Paris Junior College Board of Regents President Curtis Fendley gave a report on a recent Board of Trustees Institute at the monthly regent meeting held Monday, Sept. 27. The Texas Success Center sponsored the institute in Austin recently and Fendley, Regent Linda Kapp and PJC President Dr. Pam Anglin represented the College there.
“Our college is so far advanced in the Pathways Program compared with some colleges just getting started,” Fendley said, referencing an almanac distributed at the institute. “We’re at the pinnacle of advancing with Pathways. We are above on graduation rates and in our student success measures.”
While several Texas colleges have recently been finalists for the prestigious Aspen Award, Fendley added, PJC outperforms them statistically in many areas of student success.
“We do rank very highly among our peer community colleges,” Fendley said.
Success in the community was also recognized over the weekend as PJC received the Gerald Bawcum Award for Community Service from the St. Joseph’s Community Foundation. PJC received the award for providing COVID-19 testing and early coordination and hosting of COVID-19 vaccination clinics to address community health needs. PJC also received a $2,500 donation with the award.
In other business the Regents:
• Voted to continue the formula for setting Continuing Education course tuition. The formula requires annual approval, and has demonstrated it gives the College flexibility to set individual fees based on the cost to offer each course.
• Approved continuation of the College’s mission statement for the next five years after internal review by faculty and the Administration. PJC’s mission statement is: “Paris Junior College is a comprehensive community college serving the region’s educational and training needs while strengthening the economic, social and cultural life of our diverse community.”
• Gave final approval to the 2021 tax rate of $0.0815 per $100 of valuation, down from $0.089 in 2020.
• Received a report on Fall 2021 enrollment showing a 1.13 percent decline from one year ago in contact hours and head count down 2.14 percent.
• Reviewed the responsibilities of the regents from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges Section 4: Governing Board.
• Received a report on PJC’s Adult Education and Literacy Program. It has been five years since Texas moved adult education under the Texas Workforce Commission. According to Susan Sanchez, director of the program, the emphasis has grown from getting students their high school equivalency certificates and English as a Second language proficiency to include goals for workplace skills and college training.
• Learned during the President’s Report that PJC is pursuing workforce grants to enhance short-term skills training to meet local industry needs. The college is already offering a five-week course in Industry Readiness that will position those successfully completing it for entry-level jobs of $15-16 per hour and for advancing more rapidly. A GED or high school diploma is to sign up for the class, which is offered through PJC’s Continuing Education Department.
