HOWARD

increase in faculty pay would equivalent to $10,000. Also according to Sparks, current faculty and staff pay are $16,000 less than state average compared to similar sized colleges.

“Going into this session, it will be tough, but we are raising our hand to see if we can get some additional funding for SWCD,” Sparks said.

Chairman Freeman also provided his thoughts on the request for additional funding for faculty and staff.

“I know for one, at our budget meeting that we had, the high school teachers are actually making more than our certified, Master's degree instructors here at the college, which is just to me, asinine. But, that's up to the state and what we can do to get those salaries up,” Freeman said.

Vice President Amy Burchett provided a Title V Grant Update to Trustees stating Howard College has received the Title V Grant which would allow for $600,000 to be granted to the college per year over a five year period.

The grant was written to align with the Texas Pathways Model titled Making Dreams R.E.A.L. (reach, empower, apply, launch).

Through this grant, Burchett and Howard College hope to address four overarching objectives: to increase the number of students completing a degree 100% of the time by 10 percentage points by Sept. 30, 2025; to improve the number of Hispanic and low-income students who graduate by 10 percentage points by Sept. 30, 2025; to increase the transfer rate for Hispanic and low-income students by 5 percentage points by the end of the grant; to provide grant funded services to over 4,500+ students.

During the meeting, Sparks provided the Board with a COVID-19 Response Status #6 and an Open Howard College Update. According to Howard College's website (last updated on Sept. 25) Big Spring campus has had seven confirmed positive cases, five recovered cases, and two active cases;