The Neosho County Community College Board of Trustees held its June 2025 Board of Trustees Meeting on Wednesday, June 11, in the Student Union Boardroom on the Chanute Campus. The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. and adjourned at approximately 11:00 a.m. Trustees approved resolution 2025-40 to begin the process of entering into a lease-purchase agreement to finance the Mih Family Fine Arts Center project. The resolution allows the board to move forward with negotiations for the agreement. The total payments under the lease are expected to be no more than $4.42 million, excluding costs for maintenance, taxes or insurance. While the college and its foundation have already received about $3.4 million in grants and donations for the Center, some of the donations have come in the form of pledges of future gifts and must be financed through the bonds until received.
“This resolution is a major milestone for the Mih Family Fine Arts Center project,” said Dr. Brian Inbody, NCCC President. “With this step complete, we can now move forward with finalizing a number of important decisions—from architectural plans to construction timelines.”
The resolution was prepared by Kevin Cowan of Gilmore & Bell and presented by John Haas of Ranson Financial Group LLC. It was created using the current level of secured funding and provides various options for reducing interest costs as more donations are collected.
Contractor selection and certificate of participation signing is expected to be completed at the August 13 Board of Trustees meeting.
Trustees have charged the President with achieving sustainability for the Mitchell Career and Technology Center over the last few years. Dr. Inbody demonstrated that the college has made positive progress toward this goal, reporting a 52.85% year-over-year increase in credit hour production and a 96.97% increase in certificates and degrees awarded to students at the MCTC.
“The addition of the second year of the Electrical Technology, H.V.A.C, and Plumbing programs—as well as growth in the existing programs— has led to a banner year at the MCTC,” Dr. Inbody said. “While you cannot expect this level of growth every year, it is wonderful to see when it does happen.”
There was a 46.67% increase in total students attending the MCTC during 2024-25. Although high school students may be expected to be the driving force behind this increase, Dr. Inbody was pleased to report the opposite; non-highschool- age students made up 62% of new students. Dr. Inbody credited the Outreach and Workforce Development Division and its leader, Dr. Brenda Krumm, for these positive outcomes.
Dr. Inbody also reported on changes in the federal government impacting NCCC. The U.S. Department of State has paused making embassy appointments for international students who wish to study in the United States. Students must meet with embassy officials as part of the student visa process. If they do not already have an appointment to complete this process, they cannot get one now.
Currently, at least 13 NCCC students will not be allowed to attend in the fall. Many students on the federal loan program have been in forbearance since March 2020, which has now ended. Payments are expected to restart no earlier than September.. NCCC must now notify all past students of the federal loan program which is expected to be a major challenge due to the difficulty of locating these past students.
The Budget Reconciliation Bill, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” contains other changes to financial aid including increasing course load requirements for Pell Grant recipients and a requirement that could force NCCC to pay back student loans for students who earn less than 150% of the poverty line after graduation. The U.S. Senate version of the bill may be rolling back these changes, first approved in the House of Representatives. Adult Basic Education funding, TRiO grants, and Title III grants are also at risk of being cut in next year’s federal budget, which will be completed after the reconciliation bill. Potential changes in the state funding formula could also see a reduction in state aid for concurrent credit and Excel in CTE courses. These efforts are intended to curb bad practices and emphasize program completion. NCCC currently leads all Kansas two-year colleges with a completion rate of 57.5%, well above the state average of 29.3%.
Yvonne Hull, NCCC Foundation Director of Development, provided a Development Division Report to trustees. Development at NCCC is facilitated by the NCCC Foundation, led by Hull. The office also includes Tara Martin, Administrative Assistant to Director of Development.
The NCCC Foundation awarded $122,300 in scholarships during the 2024-25 academic year. A total of $1,024,912 has been awarded since 2017.
Donations collected for 24-25 totaled $587,380, as well as a 1980 Datsun 280zx and a retired ambulance. Cash donations were mostly directed to the MFFAC and the Strahm Family Strength Center projects. Mini Grants, grants awarded by the NCCC Foundation to local non-profit organizations and events, totaled $2,680.
Hull also provided updates on current investments. The General account sits at $3,235,821 with an average return of 9.19% since 2009, Title III-A sits at $1,004,278 with an average return of 7.98% since 2011, Title III-B sits at $284,024 with an average return of 13.45% since 2022, and the Performing Arts Account sits at $2,235,145.
Social media outreach connects with 3,500 people monthly across 11 countries. Hull noted that this communication will continue to increase with a newsletter coming in June and revitalized efforts to connect with alumni occurring this summer.
“We are extremely grateful to work with all of the amazing alumni and donors that walk through our doors,” Hull said. “Although we have plenty of amazing projects currently in the works, we are always researching for new opportunities to earn grants and grow our corpus.”
A meeting was held with designers for the MFFAC project to finalize details for the creation of construction documents. Those documents are expected to be sent out for bid in July and presented to trustees in August.
Demolition is complete and construction is underway at the Strahm Family Strength Center. Framing is underway for the bathroom and closets, with waterproofing and sheet rocking interior walls expected to begin soon.
The Panther Power Lab is still awaiting a 50% inspection from the Kansas Fire Marshall’s office. Maintenance and Housekeeping staff is in the process of summer cleaning.
Mateighia Tanner, Assistant Softball Coach, was selected as the winner of May 2025 NCCC Service Award.
“I’m so proud of this young woman and the women’s softball team,” the anonymous nomination read. “Mateighia really came through this season and is a great asset to this college.”
In her second year at NCCC, Tanner stepped into the role of head coach when head coach Kim Alexander was sidelined for the 2025 season. Tanner will be recognized with a social media post, framed certificate, and $500 prize.
NCCC routinely updates standard materials before the next academic year begins. Trustees approved the addition of the 2027-28 Academic Calendar, and updates to the Student Handbook and College Catalog.
The Student Handbook, a tool given to students to assist with navigation of campus policies, procedures, and general culture, received a number of major changes for 2025-26: the removal of ‘embracing diversity’ from the NCCC purpose statements; Corrected CAVE late night hours; Corrected TLC hours; Language in the myNeosho section concerning the sharing of credentials; Removal of the Improv Club and the Literature & Movies Club, and addition of the Innovate CTE Club and the Science at Home Club; Updated tobacco policy; Corrected Homeland Security section; Updated Clery campus crime statistics; Changed Wellness Center to the Strahm Family Strength Center “The Spot.”
The College Catalog has been revised to reflect updated policies and information for 2025-26. Major changes include: Master Syllabi and Textbook links were added per course; Language clarification for A.A.S. degree requirements; Updated Placement Tables including new developmental courses; Curriculum/ Program Changes; Small changes for KBOR alignment process; Updated Purpose Statements; Added language related to State Authorization, Complaint Process, myNeosho login, and Credit for Prior Learning (Departmental Exams); Added custom webpages for elective groups; Added program CIP code table.
NCCC received unanticipated revenue for both the General Fund and the Postsecondary Technical Education Fund, requiring an amendment to the 2024-25 academic year budget. Anticipated revenues and expenditures were originally approved at a total of $13,282,323 for the former and $7,010,284 for the latter. An amendment was approved to raise the budgets to $14,282,323 and $7,760,284, respectively. There was no adjustment made to the mill levy, and no public comment was heard during the June 11 hearing.
In other business, trustees: — Heard a Kansas Association of Community Colleges (KACC) report from Trustee David Peter. The group is reviewing proper cash-onhand accounting procedures, seamless transfer options for students transferring to the University of Kansas and expressed opposition to the proposed changes to federal student aid and the Pell Grant.
— Approved a property and casualty insurance proposal from IMA Insurance for $240,772.00 for 2025-26.
— Approved the write off delinquent student accounts receivable in the amount of $86,341.58 for January 2025 June 2025. All written-off balances are documented on the applicable accounts, holds are placed on student records until delinquent accounts receivable are paid, and the college will continue to attempt to collect accounts that have been written off. The previous write-off was dated December 11, 2024, and 41.76% of the $76,725.75 has been collected.
The next NCCC Board of Trustees Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 9, at 9 a.m. in the Student Union Boardroom on the Chanute Campus.
