Minutes
Blinn College District
Brenham Campus Advisory Committee Meeting
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
The Brenham Campus Advisory Committee met on April 16, 2024, in the Banquet Room of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Innovations (STEI) Building, located at 900 Prairie Lea Street, Blinn-Brenham Campus.
Committee Members Present: Chair, Mr. Tee Dippel; Vice-Chair, Dr. Eric Alford; Mr. Jon Hill; and Ms. Micah Goebel.
Committee Members Absent: Ms. Jamie Rankin and The Honorable John Durrenberger.
Representing Blinn College present at the meeting were: Dr. Mary Hensley, Mr. Leighton Schubert, Ms. Leigha Schubert, Dr. Clen Burton, Dr. Marcelo Bussiki, Ms. Shannon Williford, Dr. Becky McBride, Mr. Jay Anderson, Mr. John Chancellor, Dr. Bennie Graves, Ms. Tiffany Jenkins, Mr. Myron Dippel, Mr. Chris Marrs, Mr. Mark Feldhake, Mr. Richard Bray, Mr. Ted Hajovsky, and Ms. Valarie Cienega.
The meeting was called to order by Mr. Tee Dippel at 11:53 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 October 3, 2023, meeting.
Dual Credit and FAST Program Discussion by Ms. Shannon Williford, Director of Dual Credit Programs, and Mr. Leighton Schubert, Executive Vice Chancellor
Ms. Williford introduced the Blinn College Dual Credit program that currently consists of 56 dual credit agreements districtwide. This includes agreements with Independent School Districts (ISDs), private schools, and online public schools. The dual credit enrollment across the entire Blinn College District consisted of 2,145 dual credit students for Fall 2023 and 2,198 dual credit students for Spring 2024.
Students can start taking dual credit classes the summer after their 8th grade year. The Blinn College District continues to expand the dual credit offerings across the service area. In the Fall of 2023, Blinn College District enrolled 193 dual credit students in Washington County. Blinn provides dual credit services to Brenham High School, Burton High School, Citadel Christian School, and Legacy Community Christian School. These dual credit courses include traditional transfer courses such as English and Government, but also include courses such as Child Development and Welding.
Mr. Leighton Schubert introduced the Financial Aid for Swift Transfer (FAST) program and explained how this program relates to the state funding for dual credit courses. The program allows certain students to enroll in dual credit courses at no cost to the student. These are the students who qualified for free and reduced lunches under the Texas Education Agency (TEA) rules while in high school. These students will be FAST eligible.
Community colleges have the choice to opt in or opt out of the FAST program. If a college opts in to the FAST program, it cannot charge any tuition or fees for FAST-eligible students. However, the state will reimburse the College for each FAST student at the rate of $55 per semester credit hour. Further, the College cannot charge any dual credit student (FAST or non-FAST) more than $55 per semester credit hour. Starting Fall 2024, the Blinn College District has opted in to the FAST program. Blinn College personnel have already begun working with dual credit partners on the transition to the FAST program.
Blinn College District Construction Update by Mr. Mark Feldhake, Executive Director of Facilities, Planning, and Construction
Mr. Mark Feldhake informed the committee of the completed projects on the Blinn-Brenham Campus from the previous meeting: the field house at Dreyer Field, upgrades to the wall of the field, and the renovation and upgrades of College Avenue. The following halls are scheduled to be demolished at the end of the semester: Buccaneer Hall, Spencer Hall, Katherine Atkinson Hall, and Lockett Hall. The area will be turned into green space and will be available for future projects.
The Academic Building will receive interior upgrades in the Summer of 2024. The interior of the building will be repainted, the floors and ceiling tiles will be replaced, and new lighting will be installed.
Blinn continues to work with Waller ISD, and there will be an expansion of the current course offerings out of the 300 wing of the Schultz Building in Waller. Vice Chancellor Jay Anderson is also working on offering a Mechatronics Technical Workforce program in Fall 2024.
The Bryan Campus is also receiving some upgrades. We completed the major roofing project on the original three buildings and updated the interior corridor with painting and cleaning and replacing the floors, as well as rebranding and repainting the cafeteria area.
We are working with Kirksey Architecture and Vaughn Construction on the new Bryan Campus Administration Building. We will be moving Student Services functions from the Tejas Center to the Blinn-Bryan Campus and moving Administration and Human Resources from Building S to this new building. The new Bryan Administration Building will be two stories, 46,000 sq. ft., have a 180-space parking lot, intramural sports field, and pedestrian access to campus. Construction started in Fall 2023, and the structural steel is complete. We are now on the metal stud framing as well as some mechanical rough-ins. This building is scheduled to be complete in February 2025.
Workforce Update by Mr. Jay Anderson, Vice Chancellor of Health Sciences, Technical Education, and Community Programs
Division Student Enrollment consists of 933 students as of February 2024. These offerings include healthcare programs, carpentry, HVAC, Facility Maintenance, Commercial Driver’s License, among others.
Blinn’s Corporate College engages in Skills Development Fund Grants through the Texas Workforce Commission. These grants provide funding for Blinn to conduct on-site job training to employees of private companies that have 100 employees or more in the area. Blinn has active or pending grants with companies such as Hendrix, Daikin, Southeast Service Corporation, Blue Bell Creameries, Tempur Sealy, ECMD, and Fuji Film.
At the Hodde Technical Center, Blinn currently enrolls 180 students. Current courses offered include technical mathematics, healthcare programs, construction management, welding technology, and adult education and literacy programs.
Mr. Anderson also provided information on the many ways students can pay for a technical education. These options include Blinn scholarships, Federal Student Aid, self-pay, and more.
Enrollment Update by Dr. Becky McBride, Vice Chancellor of Student Services
The recent Spring 2024 partial enrollment has a total of 15,720 students districtwide. The Spring 2024 semester brought 52 extra online students from Spring 2023. Dual Credit students were up by 30 students from Spring 2023. We have exceeded our Spring 2023 certified headcount by 254 students. There are Preview Days and New Student Registration Sessions scheduled throughout the summer leading into the Fall 2024 semester.
75.2% of housing was occupied in the Spring of 2024, including 75 additional students living on campus compared to Spring 2023.
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.