The Texarkana College Board of Trustees approved the College’s audited financial statements for the fiscal year that ended August 31.

The motion came after hearing a report of full disclosure by Thomas & Thomas Certified Public Accounting firm showing a clean, error-free audit and a stable financial position.

President James Henry Russell said he could not be more proud of the TC team responsible for the outstanding compliance record and the clean audit report.

“The College has worked very hard to do more with less and to hold the line on expenses,” Russell said. “We continuously analyze what is most necessary to carry out our mission—to advance our community through quality and attainable higher education. Operating within a lean environment is important to strengthening TC’s efficiency and effectiveness as an institution.”

Kyle Davis, president of TC’s Board of Trustees, said the College has demonstrated great resilience during the dramatic shift from state funding to local support.

“Today we have a great report showing our stable financial position and great compliance record despite the constant challenge to overcome declining state revenue and tightened federal and state controls,” said Davis. “The entire team is to be commended for their commitment to excellence in financial management during a very challenging time for the state’s community colleges.”

TC relies upon three primary revenue sources: local taxes, tuition and fees, and state appropriations. State revenue has declined dramatically for Texas’ fifty community colleges over the course of the last decade. For TC, state funding has declined by 24% since 2008.

Russell said community support of TC is critical to continued success.

“There are clear messages coming out of Austin that the future of community college funding will continue to shift toward local sources,” said Russell. “We are so grateful for the support we receive from our community and our donors— without their funds; we would simply not be here.”

Kim Jones, TC’s Chief Financial Officer, said TC has committed from the top down to building a culture of excellence and fiscal integrity. She said that is the primary reason for TC’s continued financial stability.

“Our Board of Trustees could not be more supportive of our efforts to maintain first class human resources and our commitment to continuous improvement of institutional culture,” Jones said. “Every member of our Texarkana College family has worked hard to accomplish more, take care of our students even better, and do it all with less resources and less expenditures.”

Jones said actions taken by the board and administration during FY17 allows TC to report an increase in net assets of $467,679.

Another top priority for TC was moving the needle toward reaching $10 million in TC Foundation assets to sustain the Presidential Scholarship program. Katie Andrus, Director of TC Foundation, reported an increase in net foundation assets for FY17 of $1.1 million.

“In order to endow TC’s Presidential Scholarship fund well into the future, we must reach $10 million in foundation assets,” Andrus said. “This scholarship rewards top high school graduates across our service area with up to 60 semester credit hours of college and admission into our Honors College program.”

In other business, VP of Instruction Dr. Donna McDaniel introduced members of the TC Honors College who will be graduating this fall.

“We are so proud to announce that 24 members of TC’s Honors College are graduating this fall,” said McDaniel. “Each of these students have not only maintained a high level of academic performance, but have served as ambassadors for the College for special events, meetings with dignitaries, and community outreach projects. We commend them for their service and their success.”

TC’s fall commencement ceremony is set for 7 p.m., Monday, Dec. 18, 2017, at First Baptist Church Texarkana, TX.

Members of TC’s Institutional Advancement team also reported on recent honors received for their advertising work.

“Our team is excited to announce that TC won two Gold Medallions at the National Council for Marketing & Public Relation’s District 4 regional conference for our entries in the print advertisement and TV commercial categories of their advertising and marketing competition,” Irwin said. “We are honored to receive these awards, which are judged by professionals in our field, and to represent TC among our peers.”

Team members Traci Pitman, Emily Fruge, and Suzy Irwin designed and produced the commercial and print advertisement in-house to establish greater brand awareness for TC and to promote TC’s Alumni & Friends campaign.

Irwin said NCMPR is the only organization of its kind that exclusively represents marketing and PR professionals at community and technical colleges. As one of the fastest-growing affiliates of the American Association of Community Colleges, NCMPR has more than 1,500 members from nearly 600 colleges across the United States, Canada and other countries. NCMPR’s District 4 is comprised of two-year colleges in Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming.

 

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