[Speaker 1] We have all regents in attendance so we have we have a quorum tonight's invocation and pledge the United States flag and pledge Texas flag will be led by Regent Herron Thomas. [Speaker 16] Your heavenly father thank you for blessing us with this opportunity to serve both for this college and our community. I ask that you please guide us during this meeting and during subsequent times. Please bless everyone in attendance at our community and our college in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Pledge the US flag. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [Speaker 20] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [Speaker 11] Thank You Regent Thomas. [Speaker 1] Next item on the agenda a student spotlight future business leaders of America. [Speaker 11] Who's presenting? Hello. [Speaker 12] Future business leaders of America, FBLA, is the largest business career and technical student organization in the world with over 230,000 members preparing for careers in business. FBLA inspires and prepares students to become community-minded business leaders in a global society through reverent career preparation and leadership experiences. As a part of that preparation, three Lee College students and two advisors attended the FBLA Texas Leadership Conference in Richardson, Texas from March 26 to 28, 2026. The three students competed in the categories of entrepreneur pitch, competition, and supply change management. The entrepreneur pitch competition recognizes members who can effectively present a compelling case for a new product, service, or business venture. Through a live presentation, members showcase their innovation, business planning, and persuasive communication skills in a pitch format. In the supply chain management, challenges members to apply their understandings of how goods, information, and finances move through a supply chain. Members deliver a presentation that demonstrates their knowledge of logistics, procurement, inventory control, and distribution strategies used to support business operations. [Speaker 17] The entrepreneurship pitch competition, Laura and Gracia Villarreal placed first place. They beat out, they did, they did a great job. They beat out UT Dallas and Texas A&M-Corpus to get first place. So these young ladies were impact students, which makes it even more impressive. The comments from the judges made it be known that they will have a bright future ahead of them. Brandon Davis placed first in supply chain management, beating out UT Dallas and Stephen F. Austin students. Lee College should be very proud of these students. There were only two community colleges represented at the state conference and these three students placed over the four-year university. [Speaker 11] Congratulations again. [Speaker 1] Thank you for representing Lee College in such a great way. Okay, next item on the agenda, special recognition, Lee College's debate team. [Speaker 3] I'd like to invite Joe Ganacos to the stand to introduce the team and the coaches. [Speaker 11] Regents, President Adkin, first of all, great to see you. [Speaker 6] Summer is usually a quiet time and at least it is for the debate team historically, but they made some noise not too many weeks ago. I had stepped away and much like the worst of the three Godfather movies, every time I get out they pull me back in. I was proud to come back and at least assist and luckily it wasn't falling on my shoulders. I can't help but give amazing credit to the interim coach, Jerry McCauley. Jerry is an alumni. He's an alumnus of Lee College and was a JV national champion as an undergraduate, finished his associate's degree here, and has come back as a volunteer coach, assistant coach I should say, and then eventually a part-time assistant coach and then rose to the challenge and helped get these kids to nationals. Led in part by folks like Madison Hall, who is one of our just graduated student assistant and team captain. In addition to Ruben Capetillo and Tara Ramboran, they're here representing along with some others who went to nationals. They did the impossible. With a much smaller squad than we fielded in years, they still pull down the tournament national championship. And in so doing, two of the students advance what we call deep into the draw. Both traditional students, Katis Cole, who's unfortunately not here this evening. She's a member of the cheer squad for Lee College and so she's well represented on multiple levels. I can't say enough good things about them. Their spirit, their tenacity, especially in the wake of some adversity reminds me of the early days of the debate program where we didn't know if we could do anything and suddenly found success. I would be remiss not to thank the administration of Lee College. Folks like Dr. Walters and Ginita Norris, who she's not here this evening. She's luckily in France where I would love to be right now. But they understood what we're doing with these with these students. We've had a good mix of traditional and non-traditional students this year, which is something we've been lacking and things I wanted to move back towards. I think the spirit of the teams that date back to 2013, I mean this is the eighth national title and 12 attempts for the tournament. And for the season-long title, while they didn't win the national tournament championship this year for a scrappy team, you know to keep using movie references a Hoosiers style team, I think they punched well above what they would normally do. One thing about this team that I wanted to emphasize and I think one thing that people like Jerry, who is I still consider one of my kids and the students that are here, it's still a sense of family and Lee College I think is part of that ethos. No matter what program it is, whether it's honors, whether it is a quite frankly any of our majors or athletic programs and also debate, they come back. Diego Moreno, one of our former team captains at University of Texas is here. Priscilla Guerra, former national champion and now University of Texas graduate, they came back to see it along with Emma Jaramillo who should be graduating at Mississippi State. Yes, she finished as well. So the good news is the kids that come through these programs finish. They transfer, they are successful and they move on to make Lee College proud. I appreciate everything that you've done. I know that I can speak on behalf of these students. They are phenomenal young people and I think they will continue to do the college proud now that they all graduated and they're moving on to their their four-year institutions. So thank you. [Speaker 18] We'd like to see their faces because they're in the shadows. [Speaker 6] And I apologize I did not see it Vita Shinde. She is also here and I'm a horrible person for missing her. She's very short. [Speaker 20] Thank you. [Speaker 11] He's not here unfortunately. Hades is not here either, no sir. Sure. Some of them obviously are not here this evening. [Speaker 6] We do have some alumni in the back. I mean they didn't hurt. [Speaker 13] Even if you didn't get your picture taken we certainly appreciate everything that you gave to this program and it wouldn't have been what it was without your help. [Speaker 1] Thank you very much. Any other comments? I'm not surprised but I'm always amazed. Isn't that something? Great. All right next on the agenda can we have more student spotlight or recognitions? That's the favorite part of the meeting. Yeah. All right we'll move on with the business of the meeting. Next we have the disposition of minutes. Policy Committee meeting April 6, 2026. Audit and Investment Committee meeting April 13, 2026. Building Committee meeting April 14, 2026. Board meeting April 16, 2026 and Special Board meeting April 29, 2026. [Speaker 13] Move approval. [Speaker 1] Second. Got a motion from Regent Cotton to approve. Second from Regent Warford. Any comments on any of the minutes that are before us? Hearing none all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed no. All the minutes that I just read are approved. We'll now move to report to the Chairman. I do not have a specific report so we'll move directly to the Building Committee report. [Speaker 9] Wednesday? Was it Wednesday? We met on Wednesday. We had a really really good report from Pfluger and Associates on the Facilities Master Plan and it was it was amazing and it was so amazing and we had so many questions that we decided that that presentation deserved its own workshop so we'll be scheduling that at a later date and the other items that we discussed we will be taking up later in the agenda and those include roof coating purchase, automated logic contract, the HVAC preventive maintenance agreement, and replacing the flooring in the Wellness Center and weight room. So those those items were reviewed and are on the agenda for approval later. [Speaker 1] All right any questions for Regent Monteno on the Building Committee report? Thank you. Next Policy Committee report Regent Hall. We have not met and so I have no report. Okay. Thank you very much. Audit Investment Committee Regent Geralds. [Speaker 7] Yes we met last Thursday went over a few audits and first one was the Performing Arts Center operations audit and the objective of this audit was operations audit was to assess the adequacy of risk management and controls over the PAC's operations from artist events prospecting to post event financial analysis. The audit was delayed and then postponed while the college leadership completes a strategic assessment of the PAC but a few things that they found was in studying the PAC why maybe it's not as is filled as we'd like is it's as far from Houston the PAC is kind of small for high school graduations not a lot of up close parking a lack of restroom shower in the green room just items like that but they'll continue on with that and then we went over an audit Workday project governments framework audit and that was the objective of this audit was to assess the adequacy of the Workday migration projects governance framework and just really the only risk was a key person added to the risk action issue decision log I think just kind of a personnel kind of thing and then finally content management and records retention and the object of this is was to assess the adequacy of risk management and controls over content and records maintained in both paper excuse me in digital formats and to assess compliance with lease record retention scheduled adopted from the state of Texas and everything's pretty good just a couple of key persons that need to be identified and selected but overall and then coming up let's see we have a work in progress is cybersecurity and data center coalition co-location and then contract management policy management and shipping and receiving or to to be determined so those are the things we review well now I know why [Speaker 1] your meeting went so long yes it did any questions for reading journals on her report all right thank you very much we'll move to report the president [Speaker 3] president Atkin Thank You chairman Santana so our final count for graduation was 938 total students we had seven graduations here on campus we had half a dozen graduations at Huntsville two graduations for our impact early high school students and so it's been all graduation all the time since our last meeting I am happy to report that we posted on Instagram several pictures of the caps the way that our students so creatively decorate those caps over the week our Instagram post was viewed 640,000 times with 91,000 likes on our account it was picked up by two larger accounts with combined followers of over 50 million users and currently has an additional 300,000 likes and an estimated over 1 million views this is officially our highest performing organic non-video content and the third piece of viral content overall to be made on an official Lee college account so we're we're very excited about the excellent publicity that we got from that our students are very creative most of the decorations were inspirational and thought-provoking and we're very proud of our students both for the largest graduating class and the unprecedented interest that they got from the community at large and extended beyond our borders a brief update on the facilities master plan as regent font no mentioned we had a very good update we actually have an agenda item which we're pulling this week because it's going to require more than 10 minutes in this format to go over all of the detail in that report but we're extremely extremely happy with the work that they are doing for us they're very thorough I think most of the individuals in here have participated at some level with with that process and we expect an extremely high quality product that's the result of the facilities master plan brief update on workday we currently have 91 key active work stream line items underway it's a lot it's a huge lift right now we have three work streams that are in yellow all other work streams are in green and so we're on pace and we're managing the implementation we're very excited about the progress that we're making and I just want to express my sincere gratitude to the many many individuals in IT finance procurement and HR who are dedicating hours and hours and hours every single week to this process I couldn't be prouder of the work that they're doing and that concludes my [Speaker 1] report very much any questions on President Atkins report we'll move on to informational reports as mentioned twice already we will not be reviewing the facilities master plan update it will be at a future workshop it'll be posted anyone interested in that can certainly attend that meeting we'll move to trellis study financial wellness survey survey Kelly Ford Spears all [Speaker 2] right good evening thank you for the opportunity to provide a brief overview of the fall 2025 trellis student financial wellness survey results tonight I'm going to share several high-level findings related to student financial well-being and basic needs and security discuss trends we are seeing among community college students and highlight what these results reveal about the impact of Lee colleges student support efforts trellis strategies is a nonprofit organization focused on research consulting and technical assistance related to post-secondary education and workforce success Lee College has partnered with trellis for several years now to better understand the barriers our students face outside the classroom and how those barriers influence persistence recent retention and completion their work provides valuable benchmarking data that helps institutions like us evaluate student needs and identify opportunities for improvement so a little bit about the survey itself the fall 2025 survey included 153 participating institutions nationwide with 103 of those being public two-year community colleges we have now participated in comparable student wellness surveys in 2018 2023 and now 2025 which gives us the ability to track our progress over time we will also continue to disseminate this same survey every three years moving forward so we continue can continue to check that progress I also want to note the importance of the timing of these surveys so in 2018 this this was obviously before the kovat pandemic the 2023 survey was conducted shortly after kovat and in the early stages of the student resource and advocacy center development and now the 2025 survey reflects a period in which many of our support systems have become more established and accessible for students I also want to point out you have an infographic packet at your your seat that is going to highlight some of the information and we also have a nearly 40 page full report that is accessible to you should you wish to read that the data continue to demonstrate the significant financial strain facing many of our students 51% of Lee college students reported worrying about having enough money to pay their monthly expenses which is consistent with our national trends over half of our students carry the weight of financial stress while trying to focus their time and energy on being a successful college student 58% indicated they would struggle to cover a $500 emergency expense although this does represent an improvement compared to 2018 additionally 72% of our students reported running out of money at least once in the past year staggeringly 25% of our students reported running out of money at least eight times during the year I'll let that sink in a minute one in four of our students has run out of money at least eight times in the past year these findings reinforce that many of our students are balancing higher education alongside substantial financial instability and economic pressures when we look more specifically at food and housing insecurity we continue to see elevated levels of need but also meaningful progress compared to prior years 51% of Lee college students reported experiencing at least one form of basic needs and security which is an improvement from 2023 when it was 69% food insecurity impacted 40% of our respondents while housing insecurity impacted 34% both of these measures have improved compared to the 2023 survey and are now below national averages while these numbers remain concerning they also suggest that institutional investments and student support and resource coordination are helping reduce barriers for students student well-being also emerged as a significant theme in the survey 40% of students reported experiencing generalized anxiety disorder and 57% reported feeling lonely sometimes or always these findings reinforce the importance of continuing to support students mental health well-being and sense of belonging at Lee college one of the most encouraging findings from the survey relates to students perception of support at Lee college 81% of students reported believing the college has the support services they need significantly exceeding the national benchmark of 66% equally important student confidence and institutional support has increased from 69% in 2018 to 81% in 2025 to me this reflects the impact of the college's intentional investment in holistic student support including mental health services basic needs assistance advocacy efforts and our broader well-being initiatives even as students continue to face complex challenges they increasingly recognize that Lee college is an institution committed to helping them succeed the investments that the board and the college have made to prioritize these services are felt and recognized by our students I'll close on a hopeful note despite the barriers and financial pressures highlighted throughout this presentation the overwhelming majority of Lee college students continue to believe in the value of higher education 79% believe college is a worthwhile financial investment and 82% believe earning a degree will improve their quality of life these findings speak to both the resilience of our students and the transformational role of Lee college continue to play an expanding opportunity and improving lives within our community thank you again for allowing me this time and I'd be happy to answer any questions [Speaker 1] questions yeah not surprising but amazing okay next we'll move to reportedly college resignations and or retirements president Atkin we had [Speaker 3] Ingrid Wallace a mathematics faculty who is retiring after 18 years of service and Jeremy Richardson an academic advisor who has resigned after 11 months of [Speaker 1] service thank you any questions on that report thank you next we'll move to our financial report miss Woodruff glad you're still here [Speaker 11] can't run me off that quick you [Speaker 4] okay good evening tonight I'm going to present on the financial update for a month or through the month of April 30th 26 which represents eight months of the fiscal year we're gonna begin with cash and investments the college continues to maintain a strong stable investment position continue to support the ongoing operations and needs of the college here we have a summary of the college's financial position as of April 30th we are sixty six point seven percent through the fiscal year our overall revenues and expenses are tracking within expected ranges our revenues are at ninety one point six eight percent expenses at sixty two point one five percent here we have our projected net revenue and budget variances we're projecting a two point four overall net revenue revenues of 1.5 tuition and fees is primarily due to non-resident and out of these out of district and dual credit revenues my books fees obvious district taxes we collected a little over and half a million and district taxes of delinquent taxes sorry so our budget variances for expenses are a total of nine hundred and eleven thousand ability projects as of April 30th capital projects by department you can see the more details for each of the departments in the projects in those departments and page 17 to 18 in your packet this is the projects that Jacob was mentioning earlier in the budget presentation facilities yes that's the 7.3 million here we have our restricted funds as of April 30th our federal and federal grants and contracts our potential net income net loss of four hundred thirty nine thousand this is just because of reimbursement after the fact and state grant revenues contracts five hundred forty thousand and private grants four thirty one thousand giving us a total of five hundred and thirty two thousand [Speaker 11] yeah any questions for miss Woodruff okay thank you very much next item on [Speaker 1] the agenda is public comment do we have anyone signed up to speak we have two [Speaker 19] persons this evening mr. [Speaker 11] chairman first is June Stansky did we do we want to just would you like a microphone there you okay okay first I want to make sure that everyone knows that this is not a personal attack on mr. [Speaker 10] Atkins I am a Baytown Baytown resident since 1985 I'm a small business owner I'm a homeowner I pay taxes and I find that Lee College is a community college and the community should be involved in selecting the new president for this institution not just a closed meeting by the regents we want community leaders involved we want students faculty members staff they all should have a voice there needs to be a nationwide search for a new college president not just one person considered for the job I ask you to stop the proceedings this evening and appointing a president it needs to go through a nationwide search and have several candidates evaluated and put up for this position I was privileged to know dr. Blevins years and years ago she was a wonderful lady and this is an educational institution we obviously know you do a great job with finances but there's so much to this institution that just finances you guys have a big job not only to make sure that the that our tax dollars are spent properly and the students monies are spent properly but you need to make them make sure they're well educated and they get a well-rounded program so this is why we need to do a nationwide search for a new president thank you thank you very [Speaker 11] much omen next is David Isaac rise come on up [Speaker 5] thank you mr. chairman Board of Regents good evening I want to thank my colleague dr. Stansky for her comments this evening dr. Stansky is an esteemed optometrist here in town and perhaps even with her medical skills maybe she can't help us see what is at stake here in front of us tonight 100 years of presidents 100 years of a presidential search committee same here no offense to anyone personally I've been a part of this institution for 20 years this year started and matriculated in 2006 and I had the privilege just like many to serve on the presidential search committee we had Donna Gare CEO of San Jacinto Mall at the time Wayne Gray an esteemed individual here we had everyone from the community that's what a community college does that's what a community college is meant for that's what this college needs to do when we look at Goose Creek we're very happy with what we got so far at least we're dr. Rodriguez we wouldn't have reached that point without a nationwide search committee have a very good superintendent from all everything I understand so far we got that we attained that by a search committee a nationwide search we took applications from who was the best when we look at the city of Baytown mr. Jason Reynolds was the assistant city manager he even had to face a national search committee that's how the best gets to the top speaking of city managers Rick Davis wrote the book elevating trust in the public sector the vast majority of what he talked about in that book included strategic planning with public input we need trust the last president as you know you slapped on the risk mater had to pay back $25,000 although we know the implications was much more heavier than that I do believe has to do with trust has to do with leadership you know that the lack of oversight led to the wrongful attempted firing Masella to Kony unhinged it's a president that we picked and we're replacing now without a presidential search committee we went from basically the worst if you ask me the way that she was ousted anyway to her leftovers no offense by the way I'm sorry that didn't sound right I understand Susan and Pete aren't here but hey are we not still reaching for the best is that not a long-standing tradition that we search for a president across the land who is best for Lee college what is best for Lee college I challenge you challenge at least five of you go back there and talk when you come back here after executive session please consider those facts and keep in mind election season is right around the corner if you want six more years keep our trust in mind if you want a bond soon keep the trust in mind plenty of gauge citizens here and there's plenty to be some in the future thank you very [Speaker 1] much oh sure oh mom you want the second Hillary gets the first second reading Gerald's only comment I have this this person's a Lee college graduate right is that what I saw in the resume awesome coming back huh and out athlete as well great all right that was not any discussion just a comment all right any other comments or discussion on this item hearing none all in favor say aye opposed no the consideration of the new hire is approved next to new business consideration of approval of authorized brokers dealers as reflected in CAK exhibit mr. [Speaker 9] chairman before this item is taken up I'm gonna excuse myself from the proceedings and I'll come back in when this item is done [Speaker 1] yes sir we'll call you back thank you all right consideration of approval of authorized brokers dealers as reflected in CAK exhibit the administration recommends that the board approved the list of authorized brokers dealers for investment purposes as reflected in CAK exhibit motion from Regent Hemsel second from Regent Warford any comments or discussion on this item all right hearing none all in favor say aye any opposed no all right the administration recommendation is approved mr. [Speaker 11] Fontenot Regent Fontenot to come back in didn't give you enough time to go to the bathroom did we know but you gave me [Speaker 9] time to see a accident in front over here on Gulf Street okay all right next [Speaker 1] item on the agenda consideration of resolution declaring the Board of Regents has reviewed the Lee College investment policies and investment strategies and reaffirmed each as provided in board policies CAK legal and CAK local the administration recommends that the board affirmed resolution declaring that the Board of Regents has reviewed the Lee College investment policies and investment strategies motion from Regent Warford the second was Regent Cotton right any discussion on this item hearing none all in favor say aye aye opposed no right we have approved this [Speaker 11] resolution mr. [Speaker 9] chairman yes did you note I didn't hear on the action item that I left the room did you note that I abstained for that you get that I [Speaker 1] apologize we had eight in favor one abstention correct well one not [Speaker 19] absent and not voting is what way it'll be absent not voting as long as it was noted all right an abstention might suggest that you were here in the room and elected to I'm gonna say as long as it was noted all right we covered that [Speaker 1] he was absent from the meeting yeah thank you thank you for clarifying that thank you okay next item consideration of outside auditor engagement with Whitley Penn LLP the board should review and approve the audit engagement letter with Whitley Penn LLP motion from Regent Cotton second Regent Warford any discussion on this item I'm gonna read a little detail for just for some background this action recommended for policy be a a legal board legal status powers duties and responsibilities the board must have the accounts of the college district audited in accordance with the approved financial reporting system the fee for the annual audit will be sixty six thousand one hundred eighty dollars which is one thousand nine hundred thirty dollars or three percent higher than the prior year fee of sixty four thousand two hundred and fifty so that's what we're we're voting on any other comments on this item hearing none all in favor say aye any opposed no motions approved to engage with the auditor next item consideration of removing the six semester credit hour minimum charge of tuition and fees for Huntsville students the administration recommends that the board remove the minimum six semester credit hour charge of tuition and fees for Huntsville students beginning in the fall of 2026 Huntsville students will be billed on a per credit hour basis the same as students at the main campus motion from Regent Guillory second from Regent Hall any discussion on this item hearing none all in favor say aye any opposed no motions approved next items consideration of RFS sports to replace flooring at the Wellness Center and weight room the administration recommends that the board authorize the president or his designee to negotiate final terms and approve RFS sports to replace flooring at the Wellness Center and the gymnasium weight room in the amount of one hundred and sixty two thousand two hundred forty six dollars and forty three cents no move motion from Regent Fontenot second from Regent Guillory any discussion on this item Regent Fontenot this is one of the items you mentioned in your building committee report to us a lot of questions asked at the building committee meeting thank you any other comments or discussion hearing none all in favor say aye [Speaker 11] those no motions approved next item consideration of the HVAC preventive [Speaker 1] maintenance agreement renew renewable option year five with Johnson Controls Inc the administration recommends that the board authorize the president or his designee to negotiate final terms and approve the HVAC preventive maintenance agreement renewable option year five with Johnson Controls Inc for thirty three hundred and seventy one thousand eight hundred forty five dollars and forty five cents second motion for you Warford second from Regent Fontenot again I'm just going to clarify this is the fifth year option out of a five-year contract we approved back in 2022 right JCI is the manufacturer of both mechanical and control systems has experience and resources to provide proper maintenance and repair service for the college JCI has provided continuous maintenance services for Lee College for more than 20 years the pricing of year five that I mentioned is per the TIPS number two two zero one zero six zero one contract a little background on that fifth year of a five-year agreement any other comments or discussion on this item hearing none all in favor say aye those no motions approved next item consideration of duro shield roof coating purchase and installation by monument roofing systems for various facilities on campus the administration recommends that the board authorize the president or his designee to negotiate final terms and approve the purchase and installation of duro shield roof coating for various facilities on campus to be installed by monument roofing systems in the amount of two hundred fifty four thousand nine hundred twenty five dollars second got a motion from Regent Cotton second from Regent Jarrell's discussion on this item this I'm going to just note this does include buildings around campus TV five six and seven TV nine transportation shipping and receiving maintenance Bonner Hall South Central Plant and the Adult Learning Center just to put in context the it's about 75,000 square feet of roof coating with a 10-year material and labor warranty on each project that's what we're approving any other comments or discussion on this item you're not all in favor say aye opposed no motions approved next item consideration of building automation system web controls contract with automated logic the administration recommends that the board authorize the president or his designee to negotiate final terms and approve the three-year agreement for fiscal years 26 through 29 totaling two hundred sixty five thousand eight hundred seventy four dollars with automated logic to maintain the building automation web control systems motion from Regent Guillory second from Regent Jarrell's and this is an agreement the beginning of a three-year agreement year one eighty six thousand eight hundred seventy five dollars it goes up a little bit each year after that right yes and this is a second at least a second three-year continuous agreement with automated logic to maintain our systems around campus that's what we're looking at any other comments or discussion on this item hearing none all in favor say aye any opposed no motions approved next item on the agenda the meeting of the Lee College Board of Regents on the above listed date after proper posting in accordance with chapter 551 of the Texas government code for the specific purposes provided will recess from open meeting the closed meeting no action will be taken while the board is recessed in executive session we'll consult with board attorney regarding legal advice on any item on the agenda Texas government code section 551.071 and we will discuss naming of loan finalist for Lee College president Texas government code section 551.074 we are now adjourned all right the closed meeting has adjourned and the board will reconvene into open meeting under new business we have agenda item consider the naming of loan finalist for college president do we have a motion yes mr. [Speaker 9] chairman I have a motion I'd like to read I move that the board name Jacob Atkin as the loan finalist for college president hereby providing the public 21 days notice of this decision I further move that the board authorized the board chair to negotiate with mr. Atkin a proposed employment contract for final approval at a subsequent meeting by the board and to take necessary and related actions ahead of the board's final vote on the naming of the college's [Speaker 1] president I second all right we have we have first and a second any discussion on this item I just want to say that [Speaker 16] my vote is not gonna or my vote doesn't reflect my feelings about the loan finalists that we're considering but rather the lack of a process and finding [Speaker 14] that person any other comments or discussion me so Jacob I've said from the very time that you started that you were exactly what we needed you came in as a CFO I thought you were gonna be shadowing for a while and the very first meeting you stood up and you presented so I have to say what I've already said to you multiple times that I think you did a great job you're doing a great job that does not have anything to do with how I feel about this I believe that there should be a process from which to choose the person who's going to lead this college and whether that person turns out to be you it would be great for me but I believe that there should be a process but it has nothing to do with you or the service that you provide to this campus or the community [Speaker 15] any other comments or discussion well I will say that that during the past year that you've been here or longer you've exemplified to me your ability and everything that you've touched and and I've also believed that that you will make an excellent president whatever you you know do and and I appreciate everything you've done I've talked to a lot of people and I've never heard anything negative said we've we've done this process before it's been done you know by other groups in our area before it's not uncommon but I just wanted to know that that I do support you and Avenue that this board is looking at and [Speaker 18] I will say that I don't say that we need to do a search when we have somebody that's perfect for our college right here we've already worked with you we know you it's no surprise somebody new coming in we'd have to figure out who they were and we we've already got you so you've impressed all of us so much your calm demeanor your ability to lead and to provide confidence to this campus the communication that you've already started with all facets of the campus I think it is it shows great promise for what we've got in the future so I'm I'm very excited [Speaker 13] the comments yes okay my opinion is is that if we do a search we're gonna spend six months finding somebody then they're gonna spend six months trying to get a handle on where this place is we'll spend two hours four hours six hours interviewing these people and getting to know them we've had over a year to conduct an interview I'm perfectly satisfied with the results of [Speaker 8] that interview I do have a comment I want to commend this board and I want to say this publicly we have there's nine people on this board with nine 18 different opinions and many times but at least nine and that we just discussed particularly this item we've discussed and thought through this I think very well and I want to commit this is a good board it does exactly what the board is supposed to do we represent the citizens of the city of Goose Creek or Lee College District if I could say and but we also have some in-depth knowledge of the college to as best we can from from our vantage point and so I think I think I just want to assure you know the voters that any concern all concerns that I've heard they've been discussed they've been discussed very thoroughly and this is this has not been a a decision that's been made or at least in my position my perspective is being made lightly and and I appreciate the leadership that Jacob president active interim president active if we can say that has brought to the college and I particularly appreciate his leadership on the Bellevue agreement that he brought to fruition eventually and that was that was a difficult and challenging task and he did that within just a few months of when he was here and so that and other leadership that he's demonstrated gives me a great deal of confidence for the future of the college [Speaker 11] Any other comments? [Speaker 1] Okay I'm gonna make a just a comment regarding the process there are two acceptable processes in selecting a president search committee is the one that's most used but direct appointment is an acceptable process contrary to what's been publicized here lately if this is successful it's not the first time Lee College has done it been a little while but not the first time it's been done multiple times other community colleges in our state have direct appointed internal candidates as well circumstances determine what process you use if you have a retiring president and you know that you're going to have to go out look and there are no internal candidates a search process makes perfect sense if you have internal candidates that you've been grooming that process makes perfect sense in my opinion our circumstances have provided us through no plan of our own we can't take credit for it but the way it happened an excellent internal candidate who understands every aspect of a community college this man has not spent his career in just finance but finance in college in higher education everything required to deliver the services of our institution flows through the financial department he completely understands that was shared I'm gonna give Regent Guillory that credit he completely understands every aspect of this institution and what it takes to deliver the service to our community and our students so I don't see that as a liability I believe he's had an opportunity to spend 12-14 months amongst the employees of this institution to show who he is what kind of person he is how approachable he is how his temper is and I think that's been what was also misquoted the interview that I referred to not as a president interview but the interview of a person and we've had that opportunity for well over a year so in my opinion this is not unprecedented process it's been done by Lee College in the past San Jacinto College's Chancellor was grown from within they did not do a national search she's been there since 2007 very successful product of that institution who also was a CFO promoted to Chancellor so it's not unprecedented it's not as widely used Regent Hall stated we represent the community we believe that the faculty and staff have had an opportunity to know who Jacob Atkin is as a person and and what his commitment is to this institution so we've spent a lot of time and a lot of conversation I think the whole issue today is about the process not the person so anyway that's my those are my two cents or maybe nickel or quarter whatever was a quarter at least all right anyone else all right we have a motion in a second to name Jacob Atkin as the lone finalist for college president all in favor raise your hand any opposed raise your hand we have seven four and two against motion carries I will tell you that very soon we will communicate to the college community and our greater community the process we've gone through and making this decision we're going to be as clear as we can about the conversations we've had and hopefully have the community embrace Jacob as our president and we're not gonna rush that so if you don't see something like tomorrow morning it's because haven't prepared anything okay we we did not know what we were gonna do until this evening and I know that's some of you may not believe it but we did not know this was our third discussion and there's nothing prepared I know the Baytown Sun's gonna want something pretty quick and I will give something that I believe will be beneficial to the community so please be patient with us in these next few days all right any matters of concern for [Speaker 11] future agendas okay all right noted in other matters of concern for future [Speaker 1] agendas all right we're hearing none we are adjourned