December Board Meeting Highlights

The Board of Trustees gathered for their December 16th meeting in the President’s Dining Room inside the McAtee Dining Center on the Ark City Main Campus. Trustee Shriver provided the invocation, and Chair Bazil recited the College Mission Statement.

Under Awards and Reports, Cowley President Dr. Michelle Schoon detailed the November 4th and 5th site visit report from the Higher Learning Commission as part of our ten-year accreditation cycle. The college met all of the criteria for accreditation and all of the federal compliance requirements, with no monitoring reports needed. Cowley College also hosted Senator Moran for a campus visit on November 25th as he announced the congressional allocation of $264,000 for welding equipment in the Tyler Technical Education Center. An articulation agreement was signed with Southwestern College (SC) for a 2+2 nursing pathway that will assist students in transferring to the newly approved nursing program at SC.

In addition, Schoon congratulated Greg Butler for completing his second Master’s degree and our fall athletic teams for all advancing to the National Championships. Men’s Soccer and Women’s Volleyball were both playing for the National Championships on Saturday, November 23rd,2024. Men's Soccer ended up finishing in 2nd place, the Volleyball team repeated as Champions, and the College Quiz Bowl which competed in the Snow Bowl Tournament at Garden City and placed 2nd.

Schoon also noted that enrollment this spring is trending up from last spring before introducing the October Student of the Month, Riley Perdue. Perdue spoke briefly to thank the Board for their recognition.

Trustee Alan Marcotte provided a recap of the December 6th-7th, 2024, KACC Quarterly Meeting, where attendees discussed insurance, facility upkeep, and potential tuition changes for high school students. 

Tandem Solutions presented the annual Cyber Security update detailing the college's GLBA compliance. The security team plans to continue to address key areas to improve information security and data storage.

Roxanna James gave a first-semester update on the Impact/Trio program. She stated that the most significant change has been adding the ACES program to their five-person workforce. The group focuses on taking their 160 Impact-eligible students through college from start to finish, assisting them whenever possible. Recently, an addition was made to the program's grant detailing the inclusion of service learning hours which were fulfillable through the ACES program.

Under Administrative Reports, Golden Tigers finished the semester with 287 participants which was a record high. There were 294 new applications processed in November, with 238 being first-time applicants. Finishing off a second straight storybook season, the top-seed Cowley College volleyball team defeated seventh-seed Johnson County in the NJCAA Division II Volleyball National Championship match 18-25, 25-19, 25-14, 25-21 played Saturday in Cedar Rapids, IA. This marks the second straight unbeaten season for the Lady Tigers as they finish the season with a record of 40-0 and run its NJCAA Division II record winning streak to 81 matches in a row.

No Public Comments.

Under Standing Committee Reports, Trustee Bob McGregor provided a recap of the December 9th, 2024, Trustee Finance Subcommittee meeting, where members discussed using KBOR Capital Outlay Tech Ed Grant Funds and Perkins Grant dollars to procure an Anatomage Convertible Digital Cadaver Table at a cost of $83,550. Cowley Allied Health would like to purchase an Anatomage Convertible Digital Cadaver Table for use in the EMT, AEMT, and Paramedic programs to be housed at the Sumner Wellington Campus. The Board approved the purchase by a vote of 8-0.

Trustee Gary Wilson gave a recap of the December 11th, 2024, Trustee Policy Subcommittee, Where policy 145.00 – Pets and Animals on Campus (Revision) was presented for a first reading. Formal approval will be requested at the January Board meeting.

Trustee Phil White provided a recap of the December 16th, 2024, Trustee Sumner County Sales Tax Subcommittee, where members discussed the potential renewal of the ten-year sales tax and what that campaign might look like. 

The Board moved to approve the Consent Agenda, including the Minutes of the November 18th, 2024, regular meeting, Financial Reports, Bills and Claims, Personnel Transactions, and Board Policies 103.00 – Board of Control (Review), 105.00 – Board Policy Approval (Review), 108.00 – Service Area Councils (Revision), and 171.00 – Open Records (New) by a vote of 8-0.

With no other business to discuss, Chair Bazil declared the meeting adjourned at 7:06 pm.

For more details, see the agenda or visit the Board of Trustees webpage.

Hunter Ferguson | Integrated Communications Specialist
Cowley College
125 S. 2nd Street
Arkansas City, KS 67005
hunter.ferguson@cowley.edu