Minutes
Blinn College District
Brenham Campus Advisory Committee Meeting
Tuesday, October 3, 2023
11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
The Brenham Campus Advisory Committee met on October 3, 2023, in the Banquet Room of the Student Center, located at 1007 Walter Schwartz Way, Blinn-Brenham Campus.
Committee Members Present: were Tee Dippel, Chair; Eric Alford, Vice Chair; Jamie Rankin, Jon Hill, Micah Goebel, and John Durrenberger
Committee Member(s) Absent was: Tylor Chaplin
Representing Blinn College present at the meeting were Dr. Mary Hensley, Mr. Leighton Schubert, Dr. Clen Burton, Dr. Marcelo Bussiki, Dr. Becky McBride, Mr. Jay Anderson, Mr. Cody Stelter, Mr. John Chancellor, Dr. Bennie Graves, Mrs. Tiffany Jenkins, Mr. Myron Dippel, Mr. Chris Marrs, Mr. Richard O’Malley, Mr. Mark Feldhake, Trustee Jim Kolkhorst, and Mrs. Valarie Cienega.
The meeting was called to order by Mr. Tee Dippel at 11:50 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 April 25, 2023 meeting.
Strategic Planning Discussion by Mr. Leighton Schubert, Executive Vice Chancellor
Mr. Schubert introduced Dr. Steve Johnson, Strategic Planning Consultant. Dr. Johnson went over the Mission/Vision Statement and asked for community involvement to update both. All Blinn faculty, staff, leaders, and others in the community have been sent a survey from Blinn Institutional Research and Effectiveness to collect valuable insight and help adapt our strategic plan. The members of the Advisory Committee engaged in a robust discussion about the Mission and Vision Statement and offered their thoughts and comments on both of those items.
Legislative Update by Mr. Leighton Schubert, Executive Vice Chancellor
House Bill 1114 was approved by the Legislature. The Blinn service area now includes the portion of Waller ISD that is in Harris County. Starting this semester, Waller High School has 203 students enrolled in the dual credit program. The former junior high school in Waller will become the temporary location for Blinn classes. Beginning October 23rd, the site will be open to the community. There is a five-year plan set in place with the goal to build a campus in this new portion of the service area.
House Bill 8 changes how community colleges will be funded by the state. Currently funds are from tuition, property tax, and state funding. Blinn receives roughly twenty-five percent of its total annual operating budget from state appropriation. The new funding model will be outcome based and focus on three areas: 1) High school students that complete 15 hours of dual credit courses, 2) Students who complete 15 hours and transfer to a public university in Texas or complete a structured co-enrollment program, and 3) Awarding of credentials of value. Under the new formula, Blinn will receive an additional $7.4 million in state funding this year. This equates to a 29% increase in state funding. Historically, Blinn has done well in outcomes-based funding, and we are confident that will continue under this new funding formula.
Blinn College District Construction Update by Mr. Mark Feldhake, Executive Director of Facilities, Planning & Construction
The street and sidewalk on College Avenue will be realigned and upgraded. The first phase is the demolishment of the retaining wall. It will be upgraded along with upgraded lighting to provide a nice path for those on campus.
Completed projects from the previous meeting: Old Main roof and façade repairs are completed. The Blinn College Park Apartments has completed the roof replacement, cleaned up the gutters and siding on the apartments, as well as a nice walking path. The following halls are scheduled to be demolished in the Spring of 2024: Buccaneer Hall, Spencer Hall, Katherine Atkinson Hall and Lockett Hall.
Workforce Update by Mr. Cody Stelter, Assistant Dean of Health Sciences, Technical Education & Community Programs
Medication Aid Update: class starts September 26th and ends mid-January, the instructor is led by Mrs. Linda Rabel. The courses are held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. You can attend face-to-face on the Schulenberg campus or through Interactive Video Classroom for Bryan and Brenham. The students must attend Schulenberg class a minimum of 4 times. There are 14 students enrolled (Brenham - 2, Bryan – 3, Schulenberg – 9.) Total cost averages about $1000 which includes tuition, book, state test fee, finger printing, and immunizations. Medication Aid has been added to the Duddlesten Scholarship to help future students.
Enrollment Update by Dr. Becky McBride, Vice Chancellor of Student Services
The recent Fall enrollment has a total of 17,963 students districtwide. The Fall 2023 semester had several Parts of Terms including: 16-week term, which made up 67% of all classes in the fall; 1st 8-week term, which made up 13% of all classes in the fall; 2nd 8-week term, which made up 16% of all classes in the fall; and 12-week term, which made up 4% of all classes in the fall. New Student Registration brought in an additional 360 students. For Fall 2023 we have exceeded our Fall 2022 certified headcount by 48 students. For housing, 1610 beds were leased, this semester brings our numbers up 119 beds from Fall 2022.
The spring meeting will be arranged at a later date.
With no other business, the meeting was adjourned by Mr. Tee Dippel at 1:00 p.m.