RCC Board of Trustees approves yearly budget

HAMLET — The Richmond Community College Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved their budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year.

Executive Vice President/CFO Brent Barbee said the budget was received last week, about seven months later than expected.

Last year, their total budget was a little over $22 million. As of Dec. 31, 2021, RCC has spent over $10 million, an increase of $201,000 from the year before.

The majority of the expenditures were in the IT area, according to Barbee.

“That supply chain has freed up a little bit and we were able to get our hand on some computers and replace a lot of our computers, switches, and equipment,” Barbee said, adding that they’ve been able to put contracts in place for upgrades in software and networking.

For the Richmond County campus, $155,000 more had been spent than in the previous year, and the Cole Auditorium spent $26,000 less. Barbee said that utility bills are running higher this year and the addition of the Robinette Building in downtown Rockingham also contributed to the increase in cost. The Scotland County campus’s expenses remained relatively level, Barbee clarified.

One noticeable increase in the budget is Workforce Economic Development (WED) special fees, totaling $66,000. Barbee said that this is due to the college offering more WED classes this year. RCC has received an allocation from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funds, which allows them to offer more benefits to students.

There’s been a decrease in students using Pell Grants, a subsidy from the U.S. government to help students pay for college. Barbee said this decrease, totaling $236,00, is a reflection not only of a decrease in enrollment at RCC, but also a decrease in Pell grant enrollment overall.

RCC seeing COVID “nosedive”

Dr. Dale McInnis, president of RCC, reported a peak in positive COVID cases in the two weeks after the MLK holiday, followed by a brief plateau. As of data updated last Friday, McInnis said they’re seeing a “nosedive” in COVID cases.

Last week, there were around 70 students absent due to COVID, including both those who have tested positive and those under quarantine.

As of Friday, there were only 30 students out due to COVID.

“We are not seeing any disruption nor outbreaks on campus that we can identify,” McInnis reported.

He added that there were about 15 employees absent due to COVID during the peak, but currently there are only three employees out.

RCC has distributed all of its individual testing kits out to the public. The college is also continuing its partnership with the Richmond County Health Department at the testing site located in the parking lot of the Cole Auditorium.

McInnis concluded by stating that while they’re are following COVID closely, they’ve been unable to do any contact tracing due to the high rate of transmission of the Omicron variant.

Vice President of Instruction Kevin Parsons added that classes where instructors have been absent have been able to move online successfully.

The Richmond Community College Gala, originally scheduled on Feb. 12, has been moved to April 2, a Saturday, due to Omicron.

Progress on driver training program site

In December, Richmond Community College acquired land adjacent to the Laurinburg-Maxton Airport in Scotland County to provide space for the college’s truck driver training program.

There’s an estimated $800,000 cost for the construction of a building on-site as well as improvements on the existing site.

Barbee said that the real cost could be as low as $500,000 and that the $800,000 is a maximum estimate. Additionally, $18,750 dollars are allocated to support yearly facility operations, maintenance and utility bills of the new site.

There will be a 2,000 square foot building constructed on the site which will consist of offices, restrooms and a small meeting room.

The Board’s unanimous approval on Tuesday of this plan allowed for this proposal to be done in time for the Office of State Budget Management’s agenda for the month.

This upcoming Monday, the college will be interviewing candidates to be the instructor of the course. Barbee said that the plan is for this program to be available by the spring or summer of this year, and that they’re in the process of obtaining an 18-wheeler for the course, which has been more difficult than expected due to supply chain issues.

Auditor for fiscal report approved

S. Preston Douglas & Associates, LLP out of Lumberton was approved to audit RCC’s financial statement for the fiscal year of 2021-22, at a cost of $23,100.

This firm performed the last two financial statement audits for the college.

“We are very pleased with the responsiveness to our questions throughout the year as well as the timeliness of the finished product,” outlined Barbee in an email.

Four other firms submitted bids for the opportunity to complete RCC’s audit. There was one firm that presented a lower cost, although Barbee clarified that this firm had more of a background in municipal government and not community colleges, which are more unique to perform an audit on.

SGA President shares upcoming student events

Student Government Association President Dhruvil Patel said that on Feb. 10, there will be a Black History Month open mic session at the Hamlet campus’s library.

All RCC students and staff are encouraged to attend.

Dhruvil also shared that members of SGA had gone through a two-week training session on how to intervene in difficult situations, such as times where drugs are involved or interacting with students who may feel increasingly isolated due to the pandemic. Dhruvil said that they hope to share the information that SGA members have learned in future sessions with RCC students, and potentially implement this information in some fashion to other students around Richmond County.

Performing Arts Series events coming soon

The Cole Auditorium will host “Catapult Magic Shadows” on Tuesday, March 1 and “The Greatest Piano Men” on Thursday, March 24. Both events are at 7:30 p.m.