Number of first-time college students rises
Published or Revised December 02, 2008
New data for Paris Junior College shows there was a 41 percent increase in the number of students attending college for the first time at PJC last year, PJC Regents were told Monday evening during the board's regular meeting. As part of the Achieving the Dream program, PJC has been tracking more detailed data about students. First-time students went from 899 in 2007 to 1,268 in 2008 — and of those, 94 percent are first-generation college students. Part of the fall enrollment increase, according to PJC President Dr. Pamela Anglin, was the increase of dual credit students due in large part to the dual credit scholarships awarded and the dual credit tuition waiver. Achieving the Dream consultants visited PJC in November and were impressed with the progress made. To date, a committee has recommended advising be consolidated into a center, which will be housed in the Alford Center. Also, national developmental education expert Dr. Hunter Boylan visited the campus for two days to assess PJC's program and make recommendations for improvement. PJC's tutoring program has been moved to the library, and PJC Vice President of Student Services Dr. Sherry Aaker is developing a new system to alert counselors if a student needs assistance. The Regents also heard and accepted the yearly audit report, presented by Andy Reich of McClanahan and Holmes. Reich explained that there was a new reporting requirement of a letter to the governing body explaining any disagreements with the college management. He said he was pleased to report there were none, and that the audit was a "clean" or "unqualified" opinion of PJC's accounting practices. In other business, the Regents:- Approved upgrading the status of the Licensed Vocational Nursing program from a Level I to a Level II certificate. The status change would be administrative, not instructional, and would affect future budgets if the state modifies certain funding parameters.
- Approved the request from Campbell's Soup for a tax abatement program for 10 years to upgrade the Paris factory, which will bring an additional 57 jobs and a substantial economic boost to Paris and Lamar County.
- Set the timetable for meetings to hire a construction at risk manager for the student housing construction, including a meeting to interview finalists for Feb. 10 at 6:00 p.m. The finalists will be selected at the January Board of Regents meeting.
- Approved the hiring of Chris Malone as drafting instructor, effective Jan. 5, 2009.