SPC Regents discuss Fine Arts construction, fall enrollment
dip at September meeting
by Jacob Tucker, associate editor
Construction, fall enrollment, and
future campaign efforts to promote education for the college
were among the main topics of discussion during the
September meeting of the South Plains College Board of
Regents.
Construction for the addition to the
Fine Arts Building will begin soon. During the meeting Jim
McCutchin of McCutchin Construction in Levelland presented a
list of bidders for the different jobs needed for this
construction project.
“We have been having a little trouble
getting a hold of a few of the bidders for their insurance,”
McCutchin informed the Board. “Without their insurance,
these bidders will not be recommended for use by the
college.”
The jobs that were up for bid ranged
from electrical work to demolition work.
“This size of job will be particularly
difficult for a demolition company to do,” said McCutchin.
“We just have so much to do on the interior and the
exterior. It is hard to find one that is affordable enough
for the college and one that is willing to do the hard work
involved with this project. It will be a lot of manual
labor.”
The estimated cost of the project will
be considerably less than what was originally projected by
BGR Architecture.
“When we first received the project, we
estimated the cost at $2.7 million,” said Coda Stephenson, a
representative of BRG, “but with all of the bids that we
have received, that price will go down.”
Due to the high cost of the project,
Dr. Kelvin Sharp, president of South Plains College,
suggested that the Board borrow money, in the form of bonds,
to help fund the new construction.
“With the figures that we have
received, we will need a $3 million bond to cover all of the
costs of this project,” said Sharp. “This will cover
everything, including the renovation of the old parts of the
building, new furniture for the added classrooms, and the
front and back.”
The college has already raised more
than $1 million for the building, but by obtaining a bond to
pay for the work, this raised money will go to payment of
the bond.
“The only reason we are asking for this
large amount of money is because we will not have to go
through the process of asking for more money,” said Dr.
Sharp.
David Jones, vice president of student
affairs, presented the fall semester enrollment to the
Board. The college has dropped a mere 2 percent, but that
is about 184 students that are not receiving the higher
education that they deserve said Jones.
“These numbers that we are experiencing
right now are exactly what we predicted,” said Jones.
Jones explained that the drop is due to
the economic situation that our nation has been faced with.
“If the economy is up, more jobs are
available, therefore more young people will go to those
jobs,” said Jones. “But when the economy is down, more
students would be able to attend college.”
Stephen John, vice president for
institutional advancement, presented a report that included
new educational campaigns to help promote the importance of
higher education.
“According to many new world studies,
the United States is beginning to slip in the field of
higher education,” said John. “Many other countries are
pouring funding into education and are getting results.”
John told the Board that SPC has
partnered with four other regional universities, Texas Tech
University, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center,
Lubbock Christian University, and Wayland Baptist
University. These schools are looking for ways to get more
people interested in higher education and its importance to
the nation’s workforce and economy.
“American community colleges provide 83
percent of all first responder training,” said John. “This
includes police officers, emergency medical technicians, and
many others.”
On Oct. 2 in Lubbock, the five
presidents of the participating schools will meet and hold a
press conference and program for the community to show the
importance of higher learning. A full-page ad was placed in
the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal on Aug. 6 promoting the
event. This led to more ads being placed by the
institutions in each Sunday paper.
“All of the schools get free
advertising in the A-J for supporting the Make Kids Count
program,” said John. “We combined our efforts for the
full-page ad, and we will take turns in promoting our stance
on education each week.”
Darrell Grimes, vice president for
academic affairs, presented the Board with good news in the
form of an interim dean of arts and sciences. Dr. Orlo
Sundre volunteered for the job and came out of retirement.
“It was kind of a funny story how he
came back,” said Grimes. “During a conversation one day, he
had mentioned that he would come back to the college if they
ever needed any help, and it turned out that we really
needed him.”
The college was going to go without a
dean for the remainder of the year, due to the late opening
of the position.
“Well, we thought that we, Dr. Sharp
and I, could possibly handle the work, but that would spread
us way too thin,” said Grimes. “It was too late in the year
to find anyone who would be good for the position, but we
were really lucky that Dr. Sundre stepped up.”
The college now has the time to search
for a new dean without being rushed into making a decision
that might be regretted later on in the year.
In other action, the Board reviewed the
college’s finances, and Dr. Sharp presented a report on the
opening of the Muleshoe Center and the possibility of other
centers like it in the area.
