The Navajo County Community College Governing Board convened for a regular meeting Tuesday, June 16, where board requested President Dr. Von Lawson to undertake three curricula items. To develop and seek accreditation for a 90-credit bachelor’s in business for enrollment by Fall 2028, create a stackable Associate of Science in agricultural science (transferable to state programs or a future BAS) with lower-division enrollment by Fall 2029 and conduct a healthcare stakeholder survey to assess adding Allied Health programs with the aim of launching new or enhanced courses by Fall 2029. During call to the public, faculty emeritus member Shannon Newman brought up concerns regarding Dr. Lawson and his alleged conduct with faculty. “Things I’ve been seeing and hearing about recently at the college are very concerning to me. In particular, having two faculty receive notices of noncontract renewal right at the time of contract renewal, with no prior warning. It’s entirely against academic practices throughout the nation.” Newman noted that while Dr. Lawson is acting within his legal purview, she believes his motives had underlying factors. “I suspect that much of the reasoning behind it was retribution, misogyny, because those two were female and they were two of the other people who challenged Dr. Lawson on some of his practices.” Newman also claimed that several others have resigned due to Dr. Lawson’s treatment towards them, though no specific incidents or names were mentioned. Newman requested the board do their own investigation and that staff may be reluctant to disclose problems due to fear of retaliation. Since the topic was brought up during call to the public, neither the board nor the staff could comment. Director of Financial Services Russell Kupfer presented on the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) financial ratios. “These ratios are used to help track the institution’s health as part as their overall financial analysis,” he explained. NPC’s results were well above the threshold of financial health, as it has been for years, according the report. During the President’s report, Dr. Lawson reported on the findings from the Arizona Attorney General regarding a complaint that was made pertaining to alleged open meeting law violations. As of June 11, the college received a response which read, “The Attorney’s General’s Office Open Meetings Law Enforcement Team has concluded its investigation of the complaint alleging Open Meeting Law violations by the district as outlined in the Feb. 26, 2026, inquiry letter. For the reasons described below, we do not find the district violated the open meeting law with respect to any of the meeting dates addressed in the complaint.” Dr. Lawson explained the inquiry was pertaining to the district’s compliance in posting meeting minutes on the website within three days of public meetings in the months of September through December of 2025. As part of his presentation, Dr. Lawson and several members of faculty and staff shared their accomplishment highlights in the last year. Board Member Kristine Laughter requested that a discussion to rename NPC be put on the agenda for the next regular meeting, with specific aim to drop the “Pioneer”, as she stated, “[…] because it does not reflect the community college footprint as a whole.” Deena Gillespie received an Emeritus Award for her significant contributions to the college working as the assistant registrar and backup veterans certifying official. Gillespie began working for Northland Pioneer College’s (NPC) records and registration department in 1998 and worked diligently behind the scenes during those 28 years, according to Dean of Career & Technical Education Dr. Jeremy Raisor. “Deena will be missed, especially this coming year when our new systems may break and the rest of us try to figure out what went wrong.” In other business, the board: * Cancelled the July 21 regular meeting. * Approved the adoption of the revised Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 budget. * Approved the adoption of the audited expenditure limitation report for FY 2024-2025. According to a report by an independent auditor, the district reported it intentionally violated Arizona Constitution, Article IX, §21, and exceeded its expenditure limitation by over $1.8 million for the year ended June 30, 2025. In lieu of the penalties prescribed in A.R.S. §41-1279.07(I) for exceeding the expenditure limitation, the district’s penalty will be reduced to $20,000 pursuant to Laws 2023, Ch. 184 Sec 3(3). Although the District has sufficient prior-year unexpended carryforward revenues available for it to use to be under the expenditure limitation, the district did not use these carryforward revenues. * Approved an intergovernmental agreement between NPC and the Arizona Department of Homeland Security for cyber security internships. The IGA will establish the framework to provide eligible students enrolled in the district’s cybersecurity program with practical opportunities in the field of cybersecurity. The agreement will be in effect from January 2026 for three years with the potential to be renewed for an additional three years. * Approved an increase in the design fees to be paid to SPS+ Architects in the amount of $52,150 related to required additional design and architectural coordination of the new Kayenta Center. This brings the total fees to $781,538. * Accepted $700,000 in funding from Halle Foundation to expand industrial trade pathways in Northern Arizona and the Navajo Nation. Funds will be used to construct a Kayenta Flexible Industrial Arts Lab, fund three professors for community-based site-built homes program and the purchase of a bus to facilitate workforce transportation access. * Accepted $25,000 in funding from Salt River Project to assist with the required match for congressionally directed spending (CDS). NPC is currently in the process of being awarded $900,000 CDS to resurface the driving track at the college’s Northeast Arizona Training Center. The AZPOST had previously indicated that NPC would lose accreditation without this resurfacing. This CDS requires a match of $300,000, with SRP contributing $25,000 toward this match. * Approved a resolution designating Vice President of Administrative Services Maderia Ellison as the chief fiscal officer for the district for officially submitting the FY 2027 Annual Budgeted Expenditure Limitation Report to the Arizona Auditor General. * Approved Board Member Derrick Leslie to travel to the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) Leadership Congress in Chicago, Ill. from Oct. 21 – 24. Leslie abstained from voting. * Approved Board Member Rosie Sekayumptewa to travel to the ACCT Leadership Congress in Chicago, Ill. from Oct. 21 – 24. Sekayumptewa abstained from voting.
