CCC eyes April for naming new president

A new president for Clovis Community College is set to be announced in early April with the help of ACCT Searches, the company that was hired last month to assist CCC trustees in the search.

Chair Lora Harlan on Wednesday went over the process outlined by ACCT.

“ACCT has been very diligent, and they've done this enough times,” Harlan said.

“They know about how long it needs to take to go from one step to another.”

Harlan said the next step will be to have a special meeting in mid-October to approve the search committee, which she said was not yet available.

Harlan said the search committee personnel for the presidential search should be identified by Oct. 25.

ACCT will also finish a presidential profile draft, which is what the job description will become for the search.

Interim President Robin Jones said the committee will put together the qualifications and experiences they would like to see in the presidential applicants. Jones has not publicly stated whether she’ll be a candidate for the job. Last week she said she still couldn’t answer the question.

“The proposed date is for us to announce a new president of Clovis Community College in early April and have that person tentatively on board by July 1,” Harlan said.

ACCT is the same firm that assisted the college in finding candidates when the board hired Charles Nwankwo in October 2019.

The board accepted Nwankwo's resignation in February after he had been placed on administrative leave in August 2022.

Some fee increases were also discussed during Wednesday’s meeting.

Robyn Kuykendall, executive vice president, told the board that any increases made were to cover the expendables and the kits that are given to the students when they leave the college to help them start their new jobs.

“We work very diligently to make sure we don't raise fees just to raise them,” Kuykendall said.

“We increase because as things go up, you’ve got to raise it up in order to cover the supplies and things,” Trustees Secretary Terry Martin said.

Kuykendall said some of the increases are within the cosmetology program, programmatic textbook fees, and CPR certifications.

Kuykendall also discussed the Textbook Affordability Act, which CCC is the only school in New Mexico to participate in.

Within the Textbook Affordability Act, there are two different structures:

• Traditional package: Centers around mostly general education courses. It is a per credit hour fee that is charged at the time of registration, just like tuition. Kuykendall said it works like a concierge service. “They show them their schedule, pick up their books and they're good to go,” she said. It also reduces the chance of being unprepared for the first day of classes, and helps students have their books ready by the first week.

• Programmatic package: Is built more around programs, like the allied health programs, the occupational therapy programs, etc. It is based off a purchase and students will get them in bundles. Also charged at registration.

Trustees also received an update on the Title V individual grant, which was awarded in 2020 for $2,995,925.

The grant was to focus on two main tasks: developing seamless education pipelines featuring engaging instructional strategies and developing effective, individualized student support services.

Director Nohemi Lara-Miller explained how the tutoring and writing center received updates including new furniture, touch-screen monitors and other technology, along with new equipment including microscopes for science classrooms.

Lara-Miller said they are working to have a grand opening later this month.

Director of Security Richard Benavidez presented an annual campus security report to the board.

Four burglaries were reported in 2022, but Benavidez said there had been improvements made in different areas where some of those burglaries happened; since then, no other burglaries have been reported.

Trustees then approved renovations to be made to the west, northeast, and south parking lots on campus.

Funding for the project will come from New Mexico General Obligation Bonds in the amount of $614,711.96.

The project will now go to the New Mexico Higher Education Department for final approval.