Regents OK redistricting, hear about budget cuts

Published or Revised June 29, 2011

Final maps of new districts were received and approved by the Paris Junior College Board of Regents Monday evening. Two meetings of an advisory council were held, as well as a public hearing to solicit comments. The districts were renumbered to more closely follow the Paris City Council districts. The maps will be sent to the Department of Justice for review and approval. In her report, PJC President Dr. Pam Anglin informed the Regents that the Legislature still has not finalized the budget, though the Coordinating Board has provided numbers to the colleges. Based on those numbers, PJC's state funding will be cut $738,109 from this year. Additionally, presidents have been told colleges can expect an additional 5 percent cut in January 2012, amounting to $445,092, so the actual cut to PJC will be $1,183,201. The college initially expected a cut of $1.2 million, so with the cuts to positions and increase in tuition, PJC should be able to maintain current services to students and the community. The Regents also:

• Received a financial statement from Vice President of Business Services John Eastman showing positive finances. There are still three months of tax revenue to come in the fiscal year.
• Approved the Audit Engagement letter with McClanahan and Holmes.
• Empowered the administration to negotiate and sign a contract with an electrical advisor. Currently PJC is paying 8.5 cents per kilowatt-hour and is seeing rates as low as 5.5 cents. This will allow a contract to be locked in when the lowest rate is available.
• Received the Summer I enrollment report of 2,129 students. This is slightly down from last year, but still a 19.4 percent increase from two years ago. Dr. Anglin checked with fellow community college presidents, and found a 5-7 percent enrollment decrease in Northeast Texas, and flat numbers in many other parts of the state. "We think the economy is starting to pick back up and programs such as welding that train people more quickly for jobs is seeing a slight decrease," Dr. Anglin told the Regents.
• Heard the results of the Student Survey of Instruction, showing the majority of faculty ratings are in the outstanding, very good and good range. The data goes to the vice presidents, associate deans and division heads for review, then to the instructors, including typed individual comments from students.
• Received the annual Report of Enrollment and Retention by course and by faculty member, as required by law, for the fall and spring semesters. The report shows the percentages of students completing each course. PJC's average is 91 percent.
• Viewed a presentation made recently at National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development in May by Dr. Anglin, Linda Slawson, Sheila Reece and John Shasteen in Austin on PJC's Achieving the Dream student success program, "From Access to Success." This was also presented in a webinar in April that went across the United States, sharing PJC's discoveries in helping students succeed in college. As a result of the program, PJC's fall to spring retention rate has improved from 70 to 82 percent.
• Approved the hiring of Deanna Jackson as student recruiter/academic advisor effective July 5, and the retirement of Pat Bell, director of the Small Business Development Center, effective Aug. 31.