VGCC Trustees Welcome Back Old Friend, Talk Budget, Outstanding Performance
L. Opie Frazier Jr., a former chairman of the Vance-Granville Community College Board of Trustees, was sworn in as a board member July 15 after a six-year absence.
A Henderson realtor and insurance agent, Frazier served as a member of the Board of Trustees from 1971 to 1996 and was chairman from 1984 to 1993. He was re-named to the panel by the Vance County Board of Education to replace Nancy R. Henderson, who asked not to be reappointed.
Also taking the oath for new four-year terms on the board at the bi-monthly meeting were T.W. Ellis Jr., re-appointee of the Vance County Board of Commissioners, Clarence Lemons, named again by the Granville County Board of Education, and John M. Foster, re-appointed by Gov. Mike Easley.
Local, State Budget
The trustees approved a county current expense budget of $1,472,506 and a county capital outlay budget of $185,639 for 2002-03. These are funds allocated by Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties to support the VGCC campuses in their communities.
The current expense budget represents a 6.83 percent increase over 2001-02 allocations, and the capital outlay figure is 4.25 percent more than 2001-02.
Vance and Granville counties support the operations of the main campus in Vance County, while Granville County supports South Campus, Warren County funds operation of the campus in Warrenton, and Franklin County funds the operation of the campus near Louisburg.
Trustees Chairman John K. Nelms said, “This budget shows the role being played by the counties in support of the satellite campuses located in those counties.”
Most of the almost $30 million Vance-Granville Community College budget comes from state funds, much of which are based on enrollment and growth in enrollment. College officials expressed concern about what is happening in the state legislature concerning the budget.
President Robert A. Miller commented that he didn’t know when the state would get a budget. He said that the state Senate passed a version that would fund enrollment growth at the community colleges and would mean about a $1 million increase for Vance-Granville.
The House has yet to pass its version of the budget, but Vance-Granville officials expressed the hope it will also reflect reimbursement for growth, which VGCC has experienced over recent years.
Performance Recognized
President Miller informed the trustees of two state reports that praised Vance-Granville Community College for outstanding performance.
Vance-Granville was one of only a few community colleges in the 59-school system that received a superior rating on the 2002 Performance Measures Report. This grades schools against a standard in 12 performance measures, and VGCC met or surpassed 11 of the standards.
Performance Measures include passing rates of graduates on certification exams, performance of college transfer students in the University of North Carolina system, passing rates of developmental students, employment status of graduates and progress of Basic Skill students, among others.
“The college’s performance improved dramatically this year, and it is clearly the result of the hard work of our faculty and staff,” Miller said.
For the 20th consecutive year, Vance-Granville received an outstanding report from the Office of the State Auditor on the internal control over financial reporting.
The report stated, “The results of our tests disclosed no instances of noncompliance that are required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards.” The report continued, “We noted no matters involving the internal control over financial reporting and its operation that we consider to be material weaknesses.”
The trustees praised Business Manager Gary Morgan and his staff for its continued excellent handling of college financial matters.
Above, Superior Court Judge Henry W. Hight Jr., right, administers the oath of office to, left to right, T.W. Ellis Jr., John M. Foster, L. Opie Frazier Jr. and Clarence Lemons as they are sworn in for four-year terms on the Vance-Granville Community College Board of Trustees at the board’s bi-monthly meeting July 15.
