The Navajo County Community College Governing Board held a regular meeting Feb. 18, during which the board reviewed tuition and general fee rates for the 2025-26 school year. A decision on the rates will be made at a future meeting.

The proposed increases include tuition going from $73 to $75 per credit hour for residents of Navajo and Apache counties, and from $91 to $94 per credit hour for other in-state residents. This includes early college rates as well. The out-of-state cost will remain the same at $410 per credit hour. According to Vice President of Administrative Services Maderia Ellison noted that in 2023 the board had free tuition for the summer semester for the following three years so that will continue for the upcoming summer and in 2026. “After that it will come back to the board to see if that will be extended or not.”

Regarding course fees, Environmental Biology will now have a $40 fee, early Childhood Practicum I will go from $40 to $60, and Capstone/Student Teaching K-3 (traditional) will go from $60 to $100. Elementary Practicum I, II and III will be assessed fees of $60, $80 and $80 respectively. Elementary Education Capstone will be assessed a $100 fee. The Early Capstone I fee will see a decrease from $40 to $20.

The board received a salary budget recommendation by Northland Pioneer College (NPC) Compensation Committee. Associate Dean Allison Landy explained that the recommendation was based on projected budget, salary trends, cost of living increases, state, county and similar industry date, outcomes from the Gallagher study.

The committee recommended economic adjustments of 2.5% for all eligible staff and faculty, and 1.5% for eligible administrators. The estimated cost of these increases is $406,000. Other adjustments budget recommendations were 0.6% budgeted amount to be held for off-cycle adjustments to address internal equity/salary compression and market competitiveness with an estimated cost of $103,000. The total budget recommendation was 2.96%, or a total estimated cost of $509,000.

Betsy Wilson, NPC’s Friends and Family (NPCFF) Director gave an update on the latest scholarships awarded and ones currently open for application. She noted that NPCFF is always looking for volunteer scholarship reviewers. “If you’d like to send us an email, we’ll be happy to send you a set of applications to review,” Wilson stated. The regular application cycle for NPCFF scholarships will open March 1 for the Fall semester and will close April 17.

Following the meeting, the board held a work session to discuss expenditure limitations, the 2025-2030 strategic plan and scheduling a social event.

During the meeting, the board:

* Approved modifications to the Early Childhood Program, including the Associate of Arts in Early Childhood (AAEC), Early Childhood Studies Certificate of Applied Science (CAS) and Early Childhood Studies Associate of Applied Science (AAS) to incorporate the recently approved General Education Certificate of Proficiency (CP) into the AAEC so students can continue to complete their Arizona General Education Curriculum (AGEC) requirements while pursuing this degree. Needed modifications include adjustments to the curriculum and edits to the catalog language.

* Approved modifications to the Associate of Science (AS) and Associate of Arts (AA) to incorporate the recently approved CP into the AS and AA degrees so students can continue to complete their AGEC requirements while pursuing this degree. Needed modifications include adjustments to the curriculum and edits to the catalog language.

* Approved modifications to the Associate of General Studies (AGS) to align with the recently approved General Education Course Options list, encourage student completion, enhance clarity and promote student course choice.

* Accepted the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) and Single Audit Report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024. The ACFR focuses on the financial audit and financial condition of the college. The audit opinion for this report is “unmodified,” which is positive, and no findings related to the financials were identified. The Single Audit focuses on the district’s compliance with requirements applicable to each major federal program the district administers and on its internal control over compliance. The audit opinion for this report is that the district maintained adequate internal control over compliance and complied with federal compliance requirements for the major federal program tested.

* Approved to purchase and implement new, Anthology-compatible software for Community and Corporate Learning for a total cost of $143,277 over three years to Modern Campus USA Inc. Anthology is the district’s enterprise resource planning (ERP), or business management, software. Funds for the two-phase project and initial software subscription were included in the fiscal year 2024-2025 ERP budget and 2025-2026 ERP budget request.

* The Board removed the item from the agenda referring to purchase the Affordable Care Act Health Compliance module from Automatic Date Processing (ADP) in the amount of $14,119.

* Approved the revision of Policy 1102, Equal Opportunity, Harassment and Nondiscrimination to reflect the changes made when a circuit court struck down the 2024 Title IX regulations, which returns the college to using the 2020 regulations. Vice President of Student Services Michael Solomonson consulted with the college attorney on this policy change and the recommended wording for the revision of Policy 1102.

* The board tabled an executive session to discuss and consult with its attorney to consider its position and instruct its attorney regarding the college’s position on service of a subpoena for documents by Matt Brown Trucking until the next meeting due to the college attorney being unavailable.

* Approved to have board member Derrick Leslie travel to the Higher Learning Commission conference in Chicago, Ill. The approximate cost to send a participant will be around $3,500 and money is available in the 2024-25 budget.