do the motion and say, consent agenda excluding item... So I'm going to, I'm going to repeat the motion, which is... Do I need to amend my motion? Yeah, I'm going to repeat the motion, okay, so we are considering a motion to approve the consent agenda without the executive director campus engagement position, all the others, so. 

All right, so we have a motion by Regent Geralds and a second by Regent Cotton. Okay, all in favor say aye. I've got one more. 

Okay, now it's discussion. My understanding is this can come back up later in the meeting. Yes. 

Okay. I think we still have to remove it from the vote. Yes, so any discussion on the consent agenda.

(43:08 - 46:42)
Wait, one more question. On the shared dual credit advisor, is that an employee we have that we share with the school district or they hire and we pay them half? On the shared dual credit advisor, is that our employee full-time? Our employee, half coming from them. Half coming from them because they, don't they also have shared dual credit advisors that they employ and we pay half? I think, I'm going to turn to Dr. Walzers or Dr. Moreno on that. 

I think we own all of them. Okay. So we, they're employed by us but you speak? Yes. 

Okay, all right, good. Just wanted to make sure. Thank you for the clarification. 

Any other discussion on the consent agenda? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay, new business. 

Consideration of ratification of emergency diagnostic repair of the South Plant Chillers number one and number two. The administration recommends that the board ratify the president's for that, let me start over. The administration recommends that the board ratify the president's approval for the emergency diagnostics repair of the South Plant Chillers number one and number two by Johnson Controls in the amount of one hundred and ten thousand six hundred nine dollars and fifteen cents. 

Okay, I've got a motion by Regent Santana and a second by Regent Warford. Discussion on this item? Okay, all in favor say aye. Aye. 

Okay, we like chillers that work. Okay, consideration of increasing the my books fee from twenty seven fifty to thirty three dollars per semester credit hour. The administration recommends that the board approve the change in the my books fee from twenty seven fifty to thirty three dollars per semester credit hour for those courses that have required books and course materials. 

Do we have a motion? So moved. Second. I have a motion by Regent Gerald and a second by Regent Warford. 

Discussion on this item? Yeah, just a clarification. So this is like existing courses requiring more books? No, it's just all of our books, right? I mean like it's not just an increase coming from our provider. Yeah, so it's raising our fees because the vendor, Biblio, also raised their fees so we're just getting in line with it. 

Did they raise their fees because we're requiring more books from them or because they just went up in price? Dr. Walters, do you know the answer to that? Yes, we can't. We need the volume turned up, Romero. We can barely hear him. 

Hang on, Dr. Walters. We're trying to adjust the volume. Okay, I'm just gonna talk until the volume is adjusted. 

Hold on, Dr. Walters. He can't hear us. Keep talking, Dr. Walters.

(46:42 - 52:21)
Can you hear me now? Now, yes. Perfect. If you could start over. 

Appreciate it. Yes. Start from good afternoon. 

Yeah. Can you hear me now? Absolutely, yes. Yes. 

I'm doing this though so if he sees us. Can you hear me now? Yes. Yes. 

Okay, okay. So they raised the fees because an increasing percentage of our courses are using courseware, which is software that does homework and quizzes and those kinds of things. And courseware tends to be double the cost of a regular textbook. 

And this was part of the original contract that the price that we pay would be indexed to the percentage of courses that require courseware in addition to the textbook. Any other questions regarding this? I still have a question, but okay. Okay, thank you. 

Okay, if there's no further discussion, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay, consideration of the tuition rate for dual credit courses. 

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has approved the maximum dual credit tuition rate for colleges participating in the FAST program as $56.87 per semester credit hour for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. The administration recommends that the board authorize the president to set the tuition for dual credit courses to $56.87 per semester credit hour for fiscal year 25. Do we have a motion on this item? So moved. 

Do we have a second on this item? I'll second. Okay, we have a motion by Regent Geralds. We have a second by Regent Warford. 

Any discussion on this item? So what is our current dual credit rate? Well right now it's $55 because that's what they awarded for the FAST program for FY 24, so they saw fit to give us $1.87 per credit hour more. Yes, and so, but we have to ratify it. So this is going to give us $64,000 in additional revenue? Is that what I'm reading it? Based on the $34,000 semester credit hour? Right, I'm assuming that's what we have. 

So we're just going to make $64,000 more. We're not, no other cost to us, just increase for us. We're taking it from the students and put it in our pocket, right? So, I'm not sure, okay, so we, if the students in the FAST program, they may not pay for, or shall not pay for tuition, books, fees. 

Whoever's paying it, we're gonna get $64,000 more. That's the estimate? Yeah. And who does that $64,000 come from? Whoever's paying it? Is that? That's, I'm going to lean on, I don't know exactly where that comes from. 

If it comes from, my understanding is it somehow goes to, for the FAST program, it's going to go from school districts to some entity, TEA, I think, to the coordinating board, and then the coordinating board to us. Is that correct? So, for FAST students, the additional money comes from the state, and it is transmitted to us from the THECB. You know, how the THECB is allocated those funds, I don't know. 

This is the state funded part of dual credit. Yes. So, taxpayers is who's writing the check at the end. 

Always. Well, but that's what the state did. Is this part of the funding change that was in part of House Bill 8? FAST was. 

Yes, the FAST program, correct. Yes. So, yeah, so it was just part of restructuring. 

Yes. I mean, the only, the only change is that they decided that they would give us a dollar eighty-seven cents per credit hour more for the FAST program, and remember that both the FAST program and non-FAST program have the same tuition. Yes. 

Great. Okay, that clears it up for me. Any other discussion on this item? Okay, all in favor say aye. 

Aye. Any opposed? Okay, consideration of nursing course fees, the administration recommends that the board authorize the nursing course fees in the attached exhibit. The new fees will apply for future students and will not affect current nursing students. 

We have a motion on this item. We have a second on this item. I have a motion by Regent Cotton and a second by Regent Hall.

(52:21 - 55:58)
Discussion on this item. This is doubling for the students, right? Did I read that correctly, where these fees are double? Is that gonna put a burden on some of the students? Sure. I mean, how will we maybe address that so we don't see a decline? It's always, it's always hard to assess what burden is for students, but one of the things that we did is Dr. Norris went out and sought the same information from other colleges, and there's really good detail, and in fact, because I was so concerned about it that we pulled the item because I wanted a lot more information. 

We now have that, and I now feel confident that this is the appropriate fee, but Dr. Norris, I know that you looked at several other colleges in the consortium. Can you come to the mic, please? I looked at several other community colleges, Alvin Community College, Blinn Community College, McLennan Community College. We are two and three thousand dollars less even with the increase in fees. 

Okay, well, let's, we're, yeah. Yeah, I wasn't insinuating this wasn't a good thing. I was just concerned about students who struggle in the first place. 

One of the things that's included in this tuition fee increase is including their uniforms in here, which have traditionally not been in fees. They've had to go purchase those on their own, so for students that are on financial aid or payment plans or those kind of things, that actually helps them to not have to come up with two and three hundred dollars to go buy uniforms, so that's one of the reasons of the increase also. Do you have any funding for those students besides the foundation? We do. 

We have a Ponder Estate that has scholarship money in there, and then we also have additional scholarship funding, and then we have some other funds that we try to tap into as well if the students say that they're in need. Great, thank you. Any other discussion on this item? But this increase is just for us to make more money, right? No, it's to help them to, it's to help them to succeed. 

They're getting, they're getting better services. They're getting better study. Yeah, it was pretty detailed. 

Well, are you talking about the paying for more services? The virtual stuff. Paying for more services, right? Yeah, yes. There is standardized testing in there. 

There's some virtual clinical experiences, which Dr. Villanueva brought up earlier. We're having some problems with clinical sites. We have, you know, institutions outside of our area that are seeking clinical sites, and so these virtual experiences allow us to meet the contact hours that are required by the Board of Nursing, and so that gives us some flexibility in trying to get them scheduled for clinical. 

It includes their uniform fees. One of the big things that includes is all of their supplies, which we've not increased their supply costs in several years, and those supplies have gone up pretty significantly. And just to clarify, this is, this is a, an additional fee paid for additional services. 

It doesn't come to us. It goes to a service company, assessment technology Institute, and the uniform company, and yeah, and the lab supply company. No new revenue for us.

(55:59 - 1:05:19)
Correct. Any other discussion on this item? Okay, all in favor say aye. Aye. 

Any opposed? Okay, consideration of resolution declaring the Board of Regents has reviewed the Lee College investment policies and investment strategies and reaffirmed each as provided in board policy CAK, legal and local. The administration recommends that the board affirm the resolution declaring that the Board of Regents has reviewed the Lee College investment policies and investment strategies. Do we have a motion on this item? So moved. 

Okay, do we, a second? Second. Okay, I have a motion by Regent Geralds and a second by Regent Guillory. Any discussion on this item? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. 

Aye. Any opposed? Consideration of renewal of bank depository contract. Administration recommends that the board renew the contract with JPMorgan Chase Bank to act as depository for district funds through August 31st, 2025. 

Do we have a motion on this item? So moved. Second. Okay, I have a motion by Regent Guillory and a second by Regent Cotton. 

Any discussion on this item? This says it ends August the 25th, but the topic says we're doing it through August the 25th. So does it end August the 24th and we're moving it to 25? In the detail, the first sentence of the detail says end of August 2025, but at the top it says depository funds through August 31st, 2025. What's the discrepancy? It says, again, I agree with Regent Hemsel. 

I was gonna ask the same question. The detail says the current depository contract with JPMorgan expires August 2025, which is what we're extending it to. So does it end 2024 and we're extending it by one year to 2025? Is that it? Okay. 

So the detail just should say 2024. Currently expires 2024. That's a good question. 

Very good. Okay, any other discussion on this item? All right, hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. 

Any opposed? Is this the readers property? Yes. And we're moving that to after executive session, correct? Okay, we're going to skip that item and we're going to next item, which is consideration to start the design and issue a request for competitive seal proposals for the Campus Americans with Disabilities Act Phase 2 and life safety projects. The administration recommends that the board authorize the president or her designee to negotiate final terms and award to our approved listing of architects the Campus Americans with Disabilities Act Phase 2 and life safety projects per their IQC AE contracts. 

The total of all project costs AE fees plus construction costs will not exceed four million dollars. Do we have a motion on this item? So moved. Second. 

Okay, I have a motion by Regent Guillory and a second by Regent Cotton. Discussion on this item? When it says total estimate not to exceed four million, what is that the same thing as we're not going to spend more than four? Is that what that means? The budget is four million. Period, okay. 

Those were funds allocated that we had to do additional work and so, yeah, that's the limit we have. It just may not be that much. When it says, okay. 

Most we can do with that amount of money. Gotcha. That was allocation of some of the surplus money from previous. 

Yeah, we did review and discuss this at prior building committee meeting, so it's. Yes. Any other discussion on this item? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. 

Any opposed? Okay, next item. Consideration to fund 5.52 million of the 2023 operating surplus for board reserves, insurance reserves, and to designate funds for furniture and equipment in classrooms. The administration recommends that the board authorize the president or her designee to fund three and a half million to the board reserves, $332,000 to the insurance reserves, and the remaining 1.688 million to the 2024 operating budget for the purchase of classroom furniture and equipment. 

Do we have a motion on this item? I have a motion by Regent Santana and a second by Regent Warford. Discussion on this item? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Any opposed? Okay, now executive session. 

The meeting of the Lee College Board of Regents on above listed date after proper posting and in accordance with chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code for the specific purposes provided will recess from open meeting to closed meeting. No action will be taken while the board is recessed in executive session. Okay, the closed meeting will adjourn and the board will reconvene into open meeting. 

First thing we're moving into new business. Agenda item, consideration of non-renewal of employment contract for full-time faculty sociology for fiscal year 2024-2025. The administration recommends that the board approve non-renewal of the employment contract for academic year 2024-2025 for the full-time faculty sociology. 

Do we have a motion? I have a motion by Regent Guillory and a second by Regent Cotton. Do we have any discussion on this item? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Okay, all right, next item, consideration of Lee College employee contracts for 2024-2025. 

The administration recommends that the board approve contracts for the academic year 2024-2025 for employees listed herein. Do we have a motion by Regent Santana and a second by Regent Warford? Any discussion on this item? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Any opposed? Okay, now let's go up to the item that was tabled. 

Pulled, okay. That one wasn't on the list edition. Okay, am I correct? No, it is on there. 

Oh, yeah, because it was up here and we skipped it. Okay. What was that under? No, not that one. 

We've got the Redis property. That's the one that we're going up to. B7. 

Gotcha, B7. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. Yes, I'll just read this.

(1:05:19 - 1:06:24)
Yeah, thank you for having a printout copy. That's good. Agenda item, consideration of approval to request bids for the demolition or removal of house on 119 South Whiting Street property. 

The administration recommends that the board authorize the president or her designate to request bids for demolition or removal of the house on 119 South Whiting Street property. Do we have a motion on this item? Second. All right, I have a motion by Regent Guillory and a second by Regent Cotton. 

Any discussion on this item? Mr. Hall. Oh, I'm sorry, did I get that back? Okay, a motion by Regent Hall and who was the second? Gina. And a second by Regent Cotton. 

Okay, is there any discussion, any further discussion on this item? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay.

(1:06:26 - 1:07:24)
Now, we're back to new hires. Gotcha. Well, it's that one. 

Yeah. Okay, where is it? This one right here? Okay, agenda item, consideration of hire for Executive Director Campus Engagement and Belonging. The administration recommends that the board approve the hiring of Darlene Great House as Executive Director Campus Engagement and Belonging. 

Do we have a motion on this item? So moved. Okay, I have a motion by Regent Hemsel and was it you? And a second by Regent Geralds. Any discussion on this item? Hearing none.

(1:07:24 - 1:15:49)
Yeah, so quick, so is this a new position? No, it's not a new position. So as part of SB 17, what was formerly the Chief Equity Officer's role was, if you look at that job posting and job description, you will see that it changed dramatically and much of the duties were assigned to Kelly Ford Spears, minus those things that were in violation of, now in violation of SB 17 and some of those duties now also fall into this area of the Executive Director Campus Engagement. So do we have a SVP of Student Success and Belongings today that this person will report to? We have an AVP. 

AVP? Yeah, AVP. Which is Kelly Ford Spears. She's over Student Success and Belongings. 

Correct. And this, and this is not... That's the AVP and then this is the Executive Director. So it's probably no different than, again, so someone being over but someone having the day-to-day activities of certain areas. 

So who was the Executive Director before this? It didn't exist. So it's a new $100,000 position we've created then? No, it's a restructured. So no new money? I don't want to say new new money because that involves a net and I'm not gonna say that if that's not true. 

I'm a little bit confused. Amanda, will you? Yeah, just straighten out that snake. I'm not gonna do this justice. 

So Dr. Marone was an Associate Vice President and Kelly Ford Spears was an Executive Director under her. So as you know, Dr. Marone is gone and Kelly Ford Spears is now an Associate Vice President and we are now replacing the Executive Director position, but it's modified, right? It's, it's, the department's, I would say, been restructured, but it's still an Executive Director position that we had before. We had that position before, it's just changed. 

No new net position? Yes, sir. That makes sense. You asking her or me? You're looking at me like you have a question, so. 

Same monies, basically it's same monies between the old Executive Director and the new Executive Director, the proposed Executive Director. I'm gonna say that the money that we had towards the old Executive Director position is going towards this position. And I see Annette shaking her head in approval, so I'm gonna say that that's the case. 

Okay. So if some of the responsibilities left to go to Ms. Spears, are there additional responsibilities that this new person is going to take on that kind of evens out? Because it sounds like you're taking away from one, adding to her, would that lessen this new person's responsibilities and put more onto her plate is what I'm... I'm gonna let Kelly ask that. So previously when I was an Executive Director, I directly supervised our Student Resource and Advocacy Center, our First-Year Experience Program, and Student Engagement. 

And so now, with all of the other added responsibilities, I also directly supervise our Learning Frameworks course, which reported to the AVP previously. And so we've just taken all of the areas that were under that same umbrella, the Student Success and Belonging Division, and rearranged who they directly report to, because I was intimately involved and have that relationship with the Student Resource and Advocacy Center. So instead of them reporting to the Executive Director, they will report directly to me, whereas TRIO, for instance, previously reported to the AVP, Dr. Marrone, and they will now report to that Executive Director. 

So it really was... it's the exact same departments, all the personnel positions are the same, it's just a little bit of shuffling of who they directly report to. Ultimately, all being under that same AVP position. I guess I wonder why some of it was removed from this position and put on to you. 

Just seems to me, does it make it your position more top-heavy and there's lighter... It doesn't, because they are still responsible. So they have two, three direct report departments to them, which was what I had as an Executive Director. Again, it was just shuffling based on my expertise in terms of the Student Resource and Advocacy Center, and also bringing like things together. 

So campus engagement, so event planning, it makes sense that they are closely intertwined and supervise our student engagement area. So just restructuring it to make it more efficient with everyone's resources and time. And I just wonder... I don't have a question for you. 

I was just going to make a comment, just kind of what I said inside in our closed session, but I can repeat it out here, is that whenever you have a vacancy, you go and you look at your structure to see if there's any tweaks, any changes that you need to make. There's... you don't always want to go back into, we're going to continue to do it this way, because that's the way we've done it. So every time you have a vacancy, you should do that. 

Go back and look at it and see if everything's aligned, if you have people that have different strengths that are there than what you had, and then it gives you an opportunity to use your resources the best way. And it sounds like we were looking for an amount on money, and sometimes the money go up, sometimes the money go down. You want to stay within the range, but we're going to be talking about budget soon, and you'll be able to see what that is. 

But sometimes it depends on who the applicant is that comes in, the level of experience and knowledge they have. It may change, so we don't need to lock them into saying it's a one-for-one, this is what it was, and you need to stay at that. That's just my input. 

And I, you know, kind of clarify what I was saying. It seems to me we have added a position that the title, we've added another title that says belongings, and that's the problem that I have is all this belonging stuff. I was hoping we could get away from that when we've started to get away from DEI, so that we could treat everyone the same, everyone fairly. 

You know, we wouldn't have people assigned to, you know, to work on Hispanic Heritage Month or Black History Month or Transgender Awareness Week. We could do everyone equally, and I don't think we're doing that. And I would like to see us redo this, you know, either table this and redo it and bring it back, or, but I cannot support any more titles that refer to belongings into a, you know, a certain group. 

So that's the reason I can't support this. Okay. Any more discussion on this item? Okay. 

All in favor say. I have a point. Basically, all we're doing here tonight is trying to hire somebody. 

Yes. We're not talking about a title. We're not talking about anything else. 

We can pick that up somewhere else, but right now, do we want somebody in a position that we had somebody in before? Right. Okay. But we have, we set a title to it, and the job description that matches that title. 

Person also looks like they've got a lot of good experience. Any further discussion on this item? All in favor say aye. Aye. 

Any opposed? Aye. How many opposed? Two. Two opposed. 

Okay. Let the record show we have six that are in favor and two opposed and one absent. The agenda item passes. 

Next on the agenda, matters of concern for future agendas. Hearing none, the meeting is adjourned.