NPC Minutes of the Board of Trustees Meeting
The National Park College Board of Trustees met in a regular session on February 28, 2024, 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 Jacynda Ammons, Chuck Argo, Thia Armstrong, Zachary Aslett, Stephen Berry, Dorrie Cormier, Denice Davis, Sarah Day, Wade Derden, Jaymes Doss, Jessica Ellis, Kelli Embry, Nicole Herndon, John Hogan, Brad Hopper, Lisa Hopper, Janice Ivers, Melissa Kennon, Brian Kroening, Amanda Kruzel, Shannon LaDuke, Julie LaRue, Jennifer Lyons, Caysie Martin, Melony Martinez, Rose Milnes, Mark Oliver, Robin Pelton, Andrew Pennington, Nathan Ritter, Darla Thurber, and Tim Webb.
The media was notified of the meeting. Lance Brownfield and Brandon Smith of The Sentinel Record were in attendance.
Chair Joyce Craft opened the meeting with a welcome at 3:30 PM.
Sarah Day took roll call. A quorum was present.
Trustee Renee Westfall provided the invocation.
Sarah Day introduced the media guests present.
National Park College instructors, Stephen Berry and Amanda Kruzel, introduced the February Student of the Month, Zachary Aslett.
Items for Action
- Trustee Bush made a motion to approve the January 28, 2024, minutes as presented. Trustee Hale seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
- Trustee Spicher made a motion to approve the December 2023 and January 2024 financial statements as presented by Andrew Pennington, NPC Controller, during the Finance Committee Meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
- Trustee Westfall made a motion to approve the standing committee membership appointments as presented. Trustee Bush seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
- National Park College Human Resources Director, Julie LaRue, presented the ratifications of personnel actions. Trustee Spicher made a motion to approve the ratifications as presented. Trustee Harrington seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
Items for Report
- Trustee Jim Hale provided a Presidential Search report. Hale shared that the preferred consideration period ends on February 29th and that the Presidential Search Committee will meet on March 4th to complete a comprehensive review of all applicants and determine which applicants will be interviewed in the first round via Zoom. Trustee Hale stated that he anticipated that these virtual interviews would be completed before Spring Break with the committee recommending candidates to the Board of Trustees for consideration at the next regularly scheduled Board meeting in March.
- Trustee Raymond Wright, provided the Building and Campus Development report. Wright reported on the Committee meeting held on February 21st and stated that the Redbud Hall Groundbreaking Ceremony is scheduled for March 27th. Trustee Wright then asked Brad Hopper to provide an update on the maintenance facility project. Wright informed the Board that Brad Hopper would be the on-site overseer of both the Redbud Hall and Maintenance Facility projects.
- Melony Martinez, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, introduced the NPC Marketing team and provided a Marketing presentation covering calendar year 2023. Highlights were given for Earned, Social, and Digital Media. Martinez also shared that the Marketing team had won six (6) Regional Medallion Awards this year, as well as one (1) National Paragon Award. Ms. Martinez also gave an update on the ongoing redesign of the NPC website.
- Chuck Argo, Interim VP for Academic Affairs, provided a report on the upcoming Academic Scheduling Pilot Program. Argo announced the College will launch the pilot program in the fall semester of 2024. The pilot program will allow students to complete nine credit hours in a two-hour block four days per week while taking classes one at a time. Argo said he believes this will help student passage rates and retention. Argo shared that the team expects students to benefit from the flexibility in course scheduling in several ways, such as completing remediation on time, a more manageable course load, and helping students juggle work, family, and academic obligations. The newly designed schedule adds flexibility for part-time students and allows students to remain eligible for financial aid with late-start classes. The College could see a recruiting advantage, as well as the opportunity to save classroom space. The program will run 36 classes in only four classrooms. Argo added that the program is just a pilot and that the viability of it would be determined after evaluating how student success is impacted.Discussion ensued with questions asked and answered.
- Board Chair Report - Chair Craft thanked Trustee Hale for the Presidential Search report, and Trustee Wright for the Building and Campus Development report. Craft expressed appreciation to Melony Martinez for the Marketing report and her explanation of the marketing strategy and data. Chair Craft acknowledged Dr. Chuck Argo for his forward thinking in Academic Affairs, stating that Any plan that can help students achieve their goals on time, so they don’t have added expense, and that can help retention, is a good plan. She offered that the Board would be eager to hear his follow-up report on this pilot program. Craft ended by thanking Trustee Spicher for his continued leadership as the Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee.
- President's Report - President Hogan mentioned the professional development opportunity for the Board at the upcoming ADHE Annual Trustee Conference scheduled for March 26th. He also shared that the College was in the midst of the FY25 budget presentations and 2023 performance evaluations. Dr. Hogan expressed pride in Dr. Argo and his team for doing the research and working to restructure the academic schedule to better meet the needs of students, stating that he also looks forward to seeing the results from the pilot study. Hogan stated his gratitude for the excellent reports from Trustees Hale and Wright, and Ms. Martinez. President Hogan ended by providing an update on the men’s Nighthawk basketball team, explaining that they were entering the postseason. He thanked the Advancement and Athletic departments for working so closely together to raise funds to send this team to the postseason.
There was no further business. Chair Craft asked the trustees for further comment.
- Trustee Bush expressed excitement regarding the Academic Scheduling Pilot Program.
Trustee Westfall motioned to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 4:27 PM.
Joyce Craft, Chair
Beverly Joe, Secretary/Treasurer
