GCCC raising fees for classes and housing 2018-19

By: Kristi Tempel, GCCC Director of Public Relations

The Garden City Community College Board of Trustees met in regular session on Tuesday, February 20 2018, in the Endowment of the Beth Tedrow Student Center. The meeting was called to order by board chair, Steve Martinez.

Dr. Herbert J. Swender, GCCC President, directed the trustees’ attention to the many activities and happenings at GCCC since the last Board of Trustees meeting. GCCC hosted the Finney County Economic Development Corporation Annual Meeting on January 10. Six automotive students received their Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Certificates on January 11. EMST students moved into a freshly renovated classroom at the start of the spring semester. The GCCC Student Government Association sponsored a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration in Conestoga Arena on January 15. The keynote speaker was Chief Master Sergeant Maurice L. Williams, the Command Senior Enlisted Leader for the Kansas National Guard. GCCC participated in Higher Education Days at the Kansas Capitol on January 18. GCCC Block and Bridle Club and rodeo students helped with the Finney County Farm Bureau “Friends on the Farm” Day on January 19. GCCC hosted several events in January including the Hi Plains Basketball Tourney, Lakin Middle School visit, GCCC Bareback and Saddle Bronc Riding Clinic, and the Southwest District FFA sales/speech contest. Over 200 student/athletes were honored with a certificate for achieving a GPA of 3.0 or over on Athletic Academic Achievement Night at the home game vs. Indy on January 31. The college singers held a Choral Valentine’s Concert on February 8, and a dedication ceremony was held on February 17 to dedicate Conestoga Arena and Ron Schwartz Court.

Matt Allen, City Manager, presented the board with a housing update for Rural Housing Incentive Districts. Allen gave a PowerPoint presentation on a Community Housing Assessment Team Study (CHAT), and the ongoing need for housing in the Garden City Community. Under the study the recommended target need per year of new housing units was estimated at 114/year. Over the last 5 years, Garden City residential developments have met this recommendation at a level of 58% or an average of 66 units. Allen presented material on Rural Housing Incentive Districts (RHIDs). RHIDs have been utilized in Garden City since 2012 and four of the 12 developed RHIDs have completed their housing developments. Allen shared how the RHIDs work and that the developer puts in the infrastructure at their expense. The property is valued before development and is the baseline for the Base Appraisal Amount. Once developed and newly assessed, the Improved Appraised Amount, which goes up over time, is marked to reimburse the developer for their infrastructure expenses. At the end of the RHID, the taxing entities will receive the Base Appraisal Amount plus the Improved Appraised Amount to create the new tax base. Allen also shared a chart showing that overall planned RHIDs were not keeping up with the overall need. The conclusion of the study shows that RHIDs in Garden City are still a good option for developers to continue to meet the housing needs, and RHIDs provide a new tax base for Garden City and save the City from having to install costly infrastructure improvements for developments that may not get built.

LTC, Ken Hutchison and Major Eric Hollingsworth of the U.S. Army Cadet Command shared information about a recent Army National Guard ROTC designation for Garden City Community College. Garden City Community College is the only two-year college in the nation recognized as an official Army ROTC site. Hutchison explained the mission of the United States Army Cadet Command and how they partner with universities to recruit, educate, develop and inspire Senior ROTC Cadets. The purpose of the program is to develop and recruit quality prospects and is currently in over 1,100 schools nationwide. The unique program at Garden City Community College offers benefits for students to take military science courses at GCCC then seamlessly transfer to the Pittsburg State University program. The unique 2+2 linkage creates a pathway to transfer and enter as an academic junior and immediately continue pursuit of a 4-year degree and army commission. The program also offers financial benefits with ROTC Scholarships, stipends and students can stack scholarships with financial aid.

The GCCC Academic Challenge Team was introduced to the board along with their coaches Dr. Will Friesen, and Dr. Jeannie Ferguson. The team received a bid to the national tournament in Chicago on March 2. Only 24 teams from the country are chosen to participate in the national tournament. The GCCC team has fifteen members, but only four members can represent the team at the National Quiz Bowl Championship. The instructors used criterion and data to choose the members who will travel to Chicago to represent Garden City Community College. The four members representing GCCC are Jonathan Welch, Aaron Morales, Caleb Ryan and Emily Biernacki.

Clay Woydziak, Student Government Association President, gave the Student Government Association (SGA) report. SGA held a casino night on Thursday, February 15. They handed out prizes and candy, and gave away a TV. Over 100 students attended the casino night. SGA is planning a river clean-up project for Earth Day, and are currently working on organizing the event slated for April 21-22. The committee is already asking for volunteers and will start to advertise the event to solicit community involvement. SGA is closer to implementing a bike depot where students can check out bikes for transportation. SGA is finalizing details and paperwork to bring the project to fruition.

Sheena Hernandez, Faculty Senate President, shared a written faculty senate report. Faculty Professional Development interest is strong and four faculty members have been approved to attend conferences. The Faculty Senate professional development survey has been finished. Results shared from the survey show that most faculty would like more on-campus development opportunities and they continue to work with Administration to provide opportunities. On February 23, they will have an opportunity to learn more about developmental education. The first learning community for faculty for the spring 2018 semester will involve kinesthetic learning.

Under Consent Agenda, the board voted to approve Pneumatic Training Materials and Equipment needed for the Industrial Maintenance Training Program. Funding for the materials will be provided through the KanTRAIN Grant for $67,960.13.

Also under Consent Agenda, the board voted on 2018-19 tuition, fees, room and board. Tuition and fee recommendations are based on analysis of data such as rates of other Kansas community colleges and industry trends and historical costs. GCCC administration recommended no increase in tuition, however, a $4.00 per credit hour increase in fees was proposed. The additional revenue will directly benefit students through scholarships, debt service on additional housing and miscellaneous student activities. A $100 increase in annual student housing rates was recommended due to additional debt service on student housing and expected increases in utilities and insurance. The cost of the meal plan was adjusted $50 per year to account for the 2.0 increase in CPI, which is the anticipated increase from Great Western Dining.

The board voted to approve the following tuition and fee rates for 2018-19:

In-state tuition and fees $100 per credit hour
Border States tuition and fees $114 per credit hour
Out-of-state tuition and fees $119 per credit hour
International tuition and fees $137 per credit hour

West Hall and East Unit room rate $2,800 per year
Apartment room rate $4,100 per year
Broncbuster Housing $3,600 per year
Broncbuster Suites $4,300 per year

19 Meal Plan $2,800 per year

Steve Martinez gave the Finney County Economic Development (FCEDC) report. FCEDC is working with a restaurant company to bring businesses to Finney County. They are also looking at opportunities for training in the food service industry. FCEDC is looking into housing opportunities with landowners. The STAR Bond has passed and FCEDC is working with developers to move forward on the project. FCEDC is looking at creating programs for college and high school for training. They continue to work on daycare solutions. The project “Maker Space” is moving forward and it will be a place for people to go and work on various types of projects like woodworking, crafts, etc. for a nominal fee. Representatives from FCEDC attended a Dairy Expo to continue to look at opportunities for the dairy industry in this area.

Jeff Crist gave Kansas Association of Community College (KACCT) Report. Crist shared that the last month’s meeting was to honor community college Phi Theta Kappa students. Two GCCC students Devyn Chapman, and Michelle McPherson, were named to the All-Kansas Academic Team and honored during the Phi Theta Kappa event at the Capitol. The next KACCT meeting will be in Kansas City, Kansas in June.

Ryan Ruda, Vice President of Instruction/Student Services, gave the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) report. Ruda shared that work was finishing up on division plans. Individual department plans are complete and department plans will be brought together to create an overall college plan. They are currently working on catalog updates that align degree paths and curriculum for transfer. The college will implement assessment software to track course and programs outcomes and to help analyze data. The implementation of the software will take place this spring. Faculty will attend a workshop on developmental education.