CCC board chooses insurance provider

Blue Cross Blue Shield will continue to be the provider of health insurance to Clovis Community College employees for the next five years, the community college’s board decided Wednesday .

The college will pay more than $2.5 million for employee health care benefits that include a health savings account, a high-deductible option, Medicare supplemental insurance for retirees, life insurance and dental benefits, Steve Brooks, the college’s purchasing agent, told the board.

A staff committee evaluated the Blue Cross Blue Shield offer.  Committee members included Heather Lovato, CCC’s chief financial officer; Regina Dart, human resources director; Katrina Walley, comptroller; Melissa Reed, chair of occupational technology; Richard Benavidez, acting director of Security; and Brooks.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield plan does not include vision care or flexible spending account options, Brooks said. According to the CCC website, employees receive vision care services through VSP.

In other matters Wednesday, the board:

• Approved the college course catalogue for the 2022-2023 academic year, which includes changes and updates in course offerings, credits, degree and certificate requirements, among other changes from the 2021-2022 academic year.

• Reappointed a three-member Labor Management Relations Board including Megan Palla, who chairs the board; Mark Carpenter, representing CCC; and Rick Switzer, a BNSF railroad retiree who serves as the labor representative.

• Authorized the purchase of $100,913 of Oracle server and database software to maintain the college’s financial and student information system through Mythics, Inc., a Virginia Beach, Va., software consulting firm.

• Approved a resolution to comply with New Mexico Open Meetings Act requirements and a calendar of scheduled meetings, all on the first Wednesday of the month from August to June 2023.

• Heard a presentation from Kellyann Weber on the Upward Bound program for high school students who meet low-income requirements and show promise of becoming the first in their families to attend college. Weber said she learned on May 23 the program at CCC has been funded for the next five years, a total of nearly $1.5 million.

The program is serving 49 students this year with activities that include travel to Boston and South Dakota for students who maintain academic standards, a summer program with a Harry Potter theme, and field trips to museums and cultural sites in New Mexico. Weber said students met standards in every program measure except grade-point average, which fell below the 2.5 standard.

• Discussed redistricting, which is still under state review. The college favors an option that keeps the district boundaries to elect college board members the same as those for Clovis Municipal Schools, President Charles Nwankwo and the college’s attorney, Kameron Barnett said.

• Approved a list of 12 “supplemental graduates,” who applied for graduation after the deadline or who qualified but did not apply.