By Annyssa Howerton The Navajo County Community College Governing Board convened at the Holbrook campus on Tuesday, Aug. 17, with President Dr. Chato Hazelbaker reporting on the upcoming 2021-2022 academic school year for Northland Pioneer College. NPC campuses will be enforcing a mask mandate when students return to campus. Though the signage on campus has not been updated Dr. Hazelbaker stated, “We did announce to our students and faculty and staff yesterday (Aug. 16), that we will be requiring masks indoors when students come back to campus. The ‘why’ is really about keeping students in class face to face.” Visitors on campus will be required to wear a mask as well. He also mentioned that having to close campuses due to the pandemic and disrupting classes last semester led to difficult outcomes for some students. Hazelbaker stated that with the masks, as well as with social distancing in the classroom, if one student tests positive with COVID-19, the entire class will not have to be quarantined. “This is what we’ve found out from (Navajo County) Public Health, if we have a student in class face-to-face, and we’ve done physical distancing and students are masked, if we have a positive student test in that class, we don’t have to quarantine the whole class.” Board member Kristine Laughter asked Dr. Hazelbaker, “Do we have any staff or students who are opposing the mask mandate?” President Hazelbaker responded, “We’ve written a fairly broad policy so we can really engage in one-on-one conversations with the students and give students options. We have a lot of online classes available this fall. So, if the student chooses that not workable for me, for any number of reasons, we have a number of remote sections that we’re now able to offer.” NPC Friends and Family Director Betsyann Wilson started off by saying “It’s good to see you all in person after such a long time.” She noted that the college has had a remarkable year in terms of donations. This year’s annual Pedal the Petrified will have to remain virtual, as the Petrified Forest National Park can’t issue special permits. This year the event, held Sept. 1 through Oct. 18, will be called “Petal” the Petrified to honor Dr. John Graft who has passed away but sponsored the ride for so many years. Wilson noted he would send her at least one study of a flower in each of his travels. “We are asking riders to share pictures of their ride to include at least one study of a flower to honor Dr. Graft,” Director Wilson shared. The college has received new donations this year including an anonymous one in the amount of $100,000 which has been placed in an endowment fund to provide 10 $1,000 scholarships per semester. “We call it the Andy Von Transportation Grant for Native American Students.” The college has received an additional $100,000 to provide academic scholarships to Native American students. This will provide six $1,000 scholarships in the spring. These scholarships will be officially announced Oct 1. In other business, the board: * Approved board members Elias Jouen and Laughter to attend the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) Leadership Congress in San Diego, Calif. This event will take place from Oct. 13-16. The cost is estimated at $3,250 each. * Approved an annual contract, renewable for four years, to Praxair Distribution, Inc. for welding equipment and supplies, and a secondary contract for four additional years to Sentry Fire & Welding Supply to assist in the event Praxair is unable to meet all future needs for equipment and supplies. The cost is anticipated to range between $80,000 and $250,000 annually. * Authorized the receipt of a grant in the amount of $1,212,246 from Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). * Approved purchase of DualEnroll software in the amount of $212,555 for a five-year term. This purchase will be made utilizing FIPSE Grant.
