Auditors urge finance committee at MCC

On the advice of state auditors, the president of Mesalands Community College said he soon would create a finance committee to take a closer look at the college’s finances.

President Allen Moss said during the board of trustees meeting on Jan. 21 that he asked officials at the New Mexico Office of the State Auditor, which is conducting a fiscal-year 2024 audit and a special audit on the college, what it could do quickly based on what auditors had seen so far.

Moss said state auditors recommended that Mesalands create a finance committee of two board of trustees members, plus Moss, director of business services Rachelle Arias and possibly procurement officer Mark Martinez to take more of an in-depth look at its finances.

Moss stated in his written report the special audit would be finished in June. The report will examine how Mesalands fell into a financial crisis in early 2023 and how to prevent a similar occurrence in the future.

The crisis prompted the college’s executive staff, faculty senate and staff senate to issue a no-confidence vote against the previous president, Gregg Busch, who left town shortly after and resigned weeks later. Emergency state funding and cost-cutting measures kept Mesalands afloat.

On a related note, the board approved a memorandum of understanding and a $98,280 purchase requisition with the state auditor for the FY2024 audit. Moss said he anticipates that audit being completed by spring.

The board also approved the December financial report. Chairman Richard Primrose noted the college’s cash level remained steady that month.

Moss said the college’s business office now is fully staffed.

“I feel really good where our business office is right now,” he said.

Arias said the business office’s recent move into another space allows for better communication. She said its employees also are undergoing cross-training.

In other action:

— The board voted to change the start time of future monthly meetings from 5:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Primose said the change would result in less overtime for college staff who attend or work at the meetings. No board members objected to the change.

The next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 18.

— As a discussion item, Moss said he proposes a change in the 2025-2026 academic calendar where the school year would begin on Aug. 18 instead of Aug. 11.

Moss said the change would give students a full week of classes and a full week of final exams after Thanksgiving break.

“It would be more of a traditional college experience,” he said.

Hearing no objections to the proposal, Moss said he would add it to the board’s agenda for its February meeting.

— Moss said the next statewide general-obligation bond election would be in November 2026, and he was preparing a list of projects for it.

Moss said new student housing is not an eligible for the bonds, but repowering the campus wind turbine would be.

— Joel Kiser, vice president of academic affairs, said three of the college’s five nursing students had passed their NCLEX national licensure exams, and he anticipated two more would pass it soon.

Moss noted Trigg Memorial Hospital in Tucumcari recently hired several Mesalands nursing graduates, allowing the hospital to no longer use more-costly traveling nurses.

— Josh McVey, vice president of student affairs, said the spring enrollment of 594 on the main campus rose 7.4% compared to a year ago.

He also said the college’s recruiter was working on about 600 prospects for the college.

He said Mesalands held financial-aid workshops at the Tucumcari, Roy and Logan school districts, with another scheduled at Vaughn.

— McVey said the college has applied for a U.S. Economic Development Administration and Eastern Plains Council of Governments grant of $2 million, which the state’s Department of Finance and Administration could match, to repower the campus turbine.

Moss also stated in his report that U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich is working on obtaining funding for the turbine.

He said the college’s partnership with Impact Wind could lead to an estimated $2.7 million in investment over the next nine years. He also noted Leeward Renewable Energy recently gave $10,000 for scholarships.

Noting other partnerships with renewable energy companies, he said wind energy could create 2,000 jobs and $24 million in investment locally in the next 10 years. McVey said the wind energy sector in the U.S. is projected to grow 60% in the next 10 years.

— McVey said more than 300 students in the state’s correctional facilities had been registered for Mesalands classes.

— Martinez said contractors had begun work on replacing the roof on Building E, which was damaged in a severe hailstorm in May 2023. He said the work would take six to eight weeks.

He said LED lighting was being installed in phases in several campus buildings.

— Martinez said the college had submitted two memorandums of understanding to the City of Tucumcari. One would be to allow the Stampede golf team to use Tucumcari Municipal Golf Course. The other would allow city first responders to use the college’s fitness center for free except for a $10 identification fee.

The city commission approved the two measures on Thursday.

— Martinez said the new exercise equipment had been installed in the fitness center. He said it is offering six-month memberships for the price of five months, or 12-month memberships for the price of 10 months.

He said the college is using Square to accept payments for the fitness center. Customers also can pay on the college’s website.

— Staff senate President Dean Garcia said the college’s adult education program had produced 13 high-school equivalency graduates.

— Primrose mentioned a Feb. 15 shrimp boil hosted by the Tucumcari Elks Lodge as a fundraiser for the Mesalands Community College Foundation. It will include live music and an Altrusa International dessert auction.