NPC Minutes of the Board of Trustees Meeting
The National Park College Board of Trustees met in regular session on February 22, 2023, beginning at 3:30 PM. Trustees present were Mike Bush, Joyce Craft, Jim Hale, Bev Joe, Lance Porter, Forrest Spicher, Renee Westfall, and Raymond Wright.
Staff, faculty members, and guests present were Bill Allison, Jacynda Ammons, Blake Butler, Chris Coble, Donald Cross, Wade Derden, Kelli Embry, Michelle Godwin, Nicole Herndon, John Hogan, Lacy Holley, Brad Hopper, Lisa Hopper, Brian Kroening, Julie LaRue, Melony Martinez, Mark Oliver, Robin Pelton, Andrew Pennington, Scott Post, Kristin Quintanilla, Doug Ross, Brandon Smith, Miki Smith, Jerry Thomas, Jennifer Thompson, Rich Thompson, Darla Thurber, John Tucker, Lynn Valetutti, Tim Webb.
The media was notified of the meeting. Brandon Smith and Donald Cross of The Sentinel Record were in attendance.
Chair Joyce Craft opened the meeting with a welcome.
Trustee Wright provided the invocation.
Dr. Doug Ross, President of St. Vincent Hot Springs, Jennifer Thompson, Director of Outpatient Clinical Operations, and Lacy Holley, Nurse Practitioner, were present for an open-house event for the on-campus clinic through a partnership of National Park College and Catholic Health Initiatives/St. Vincent Hot Springs.
Items for Action
- Trustee Bush made a motion to approve January 25, 2023, minutes as presented. Trustee Spicher seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
- Trustee Spicher made a motion to approve the December 2022 financial statements as presented by Andrew Pennington, Controller, during the Finance Committee Meeting. Trustee Wright seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.
- Julie LaRue, Director of Human Resources, presented the ratifications of personnel actions. Trustee Spicher made a motion to approve the ratifications as presented. Trustee Bush seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
Items for Report
- Vice President for External Affairs and Chief of Staff Darla Thurber shared an update on National Park College’s 50th-anniversary celebration. Thurber pointed out the NPC historical artifact display as part of the NPC Library archives and read an article from The Sentinel Record dated August 29, 1973. Librarian Kristin Quintanilla shared that the NPC Library will have displays revolving around the 50th-year celebrations and requested that the public share any historical items with the Library.
- Melony Martinez, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, presented a report on local and state media outlets, platform performance ratings, and engagement metrics. Areas addressed in this report were earned media, social media, website, and digital media. Ms. Martinez reported the data from the calendar year 2022. She said that earned media had increased NPC’s presence at both the state and local levels by 34% year-over-year, 169 articles were featured, and broadcast media had 18 mentions. In the 2022 calendar year, the marketing team maintained media for nine social media profiles and 13 subsidiary profiles. Total social media followers increased by 10.6% with 4.2 impressions, a 7% decrease. Martinez reported 250,282 engagements which created a 5.9% engagement rate per impression. The digital advertising campaign drove 9.2M impressions, 71,717 clicks and 1,680 conversions. Paid search remained the top converting platform. Year-over-year, the impressions, conversions and clicks increased. Additionally, Martinez provided a list of awards the marketing and external affairs team earned. Martinez revealed an updated NP.edu website homepage. This design will be live later this year.
- Board Chair Report - Chair Craft congratulated the student of the month awardee and thanked Darla Thurber and Melony Martinez for their reports. Additionally, Chair Craft expressed deep appreciation for the opportunity to enhance student health services with on-campus access to CHI services. She expressed gratitude for CHI’s continued commitment to NPC students.
- President’s Report - President Hogan congratulated the student of the month. He expressed how fortunate we are to have such an incredible healthcare system in our community, of which CHI is a part. He appreciates that NPC students will be able to utilize the care and expertise of CHI staff when making decisions about their health. Furthermore, President Hogan appreciated the board’s work in consistently strengthening the College’s brand and reputation.
There was no further business. Trustee Westfall motioned to adjourn, and Trustee Spicher seconded. The meeting adjourned at 4:38 PM.
Forrest Spicher, Chair
Beverly Joe, Secretary/Treasurer
