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New members join VGCC endowment board

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The Vance-Granville Community College Endowment Fund Board of Directors recently welcomed four new members. They include Tanya Evans of Timberlake, Ronnie Goswick of Franklinton, Katharine Macon Horner of Durham and Marshall Tanner of Oxford.

“We are delighted to welcome these leaders to our Endowment board, and we appreciate their commitment to supporting our students and our mission,” said Dr. Stelfanie Williams, president of VGCC.

The board of directors oversees the Endowment Fund Corporation, a nonprofit organization established in 1976 to seek and receive scholarship funds and other contributions for the college.

Evans is a district manager in Duke Energy’s government and community relations department. She is responsible for external relations, issue management, community involvement and corporate contributions for the company’s northeast region, which covers Caswell, Person, Granville, Vance, Warren, Franklin, Edgecombe, Nash, Wilson and Halifax counties. Duke Energy has established numerous scholarships for VGCC students and awarded several grants to the college over the years. Evans has a degree in journalism and mass communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Goswick is the director of business and economic development at Carolina Sunrock, based in Raleigh. The company is a longtime supporter of the college and has endowed a VGCC scholarship in its name. Goswick served for 25 years in local government with Franklin County and the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments as an economic development director. He is also a former Franklin County commissioner and member of the Town of Franklinton Board of Commissioners. Goswick is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in business.

Horner is a Henderson native who graduated from Atlantic Christian College (today known as Barton College) with a degree in health and physical education and from Wilson County Technical Institute (today known as Wilson Community College) with an associate degree in nursing. She retired after a lengthy, varied career in health care, having spent many years working as a nurse at Duke Medical Center. Horner has endowed two scholarships at VGCC in memory of her parents and grandparents.

Tanner spent his career in the manufacturing sector, retiring in 2010 as a vice president of Bridgestone Bandag, another company that has supported the VGCC Endowment Fund for many years and endowed a scholarship in its name. He managed plants for that company in Iowa and Georgia before finally moving to its Oxford location. Tanner earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial management at Georgia Tech. Active in his community, he received the John Penn Citizen of the Year Award in 2003 from the Granville County Chamber of Commerce.

The four new additions join current Endowment Fund board members Robert L. Hubbard (the vice-chair), Julius Banzet III, Sarah Baskerville, Rep. James W. Crawford, Jr., Dr. Ben F. Currin, Clay Frazier, L. Opie Frazier, Jr., Rev. Dr. Richard M. Henderson, Darryl Moss, T.S. Royster, Jr., Donald C. Seifert, Sr., Josh Towne and Todd Wemyss. As president of VGCC, Dr. Stelfanie Williams chairs the board.

Through the Endowment Fund, VGCC has awarded more than 8,800 scholarships to students since 1982. Scholarships have been endowed by numerous individuals, industries, businesses, civic groups, churches and the college’s faculty and staff. Tax-deductible donations to the VGCC Endowment Fund have often been used to honor or remember a person, group, business or industry with a lasting gift to education. For more information about the Endowment Fund, call (252) 738-3409.

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VGCC trustees approve new Associate Degree in Visual Arts

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Vance-Granville Community College’s Board of Trustees approved the offering of an Associate in Fine Arts degree in Visual Arts beginning in the fall of 2017 as the trustees met for their bi-monthly meeting on the Main Campus on Nov. 21.

The board also welcomed Jennifer P. “Jenny” Hester of Henderson as a newly appointed trustee, received preliminary plans for capital improvements on four campuses, and celebrated the results of the latest faculty and staff campaign to support the VGCC Endowment Fund.

Hester, who works in real estate and development in Henderson, was sworn in by Resident Superior Court Judge Henry W. “Chip” Hight of Henderson. Appointed for a four-year term on the board by N.C. Governor Pat McCrory, she replaces Dr. Doris Terry Williams of Henderson, who had served since November 2010.

The Fine Arts degree will be added to the Associate in Arts and Associate in Science degrees already being offered by Vance-Granville. A minimum of 60 semester hours of College Transfer courses will be required in English; communications, humanities and fine arts; social and behavioral sciences; mathematics; and natural sciences, in addition to classes in art history, two-dimensional and three-dimensional design, and drawing. For graduates who wish to complete a four-year degree, course credits will transfer to all 16 campuses of the University of North Carolina System under the state’s Comprehensive Articulation Agreement.

The board’s action came on a recommendation from the trustees’ Curriculum Committee, chaired by Trustee Barbara Cates Harris. With board approval, the College will now submit the program to the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) and the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACSCOC) for their approvals.

In other action from the Curriculum Committee, the board voted to approve closure of the Associate in Applied Science in Entrepreneurship program. Citing consistent low enrollment, Harris said the program will end in the fall of 2017 with a “teach-out plan” for currently enrolled students through Spring Semester 2018. The program was designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary for employment and growth as self-employed business owners. The College continues to offer a variety of related programs in Business Administration, Accounting and Office Administration, among others.

Faculty-Staff Drive for Scholarships

The co-chairs of the annual faculty and staff drive on Vance-Granville’s four campuses announced to the Trustees that $20,079 was raised this fall from among employees to support the mission of the College and students through scholarships.

The drive co-chairs were Kristi Salmons-Ellenberg, department chair and instructor for Social Sciences; Willie Mae Foster-Hill, Main Campus receptionist; and Steven Sievert, instructor for Computer Education.

VGCC awarded 301 scholarships at its annual awards ceremony this October. The funds raised by the faculty and staff this year will help with future scholarships.

Capital improvements

The Board of Trustees received a preliminary look at capital improvement projects that may be made possible with the $7.6 million in funds that the College is receiving through the Connect NC bonds approved by statewide voters this past March.

Projects are proposed at all four campuses, according to Trustee Donald C. Seifert, Sr., chair of the Building Committee.

Among the largest projects, the replacement of outdated heating, ventilation and air conditioning and fire alarm systems on Main Campus is projected to cost around $4 million. Exterior masonry repairs and restoration, also on Main Campus, are projected at around $1 million. Both projects will enter the design phase in January 2017 with a proposed construction start date of August 2017, Seifert said.

Other projects, depending upon available funds, could include, on Main Campus, the remodeling of restrooms, renovations to several instructional areas, and the construction of a “burn building” for the Fire/Rescue department in Continuing Education; at South Campus, the replacement of heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment; at Franklin, renovations to a lab and boiler replacement; and at Warren, gas pack and heat pump replacements. The Connect NC Bond funds must be designated for repairs and renovations or the construction of new facilities.

In addition to the Connect NC Bond projects, Seifert said roof renovations to Building 6 on Main Campus are in the design phase, and the project will be bid out in February and completed in the summer of 2017. Remaining balances from other renovations on Main and South campuses will be available for space utilization improvements and repairs and renovations, respectively, Seifert said. Among those improvements, Steve Graham, Vance-Granville’s vice president for finance and operations, said a Bioprocess Technology laboratory on Main Campus is being retrofitted to house a new curriculum program in Histotechnology. The Bioprocess program is moving to the Franklin County Campus.

Other Action

In other action:

  • Trustee Sara Wester, chair of the Personnel Committee, reported on new employees, retirements and resignations. Among those retiring is Jacquelin “Jackie” Heath, program head and instructor for School-Age Education. Heath, who began employment on Sept. 15, 1976, and retires in January, is Vance-Granville’s longest-serving full-time faculty or staff member.
  • Trustee L. Opie Frazier, Jr., co-chair of the Investment Committee, and Steve Graham, Vance-Granville’s vice president of finance and operations, updated the board on the move of the College’s investments to First Citizens Wealth Management in October. In September, the board approved the firm as the financial advisor, ratifying the designation of the firm by the VGCC Endowment Fund Board of Directors.
  • In her report to the trustees, President Dr. Stelfanie Williams reported on recent activities and events at Vance-Granville. Among those, she noted upcoming holiday events, including the Vance-Granville Community Band’s Holiday Concert on Monday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m.

The next meeting of the VGCC Board of Trustees will be held on Monday, Jan. 23, at the Main Campus.