The Navajo County Community College Governing Board convened Tuesday, Sept. 16, during which Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Project Manager Colleen Marsh provided an implementation update, which include the efforts being made to compensate for the delays in the go-live dates.
ERP is a software provided by Anthology that Northland Pioneer College is integrating to use to manage its internal processes. “Anthology’s leadership confirmed 2025 go-lives for finance or HR (human resources) are no longer workable with Anthology’s current resources and ongoing projects. They took full responsibility for the mistake of shifting their resources away from our project (as it was on track) and for moving Cochise College into our planned October 2025 go-live date without partnering with us on the decision,” Marsh wrote in her report.
“Chief Information Officer Michael Jacob and President Lawson worked with the NPC ERP team to compile a proposed set of concessions, which they delivered to Anthology on Sept. 5,” she added during the meeting. Jacob stated they were supposed to hear back from Anthology that day.
During the president’s report, President Dr. Von Lawson addressed the concerns from board members regarding working Anthology. Lawson explained that it would be very difficult to cancel their contract with them now due to the amount of effort already completed but would not enter into another contract again until more safety measures are put in place. “They knew very clearly how disappointed I was with how we’ve been treated as an institution. They also understood that we will not provide any references to any other institution.” He added he would be reaching out to their chief executive officer as well regarding their negative experience.
In the Leadership Council strategic planning update report, Leadership Council Chair Dr. Allison Landy wrote that council has been meeting monthly during the summer to create a more comprehensive and fully aligned strategic plan for the 2025-2030 period. Although the board was provided with a set of strategic priority areas last fall, a fully developed strategic planning framework had not yet been created.
Concerns from executive leadership and continuation of the “met with concerns” designation from the Higher Learning Commission after the Year Four Assurance Review required the council to step back and bolster its efforts. It was written that the current goal of the leadership council is to build on that previous work to develop a more comprehensive and fully designed strategic plan that will clearly guide the college in meeting its mission. “We will present a final strategic plan at the December District Governing Board Meeting with planned implementation beginning January 2026,” Dr. Landy wrote in the report.
Dr. Landy also discussed that a toddler playground is being added to the existing lease of NPC land to Northern Arizona Council of Governments for its Head Start school.
Construction Director Justin White invited everyone to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony for the college’s new Goldwater Student Welcome Center at 10 a.m., on Friday, Oct. 3, at the White Mountain Campus in Show Low. “It’s a place to where the student can walk in, get to the front desk and have financial aid, advising, everything is right there. So, a student can go in, figure out what they need, take care of business, and then start classes. It’s exciting,” stated White.
In other business, and in the absence of Board Member Kristine Laughter, the board:
* Approved a 2025-27 intergovernmental agreement between the Navajo County Community College District and Dishchiíbikoh Community School for the college to offer college level courses that may be counted toward both high school and college graduation requirements at the high school during the school day.
* Approved the replacement of a 20-year-old network technology at the Painted Desert campus with updated and higher performance Cisco equipment to be purchase from HyeTech Network & Security LLC in the amount of $144,405. This is a budgeted expense.
* Approved the replacement of the college’s end-of-life Cisco VoIP phone system with a cloud-based Webex Calling solution. The system will be procured from HyeTech Network & Security LLC at a total cost of $510,676 over five years. This transition is essential to ensure improved service reliability, enhanced emergency accessibility and alignment with the college’s technology modernization goals. The five-year structured payment approach enables budget planning flexibility while supporting the long-term implementation of a scalable and secure communication platform.
* Approved the purchase of two fire trucks and peripheral tools from available auctions and used equipment resellers for the fire science program, not to exceed $220,000. Chair Everett Robinson and board members Rosie Sekayumptewa and Frank Lucero voted in favor, and Board Member Derrick Leslie voted against.
* Approved the purchase of items that have extended lead times related to the Kayenta Center Project not to exceed $185,000. These purchases will come out of the previously approved grant for $8.9 million. Chair Robinson and board members Sekayumptewa and Lucero voted in favor, and Board Member Leslie voted against.
* Approved the purchases of three trucks not to exceed $135,000 for the construction program. The purchases will come from a state contractor unless another vendor can beat the price. $45,000 of the trucks’ budget comes from the Northern Arizona Good Jobs Network grant with the remaining $90,000 is in the Certified Technical Education department’s budget. Chair Robinson and Board Members Sekayumptewa and Lucero voted in favor, and Board Member Leslie voted against.
* Approved the purchasing of three Toyota RAV4’s in an amount not to exceed $111,000. The RAV4s have been planned in the transportation department’s capital vehicles budget for this current year. Chair Robinson and board members Sekayumptewa and Lucero voted in favor, and Board Member Leslie voted against.
