On Wednesday, February 24, 2021, the Arkansas Northeastern College Board of trustees met via ZOOM teleconferencing for its regularly scheduled meeting where members welcomed new board member Mr. Gordon Miller of Leachville, AR. Mr. Miller was appointed to the board by Governor Hutchinson to fill the seat vacated by long-time member Sandra Kennett also of Leachville.
At the beginning of the meeting, ANC President Dr. James Shemwell read a resolution expressing the appreciation of the Board of Trustees of Arkansas Northeastern College and its College community to Ms. Kennett for her service. The Board approved the resolution and placed it in the permanent minutes of the ANC Board of Trustees for it to remain for historical purposes.
Members present were given an enrollment report by ANC Director of Student Services Courtney Fisher.
Like enrollment numbers across the nation, the pandemic has led ANC to a slight decline for this Spring Semester with a total headcount of 1,220 as compared to last Spring’s number of 1,360. The total number of credit hours this Spring is 10,537 as compared to 11,593 last Spring. ANC was fortunate to show a smaller decline than most of its sister intuitions across the state. ANC staff contributes this to the college’s commitment to be flexible for students in its course delivery. ANC faculty have worked very hard to provide their students instruction utilizing a variety of methods including online and ZOOM teleconferencing.
Mr. Scott Creecy, Physical Plant Director, gave a facility update including the need for a new roof on the Briggs-Sebaugh Wellness Center. The building’s roof was installed in 2005 and has surpassed the 12 year manufacturer’s warranty. Additionally, harsh weather has led to multiple leaks with last week’s snowstorm adding to the damage. The Board approved to replace the current roof at a cost not to exceed $190,000 including architectural fees.
In other news, Associate Vice President for Development and College Relations Rachel Gifford reported that ANC’s marketing team had been recognized by the Education Digital Marketing Awards. For eight years, Education Digital Marketing Awards (EDMA) have recognized the best educational websites, digital content, electronic communications, mobile media, and social media. Colleges and universities from across the country submit entries to be considered in one or more of 37 different categories. Entries are grouped by type of institution (2-year v. 4- year) and enrollment size. ANC was recognized with 10 awards, 6 Gold (the highest attainment) and 4 Merit.
Considering the rapid and massive increase of digital students since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, digital marketing has become an elevated strategic priority. Gifford noted that ANC’s EDMA recognition is a direct reflection of the work of ANC’s marketing staff, Media Director James Hartley, and Webmaster Danny Graham. No two-year college in the United States was recognized with as many awards as was ANC. Also notable is the fact that roughly half of the 8th Annual EDMA winners list outside advertising agencies responsible for their ads/promotions. ANC’s digital ads are produced entirely in-house.
ANC Associate Professor of Life Sciences Lance Morris provided a report on ANC’s Strategic Planning Process which was approved by the Board. The FY21-23 Strategic Plan for the Arkansas Northeastern College was developed through a collaborative planning process. This process was guided by the College’s vision, mission, core values, and student learning outcomes. Development of the plan began in January 2019 and is a part of the College’s Quality Initiative for the Higher Learning Commission. A planning taskforce of forty-seven faculty, staff and administrators, representing all departments of the College, participated in the project with a goal to ensure the effective and efficient use of College resources. Data was collected from over 1,200 internal and external stakeholders. That information, along with current trends in higher education, was analyzed, prioritized and resulted in five strategic themes to be addressed in the plan. These themes were crafted into operational goals by the planning task force and forwarded to the Cabinet for editing and approval. The Cabinet added a sixth goal to include accountability and responsibility. The Vice Presidents then worked with their staff members to develop objectives and detailed action plans to accomplish each goal. The strategic plan addresses years 2020-2021 through 2022-2023. It is intended to be a “living” document that will be reviewed periodically and updated as is appropriate.
Board members were made aware that Arkansas Northeastern College has received two Regional Workforce Grant awards from the Arkansas Division of Higher Education in the amount of $122,000 for Allied Health and $29,000 for Computer Information Systems (CIS). The Board approved acceptance of the grants. The Allied Health Grant award will be used to purchase a state-of-the-art SimMan-3G. This technology will allow ANC to provide simulation training to supplement and enhance the clinical experiences of students in the Associate Degree Nursing, Practical Nursing, and Paramedic Programs. This simulation training helps develop student abilities in all three domains of learning: cognitive (knowledge), affective (attitude), and psycho-motor (skills). The Allied Technologies Grant award will be used to establish a Cisco Certified Network Associate lab to meet the workforce education and training needs of our business and industry partners. This need was established by the CIS Program Advisory Committee which determined that high level programming, networking, and coding were areas needed by local employers and that the Cisco curriculum was robust and rigorous enough to meet current and future industrial partner needs for IT professionals.
The Board also approved acceptance of an anticipated grant extension award of $15,000 by the ECMC Foundation Food Insecurity Grant. The ECMC Foundation announced the launch of its Basic Needs Initiative on November 19, 2019, funding grants for seven entities, including the Arkansas Community Colleges (ACC). ACC seeks to scale a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) outreach model across Arkansas’ 22 community colleges. The four pilot colleges involved in the ACC grant are the Arkansas Northeastern College, North Arkansas College, Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas, and UA-Pulaski Tech. Each college agreed to develop and implement a SNAP outreach plan to address food insecurity among students by operating a campus food pantry and/or partnering with external providers to provide access to meals, as well as encouraging qualifying students with food insecurity needs to apply for SNAP benefits. Best practices developed at the pilot sites will be scaled to the other ACC colleges.
ACC chose ANC as a pilot college due to its experience already working with SNAP recipients through the Arkansas Department for Human Services, as well as ANC’s already established collaboration with local organizations providing meals to the hungry. At its December 2019 meeting, the ANC Board of Trustees approved accepting a grant award of $60,000 ($30,000 per year) from the ECMC Foundation covering the period of January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2021. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, made progress on the grant during 2020 very difficult for all grant recipients involved. The ECMC Foundation has indicated a willingness to extend the grant term by six months, through June 30, 2022. This extension hopefully will allow for this initiative to function for a year with a more normal number of students on campus as opposed to the very low number of in-person students after March 2020 through the current Spring 2021 semester. ANC foresees spending the additional grant funds on meal stipends through its on-campus Sunshine Grille, by supplementing the College’s inventory of non-perishable food items already used to provide emergency nourishment for under-resourced students, including homeless students; and to fund part-time labor to function as a food pantry purchasing/inventory clerk. The Office of Community Relations leads the project for ANC, aligning with other supporting services for under-resourced students within that office, including the Opportunity Bus, success navigation, mentoring, Career Closet, and the Career Connect program.
Dr. Shemwell provided an update regarding the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplement Appropriations Act which was passed by The United States Congress and signed into law by President Trump in response to the pandemic. CRRSAA includes funding to institutions to provide emergency financial aid grants to students whose lives have been disrupted, many of whom are facing financial challenges and struggling to make ends meet. CRRSAA also provides institutions of higher education funds to cover any costs associated with the pandemic, including significant changes to the delivery of instruction due to the coronavirus. The total amount allocated to ANC under CRRSAA is $1,289,031 by way of two grant awards. The grant award covering direct student aid is $283,441, matching the direct student aid portion under the CARES Act. The grant award covering institutional funds is $1,005,590. Executive staff is in the process of developing details and procedures for distributing the direct student aid portion, which under CRRSAA unlike CARES, requires a needs-based consideration. Executive staff recommends spending the bulk of the institutional CRRSAA funds on technological and functional upgrades to instructional spaces to allow for Internet-based broadcasting, such as Zoom, and to provide cameras and microphones such that remote students, both real-time and asynchronous, can experience a true virtual classroom alongside face-to-face students. These upgrades will provide ANC with maximum flexibility in the event of future pandemic situations, plus, more strategically respond to a massive increase in, and student recognition of, the convenience of remote learning. The College will have one year to fully expend the CRRSAA funding and allows capture of expenditures made after December 27, 2020, the date that President Trump signed the bill. The Board approved acceptance of the CRRSAA funds, both direct student aid and institutional assistance, allocated to the Arkansas Northeastern College totaling.
Dr. Shemwell also gave a report from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education (ADHE) that provided information regarding tuition, financial, and other statistics pertaining to Arkansas colleges and universities. The report informed the ANC Board of Trustees as to ANC’s performance and standing in comparison to other two-year colleges in the state. ANC offers the lowest tuition/mandatory fees of all Arkansas colleges and universities, as it has for many years, with the current amount of $2,840. The State average of $3,958 is 39% higher than that of ANC. Furthermore, ANC’s annual tuition/fees growth rate of 1.8% is well below the state average of 3.1% over the past five years. In terms of facilities, the presentation revealed that ANC has a smaller percentage (32.8%) of its overall facilities with maintenance needs as opposed to the state average (40.2%), an indication of ANC’s proactive approach to keeping its facilities in good operating condition. The last information presented revealed how each of Arkansas’ two-year colleges spends their revenues. ANC spends the highest percentage (49.7%) directly on instruction, nearly 10% above the state average (39.9%). ANC also invests a high percentage in the Public Service category, largely reflective of the College’s Community Relations outreach. The information provided by the state reflects that ANC spends more of its funds on instruction for students than on administrative costs.
