NPC Minutes of the Board of Trustees Meeting
January 22, 2020
The National Park College Board of Trustees met in regular session on January 22, 2020, in the Fisher Campus Center Boardroom. Trustees present were Larry Bailey, Mike Bush, Joyce Craft, Gail Ezelle, Jim Hale, Don Harris, Bev Joe, Forrest Spicher, and Raymond Wright.
Staff and faculty members present were Leslie Braniger, Juanita Brewer, Blake Butler, Cari Elliott, Kelly Embry, Roger Fox, Susan Gaither, Bruce Hankins, Nicole Herndon, John Hogan, Brad Hopper, Jill Houlihan, Janice Ivers, Tennille Johnson, Toni Knupps, Brian Kroening, Julie LaRue, Susan Millerd, Kristin Quintanilla, Bill Ritter, Melony Ritter, Lana Taliaferro, Jerry Thomas, Christopher Thrasher, Darla Thurber, Steve Trusty, John Tucker, and Mike Wiles.
Raymond Wright presented the invocation.
The media was notified of the meeting. John Anderson from the Sentinel Record was present.
Roger Fox, Communications & Arts Division Chair, introduced the January Student of the Month, Orlando Ruiz Diaz, who is a student in the Digital and Media Arts program. Orlando shared his artwork from his website. He expressed his gratitude to his instructors for helping him to challenge himself. He hopes to pursue his bachelor’s degree at Henderson State University while working on freelance projects. His long term goal is to be an art director or creative director and ultimately establish his own advertising agency.
Jerry Thomas, Vice President for Student Affairs, introduced Javon Southwell, the new Community Manager for Dogwood Hall, who was selected for this position through a national search. Javon has already moved to Hot Springs and is quickly becoming acclimated to our campus and community.
Items for Action
- Mike Bush made a motion to approve the December 4, 2019 Don Harris seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
- Steve Trusty, Vice President for Finance and Administration, presented the October 2019 financial reports for approval. Raymond Wright moved to accept the financial reports as Joyce Craft seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.
- Steve Trusty, Vice President for Finance and Administration, presented the annual Certification of Fund Balance. This agenda item addresses our compliance with the requirements in our appropriation act, Act 125 of the 2019 Fiscal Session, which requires that institutions of higher education certify to the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State and the Legislative Council that, as of December 31 of each year, sufficient appropriations and funds are available, or will become available, to meet all current and anticipated obligations during the fiscal year when they become due. This requirement was first adopted in 2001 in lieu of more reporting and approval processes. This certification is required by February 28 of each year and is to be certified by our Board of Trustees in its official governing capacity charged with the management and control of the institution and the President of the institution. Board action to approve the certification was requested. Gail Ezelle moved to approve the resolution as presented. Don Harris seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.
- Julie LaRue, Assistant Human Resources Director, presented the ratifications of personnel Mike Bush made a motion to approve the ratifications as presented. Joyce Craft seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
Items for Report
- Board Chair Report – Chair Spicher expressed his excitement about 2020 as the College builds on the momentum from 2019.
- Building and Campus Development Update – Brad Hopper, Director of Physical Plant and Maintenance, gave a construction update. The Method of Financing (MOF) was approved last week at the Arkansas Legislative Council for the Lab Sciences A contract with Hill & Cox is ready for signatures with the first pre-construction meeting scheduled for tomorrow. Office relocations in the Fisher Campus Center have begun. Batting cages are under construction and Dogwood Hall is progressing quickly. New steps have been added from the new parking lot into Dierks. The maintenance crew has been hard at work. Nicole Herndon reported that the engraving on the fountain is almost complete. Raymond Wright and Dr. Hogan thanked Brad and his team for their hard work that enables us to fulfill our promise to put our students in the best possible space and learning environment.
- ERP Transition Update – Blake Butler, Chief Information Officer, shared information regarding the ERP transition. The Board approved Resolution 2019-L last month permitting the College to pursue a request for proposal (RFP) for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) updates. Two ERP proposals were received and are currently being evaluated. The selected proposal must be approved by the Arkansas Legislative Council and will be presented to the Board at the February meeting.
- Marketing and Public Relations Update – Melony Ritter, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, and Cari Elliott, Assistant Director of Marketing and Public Relations, gave an update and shared some of this past year’s marketing and advertising successes. They shared analytics from digital, earned and social media as well as examples of NPC advertisements and landing Social media had a dramatic increase in exposure this past year due to digital media advertising, expanding athletic accounts, events boosts, etc. Print advertisements are tailored based on focus group results. The Marketing and Public Relations department has won several awards from the National Council of Marketing and Public Relations including district Medallion Awards and national Paragon Awards. A tremendous amount of work is accomplished within a department of four employees. Darla Thurber thanked the team for their hard work promoting the College.
- Honors Program Update – Dr. Christopher Thrasher, Social Sciences Faculty and NPC
Honors Program Coordinator, gave an update on the Honors Program for the Fall 2019
semester. Our program was the only community college honors program to attend the
first-ever meeting of Honors Arkansas. We are close to finalizing the first honors
program transfer agreement with The honors research assistant program has been expanded.
This will allow students to participate in university-level research. Three students
are currently participating. One student will be published in a journal later this
year with her mentor. The NPC Honors Program won the President’s Gold Service award
for completing 750 community service hours, both on and off-campus. Students supported
and presented research projects at the first-ever Arkansas Undergraduate Leadership
Conference which was hosted on our campus. They are providing technical support and
editing for the Common Nighthawk podcast. These are only a few of the accomplishments
of our honors students. Dr. Thrasher turned the program over to Abby Hanks.
Abby Hanks, Honors Program student, became the first college student to represent Hot Springs and NPC in the sister-city program with Hanamaki, Japan. The purpose of the trip was to establish a new sister-school relationship between NPC and Fuji University. Abby spent two weeks interacting with faculty and students, attending classes, and participating in cultural events of the city. She gave several presentations about NPC and Hot Springs, as well as engaging in panel discussions about the newly established sister-school relationship. One of the highlights of her trip was meeting the mayor which led to an article and picture on the front page of the local newspaper. She spent the majority of her time at the university, and with English instructor Dan Newbury, who is originally from Hot Springs. Dr. Hogan taught Abby in his Honors Seminar class. “Abby is an impressive person with a bright future in front of her. I am over-the-top proud of this young lady. She is an incredible ambassador and representative for NPC and a great example of a Nighthawk.”
- President’s Report – Dr. Hogan congratulated Orlando Ruiz for being selected the January
Student of the month and welcomed Javon Southwell as the new Community Manager of
Dogwood Hall.
He recognized Dr. Thrasher for his leadership with the Honors Program which has exceeded our expectations. Our students are participating in challenging and rewarding academic experiences that will prepare them for transfer or to excel in their careers.
Abby Hanks is a shining example. Dr. Hogan thanked Abby for sharing her exchange student experience and for representing Hot Springs and National Park College.
He shared his appreciation for the Marketing and Public Relations team for their extraordinary effort to promote the College. We continue to see impressive growth with our digital media with results that are better than industry standards.
The Marine Tech ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held Thursday, January 30, 2020, at 11:00 a.m. Many of our industry partners and representatives will be in attendance. Dr. Hogan encouraged members to attend.
The February Board meeting will be a collaborative meeting with SAU. We are inviting their administration and Board to campus to tour the Lab Sciences expansion. There will be a luncheon with comments from students who are working to complete their bachelor's degrees on campus through our strategic partnership with SAU, and a special announcement regarding our honors program. Following NPC’s regular meeting, there will be a groundbreaking ceremony for the Lab Sciences remodeling project with both schools present. Due to all these activities, the Board meeting will be held earlier in the day. Details regarding the events of the day will be shared once finalized.
Dr. Hogan reminded members that their Statement of Financial Interest form is due by January 30.
We are looking forward to 2020. It is going to be a significant year with students living on campus.
Don Harris stated that he was extremely impressed today with the faculty, staff, and students. NPC students are receiving a wonderful educational experience and will succeed anywhere they go.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:22 p.m.
Forrest Spicher, Chair
Joyce Craft, Secretary/Treasurer