Allen County Community College is committed to maintaining a robust fine arts programs, a college official said Thursday.
John Marshall, ACCC’s vice president for academic affairs, told college trustees at their monthly meeting that rumors had begun swirling about the demise of ACCC’s music program following the dismissal of instructor Ed Lammers.
“That is in no way, shape or form accurate,” Marshall said.
In fact, ACCC President John Masterson noted that the college for years had operated with a single music instructor.
“We tried for about five years to get enough music majors to justify two instructors,” Masterson told the Register. “Unfortunately, it just didn’t work out.”
The music program may be pared in one way, though, Marshall said, noting it has three college bands: a concert band, jazz band and pep band. “Three is a lot,” Marshall said. “Two might be wiser.”
Marshall declined to say which band would be eliminated, noting only that the pep band had the most participants.
The college will maintain its vocal music performers, Masterson noted.
Marshall said he has visited extensively with Brad Herndon, vocal music instructor, Terri Piazza in the theater department and several students to ease concerns.
“I reiterated our commitment to strong and robust theater and music departments,” Marshall said.
“There’s really not going to be much of a change that anybody will notice,” Masterson agreed.
Trustees announced April 28 that Lammers’ contract would not be renewed for the 2010-11 academic year, nor would the contract be renewed for computer science instructor Regena Lance. Neither was a tenured instructor.
In a related personnel matter, trustees approved the hiring of Regena Aye as the school’s new dean of online learning. She will begin work at the start of the 2010-11 academic year, which officially starts July 1.
Marshall said interviews are continuing for the school’s Iola campus dean position as well as for an English instructor at the ACCC outreach campus in Burlingame.
Trustees accepted the resignation of Justin Flenory, an assistant women’s basketball coach and residence hall director at Winter Hall.
THE STATE’S decision to raise sales taxes by a penny — thus sparing schools and college further budget cuts — was obviously good news for ACCC, said Steve Troxel, vice president for finance and operations.
Troxel noted the college is expected to receive $4.8 million from the state for the upcoming school year, in line with what ACCC received in 2007.
“I don’t see that spending level changing much over the next two or three years,” Troxel said.
“As long as we maintain our enrollment growth, I’ll be comfortable with our budget,” he continued. If enrollment flattens or drops, the college may have to draw funds from its cash reserves, Troxel said.
Masterson noted that unprecedented retroactive cuts by the state over the past two years have made it difficult for schools to make long-term plans.
“It’s like driving a car while you can’t see through the windshield,” Masterson said.
ACCC’s steady enrollment growth has mitigated some of the lost state funding, Masterson said.
What’s not known is how schools will absorb the loss of federal stimulus funds starting next year.
“A lot of what the state is doing is betting that the economy bounces back by then,” Masterson concluded.
ROOF WORK on several buildings on the Iola campus will begin shortly after spring semester classes end, Troxel said.
“The project should stay on schedule, weather permitting,” Troxel said.
He noted an unrelated roof repair to the ACCC Activities Building has not yet started as he had hoped.
“We were thinking the materials were going to be here the last week of April. They haven’t arrived yet.”
Troxel wants to see that roof repaired so crews can later install a layer of insulation along the ceiling.
Trustees approved hiring Day Construction of Carlyle to install the insulation for $2,000.
The insulation will do little more than improve the aesthetics of the building’s interior, Masterson noted.
Trustees eschewed more elaborate insulation projects, including ones with mesh covering. Thicker insulation likely would mean that additional lighting would have be installed, Masterson said, which would make the project considerably more expensive.
That must wait, Troxel repeated, until the roof work is done.
