Entering the new calendar year and preparing for the Spring semester, the South Plains College Board of Regents held their regular meeting Thursday to address policy revisions and department reports.
President of SPC Robin Satterwhite gave his regular report to the board and included a construction update, legislative update and addressed the issues the firing range is currently experiencing.
With the recent opening of the Downtown Lubbock Center for the Fall semester, Dr. Satterwhite explained that there were various small ticket items that needed to be completed while the building received the greenlight to operate during the Fall.
Satterwhite informed the board that those miscellaneous items that still needed to be checked off the list were completed during the holiday break and those items included temporary flooring being removed, temporary inspections and approvals to operate being replaced with final inspections and approvals and the security system along with cameras are expected to be fully functional and live within the next week.
In a recent board meeting, the group moved forward with demolishing an auxiliary building located on the property next to the Lubbock Center.
The building lacked many of the necessary safety requirements that would be needed to turn the space into fully functioning space for the college.
Further discussion of renovating or updating the building in space would require a large amount of funds.
An alternative option the board approved was the demolition of the building and the potential extra space that would be provided for additional campus parking.
During the current meeting, Satterwhite explained that the selected contractors are in place and ready to move forward, but the process is on hold due to state certificates that are needed. For the main campus in Levelland, the board was tasked with approving the renovations of the firing range in addition to choosing the bidding company and costs associated.
Satterwhite explained that with a firing range, lead abatement becomes a necessary task.
During the last lead abatement, which was completed after the recent backdrop renovations, the range was used for a short period of time before the lead levels were retested. The results show the lead levels were too high for safe occupation.
After Satterwhite had discussions with architects, engineers and certified HVAC technicians, the determined cause was insufficient air flow.
While the firing range has forward air vents drawing and pushing clean air down range there is a line of intermediate exhausts located a quarter down range. At the very end of the range behind the backdrop is another set of exhaust vents that are meant to expel the contaminated air.
Between the backdrop exhausts and intermediate exhausts, it was determined that the contaminated air is trapped in between both exhausts systems.
Additionally, the current system does not contain High Efficiency Particulate Air filter. Even with the proper removal of the bad air, the pollutants would be released into the surrounding air without proper filtration.
The final concern is the noise pollution from firearms is not contained within the facility which presents problems for surrounding activities.
Since making the discovery, the range has been led abated by a certified specialist and the range has not been operated since.
Two bids were submitted by Teinert Construction and Henthorn Commercial Construction. The Teinert bid was $319,000 and the Henthorn bid was $248,000 with a proposed 75-day completion time.
Satterwhite recommended to the board to approve the Henthorn bid based on proposal cost, completion time, experience with the college and reputation and experience with similar projects.
The board unanimously approved the bid submitted by Teinert Construction.
The renovations will include the removal of the existing airduct system from both sides of the active range are and will be completed by a certified lead abatement specialist and treated as lead disposal. The cost of this process has yet to be set.
The contract renovation of the HVAC system will include the replacing of air vents on the front units to allow more airflow.
New air ducts from the firing line to the rear exhaust system will be installed. The new design will eliminate the intermediate intake system to provide for continuousflow of air from intake to expulsion.
New ductwork to re-direct flow to reduce contamination will be put in place along with the HEPA filtration system. Additional filters and sound dampening panels will be implemented.
During the legislative report, Dr. Satterwhite spoke about the possible overall model in which Texas community colleges are funded is still a real possibility as the Texas Legislature is currently in session through the remainder of January.
Shifting a focus from the number of students determining funding, the process would consider student outcomes which means colleges fighting for enrollment would become less important.
The Texas Commission on Community College Finances posted the final recommendations that would be taken into the session and President Satterwhite highlighted the key points for the board.
Main points included the development of a modern community college finance model that distributes the majority of state funding based on measurable outcomes signaled with regional and state workforce needs and state goals, an increase of funding for Texas educational opportunity grans and seed grants for programs in high demand.
Vice President of Academic Affairs Ryan Gibbs presented a Curriculum and Course of Study policy that deals with the process of curriculum changes.
Gibbs explained that the policy updates would not change the process for curriculum changes but makes a direct correlation between the process and the board being the final entity to make changes in curriculum.
Following with the Spring Enrollment Report for 2023, Gibbs added that enrollment has been on a declining trend.
Dr. Satterwhite added, that despite the state and national declining enrollment numbers, SPC has the highest Spring enrollment numbers in the past five years.
Students attending classes solely through the internet have continued to decline from the Fall and Satterwhite attributes that to kids wanting to get back to campus and being in the classroom.