OC board approves budget

The Odessa College Board of Trustees approved an overall budget of $75,241,515 during their meeting Tuesday.

The tax rate will be approved in September.

Chief Financial Officer Brandy Ham said the budget priorities are to maintain a competitive salary environment, support the OC 10,000 enrollment objective, strategic investments into student success strategies and completion of the ongoing construction projects.

New initiatives in the budget include mental tele-health software; a 20-foot standard shipping container for the Occupational Safety and Environmental Technology program; chat platform licensing; and food pantry vouchers.

Ham said the budget includes a 6 percent salary increase for eligible full-time faculty, professional and classified staff.

Ham said the college will be increasing full time staff by 23 positions. The current budget reflects 422 positions.

The budget will be supported by income received from taxes and tuition and fees, Ham said.

Board Chairman Gary Johnson said the tax rate would probably be adopted in September.

The current tax rate is 0.201723 per $100 valuation with a maintenance and operation rate of 0.172599 per $100 valuation and a debt service rate of 0.029124 per $100 valuation.

“We’re looking at, in order to support the budget a tax rate of .164191 (per $100 valuation) and debt service rate of .025693 (per $100 valuation) for a total tax rate of $.189884 per $100 valuation,” Johnson said.

Ham said the debt service rate could change.

Johnson said the average home value this year is $184,000. Last year it was $173,000, an increase of about $10,000. With the increase in appraisal, he said most of the rise was in minerals and commercial property.

“If we do adopt this tax rate later on then the average homeowner increase on a $183,000 home would be 16 cents a year,” Johnson said.

The board also accepted the resignation of Place 4 trustee J.E. “Coach” Pressly. In a letter to the board, Pressly said he had served on the panel since May 2002.

He was a baseball coach at OC from 1965-1972 and also at Odessa High School.

He received a standing ovation from those in attendance, though he was not there.

Johnson said hopefully within next couple of weeks the board will consider recommendations for filling the spots of Pressly and Larry Johnson.

He said they would try to do something in Pressly’s honor as well.

Vice President for Instruction Tramaine Anderson gave an update on bachelor degrees. For people 25 and older, according to the 2020 census, Ector County’s attainment was 16.1 percent; the state was 30.7 percent; and the United States, 32.9 percent.

Under House Bill 3348, community colleges can offer up to five bachelor’s degrees.

By 2023, OC’s first class of students will start the BAS (Bachelor of Applied Science) in early childhood education.

At that point, Anderson said, OC will offer three bachelor’s degrees. She added that there are 18 full and part time faculty in leadership and management and automation.

Looking at the past three years, students are 49 percent female and 51 percent male, Anderson said.

Sixty-six percent of students are full time and 34 percent are part time, she said.

Unduplicated enrollment from 2019-22 was 458 and there were 141 graduates from 2020 to 2022.

Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness Janice Hicks said OC enrollment continues to buck the trend with increasing enrollment as opposed to the declines seen nationwide.

Hicks said 60 percent of occupations moving forward require some type of credential.

“That’s what we’re doing with the bachelor’s degrees that Dr. Anderson just talked about,” Hicks said.

In spring 2022, OC saw enrollment of 7,721 students, an increase of 21 percent, she said.

There were 6,395 in 2021.

Over a five-year period, she said, OC’s spring enrollment has increased by 34 percent.

Spring 2022 outcomes show a 97 percent completion rate with 83 percent earning an A, B or C grade and 3 percent of students dropped courses.

In 2021, 1,200 students were awarded degrees and 1,260 in 2022.

This summer, enrollment increased by 3 percent to 3,017, Hicks said.

Vice President of Administrative Services Ken Zartner gave an update on Vision 2030+ and President Gregory Williams gave a report that included OC’s reaffirmation of accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges that is good for 10 years.