The South Plains College Board of Regents held their monthly meeting Thursday on the Levelland campus at noon.
Vice President for Academic Affairs Ryan Gibbs spoke about the Texas Tech and South Plains college Transfer Summit that is slated for March 31. The Summit will be held at the SPC Lubbock Downtown Center from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
In its second year, the transfer summit’s purpose has been to strengthen the connection between the two colleges, but also to get on the same page as far as curriculum goes.
The gathering deals with various classes that students need for various degrees and ensures that the credits will be transferable and effective as students move from SPC to TTU via the “Texan to Red Raider” program.
Gibbs added that they expect between100 and 150 attendees for an event that hopes to create a communication line for the benefit of students who transfer between universities. The itinerary for the event is as follows: Attendees will arrive, have coffee and network amongst themselves from 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.
The welcome, introduction of Leadership and opening comments will be had from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Vice Provost for Academic Innovation and Student Success at Texas Tech University Mitzi Lauderdale will begin the talking portion followed by South Plains College President Robin Satterwhite and Dr. Gibbs.
Presentations include the Texan to Red Raider Agreement update, Housing Hot Topics, Scholarships and Financial Aid Discussions, Transfer Advising and Registration Tips and Tricks and Transfer Student Q and A from 10:30 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. Transfer Guide introductions will be held by Lissa Sharp from 11:50 a.m. to 12 p.m. A networking lunch will be held from 12 p.m. to 1 p. m. and the event will wrap up with a curriculum breakout discussion and downtown center tour from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Director of Development and Alumni Relations Samantha Goldie gave a recap of the 25th annual Scholarship Gala held earlier two weeks ago at the Mallet Event Center.
In regard to fundraising, this year’s event broke their previous record which came in 2020. For the 25th Gala, the event raised $309,505.
SPC Alum Heath Wright and Ricochet played to the crowd, but also raised money for a special “What You Leave Behind” endowment on Heath Wright’s behalf, raising $22,500 . That endowment will provide scholarships every year moving forward. Over 53 students and 30 community volunteers made the event possible.
The live auction brought in $112,000, the silent auction brought in $23,400, the raffle brought in $3,425, the special appeal brought in $4,780 and the Whiskey pull, squares game brought in $5,000.
President Robin Satterwhite gave his construction update for the board and brought new things to the table for their consideration.
The Lubbock Downtown Centers’ permanent signage is still being delivered. The outlying building on the campus is growing nearer to its demolition date after all the proper permits have been obtained. They hope to have that finished in June.
As for the Welding expansion on Levelland campus, all is coming along well with the exception of a few vent hoods that were not installed to Admin’s liking and needed repairs. Lead abatement in the shooting range is set to occur sometime this month with a completion in June to be expected.
The largest piece of construction was for a new project President Satterwhite brought before the board. Recent talks with insurance agencies for the college, it was brought up that the pit in the SPC Theater was not covered and posed a safety concern.
After going out for quotes, on company, Wenger Corp. out of Minnesota quoted the project at around $92,285.25.
Admin encouraged the project, as it could lead to some further renovations for the theater on campus and felt confident in operational leeway in the contingency fund for this project. Tuition and fees for the fall of 2023 was brought to the board for discussion.
After President Satterwhite spoke briefly about the current legislative status regarding community college funding and additional factors, Satterwhite recommended that tuition and fees remain the same and not be increased for the Fall 2023 semester. The board unanimously agreed.