During the Navajo County Community College Governing Board meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 16, the board introduced Rosabel “Rosie” Sekayumptewa as the new board member for District 2. Sekayumptewa was awarded the position after previous board member Elias Jouen had to step down due to no longer living within the District 2 boundaries after a rezoning.
The board also elected board officers and Arizona Association of Community College Trustees (AACCT) representative for 2024. Board members Everett Robinson was voted as chair and Derrick Leslie as representative with the AACCT. Board member Frank Lucero was elected as secretary, with President Kristine Laughter voting against and board members Sekayumptewa, Robinson and Leslie voting in favor. Lucero abstained.
NPC Friends & Family (NPCFF) Executive Director Betsy Wilson presented on the Spring 2024 scholarships. Fifty-two of the 56 applications were completed and qualified for assessment by scholarship review committees. The 93% completion rate is an increase from the Fall 2023 semester, where only 81.6% qualified. “We are up about 12.5% in the total number of applications and 23% in the number of qualified applications,” stated Wilson. She also added that application reviewers noticed the quality of the applications have improved as well. Her report included the total number of scholarships awarded for Spring 2024 was 84, totaling $75,400. This does not include the AndyVon Transportation Grants for Spring 2024 or the Martin Lucas Memorial Scholarship for Spring 2024, both of which will be awarded after January.
President Laughter inquired if Wilson could provide the number of students that graduate from NPC debt free, to which she did not know but knew the scholarships significantly helped students and encouraged them to complete their programs.
During the human resources report, President Laughter asked what the college’s diversity looked like among the faculty and if it’s in line with the enrollment numbers, particularly in regard to Native American students. “I’m curious to know how many Native American faculty members we have that are teaching so that we have that available to our students.” College President Chato Hazelbaker stated that the Belonging Committee did look at those diversity numbers in faculty and staff this past fall, and there was noted to be a large gap between Native representation in staff in relation to students. “When the Belonging Committee gives their update, I’ll make sure they talk specifically about that.” Noting that one of their strategic plans is to focus on that specific issue.
Construction Director David Huish, who will be retiring, had Director of Facilities & Transportation Justin White provide the construction report. White announced that the Show Low campus Skills Center is now fully operational with a very short finalization list and hopes to get an official completion date soon.
White also discussed the project of the Show Low Goldwater project, with the plans being submitted to the city and under review to get a permit.
In regard to the Winslow campus, White explained they have been looking at what needs to be remodeled and renovated and will get information from the architects that are being worked with soon.
White stated that the Snowflake campus student center is about 99% complete and should be fully functional by the end of that week.
Huish will be awarded Emeritus status at the next college board meeting.
The board also received an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation update from Chief Information Officer (CIO) Michael Jacob.
Title III Program Director Tonya Thacker gave an update on the ongoing activities from the Title III grant, which is a federal grant fund administered by the Arizona Department of Education (ADE).
Thacket spoke on the A Relational Model for Student Success (ARMSS) grant, which is under the US Department of Education’s Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions (NASNTI) Program. “NASNTI awards Native American serving institutions that are not tribal institutions,” explained Thacket. ARMSS is a five year grant, which NPC is currently in the second year of, which provides approximately $1.6 million. The five strategies of the grant are an online information center for students; virtual one-stop centers to help students interact with financial aid officers, NPC’s veteran center and other resources easier; proactive, personalized relational advising training for staff and advisors; first-year learning communities for students with similar degrees of study which will be launched Fall 2024; and Native American student success by strengthening community ties that surround NPC centers.
President Hazelbaker provided a report at the behest of Board member Robinson on college’s presidential succession. “Essentially, the way that it’s traditionally done in higher education is when the president is gone, the vice president for academics tends to be the number one person that takes over in the short term,” explained Hazelbaker. He also went on to explain policy and procedure if the president is unable to serve for a long term, which he added does have some gaps. He stated that he is to begin working with Chair Robinson to draft policy to ensure clarity and consistency on the subject.
Planning for the upcoming budget talks, the board also reviewed budget details and calendar. They also received reports on the assessment of student knowledge and NPC’s 2024 All-Arizona Academic team members.
President Hazelbaker informed the board of a grant opportunity for the Kayenta region. The grant, provided by the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) for fiscal year 2024, is called the Economic Transition Resource Grant and must be within 20 miles of closed Black Mesa or Peabody Kayenta coal mine. The grant stipulates it must be used to improve conditions and quality of life for residents in the affected region mentioned above. The grant has approximately $9 million in funding.
The college intends to submit NPC’s application for the grant, with the project outlined to include a rebuild of Kayenta Center on a new site, partnership with Kayenta library and a renewable pilot project at the building site. Expansions through the center as well as economic development and technical training space were also listed.
President Hazelbaker noted that although it’s not typical to come to the board prior to being awarded a grant, he wanted to ensure that it was something the board was in support of. “It would be really embarrassing to get a $9 million grant and then get it to the board level and then say, ‘we’re not going to take the grant because the board doesn’t think we should move forward strategically’.”
Board President Laughter asked if the college does not receive the grant, what would be done to improve the Kayenta center. “Anything north of I-40 does not get the same attention as everything south of the I-40,” stated Laughter. Hazelbaker answered that he would probably bring forward a discussion about the Facility Master Plan, which would include readdressing the current priorities of the college in relation to budget and funds available. No action was taken on the discussion.
President Hazelbaker went on to give a report on the activities from the president’s office since the previous meeting in November. In the report, he went over the overall numbers of the college in enrollment, grant money and employee retention. Strategic action updates were also given.
In new business, the board:
* Approved the final list of hearing officers/investigators which are: Jamie Mayrose, James E. Mannato, Prudence Lee, C. Benson Hufford and Pierce Coleman.
* Approved a contract with Last Call Media for website services to build an Online Information Center landing page related to Title III grant activities, in an amount not to exceed $110,000. As the college already contracts with Last Call Media for website maintenance and support, this was a sole source request.
* Accepted $681,327 in grant funding from the Arizona Department of Health Services for the Nurse Education Investment Pilot Program for the current fiscal year. The grant was created to address the nursing workforce shortage in the state.
* Approved the purchase of two SimLab Solutions SimServeRx ESS Advanced Bedside Smartcarts and label printers from Dia Medical in the amount of $62,981. Funding for this capital purchase is available over the life of the Nurse Education Investment Pilot Program grant. The bid prepared by Dia Medical is consistent with national cooperative pricing.
* Appointed Christine Schaefer, Associate Vice President of Human Resources (AVPHR), as Trustee to the Mountain Public Employee Benefit Trust, replacing Maderia Ellison, Vice President of Administrative Services/CFO, effective Jan. 22, 2024.
* Approved a three-year support and maintenance contract with HyeTech Network & Security Solutions LLC in the amount of $61,462. This is a budgeted expense utilizing Government Procurement Agreement Contract 22-02PV-08 to ensure best value for the college.
* Approved the renewal of the Meraki support and maintenance license through HyeTech Network & Security LLC for $197,623. This is a three-year budgeted expense utilizing Government Procurement Alliance Contract 22-02PV-08 to ensure competitive pricing for the college.
* Appointed Justin White as a member of the Board of Directors for the Northeast Arizona Training Center (NATC) to replace David Huish.
