Summit, donations and new busses top highlights at Howard College Board meeting

At their meeting Monday, Howard College trustees accepted three donations from individuals and organizations, approving a resolution in appreciation of each one.

First, the Dora Roberts Foundation gave the college $192,000, which will be used to fund two faculty members in the nursing department, a scholarship, and additional funding for the college's Rodeo Arena.

Next, the board accepted a donation from Mark Mclaughlin for the Howard College San Angelo Scholarship Fund; and finally the board approved a resolution supporting finance recommendations issued by the Texas Commission on Community College Finance.

The meeting began with approval of routine matters, which were all approved with a single, unanimous vote.

Routine matters approved by the board include minutes of the Dec. 12 regular meeting, financials for December 2022, monthly reports of auxiliary services, personnel matters and the internal audit report.

Next, the board delved into New Business, starting with a brief discussion of the college's recent response to COVID-19.

“There aren't a lot of changes. We are hopefully staying on top of what we do as far as COVID-19 response,” said

Howard College President Dr. Cheryl Sparks, adding that the main concern currently with regards to COVID is working out how to spend the remainder of the grant funding provided as a response to the pandemic.

Following Sparks' remarks, the board approved the three resolutions mentioned previously. Sparks also discussed the upcoming Howard County Leadership Summit, scheduled Feb. 28.

“We will be hosting the summit again,” Sparks said. “The difference will be, it will be in the afternoon this time, as opposed to being in the evening. We anticipate that it will go from about 1 p.m. to about 5 p.m.”

Sparks said the summit will be similar to the one held in December 2021, but feels there will be more of a chance for interaction between the various groups involved. The Leadership Summit brings together several government groups and local decisionmakers to give them a chance to mingle and talk about the future of Howard County.

Jan Thomas of the accounting firm Logan, Thomas and Johnson, joined the meeting by telephone to present the firm's audit of the College's finances. According to Thomas, the college's net position has increased to $4.4 million from last year's $4.2 million, while its total equity is $38 million.

“There was big news in the auditing world last year where they changed the audit opinions to make it more understandable for everyone, I guess,” Thomas said. “So now our opinion is the very first paragraph of the report instead of halfway through the report. So we have an unmodified opinion, which is good.”

Thomas said the “unmodified” opinion on the audit means the outside auditing firm didn't uncover any unusual or unscrupulous accounting practices

in the College's audit. The College Board members received a revised copy of the annual investment report, which was originally distributed in October.

Professor Amber Kelly, PHD, is the college's liaison with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). She gave a brief update on the program's Fifth Year Report.

“We heard back on Jsn. 13. It was our Fifth Year Report,” Kelly said. “We had one finding – a requestg for referrals regarding Standard 1424, which deals with how we represent ourselves to a

crediting agency. The request was not that we were not necessarily incompliant, but they wanted a little more documentation that we are using it in our own work.”

Next, the College Board discussed pros and cons of purchasing a new bus to replace part of the college's aging fleet, which includes two 1996 buses and two 1999 buses. After some discussion, board members approved looking at the purchase of two brand-new buses.

The new buses should last the college between 20 and 25 years, and include a graphics package.