During the Northland Pioneer College (NPC) meeting with the Navajo County Community College District Governing Board, CIO Henry Estes presented the board with the grant award from the Rural Utilities Services – Distance Learning and Technology (RUS-DLT) program in the amount of $715,890. The funds will be used to fund the Advancing Educational Resilience in Emergency Situations (AERIES) project which is a two-year project, with proposed project dates from Nov. 1, 2021, to Oct. 31, 2023. The total cost of the project will be $715,999.

According to Estes, AERIES establishes a hub/end user configuration at 16 school sites where currently there are only end user configurations. This will allow high school students in grades 10th through 12th to have greater capacity for access to dual enrollment college courses because college certified faculty can teach from any AERIES location, and students can learn from any location.

In addition, because the AERIES DL technology solution is more efficient with regard to bandwidth, students who are affected by quarantine/closure emergencies such as those created by COVID-19 can access both synchronous and asynchronous instruction remotely.

To compete for the grant, a 15% match was required by RUS-DLT. A total of $715,890 was requested from the RUS-DLT program and $109,000 (15.23%) will be provided by NPC.

The board also approved the Back to Work-Education Incentives intergovernmental agreement. This is an Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) initiative to provide scholarship opportunities for students who have returned to work while also pursuing their college education. Eligible community college students may be awarded full tuition-based scholarships for a maximum of six credit hours per semester for up to two years or four academic semesters so long as the student remains enrolled. Books, fees, and other educational expenses other than tuition are not eligible for reimbursement.

The total statewide funding available is $7,500,000 and is available on a first come, first served basis.

NPC Friends and Family Director, Betsy Wilson informed the board and stated that the Spring 2022 scholarship application window has closed. “We have an astonishing number of 128 applications out for review, this is up from 68 last semester, and the most we’ve ever had.

In other business, the board:

* Approved the Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Assumptions and Guidelines.

* Approved 2020-22 dual enrollment intergovernmental agreements between the Navajo County Community College District and Whiteriver Unified School District, Snowflake Unified School District and Whiteriver Unified School District.

* Approved Northeast Arizona Law Enforcement Training Academy intergovernmental agreements between Navajo County Community College District and Apache County, Town of Eager, City of Holbrook, Navajo County, Town of Pinetop-Lakeside; City of St. Johns, Town of Snowflake, Town of Springerville and the City of Winslow.

* Approved a request to establish a contingency amount for the White Mountain Campus Skills Center Project. in the amount of $2.5 million to cover unexpected costs during the construction process and help move the project forward in a timely manner.

* Approved the Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Assumption and Guidelines.

* Authorized an invitation to Director of the Arizona Association of Community College Trustees, Dr. David Borofsky, for the Board self-evaluation.

* Approved the cancelation of the December meeting.

* Approved the appeal of outcome of an employee grievance. Chair Frank Lucero and board member Derrick Leslie, opposed. This vote was done following an executive session.