Minutes
Blinn College District
Brenham Campus Advisory Committee Meeting
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
The Brenham Campus Advisory Committee met on April 25, 2023, in the Banquet Room of the Student Center, located at 1007 Walter Schwartz Way, Blinn-Brenham Campus.
Committee Members Present: Tee Dippel, Chair; Eric Alford, Vice Chair; Edna Kennedy, Pete Wunderlich, and Milton Tate.
Committee Members Absent: Jon Hill and Tylor Chaplin.
Representing Blinn College present at the meeting were: Dr. Mary Hensley, Leighton Schubert, Richard Cervantes, Dr. Marcelo Bussiki, Dr. Becky McBride, Jay Anderson, John Chancellor, Dr. Bennie Graves, Tiffany Jenkins, Dr. Jimmy Byrd, Myron Dippel, Richard Bray, Mark Feldhake, Trustee Jim Kolkhorst, Trustee Randy Wells, and Valarie Cienega.
The meeting was called to order by Mr. Tee Dippel at 11:30 a.m.
Approval of Minutes
After a proper motion from Mr. Tee Dippel, seconded by Dr. Eric Alford, the Committee unanimously approved the minutes from the November 1, 2022, meeting.
The 88th Legislative Update by Leighton Schubert, Executive Vice Chancellor
If House Bill 8 is passed, this will have sweeping changes to community college funding. The main change in House Bill 8 is to have the majority of state funding for community colleges in the form of an outcome-based funding model as opposed to the current contact hours-based funding model. House Bill 8 has passed the House and will now go to the Senate for approval.
Under House Bill 1114, Blinn is trying to add the portion of Waller ISD that is located in Harris County to Blinn’s service area. The future goal is to establish a Blinn Campus in the greater Waller area. House Bill 1114 has passed the House and will go to the Senate for approval.
Blinn College District Construction Update by Mark Feldhake, Executive Director of Facilities, Planning & Construction
The completion and upgrades to Leroy Dreyer Field included a new field house, upgraded stadium, concession stand, climate-controlled press box, and playing field. The upcoming construction on College Avenue is to realign the sidewalk and expand Parking Lot K. The roof and façade of the Old Main Building will be getting repairs, and Blinn College Park Apartments will have a roof replacement. The Student Center has been updated with a new digital sign.
Technical and Community Education Update by Jay Anderson, Vice Chancellor of Health Sciences, Technical Education & Community Programs
Students can earn an education through divisional pathways and structure at Blinn College District through non-credit workforce courses, trades, Small Business Development Center (SBDC) entrepreneurship, apprenticeships, Adult Education and Literacy (AEL), Perkins Federal Grant, Blinn AAS and TAMU Systems articulations to BAAS Degree and beyond, and 17 high schools that offer technical dual credit courses.
Blinn received a grant award in partnership with BVCOG for $186,570 for skills pertaining to Safety, National Protection Association, Technical Math, and Electrical Fundamentals. Our goal is to have 100 Pre-Apprentice participants.
Blinn College District is also delivering excellence in the health professions. Students can receive an AAS degree in Nursing, PTA, Radiologic Technology, Surgical Tech, Veterinary Tech, Dental Hygiene, and many more.
Blinn College District offers 36 AAS degrees in the technical field: Carpentry, Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, Mechatronics, HVAC, and many more.
AAS Cloud Computing provides skills and knowledge to support and manage infrastructure and workloads on cloud platforms, with an emphasis on cloud strategies to secure networks and systems. Skills include the fundamentals of networking technologies and cloud computing, implementing and supporting servers, cloud deployment and infrastructure, information technology security, and network troubleshooting and support. The average annual pay for the Cloud Computing jobs category in Texas is $96,587 a year.
Mr. Anderson also provided information on the many ways students can pay for a technical education. These options include Blinn scholarships, Federal Student Aid, Brazos Valley Workforce Solutions, self-pay, and more.
Enrollment Update by Dr. Becky McBride, Vice Chancellor of Student Services
The recent Winter minimester had the largest enrollment since 2017-2018 with 2,197 students districtwide. This was due to increased advertisement on social media, hard copy fliers, and other advertising methods. This has also contributed to our 2023 spring enrollment headcount. We will be continuing the ongoing correspondence with our current and future students.
The fall meeting will be arranged at a later date.
With no other business, the meeting was adjourned by Myron Dippel at 1:30 p.m.