CBC Board of Trustees approves 2013-2014 budget

During the June 24 regular board meeting, the Coastal Bend College Board of Trustees approved the 2013-2014 Annual Operating Budget of $25,135,901. Included in the budget is $ $1,514,394 to help rebuild the college’s reserves as mandated by the Board in the 2013-2014 college goals.

Division I women’s basketball and Division III men’s baseball are the new National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association (NJCAA) sports the Board approved to implement in the 2013-2014 academic year. CBC athletes compete in the NJCAA Region 14 Conference, and tryouts will be held in July for both of the new sports. These new programs are anticipated to attract about 40-50 student athletes per year to the CBC Beeville campus. For more information on tryouts, game schedules, or becoming a CBC Athletics sponsor, please contact Estevan Vasquez, CBC Athletic Director, at (361) 354-2721 or jevasquez@coastalbend.edu.

Out-of-district dual credit students participating in ACE and TRiO summer programs at CBC will not have to pay the $48 registration fee thanks to Board approval. The Board approved the waiver to help support the CBC Dual Credit program and help students succeed.

The Board reviewed new policy from the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) that advises on the College’s localized policy manual. Policy Update 28 focused on employee compensation and benefits, instruction, and a significant reorganization and revision of the student section. As an annual review practice of CBC, all policies were reviewed and some updated as appropriate.

All CBC sites will have a new Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system this fall. The upgrade is needed as the current phone system is over 15 years old and has not kept up with the new technology available. Upgrading to the new VoIP system will also serve as a cost saving measure for CBC in maintenance and technology fees, while also providing a more modern, reliable, and efficient phone system. Approximately 70 of the new phones will have a video camera so that faculty and staff can meet with students at other CBC locations via video conference. The new video conference phones will be available at all CBC locations. This will also cut costs in travel and increase efficiencies in communication as the CBC service area covers 9 counties and 9,483 square miles.

The Board approved to move forward with exploring options to reinstate a five-day instructional week for the 2014-2015 academic year. CBC President Dr. Beatriz T. Espinoza stated that this would allow students to have more options when building their schedule such as registering for courses that meet once, twice, or three times a week, in addition to also offering evening, weekend, and distance learning/Internet courses.

A five-day instructional week will help CBC faculty when they begin implementing a new rotating course schedule format which will help students plan out their entire degree at CBC. Students will know ahead of time exactly which semester a certain course will be offered, and CBC will guarantee that the courses they need to graduate on time will be available. The administration will research the advantages and disadvantages of this and present a full proposal to the Board by October 2013.

During the President’s Activities report, Dr. Espinoza provided updates on the following:

· The college has received the off-site reviewer’s report from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), and has begun working on the response/focus report due in October 2013. The SACSCOC team will visit the CBC sites November 19-21, 2013.

· Cougar Days, CBC’s freshman orientation, will be held at all CBC sites in July and August. The Cougar Days programming is being revamped to focus more on students interacting with faculty and staff in addition to learning skills that will help them succeed in-and-out of the classroom. All students who attend Cougar Days will receive a free t-shirt sponsored by the CBC Alumni & Friends Association and free lunch. To register for Cougar Days, please visit www.coastalbend.edu/cougardays or call (361) 354-2266.

The Coastal Bend College Child Development Center on the Beeville campus is currently accepting applications for children ages 18 months to 5 years old. The CBC Child Development Center is one of a few local daycare centers designated as a Texas Rising Star Provider for voluntarily going above the state standards in curriculum and instruction. For more information on how to enroll your child, please contact the CBC Child Development Center at (361) 358-0421.

At Coastal Bend College your future begins here—and now. Let us help you advance your career and education. With so many programs, there’s bound to be something perfect for you. Let us tell you how. Contact us for more information about the programs and courses offered at Coastal Bend College by calling 1-866-722-2838 ext. 2266. Or you can visit us on the web at www.coastalbend.edu. You can also find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/coastalbendcollege and Twitter at www.twitter.com/cbcfuture.