BLINN COLLEGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES SETS PRIORITIES FOR LEGISLATIVE SESSION

  

The Blinn Board of Trustees approved six legislative priorities for the college at its regular board meeting Tuesday night in Brenham. All of the priorities presented at the session are an attempt to seek increased funding and to strengthen workforce training programs, while keeping student costs low.

During the board meeting, the trustees clarified their priorities as:

1. Supporting the state funding goals as adopted by the Texas Association of Community Colleges (TACC) and Community College Association of Texas Trustees (CCATT).
2. Supporting enhanced policies, programs and associated funding to strengthen the workforce development services and initiatives as adopted by TACC and CCATT.
3. Supporting an increase in state funding to further Blinn College’s efforts to provide an affordable higher education for all students.
4. A commitment to strengthening its business and industry partnerships and to enhancing workforce development in all of its service area.
5. Supporting additional state funding to offset the rising expenses associated with Hazlewood exemptions.
6. Supporting maintenance of the existing level of state funding for the operation of the Star of the Republic Museum.

The college will ask for the increase of core funding for each community college district by $250,000 per year; funding student success points at a minimum of $185 per point; and increasing state funding for community college instruction by $45 million. Blinn College also made one of its priorities to enhanced policies, programs and associated funding to strengthen the workforce development services and initiatives as adopted by TACC and CCATT.

The Board of Trustees went on to say that it believes that an increased in state support would help Blinn and other Texas community colleges meet expanded demand for their services.

Currently, Texas community colleges have seen an enrollment increase of more than 70 percent since 2000, and 78 percent of students who earn a bachelor’s degree from a Texas University have community college credit on their transcript.

In other business, the board voted to set the 2016 tax rate at $0.0601 per $100 of property value, matching the 2015 tax rate. The college anticipates just under $1.8 million in tax revenue.