Audit declares TC financially stable
School’s fall commencement exercises set for Monday
Texarkana College’s Board of Trustees approved the college’s audited financial statements for the year ending Aug. 31 during its regular meeting Monday.
Thomas & Thomas Certified Public Accounting firm made a presentation to the board, saying the audit was clean, error-free and that TC is financially stable.
TC President James Henry Russell said he was proud of the staff who worked to maintain that stability.
“The college has worked very hard to do more with less and to hold the line on expenses,” Russell said. “We continuously analyze what is most necessary to carry out our mission—to advance our community through quality and attainable higher education. Operating within a lean environment is important to strengthening TC’s efficiency and effectiveness as an institution.”
Board President Kyle Davis said the college has shown great resilience during the transition of relying on state funding to more local support.
“Today we have a great report showing our stable financial position and great compliance record despite the constant challenge to overcome declining state revenue and tightened federal and state controls,” he said. “The entire team is to be commended for their commitment to excellence in financial management during a very challenging time for the state’s community colleges.”
TC’s revenue comes from local taxes, tuition and fees and state appropriations. Since 2008, the college’s state funding has been reduced by 24 percent.
Russell said community support is vital for TC’s future success.
“There are clear messages coming out of Austin that the future of community college funding will continue to shift toward local sources,” he said. “We are so grateful for the support we receive from our community and our donors. Without their funds, we would simply not be here.”
Kim Jones, chief financial officer, said TC has committed from the top down to building a culture of excellence and fiscal integrity and that is the primary reason the college’s financial position has remained stable.
“Our board of trustees could not be more supportive of our efforts to maintain first-class human resources and our commitment to continuous improvement of institutional culture,” Jones said. “Every member of our Texarkana College family has worked hard to accomplish more, take care of our students even better, and do it all with less resources and less expenditures.”
Jones said actions taken by the board and administration during the 2017 fiscal year allows TC to report an increase in net assets of $467,679.
Katie Andrus, director of the TC Foundation also reported a $1.1 million increase in assets for the fiscal year. They are working toward a goal of $10 million for the foundation to sustain the Presidential Scholarship program.
“In order to endow TC’s Presidential Scholarship fund well into the future, we must reach $10 million in foundation assets,” Andrus said. “This scholarship rewards top high school graduates across our service area with up to 60 semester credit hours of college and admission into our Honors College program.”
In other business, Dr. Donna McDaniel, vice president of instruction, introduced students in the TC Honors College who will be graduating Monday.
“We are so proud to announce that 24 members of TC’s Honors College are graduating this fall,” McDaniel said. “Each of these students have not only maintained a high level of academic performance, but have served as ambassadors for the college for special events, meetings with dignitaries, and community outreach projects. We commend them for their service and their success.”
The fall commencement ceremony will be held at 7 p.m., Monday at First Baptist Church, Texarkana, Texas.
Members of TC’s Institutional Advancement team also gave a presentation on honors they recently received for their advertising work.
“Our team is excited to announce that TC won two gold medallions at the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations District 4 regional conference for our entries in the print advertisement and TV commercial categories of their advertising and marketing competition,” said Suzy Irwin, director of institutional advancement and public relations.
Irwin, along with Traci Pitman and Emily Fruge, designed and produced the commercial and print advertisements in-house to establish greater brand awareness for the college to promote the Alumni & Friends campaign.