Nelms Elected Chairman Of VGCC Trustees; State, County Budget Appropriations Praised
For the first time in its history, Vance-Granville Community College’s Board of Trustees has a chairman who is not from Vance County.
At their bi-monthly meeting Monday, July 19, the trustees elected John K. Nelms of Oxford as chairman of the board. Donald C. Seifert Sr. of Henderson was elected vice chairman, and Henrietta H. Clark of Henderson was re-elected secretary.
Nelms, who has served the VGCC board either in an advisory capacity or as an appointed member since 1971, was vice chairman since 1977. He had been serving as interim chairman since the end of 1998 when the previous chairman, John T. Church Sr., resigned because of declining health.
At that time the executive director of the Granville County Economic Development Commission, Nelms worked tirelessly to get Granville County more involved in what was then Vance County Technical Institute. The Granville County Board of Commissioners appointed him to the VGCC trustees in 1973.
In addition to his long service as vice chairman, Nelms also chaired the Curriculum Committee of the Board of Trustees during a period when many new programs of instruction were added at the college, including the highly popular and successful associate degree nursing.
He and J. David Brooks, chairman of the Building Committee, were reappointed for four-year terms at the meeting. Nelms was reappointed to the board for another four–year term by Gov. James B. Hunt Jr., and Brooks was reappointed by the Granville County Board of Commissioners. Administering the oath was Lucy W. Longmire, clerk of Vance County Superior Court. (Shown in the photo above from left are Brooks, Nelms and Longmire.)
TRUSTEES LIKE BUDGET
The trustees expressed pleasure at contributions of the state and of Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties to the college’s 1999-2000 budget.
President Robert A. Miller said, “From every indication this is one of the best, and probably is the best, state budget ever.” He pointed out that VGCC will receive more than $1.2 million in state funding for full-time equivalent students, a 15 percent increase.
The four counties that support Vance-Granville Community College were also very generous with their 1999-2000 appropriations to the college, Miller and the trustees said. Miller pointed out that county funding for current expenses will increase 12 percent and will go up 45 percent for capital outlay.
“I couldn’t feel any better about this budget and what can be done with it to improve our school,” Miller said.
CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
J. David Brooks, chairman of the Building Committee, reported that construction at the South Campus between Butner and Creedmoor remains about three months ahead of schedule. The 9,000 square-foot addition should be complete in about three weeks, after which renovation of the existing building will begin.
Architectural plans for Buildings 3 and 4 at the Franklin County Campus were delivered during the week of July 12 to the N.C. Department of Community Colleges for approval, which could take up to six weeks. Bids for the 6,800 square-foot classroom and biotechnology laboratory building and the 2,300 square-foot classroom/assembly room building must await state approval, Brooks said.
FACILITIES USAGE, NEW HIRES
The trustees received a report that outside and non-academic usage of college facilities rose 10.5 percent during the past fiscal year.
A total of 38,838 people used the Civic Center during the past year, including those who attended graduations in August 1998 and May 1999 and other large college-sponsored events. This was an increase of almost 5,700 over the previous year.
Almost 7,000 other people outside the college used its seminar room, conference room, auditorium, student lounge and gazebo for organized events.
The trustees voted to hire two new full-time employees: Carolyn Powell to be a counselor and Jean Taylor-Messerich to be program head/instructor for practical nursing. Powell is a Henderson native, former Henderson Main Street Program manager and a counselor in Vance County schools the past four years. Taylor-Messerich is a registered nurse from Watertown, N.Y., who has an extensive nursing background as well as 11 years as an LPN instructor.
An across-the-board $5 tuition increase at the college’s Day Care Center, effective Aug. 1, was also approved by the trustees. The rate for toddlers, ages 1-2, on a full-time basis will now be $395 per month. Ages 2-5 will cost $365 per month for full-time care. Monday-Wednesday-Friday and Tuesday-Thursday rates are also available in both age categories at lower fees.
