Regents discuss fire, spring enrollment

by Courtney Bullard, co-associate editor

Scholarships, spring enrollment and the recent fire at the Technical Arts Building were among the topics of discussion at the February meeting of the South Plains College Board of Regents.

There was a fire in the Technical Arts Building on Jan. 16. Dee Macha from the Macha Insurance Agency in Levelland attended the meeting to give the Board an update on the Technical Arts Building. Repairs for the building will cost an estimated $300,000, according to Macha, and SPC has a $25,000 deductible on its insurance policy.

Although Macha is not 100-percent sure, based on reports from the Levelland Fire Department, he said he believes that a candle warmer was left on or there was a short in the warmer in an office in the nursing wing.  The candle warmer was sitting on a glass table and fell trough onto the papers, CDs and DVDs under it.  Macha said the CDs and DVDs smoldered for 11 to 12 hours. 

Macha reported that the fire damage was minimal, but there was a lot of smoke damage.  A lot of the ceiling and insulation had to be replaced in order to get rid of the smoke smell. They were able to get classes running again shortly after the fire, but they are continuing to work on the offices, with plans to be done very soon. There were about 400 boxes and files that had to be cleaned by hand by Blackmon Mooring. Candles, space heaters, and candle warmers are prohibited on campus.

“I wish that it hadn’t happened, but it was what I would consider the minimal amount of damage we could have had,” said Dr. Sharp, president of South Plains College. “No one was hurt, which is my first concern, and the building didn’t burn down. But we had smoke damage.”

Spring enrollment for 2007 has slightly declined. It has gone down .8 percent. The Reese campus had 3,230 students in 2006, and currently has 3,129. The Byron Martin ATC campus in Lubbock went from 619 students to 486. The Levelland and Plainview campuses have not declined, and dual-credit courses increased. In 2006, there were 861 students enrolled in dual-credit. There are currently 1,096 students. The increase is due to the number of high schools now offering these courses.

Recently, Dr. Sharp met with Kent Hance, the new chancellor of Texas Tech University, to discuss increasing the number of scholarships for transfer students. According to Dr. Sharp, 87 percent of students who first attended SPC and then transferred go on to graduate.  Only 50 percent of Texas Tech students who went to Tech as freshmen graduate.

“If you look at the amount of time students have to work these days, a scholarship will make that person a better student, not because it gives them more money, but perhaps it gives them more time to study,” said Dr. Sharp.

Ray West, a member of Muleshoe High School’s graduating class of 1954, donated $100,000 for nursing scholarships at the Muleshoe Center. According to Dr. Sharp, Mr. West felt that there were no scholarships when he graduated and wanted to give his money to students to pursue their nursing education.

“We hope to get Mr. and Mrs. West on the Levelland campus,” said Dr. Sharp.

The amount of grant funds received by the college has increased 71 percent since 2003 and 42 percent since 2005.  Total funds collected from federal grants, state grants, and local grants for the 2006-2007 year was $4,337,759.

 The Board also was told that construction on the Fine Arts Building on the Levelland campus and the expansion of the Plainview campus continue. Construction has slowed down on the Fine Arts Building because of cold weather, but construction on the Plainview campus is on schedule because the work is indoors.

SPC is currently looking for a dean of arts and sciences.  A total of 20 applications have been received, including three from within the college.  Ads have been placed in the local newspaper, and they plan on e-mailing institutions.  A flyer has been created that shows all the qualifications and primary responsibilities.  The dean of arts and sciences must have a master’s degree and is responsible for overseeing the curriculum.

Dr. Sharp gave the Board members a pamphlet explaining why Texas community colleges are essential that was in a recent issue of Texas Monthly. The pamphlet has facts about community colleges, such as there are currently 548,000 students enrolled in community colleges and 11,000 professionals would no longer be there without community colleges. Dr. Sharp said there seems to be a lot of support from West Texas lawmakers for community colleges, and Governor Rick Perry seems to be supportive as well. But it is still too soon to know, according to Dr. Sharp. 

The Board was also told about the Rural Community Entrepreneurship workshop.  The workshop was created by the Texas Rural Community College Network (TRCCN) and the Texas Entrepreneurship (TEN). The workshops, which unveiled comprehensive programs that develop support and strategies for rural entrepreneurs, was held at many different community colleges, including Southwest Texas Junior College in Uvalde, Coastal Bend College of Beeville, SPC and others.