WCC trustees approve small fee increases
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on March 26, 2008 2:00 PM
Wayne Community College Board of Trustees Tuesday night approved a small increase in its student activity fee, slightly altered its admissions policy for undocumented immigrants and moved up the May meeting date to allow more discussion time for the long-range facilities master plan.
Across the board, no fee increases will be made in the areas of standard student fees, materials for specific courses or computer use and technology fees.
The only change will be to the student activity fee.
The last time an increase was made was in July, 1999, said board member Gwyn Wilson of the finance committee. At that time, the activity fee rose from $28 a year to $32, or $16 a semester.
The board approved the recommendation of the student fee to $20 a semester, or $40 annually, for full-time students and $10 per semester for part-time students. The fee for part-time students remains the same.
A revised admissions policy for undocumented immigrants was officially approved by the board, in compliance with the state's policy.
The board had discussed the policy in September 2007, said Dr. Kay Albertson, WCC president. Since, further information has been received from the state system's office directing boards to review their policies.
"We never talked about them," she explained before pointing out the need to change some of the wording in the existing policy.
Instead of accepting undocumented immigrants from "an accredited USA high school," she said the policy will now say "from high school" and rather than specifying such students can enroll in "English-as-a-Second-Language," the words "Basic Skills" have been substituted.
The only other difference to the policy -- which maintains undocumented immigrants do not qualify for in-state residency and therefore will be charged out-of-state tuition rates -- is the new approval date, Dr. Albertson said.
Board member Dr. Michael Gooden gave an update on the college's facilities and building projects.
To comply with the June 1 target date for presenting the college's long range facilities master plan to architects, Gooden suggested the board's May 27 meeting be moved up to allow more time for discussion. The board approved a May 13 special meeting in its place.
Dr. Albertson said the plan had already been accepted and $35,000 in planning funds released by the state's community college system. LS3P Architects were previously selected to do the plan.
"This is truly one of the most important things that a board does," she said. "Architects were insistent that we get your approval."
The board also discussed the college's next construction project, the Dogwood Building roof replacement. The county commission approved the project at an estimated cost of $425,000, with DKWA Architects of Rocky Mount signed in September. Construction drawings have been approved the state, with a bid date set for mid-April.
Since the board will not be meeting again until May, the board voted to give its chairman, Tommy Cox, authority to accept bids. Estimated completion date is August 15.
More security cameras have also recently been installed on campus, Dr. Albertson told the board.