[Speaker 2] Good afternoon. I hereby call to order this regular meeting of the Lee College Board of Regents on July 23rd, 2026 at 5 p.m. We do have a quorum. Do we have a quorum even without them? All right. Oh, Disney. All right. Okay, first item on the agenda is invocation and pledge to the United States and Texas flags. Regent Mark Hall will lead us. [Speaker 3] God, we come to you humbly recognizing the many blessings that you have given us as a college and as a community and as individuals. God, I pray that we will take what you have given us and put it to work for our fellow man, put it to work to make this institution greater and better and more equipped to meet the needs of our students. God, we ask that your blessing be put on our efforts, God, and we ask this in Christ's name. Please join me in the pledge to the U.S. 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. I pledge to the Texas flag. Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible. Mr. Chairman, if I can have a point of personal privilege. [Speaker 2] Go right ahead. [Speaker 3] Our president and myself will be doing our first performance tonight, kind of a dress rehearsal of 1776 about the debate and signing of the Declaration of Independence of which we just pledged that flag. There's a lot of meaning there and I would invite everybody to come. If you don't have any money, you can come tonight, but it's 25 bucks any of the other nights. Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night the next two weeks at the Performing Arts Center. And our president is playing John Hancock and he runs a tight ship. He's yelling at us all the time, sometimes saying things I've never heard him say before, but you will, you will, you will enjoy the performance. Thank you. Thank you, Regent Hall. Well, okay. [Speaker 13] There's a lady on campus that I think you owe. I'll watch the video. All right, we'll leave it there. [Speaker 1] I'll chase her down and make it up to her. [Speaker 2] All right, thank you, Regent Hempstead. Anybody else? All right, we'll move on with our meeting. Next, we'll move on to student spotlight, Lee College Foundation, Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo scholarship recipient. Who's kicking us off? [Speaker 1] So, I'd like to invite Vice President Leslie Gallagher to the stand to introduce our student spotlight for the evening. [Speaker 8] Thank you, President and good evening board. Manage this microphone. All right, I don't think we need a true introduction to Miss Carrie Hurlbut. You all know her, but I would like to let those of you who may not know that she was recently promoted to Director of Foundation Board Relations and Operations. So, I wanted to share that with you. She's been with the college for 14 years, and during that time, she's been very instrumental in supporting student scholarships. And today, she will share information about a recent donation we received from Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, a longtime scholarship partner of the college. And so, with that, we would like to introduce Carrie, and she will introduce our student speaker. [Speaker 7] I am pleased to share an update on the continued support we have received from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo recently awarded the college $51,800 for its vocational scholarship program. This gift will provide 10 scholarships valued at $5,180 each for students in our Associate Nursing Degree Program. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo has supported our students through scholarship program annually since 2015, with gifts varying from year to year. With this most recent donation, their total giving through the program has reached $385,900, and this year's gift is the largest we have received from them to date. Over the years, their scholarship support has helped students in several of our workforce and technical programs, including welding, pipe fitting, machining, process technology, instrumentation, electrical, and nursing. We are extremely appreciative of their continued investment in our students and their ongoing partnership with the college. Their support helps remove financial barriers for students who are preparing to enter high-demand fields and serve our community. Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo also invites us, along with our scholarship recipients, to their annual scholarship reception. It's always a wonderful event and a great opportunity for our students to connect with their team, executives, donors, and other scholarship recipients. We truly value that relationship and the way they continue to celebrate and support our students. I don't think anyone from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo has made it here tonight, so unfortunately I can't introduce you to them. But before I move into the student spotlight, are there any questions for me about the donation? Okay, so for our student spotlight, I'm honored to introduce our student. It's Angel Guajardo. Angel is a student in our Associate Nursing Degree Program and was selected in the fall of 2025 as a recipient of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo scholarship. These scholarships are paid to students over four semesters, providing ongoing support as they move through their program. Angel is an outstanding student who has shown genuine appreciation for the support she has received. She is also always willing to step up when we ask her to represent the college or share her experience. She expects to graduate in May with her Associate Degree in Nursing, and after graduation, she plans to work as a registered nurse while continuing her education with the goal of earning her Bachelor's of Science in Nursing. We're proud to recognize Angel this evening as a Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo recipient, and as a wonderful example of the students their partnership helps support. So at this time, I'd like to invite Angel to come forward and share a few words with you. [Speaker 5] Thank you, everyone. How are we doing today? [Speaker 11] Great. [Speaker 5] Good. Okay, I'm a little nervous, so excuse me. Well, my name is Angel Guajardo, and I am truly honored to be here today. I'm sincerely thankful. Thankful? Excuse me. I'm just so thankful to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the Lee College Foundation. [Speaker 2] Angel, look at Pam and Gina. Talk to them. [Speaker 15] Okay. [Speaker 2] Just talk to them. They're nice, friendly faces. Talk to them. [Speaker 5] Well, I don't cry. I'm not a crier, but I'm very thankful. So the Lee College Foundation and for their generosity and the opportunity to be here and create opportunities for students like myself. As a nursing student, my days are filled with classes, early clinicals, and stressful late night sessions, study sessions. So receiving the scholarship has helped me help lighten the load significantly in ways that just go beyond the financial support. Excuse me. It has given me the chance to focus more fully on my studies and clinical experience, instead of worrying about how am I going to pay for my school to get where I want to be, right? So my father always told me that his goal for me was to plant a seed and hope and wait for it to grow and be big and strong. So over the years, it has come to my realization that education is very much the same way. I may not immediately see the growth in where you guys have planted the seed for me, but the encouragement, the patience, and the support from all of you guys really, really help and help grow a meaningful beginning. So the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the Lee College Foundation have invested in students during this period of growth, believing in our potential long before we fully have reached it ourselves or even acknowledged it. I also had the privilege to attend the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Scholarship recognition event. What stood out to me the most was how incredible they were as far as sharing the same goal. They all had the same goal and it was, you could really truly read it from the room. It was inspiring to see so many people come together with the same goal in mind, which was helping the students pursue the opportunities that might otherwise be out of reach for those students. So your generosity is doing so much. It's doing more than just helping students pay for an education. It's opening doors and creating opportunities for everyone, reminding us that there are people who believe in us, who believe in what we can become, when sometimes we don't think we can become those individuals, right? Just as my father taught me, planting the seed and patiently waiting to see how it grows. People will go on to care for the community, protect the community, and serve for everyone. So again, thank you for believing in students like me and investing in our futures. I am deeply grateful and for the support and opportunity for allowing all to pursue my career, my long-term goal of becoming a nurse. So thank y'all and sorry for crying. [Speaker 9] I just wanted to add that I had the distinct privilege of working with Carrie for, now I'm gonna cry, for about nine years, I think, nine or ten years. We worked alongside each other every single day. She was a right-hand person for me and she is fiercely passionate about students at this college and supporting them in any way possible, and they love her. And so thank you, Carrie, for being who you are and being that constant person for our students. [Speaker 2] Thank you. I like Carrie, too. All right, moving on. Disposition of minutes. We have before us the Policy Committee meeting, June 4th, 2026. Workshop meeting, Facilities Master Plan on June 8th, 2026. Budget Workshop meeting, June 18th, 2026. And the Board meeting on June 18th, 2026. Anyone who's read these minutes, offering a motion, I'll take it. Motion from Regent Cotton, second from Regent Geralds. Any comments, questions, or corrections? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Minutes as presented have been approved. All right, next we move to report of the chairman. I was supposed to prepare a report because I had a few things I wanted to say, but now I don't know where they were. So we're just going to move on to the Building Committee report. Regent Patu? [Speaker 14] Yes. [Speaker 11] Okay. [Speaker 2] Will there be a full board presentation? [Speaker 14] Not in the it was not scheduled. I'm not going to start over. I tend to project pretty well. [Speaker 2] And the goal here is it was a great presentation. I saw most of it, but the goal is for the full board to have this this opportunity as well. It's not going to be done in a small committee, but the full board will get to see the result of some of the work they've done. This was just a benchmark meeting for their progress though. All right, any other questions for Regent Fontenot? All right, we'll move to Policy Committee. Regent Hall? [Speaker 3] Yes, the Policy Committee met on Monday. I think that was Monday, July the 20th. We covered a variety. I hear them breaking up a little bit. We covered a variety of things. I think we're just about complete on update 50. Am I I'm looking for Leslie. Is that correct? Yeah. And so we we had a variety of policies. It was a very good meeting. And one of the things that I wanted to point out as far as being a board member is we have now have a policy. If people want to complain about the board, there's a there's an actual policy to take care of that. And so in a process and that's something that I understand is pretty rare. And so I want to say hats off to Leslie and whomever else helped you on the development of that policy and our legal counsel to get that something in writing and maybe some other schools may adopt it because I understand there's not many out there. And so it's good for the board. I would just say that it was a good meeting and voting on the policy updates here shortly. Do you have any questions? Where's that form? You've talked to Leslie. She's got it. [Speaker 2] It's them to the board, not you. [Speaker 9] All right. [Speaker 2] Any questions for Regent Hall? I have one not specific policy, but is your lack of a beard due to your role in the play or it is entirely due to my role in the play and my wife has informed me she wants the beard back. So okay. [Speaker 3] All right. Well, a couple more weeks. It's been 25 years since I looked like. [Speaker 2] All right. We'll move on to Audit Investment Committee. Regent Geralds. [Speaker 10] We did not meet in July, but we're going to be, David is going to work on scheduling. We're going to try to get on a more consistent schedule of meeting. We've kind of been all over the place. It's been kind of tough to get everybody together. So we're going to get on hopefully a consistent week of board meetings. Back with you on those dates. [Speaker 2] Thank you. All right. Next, we go to Report of the President. President Adkins. [Speaker 1] Thank you. So continuing along the lines of Audit Committee, if I could have Elena Martinez stand. She is our new internal auditor. I thought it would be nice to point her out and introduce her as she will have a special relationship with the board as all internal auditors do. We're very excited to have her and she's been working furiously to acclimate and to catch up on all of the work that was in progress at Greg's retirement. So thank you and welcome. All right. For my update, I would like to provide a brief update on Pfluger. So we're in the middle of the ideation phase. There are four phases. Ideation is the second phase. That's scheduled to be complete sometime in the middle of August. Once that ideation phase is complete, then we'll bring Pfluger back in for a full update to the board on the second stage of the process. In terms of our work on Workday, we are in week 26 out of 67. [Speaker 11] And it's a lot. [Speaker 1] Is Amanda here? Amanda's not here. We are still in green status. Right now, we are in the process of transferring data into Workday. Starting to feel real. We are doing testing with different stakeholders across campus, but it remains a very time intensive and demanding project. We are working very hard. We are 36% of the way through with finance and HR. The schedule shows that we should be at 39% of the way. So we're a little bit behind, but considering how much work has gone into this, we're very happy with the progress that we're making. And I would say we're less than a week behind in terms of our Workday implementation. So hats off to the staff. It is a tremendous amount of work. [Speaker 11] Hi. Were you working? Were you working? Yeah, I see. [Speaker 1] I would also like to provide an update on the president's meeting that was hosted in San Antonio last week. Obviously, the main topic of conversation revolves around state appropriations and the change to the formula funding. I think the biggest takeaway, particularly for you as board members, is that as we meet and visit with legislatures, we want to make sure that our message isn't that they've, not the legislature, that the coordinating boards put us in kind of a pickle for this year, but that the program as intended is working, right? The idea of implementing a performance-based funding model has led to an increase in performance, not only at Lee College, but across the entire state. The risk that we run right now as a system is that if performance continues to improve, but funding isn't continued to be put into the program, then it stops being a performance-based funding model and it starts to become an allocation-based funding model, no longer on contact hour, but on completion. And we want to advocate fiercely with our legislators to please continue to fund this as a performance-based funding model. If we continue to perform at higher rates, we need more money in order to maintain that same level of incentive to encourage colleges to do everything that they can to help our students be successful as possible. And there is some legitimate concern that the legislature may not be totally behind funding us the way that we need to be. Now, our significant cuts that we've been talking about today might be addressed through a supplemental request next legislative session. Obviously, we have to budget for what we're going to receive now. There is some hope and some possibility that if that supplemental request is approved and funded next spring, that we would get a payment in arrears for our work that we're doing this year. And so, there is some light at the end of the tunnel as far as this goes. But again, that all comes down to the legislature being fully committed to maintaining a performance-based funding model. The other concern that came up during the president's meeting were concerns regarding possible changes to the way that ad valorem taxes are managed by community colleges. So, we enjoy a little more flexibility than traditional municipalities have in terms of managing ad valorem taxes, and even more so than ISDs do as a special taxing entity. Now, if you look in the governor's budget, proposed budget, he is not proposing any changes to the way that ad valorem taxes are managed by community colleges. And we want to continue to fight for that. The other institutions, as they're looking at their budget cuts, have been talking about potentially raising their tax rates to get back to the no new revenue rate. We are very fortunate. In our community, we live in an area that industry is thriving, that we continue to see growth. And so, our estimates for property valuations aren't as dismal as they are in other areas of the state. And so, I'm very grateful to be in the situation that we're in right now because it's worse at other colleges across the state of Texas. And so, keep those two things in mind, particularly as you meet with your legislative friends. We need more money, and please protect our ability to be true stewards of our ad valorem tax. You know, one of the most significant threats I see to our continued growth and progress as an institution is if tuition and fees are frozen, and state appropriations don't continue to grow, and we don't have any flexibility on ad valorem taxes, suddenly we end up with a budget that we can't control, and that becomes very stagnant. And I don't think anybody in here thinks that we just want to be the size that we are forever. We all have a lot of expectations for growing and expanding the services that we provide, not only here, but to our ISDs to the north, and that takes some flexibility in managing our own resources. So, there's a tremendous amount of work for us to do this legislative session, and I'm excited to strategize and work with all of you to help build a strong coalition in support of Lee College and in four community colleges across the state. And that concludes my report. [Speaker 2] President Adkin, any questions? On to, excuse me, informational reports. We'll begin with report of Lee College resignations and or retirements. [Speaker 11] All right. [Speaker 1] We had several resignations or retirements. First, we had Judy Baker up at Huntsville. She is retiring after seven years of dutiful service, 17 years. Don Ditto has tendered his formal retirement at the end of January, so we get him for another four or five months before he rides off into the sunset. Jody Gomez works in recruitment and outreach. She has only been with us for one year. Luis Hernandez has been with us for three years in information technology. Jasmine James has been with us for one year in transfer services. Cynthia Martinez, short term or six months up at Liberty as a service coordinator. And finally, Davin Rosen, a faculty member in biology, who is also retiring after 18 years. Thank you to all of our great employees and the great contributions they've made to this college. [Speaker 2] Very much. All right. [Speaker 11] Next, we'll move to our financial report. Ms. Woodruff. [Speaker 4] I'm going to stand on it. Good evening. Tonight I'm going to present the financial results of June 30th. Overall, the college continues to maintain a strong financial position. Revenues are over budget, expenses are being managed, well managed, and we're projecting a positive operating result as we close out the fiscal year. And with cash and investments, as of June 30th, 86 million, 8.2 million dollar increase, primarily due to the evaluation of the plan held for investment and the cash reserves. Here today, revenues are 87.5 million, which is 100.9 percent of the budget, and expenses are at 66.8 million, which is 77.1 percent of the budget, resulting in a 20.6 million dollar net revenue. As I mentioned earlier, we're projecting a positive year-end operating position of 4.1. We're projecting revenues at 2.4 over budget, and expenses at 1.6 million under budget, resulting in the 4.1 operating positive. But while we're we're projecting the 4.1 million being the favorable result, please keep in mind that as the year, the next two months and the closing of the year will have year-end adjustments and accruals to to record, so it may slightly change. Ability reports, as of June 30th, we have one active project of the ADA phase two, budget remaining of 1.5. We had no June expenses submitted. Capital projects and the budget, the year with a 9.5 million dollar budget and budget remaining as of June 30th is 6.8, and June expenses that were submitted were 454,000. Those projects were for HVAC work, flooring projects, and furniture, and the surveillance camera project. Directed funds, year to date, we have 21.1 million in revenues and 20.8 in expenses with a net income of 298,000, and if you'll see that the federal grants have a negative it's due to the timing on the reimbursements. [Speaker 11] Questions? Any questions for Ms. Woodruff? [Speaker 2] Thank you very much. It's been a while since I've been on my little soapbox about our capital improvement projects, but I just want to remind everybody in the last eight years or so we've put about 40 million dollars into this facility. 40 million dollars of improvements without a bond, and that was largely due to how we allocated some of our reserves, I mean our excess revenue in the early years and and what we're doing today with allocating that 9 million for capital projects. So I think we've been good stewards of our taxpayers money and their their facilities. Okay. [Speaker 3] I have one question. Okay. And this goes back to our recent just shared the valuation on the land. Was that included in any reserve calculation at all? [Speaker 1] It is not. So the land while held for investment is not included in the calculation for reserves as it's not a liquid asset. So the reserve calculation is just cash. [Speaker 2] Some of you may remember not long ago we were in a bind. We were in a bind financially. We actually got called on it at the state at a state senate hearing a few years back and we had to own it. And I think I think we as a board and institution have done a great job of positioning ourselves in a very strong financial position. Our cash reserves, our property held for investment, our insurance reserves, I think we've done a great job of getting us back on solid ground. So thank you to everyone who's been a part of that. Okay. I'm gonna get off my box on the public comment. We have anyone signed up to speak? Yes, Mr. Chairman. We don't? Thank you. [Speaker 14] We have David Isaac. [Speaker 2] All right, Mr. Isaac. [Speaker 6] Chairman, Board of Regents, I'm David Isaac. I want to comment tonight and say first and foremost, I think Mr. Hall looks real good without a beard. But he doesn't look good as making that announcement during the business time of the people. We shouldn't be talking about 1776 nor should we be moving our meetings earlier at the privilege or the whim of those that serve. I see that we have individuals on that show. I saw the names of there. Mr. Warford's on there. We have a regent on there, Mr. Hall. And we have our president who seems to have time running the school and being in a play this whole week. I also noticed there was nothing but white guys, mostly. No African-Americans in that play. I find that troubling. They played a good role in building this city's history, this country's history. And I find it troubling that we're gonna have this good old boy stuff going on in the middle of the ring. I would like for us to never do that again. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, earlier this year at a Rotary Club meeting, it's reported that you got pretty loud with an individual by the name of Don Coffey for spreading misinformation about the bond process. We know him. We know him to be a liar. We know him to be unethical. That is a public thing. We know that he's lied to two members of this board regarding a letter from Joe Stevens. I spoke to Justice Joe Stevens in person. He told me with his own words, if you want evidence of that, call me, that Don Coffey is a liar. So my question is, why would you name a basketball court after him? Because he gave you $10,000? I got $10,000 right here in cash. Just got off a tour. Give Don Coffey his money back. I want it to make it rain, but I don't want to be inappropriate. Give him his money back. Name that court after somebody like Pete Alfaro. When Don Coffey was here, the first thing he did was put himself in the Lee College Hall of Fame. And the last thing he wanted to do was name the whole arena after himself. Thank God y'all had the common sense and decency to vote that down. I'm here tonight to rise in favor of the everyday people, those that may have wanted to see that court named after somebody like Pete Alfaro. We still haven't honored him properly yet, have we? Mr. William Gammon just passed last month. He was dedicated to this school. He never lied to anybody on this board. It was never found unethical. Don Coffey can't even serve as a judge anymore because of his unethical behavior. This is what Judge Joe Stevens told me less than a week ago or two. He cannot serve as a guest judge, and you named a basketball court after him. Did you ask the basketball team? Do they have an input? Those young men get a chance to say so for the campus they made proud nationally. We've got to think about our values. We've got to think about priorities. If not, I'll pay for it, or you're going to pay for it on election day when it comes up, Mr. Hall. Thank you very much. [Speaker 2] Thank you, Mr. Isaac. Moving on to items of action. Personnel have a consent agenda. Consideration of new hires. The administration recommends that the board approve the new hires as presented below. We have, oh, I should have read these names. Enki Arizmendi, I apologize on that, faculty and English humanities, and Victor Seaborn, manager of technical support services. Do I have a motion? So moved. I've got a motion from Regent Warford, seconded by Regent Cotton. Any comments or questions on this item? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed, no. The consideration of new hires is approved. Item on the agenda, consideration of Lee College employee contracts fiscal year 2026-2027. The administration recommends that the board approve contracts for the academic year 2026-2027 for employees listed herein. I will not read all the names. Do I have a motion? [Speaker 15] So moved. [Speaker 2] Motion from Regent Fontenot, seconded by Regent Warford. Are there any questions on this item? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed, no. All right, consideration of Lee College employee contracts fiscal year 2026-2027 has been approved. [Speaker 11] Moving on to new business. [Speaker 2] Consideration of adoption of board policy revisions for local policies. The administration and board policy committee recommend that the board approve and adopt the revisions to local board policies as presented and recommended by Texas Association of School Boards update 50 and one other policy. A motion from Regent Hall, seconded by Regent Cotton. Any questions or comments on this item? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed, no. All right, consideration of adoption of board policy revisions for local policies has been approved. Next item on the agenda, consideration of purchase of D2L-H5P premium enterprise software. The administration recommends that the board authorize the president or his designee to negotiate final terms and approve the purchase of a three-year contract for software license and implementation of D2L-H5P premium enterprise, an interactive software that promotes interaction and student engagement in learning management system, as well as in the classroom from D2L for $103,634.90. Had a motion from Regent Guillory, second from Regent Geralds. Are there any questions on this item? Okay, just clarification is stated this is a three-year purchase agreement? [Speaker 1] Yes, that's correct. [Speaker 2] Okay, so we'll be paying out incrementally the total amount, right? [Speaker 1] $33,000 or so a year. [Speaker 2] All right, any other comments or questions? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed, no. All right, we've approved the consideration of purchase for the D2L-H5P premium enterprise software. All right, next item on the agenda is executive session, the meeting of the Lee College Board of Regents on above listed date after proper posting in accordance with Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code for specific purposes provided will recess from open meeting, closed meeting. No action will be taken while the board is recessed in executive session. [Speaker 12] What we can and cannot do, you know, legally. I don't understand that. [Speaker 2] What we can and cannot do as far as, you know, listening, responding. [Speaker 12] You know, can they stack time? Can they wait off from additional time? Talk about, I'd like to know how that works. Okay. [Speaker 2] If I'm the only one. No, we can definitely have that. I know there's been some, you know, there's been some work done on the form they fill out with some, you know, restrictions and, you know, those kind of things. So, we'll continue kind of defining that. I've researched some on public comment and there are limitations. The city, you know, they have to have at least one minute. We give them up to three. There are topics they can and cannot discuss. If it's a special meeting, they can only discuss what that meeting is about, like budget. They can't go off on something else. At our regular board meeting, they are allowed to talk about whatever they want. What I will check into is whether they can continue month after month after month on the same topic. [Speaker 11] I don't know. [Speaker 2] I don't know that we I think we'll do some research and get a little bit of advice. [Speaker 13] The policy committee should address it because it's a policy. You're not going to find a state ruling on that. It's going to be a policy. [Speaker 2] If we have a policy, we'll get the policy committee to take a look at that. All right, I'll get with the Regent Holland. All right, any other matters of concern for future agendas? Hearing none, we're adjourned.