By Ty Gregory SPC Board of Regent, Position 2
I am writing to address an issue that affects my elected position as a member of the Board of Regents at South Plains College.
I recently took a new job in Lubbock that has impacted my ability to serve our community on multiple boards. As a result, I requested that the SPC Regents consider moving their meeting time to the evening so I could continue to serve.
Per the by-laws, the chairman of the board can set our meeting times, but he denied my initial request. I then asked that this decision be discussed as an agenda item at our January board meeting. The discussion item was added to the agenda, and during the January board meeting, the board denied the request to change the meeting time again.
It was decided that moving the meeting time would have too great of an impact on the schedules for all in attendance, including administration, regents, staff, and press.
I am greatly disappointed by this decision not only because it impacts my own ability to serve but also because the board missed and/or ignored a longstanding criticism of the meeting time.
Below is an excerpt of my email communication to the board requesting a time change to our meeting: Not only does having a board meeting in the middle of the day cause difficulties for certain board members to attend, but it could also be considered exclusionary. By having the board meeting in the middle of the day, you limit the number of people who can effectively participate both as a board member and as an interested public constituent.
This effectively makes the board consist of hand-selected members that have the ability to attend meetings in the middle of the day. This excludes a large portion of the general public and does not represent a good makeup of our taxing districts we represent.
Our board makeup is skewed to business owners, retired individuals, and those with just enough flexibility at work to leave during the day, or to individuals who sacrifice vacation or personal time at work to make the meetings.
Currently, Amarillo College, Odessa College, Midland College, Levelland ISD, and Levelland City Council all meet in the evenings for this exact reason.”
This communication highlights a past criticism of the board that its members have a history of being hand-picked.
As board members, we are not there to run the college’s dayto- day operations. We are elected or appointed to set the overall direction of the college, hold the administration accountable for achieving those goals, and represent the interests of the taxing districts that established and supported the college for the last 60+ years.
I have contributed thoughtfully and independently to each board meeting and carefully considered every decision presented to me. I believe this is an important trait for every board member.
Some of the feedback I have received during this ordeal is that because I am asking the board members to change their schedules in order to accommodate my own, I am being selfish. If working my standard workday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and then attending a board meeting away from my family from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. is selfish, then I am guilty. I am not on the board to check a box or for recognition. I serve on the board because I love South Plains College and the communities we serve, and I feel that I provide valuable insight into issues and obstacles we as a community face in moving the college forward.
As it stands, the board meetings are to stay at 12:30 p.m. I have done all I can to convince the board that this is not in the public’s best interest.
If anyone feels as strongly as I do about this issue, I encourage you to contact the Board of Regents or, better yet, take time off from work to attend their next board meeting at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 8th and let your voice be heard.