During the South Plains College (SPC) Board of Regents meeting Thursday, the group discussed current and future projects for the college.
SPC President Dr. Robin Satterwhite provided his usual report covering the future of the dental hygiene program, a construction report and legislation report.
Satterwhite explained that the fruition of the program has gained a lot of support during previous discussions, however, the later a decision is made to move forward the more the timeline is pushed back.
“Unfortunately, this is one of those things you have to make the decision on now knowing that it’s going to come to fruition two to two and half years later,” said Satterwhite. “If we do not start now then it is going to be three years or three and a half years.”
The president provided a recap of what the steps would entail along with the timeline to get the program operational.
The first step would be the hiring of a dental hygiene director which would take approximately six months. Once that position is filled, the director would put together the application and seek the approval of the accrediting organization.
Satterwhite also added that no one other than the dental hygienist director over the program is able to submit the application as it is part of the rules.
The review and acceptance by the accreditation organization is estimated to take 12 to 18 months. The next step would include a site visit which is estimated at a seven-to-eightmonth time period. Sometime after that the college would receive full accreditation.
Satterwhite explained the purpose of the item on the agenda was to seek formal approval to begin the steps explained in the timeline.
With the approval from the board and process underway, the president added that discussions would be had with BGR Architects Inc., while the application is being submitted to obtain construction documents.
The item was unanimously approved with no further discussion.
In regard to the construction update, the president stated the Frazier Hall renovations have progressed with an estimated completion date closer to the end of October into November.
Satterwhite shared his excitement with how the building looks to this point. He added that the windows have been replaced, doors replaced, new door jams installed, walls were redone, and new lighting had been put in the rooms along with them receiving new paint.
The president added that flooring is one of the final steps that will be completed in the near future.
For the Natatorium, BGR is expected to have the designs completed by the end of November. Once those are in hand, they will be turned over to the contractor who will take about three to four weeks to work through the design to see if they have any additional questions or concerns before bids go out for the project.
Satterwhite believes the board will be looking at the January board meeting to approve those bids unless there are any delays.
The track renovations have been moving quickly according to the president. He explained the company provided an 85-day period and that seems to be close. Currently, the track has been torn up along with the asphalt layers. With the track stripped down to its dirt layer, the college has also been working to install conduit for any electrical systems that will be needed in different parts of the track.
The estimated completion date provided was the first part of December. Concrete curbing will also be put in around areas such as the pole vault and long jump to prolong the life of the future track.
Satterwhite added that he did have a discussion with the City of Levelland in regard to maintaining the walking path at Brashear Lake.
While the goal is not to deter community members from utilizing the track, the board is concerned with strollers, skateboards, bikes, etc., harming the newly installed track. More discussion around a solution is expected to be had in the future.
“The track is a great asset for the college but also the community,” explained Satterwhite. “We just want to keep it in the best shape possible and keep it from getting torn up.”
Legislatively, Satterwhite stated the 89th Legislative Session is slated to begin January 14 and will end June 2.
Already planning and getting ready for the session, Satterwhite said House Bill 8 is the funding model that is currently in the works.
The president explained that the legislature funds everything on a biennial basis. Money is provided for the next two years in appropriation for education, healthcare, Texas Tech and Texas A&M for examples.
The caveat to that is community colleges joined in the two-year appropriation, but the model is dynamic as the amount of funding could change from the first year to the next.
“If our success points go up, the number of students changes, our tax bases change, all of those things change on an annual basis which changes how much we are reimbursed on annual basis,” explained Satterwhite.
The president added that they were aware of what the firstyear reimbursement would be but also knew that the number would change for the next year.
The entity responsible for the appropriations is the Legislative Budget Board as the board manages the finances. In this process, the college submits a legislation appropriation request which included the new number due to the various changes.
That is where problems began for the budget board. With receiving the different numbers from those community colleges within the dynamic funding model, a meltdown was essentially created due to the lack of communication between the budget board and the legislators who passed the new model.
As a result, Vice President for Business Affairs, Teresa Green had to work extensively to create a new appropriations request. During the explanation Satterwhite thanked Green for her work in getting the request completed.
From that point the real problem came to light according to the president.
“Since we are funded by success, community colleges have exceeded the amount the was appropriated by about $50 million or it’s approaching $50 million,” explained Satterwhite. “They are okay with it, but we did have to redo the request.”
The first thing the group representing community colleges have planned is to go to legislation and ask for a supplemental appropriations request in the amount of $50 million. The group has the feeling the request should go through without issue as legislators have said they are still in favor of the model.
Satterwhite added that things can change down the road, but all 50 community colleges are pushing for the request.
“Worst case scenario if that should not get approved, we’re probably talking about a $500,000 change for South Plains College,” said Satterwhite. “We had a $1.3 million increase from last year which could reduce by $500,000 as a worst-case scenario.”
If the worst does happen, Satterwhite feels the college will be fine as money has been placed in the capital improvement account.
“If we had to say we are going to reduce it by that much we are still going to be okay,” said Satterwhite. “That is not going to impact our Natatorium decision or impact any current decisions. It will impact decisions a year from now or two years from now.”
The president added that he will continue to update the board as legislation progresses.