The South Plains College (SPC) Board of Regents held a regular meeting on Thursday which included the approval of changes to policy for tenured faculty and received various department updates.
The meeting started with an Oath of Office administered to Cathy Mitchell, who will take on position 2 of the board of regents at SPC.
An independent audit was also presented during the meeting. A clean opinion was given, with no significant deficiencies.
Ryan Gibbs, the vice president for academic affairs, presented the college’s Fall 2024 retirees afterwards. There were five retirees, contributing a total of 123 years of service. Retiree Norma Mendoza, a groundskeeper, contributed 50 years of service to the college.
Other retirees included Karol Albus, assistant professor of mathematics, with 11 years of service; Rob Blair, dean of technical education, with 29 years; Sammy Perez, plumber, with 25 years; and Liria Montez, custodian, with eight years.
Gibbs presented the changes to SPC’s tenure policy to help them better align with state policy. The board approved the document.
The main change was a posttenure review policy, which was not part of the college’s policy prior to the revision. The decision came from a working group made up of faculty senate representatives, department chairs and other faculty and deans on campus.
Gibbs explained that after a faculty member receives tenure, there will be a faculty review done by the department chair every other year.
The state provided a range of one to six years for the frequency of the review.
The process for addressing poor reviews of tenured faculty was also outlined in a section of the policy.
It stated that if there is any determination that a faculty member is not meeting expectations, they would be put on a performance improvement plan. The plan would provide certain expectations for the tenured person to meet in a certain time, and if they still fail to meet standards, the issue would then move up the ladder of campus leadership.
Another change was written regarding revocation of tenure. It outlined the opportunity for the faculty member to meet with Gibbs before it goes to the tenured committee.
Gibbs said it is similar to an informal hearing, where faculty members with revoked tenure can discuss reasoning behind revocation and get an extra opportunity to be heard.
As the item is part of Senate Bill 18, they have to report back to the legislature that the tenure policy is in line with what the legislation requires.
A presentation from Dr. Stan DeMerritt, vice president for student affairs, followed. The first item was a census enrollment report for the 2nd eight-week term of Fall 2024.
DeMerritt said it is the second year the college offered the term in the fall semester. The headcount increased by 193 from 2023. DeMerritt said increases are coming from online course work and capacity increases in the city.
DeMerritt also presented a student health clinic update.
There were 74 total patients in October. 51 were new, 19 were established and four were employees. It was an increase from September’s 56 total patients.
Majority of October’s patients were uninsured. DeMerritt said the board discussed working on billing insurances to offset costs for expenditures they were using and provide better service to more people.
He said uninsured patients will still be seen with no charge, so costs will be made up from billing on the insured side. Students with insurance will not be charged a co-pay.
After the approval of some select insurances like Blue Cross Blue Shield, DeMerritt said they will do a co-pay for employees just as if they were visiting outside physicians.
The final item presented by DeMerritt was a school and safety audit, which is required every three years under state law. The board approved the report.
There were 35 recommendations that came from the safety audit, 15 of which labeled as level one: needing to be acted on within a year of the report.
The first listed safety concern, no background checks for employees, was on the last report and carried to the 2024 recommendations. Under the comments and recommendations section of the document, it was stated that there is no current resolution.
All other level one safety concerns had target and estimated completion dates set in either 2024 or 2025.
There were seven level two concerns – items needing to be acted on in one to two years – and other long term actions that DeMerritt said he’d prefer if they were done before the next audit.
A total of nine recommendations have been completed, according to the report document. Completed items included the training of all residential life employees in first aid/AED, as well as policies for campus police and security.
Two items regarding building safety are currently in progress. The first item, the implementation of consistent floor plans with safety information, has an estimated full completion date of summer 2025.
The maps will go into the security system. All residence hall buildings and downtown center building have been completed. Renderings of buildings show safety features like fire accessibility points, camera locations, AED kits and door information.
The other concern addressed was the lack of posted fire drill instructions being posted and visible to all residence hall students. According to the document, contracts with map creators are in place and the target completion date is spring 2025.
DeMerritt said an annual report of their progress will be provided to the board and a meeting every six months to see where they are on the concerns listed in the audit.
Vice President of Business Affairs Teresa Green presented the tax office and financial reports to the board, which were both approved.
Green said they got close to $7 million in the capital projects account.
The two capital projects are the natatorium and the track and Frazier Hall. The track and Frazier are being paid for out of budgeted money.
President Robin Satterwhite delivered his report, which mentioned the construction projects’ progress.
Satterwhite said Frazier Hall, a residence hall on campus being constructed, is coming along nicely. He estimated the end of the month for seeing substantial completion of the hall.
Construction of the track was also reviewed. Layers of the track and asphalt are being worked on, as well as work near the long jump and pole vault areas, Satterwhite said. The final coat is expected to be done before Dec. 5.
Satterwhite said the natatorium is expected to have a design completed at the end of the month. Bids will then be posted and reviewed; bids are expected to be returned to the board about Jan. 9. After the bid is approved, construction will start.