MCC Awarded grants for HVAC upgrades ♥

Published in the Courier-Tribune on February 11, 2011

by Hugh Martin

TROY — Montgomery Community College trustees were informed of the receipt of two grants totaling $310,000 during their meeting at the college on Feb. 9.

Matthew Woodard, interim vice president of Administrative and Student Services, praised Director of Facilities Kevin McNeill for taking the initiative to write the applications for the grants. McNeill was recognized and thanked by MCC President Dr. Mary Kirk and the full board for the work he has done in acquiring the funds during a time of increasing budget cuts.

The funds are being used to update the HVAC system throughout the college that will result in additional savings through lower and more efficient energy usage. Woodard said that the systems in all campus buildings will be routed through an automated controller for more efficient operation.

Woodard also reported that individual desktop printers, where costs per copy were more than 30 cents each, had been replaced by a network to a single printer where black and white documents cost less than 1 cent each and color copies cost less than 3 cents each.

“Emails can be scanned for free,” Woodard said. “This action has resulted in a huge savings for the college.”

Kirk added that printing costs have been further reduced by making documents available online so that students can print them on their home computers as they are needed.

In other business the board:

• Approved the clear-cutting of 15 acres of hurricane-damaged timber on college land. The tract will be used by the forestry program as a teaching tool.

• Heard that the campus restaurant will be operated in-house due to a state requirement that fair-market rent had to be charged for outside vendors to use the space. The last operator chose not to continue to provide services under the new requirement.

The in-house restaurant will offer soups, salads and submarine sandwiches and make bread on-site. It is expected to be in operation around the first of March.

• Approved out-of-state travel for Kirk to attend the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) in Decatur, Ga., in May. She is an officer of SACS and all of her travel expenses will be paid by SACS.

• Heard that the student full-time equivalent (FTE) audit resulted in some exceptions being found in Continuing Education. Gary Saunders, dean of Continuing Education, told the board that the exceptions were mainly coding errors and changes were being made to prevent future problems.

• Received for the first reading of a policy for the naming of MCC facilities.

• Approved a new organizational chart, updating changes made since the previous chart was approved in January 2010.

• Welcomed two new system technicians, Josh Johnson and Adam Sommer.

• Welcomed six new employees: Crystal Thomas, Special Programs assistant; Metzi Hopkins, Developmental English instructor; Mitch Walker, director of Information Technology; Lenny Andrews, CIT Program head; Marcus Ervin, lead maintenance technician; and Randy Gunter, dean of Curriculum.

• Accepted resignations from Robert Lawing and Dawn Braswell, both from the Basic Law Enforcement Technology department. Lawing has accepted a full-time position as captain of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and Braswell will join the Siemens Group in Technical Training Services.

• Approved a lateral entry for Connie Harris into the new position of Purchasing and Evening administrator. This position was created as a result of combining positions to help the college meet the budget cuts that were mandated by the state.

Kirk also noted that two faculty members who plan to retire will not be replaced, resulting in further savings to comply with those cuts.

Jeff Hamilton, vice president of Instruction, reported on a new Faculty Evaluation program that had been developed by faculty volunteers who had been working on the program since September. Hamilton said that the program should take effect in the fall of 2011.

Hamilton also told the board that the state decision to end the fee waivers for high school students and inmates has resulted in a drop in the number of online classes being taken.

Representatives from MCC have met with high school seniors at Family Worship Ministries Christian Academy in Troy; seniors from Wescare Christian Academy in Troy have visited the MCC campus; and MCC was able to market classes to high schools outside of the county.

• Gay Roatch, MCC Foundation executive director, presented the board with pledge cards for the 2011 fund-raising drive. Roatch said that the goal for the drive will be $175,000, up from last year’s $150,000.00. The drive will begin March 1.