Trustees Minutes June 2023

NPC Minutes of the Board of Trustees Meeting

June 28, 2023

The National Park College Board of Trustees met in a regular session on June 28, 2023, beginning at 3:30 PM. Trustees present were Mike Bush, Joyce Craft, Jim Hale, Rhonda Harrington, Bev Joe, Lance Porter, Forrest Spicher, Renee Westfall, and Raymond Wright.

Staff, faculty members, and guests present were Bill Allison, Blake Butler, David Caldwell, Jacqueline Campos, Nathan Day, Wade Derden, Aracelly Dubon, Casandra E., Jessie Ellis, Kelli Embry, Roger Fox, Michelle Godwin, Petronela Giurgea, Nicole Herndon, John Hogan, Brad Hopper, Nancy Ingle, Brian Kroening, Julie LaRue, Jennifer Lyons, Rodney Manning, Melony Martinez, Tyler  Mosby, Justin Orendorff, Robin Pelton, Andrew Pennington, Scott Post, Bill Ritter, Nathan Ritter, Ana Rodriguez, Exzonda Ross, Miki Smith, Jerry Thomas, Darla Thurber, Lynn Valetutti, Amy Watson, Tim Webb, Mike Wiles, and Alexis Wilson.

The media was notified of the meeting.

Chair Joyce Craft opened the meeting with a welcome.

Trustee Westfall provided the invocation.

Items for Action

1. Trustee Hale made a motion to approve May 24, 2023, minutes as presented. Trustee Bush seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
2. Trustee Spicher made a motion to approve the April 2023 financial statements as presented by Andrew Pennington, Controller, during the Finance Committee Meeting. The motion passed unanimously during the Finance Committee Meeting, negating a second.
3. Julie LaRue, Director of Human Resources, presented the ratifications of personnel actions. Trustee Wright made a motion to approve the ratifications as presented. Trustee Westfall seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
4. Trustee Wright made a motion to approve the President's contract through the year 2026. Trustee Hale seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.

 Items for Report

1. Vice President for College Advancement, Dr. Wade Derden, shared an update on National Park College's 50th-anniversary celebration and pointed out the display provided by the NPC Library. The display contained banners used in past graduations. Dr. Derden listed the 50th-anniversary committee members as follows: Chair Mellisa Bryan; Melony Martinez; Katelynn Hardage; Lynn Valetutti; Candra Jennings; Julie LaRue, and Roger Fox. Dr. Derden shared about a staff and faculty celebration during the annual in-service on August 15 and a community-wide celebration on October 5 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM. The October 5th celebration will include live music, videos, and a student art display. Additionally, banners will be posted in downtown Hot Springs.
2. Brad Hopper, Associate Vice President of Operations, provided a campus development update. Hopper reported the College replaced 98 split system heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) units across campus. He said many of the units were over 20 years old, with a few approaching 40 years. The College utilized federal funding for the upgrades, totaling $954,116.93. Energy efficiency incentives are also available from utility companies to offset the cost of the project. Hopper reported the College had received $600 per unit from Summit Utilities, for a total of $58,800. Entergy will also provide a credit to NPC upon the completion of the project. Entergy partners with CLEAResult, an energy efficiency consultant, to calculate the credit based on each unit removed. Hopper said he expects to see significant utility savings over time, and CLEAResult will calculate those numbers when they perform the incentive calculation. The Campus Operations team began security upgrades using grant funds from the Oaklawn Foundation totaling $265,785. The funds were used to add access control to 13 buildings and upgrade the camera system. The team plans to purchase a new network video recorder, upgrade cabling to prevent recurring lightning damage and upgrade existing cameras.
3. Board Chair Report - Chair Craft thanked everyone for being with us today. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, Chair Craft expressed condolences and sympathies to Ron Garners' family for his passing and congratulated the College for earning the Sentinel-Record 2023 Readers' Choice Award for Best College. Chair Craft was pleased to participate in the public announcement of the partnership with UAM to offer a bachelor's degree in elementary education and expressed appreciation for NPC's continued focus on its mission to be a comprehensive community college by seeking to meet the needs of the community in every way possible including everything from teaching people to read and write, to providing upskilling opportunities for the currently employed, to offering college credit on the high school campuses, and to offering college-level courses all the way through the bachelor's level here at this campus. Dr. Hogan and his team are committed to this community, and they continue to be creative in their efforts to meet this region's needs.
4. President's Report - President Hogan congratulated Brad and his maintenance team and added that the quality of NPC's learning environment is an investment in student success. Dr. Hogan acknowledged that the teamwork to maintain NPC's campus is much appreciated. Additionally, Dr. Hogan thanked Ms. Craft and Dr. Derden for their roles in the announcement of the NPC and UAM four-year K-6 Elementary Education Degree in Hot Springs. Dr. Hogan thanked Jill Houlihan, Dr. Jerry Thomas, Jennifer Lyons, Roger Fox, and Lindsey Vondenstein for their leadership and hard work in helping the NPC and UAM partnership come to fruition. NPC now has 70 different majors where students can start here, complete two years, and have guaranteed transfer to an Arkansas university, seven degrees that can be started here and finished either online or on-premise at Arkansas universities, and five bachelor's degrees that students can earn on the NPC campus. Dr. Hogan expressed his gratitude for the Board's confidence and trust in the leadership here at the campus. Dr. Hogan expressed gratitude to the President's Cabinet, Faculty, and Staff for their contribution to the success of NPC students and for making our community better.

There was no further business. Trustee Westfall motioned to adjourn, and Trustee Wright seconded. The meeting adjourned at 3:58 PM.

Joyce Craft, Chair
Beverly Joe, Secretary/Treasurer