DEKALB, Texas-Texarkana College's board of trustees unanimously approved a 2017-18 capital improvement plan during their regular meeting Monday, which was held at the Williams House Museum.
The plan includes technology upgrades, heating and air systems, general remodeling, a $1.2 million addition to the Workforce Development building and a $1.5 million plan to pave parking lots campus-wide.
TC President James Henry Russell said they've been working for the past five years to complete much-needed projects, including all new roofs on the buildings.
"What this does, it gives us a good road map and also planning for some dollars to make sure we are doing something every year so we don't get in such a bind like the college currently is on deferred maintenance," he said.
He added that constructing an addition to the workforce building will help to enhance and expand the programs TC currently offers. Currently, a portion of the programs are housed in a building on Summerhill Road, which is owned by Texarkana Independent School District. Officials there have expressed a need for the space, and the programs must be moved.
"There's really no place on the campus for that to take place. And it's a good opportunity to give the proper amount of room and space for our industrial maintenance," Russell said. "Some of the programs are really taking off and are in great demand that have wonderful salaries in the community. Putting some of our top programs front and center will give us a little room in the old building to remodel."
He said TC may also offer some new entry-level workforce programs in the future, once they have the additional space.
In other business, Donna McDaniel, vice president of instruction, gave a report on an invitation for TC to apply for the Achieving the Dream 2018 Leah Meyer Austin Award. She said TC was invited to apply because of the fact they have the highest completion rate for all community colleges in the state of Texas and that they have almost doubled the number of degrees or certificates awarded since 2012. McDaniel also said TC also has increased the three-year graduation rate for African-American males from 3.7 percent in 2009, to 32.9 percent in 2013.
"We attribute these dramatic systemic changes over the past seven years with our president's leadership," she said. "He has entirely changed the leadership team.
He focuses on data-driven decisions and we feel like that was the key to successful change."
Achieving the Dream award recipients will be announced at a conference in February 2018.
In other business, Kim Jones, the vice president of finance, presented the 2017 tax roll from the Bowie County Central Appraisal District. The board approved the roll, which shows $5.4 billion in total taxable value, with a total tax levy of $6.2 million.
At the end of the meeting, Russell said he thought it was one of the best board meetings he's attended since he's been president, as the reports on student success and strong finances were very positive.
"What we have seen is many changes have been made. A lot of things are being done differently now and our students are succeeding because of it," he said. "We're seeing our students coming in, they're staying a shorter amount of time, they're graduating faster and they're moving on to do better things. That really makes me feel good. Everything at Texarkana College is doing better. We're nowhere near where we eventually want to go, but it's a lot of fun to see things improving on a daily and yearly basis."
Trustees also approved combining the November and December meetings into one, which is scheduled for Dec. 11.