The Northeast Texas Community College Board of Trustees met for its regular December meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 19th at 5 p.m. Shirley Dickerson, Chief Appraiser with the Titus County Appraisal District, addressed the board for public comment. She presented Board Chair Chuck Johns with a check for $4,391 from TCAD. Dickerson said that the appraisal district maintains a zero balance budget and divides excess among its taxing entities, which includes NTCC.
The first regular order of business was to hear the presentation of the annual independent audit. Molly Abele from the firm Axley and Rode gave the college an unmodified opinion and indicated that everything was presented fairly in all respects. The audit included state and federal program compliance. Abele said that the college improved its net position over 2022 and there were no issues or findings to report to the board. She commended Brandi Cave, Controller and Interim CFO, and her staff for their hard work and cooperation during the audit process.
In the President’s Report, Dr. Ron Clinton, President, gave an update on NTCC’s cybersecurity measures. He said that the college deploys numerous tactics to prevent malicious cyber-attacks including multi-factor authentication for both student and employee logins, not allowing employees to have administrative access to computers, contracting with a 24/7 network monitoring company, and more. He acknowledged Sebastian Barron, Director of Computer and Enterprise Services, and the whole computer services team, for their diligence in keeping the college network safe.
Under Items of information, Clinton presented a year four update on the “Destination 2025” strategic plan.
“The passing of HB8 drastically changed the methods by which Texas community colleges are evaluated and funded. This meant that some of our goals, objectives, and KPIs needed to be adjusted to better reflect these new standards,” Clinton said.
Clinton proposed that the plan be condensed from five goals to three. They are: Goal 1, Student Success; Goal 2, Great Place to Work & Learn; and Goal 3, Community Engagement. While some objectives and KPIs remained the same, others were modified or moved to new categories.
The board also acknowledged that all NTCC Trustees have completed the cybersecurity training mandated by HB3834.
In action items, the board approved the consent agenda and then approved Clinton’s proposed strategic plan changes. They also approved hiring Gwen Williams as a Nursing Faculty Member and Ana Perry as a Culinary Arts Faculty Member. There was no further business so the meeting was adjourned.
