* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. DISCO LIGHT SHOW [00:00:01] GOING ON. [I. Call to Order] UM, GOOD EVENING EVERYONE. UM, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE THIS EVENING. WE HAVE OUR SPECIAL MEETING REGARDING SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICT TWO THIS EVENING. I WILL GO AHEAD AND CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER. PLEASE LET THE RECORD SHOW THAT THIS MEETING HAS BEEN POSTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT AND THAT THE QUORUM IS PRESENT AND THAT THE TIME IS CURRENTLY 6 31. THE FIRST ITEM ON OUR AGENDA THIS EVENING IS OUR PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. SO IF YOU COULD PLEASE JOIN, UH, STAND AND JOIN US IN THE P. THANK YOU. ALRIGHT, THE NEXT ITEM ON OUR AGENDA THIS [III. Public Comment] EVENING IS PUBLIC COMMENT. WE DO HAVE ONE PERSON WISHING TO ADDRESS THE, UM, THE BOARD THIS EVENING. I KNOW THIS IS, UH, KNOWN TO THOSE, THIS PERSON, BUT WE'LL MAKE SURE EVERYONE KNOWS WE'LL HAVE THREE MINUTES. I CAN BE YOUR TIMEKEEPER TONIGHT. UM, I WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE LEFT. NO NEED TO STOP SPEAKING JUST TO GIVE YOU, GIVE YOURSELF TIME TO PACE IT. OH, YOU CAN DO IT. ELVIA WILL BE YOUR TIMEKEEPER THIS EVENING. UM, AND YOU CAN COME TO THE PODIUM AND THE PODIUM WILL BE READY FOR YOU WHEN YOU GET READY. OUR FIRST SPEAKER IS DAVID ALBERT. AND DAVID ALBERT WILL BE SPEAKING ON ACCS FREE TUITION PROGRAM. MR. ALBERT, WHENEVER YOU'RE READY. ALL RIGHT. OH, EXCUSE MY OWN TIMER. TWO. ALRIGHT. UM, SO, YEAH. UM, IN MY DAY JOB I WORKED FOR AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND I JUST WANTED TO LET, UM, LET YOU ALL KNOW, AND THE AUDIENCE AND PEOPLE WATCHING ABOUT SOMETHING THAT IS, UH, NOT QUITE FINAL, BUT WILL LIKELY BE FINALIZED AT THE MARCH BOARD MEETING, WHICH IS ACCS NEW PROGRAM PROPOSED BY OUR NEW CHANCELLOR, RUSSELL LOWRY HART TO, UH, TO WORK TO TOWARDS FREE TUITION FOR ALL STUDENTS. BUT IN THE FIRST PHASE, THEY WILL, UM, GIVE, THEY'RE GONNA GIVE FREE TUITION TO ALL GRADUATES GRADUATING FROM THE CLASS OF 2024. AGAIN, IT HAS NOT BEEN FINALLY APPROVED BY THE BOARD, BUT IT, MY EXPECTATION IS IT WILL BE IN MARCH. UH, AND THIS IS AN EXTRAORDINARY OPPORTUNITY FOR GRADUATES, UH, LOCAL GRADUATES, AND SPECIFICALLY OBVIOUSLY DELL VALLEY GRADUATES. EVERYONE WHO GRADUATES FROM HERE HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO, UM, TO GO FOR FREE. AND THAT'S, YOU KNOW, THAT MAY GET A LOT OF PEOPLE INTO, UM, INTO A CC AND INTO HIGHER EDUCATION THAT OTHERWISE MIGHT, MIGHT NOT DO. SO IT'S, UM, WE'LL ALSO, OF COURSE, AND OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS, OF COURSE, WE'RE GONNA SEE A CAMPUS BUILT IN, UM, IN THE, IN DELL VALLEY, UH, KIND OF EAST OF THE AIRPORT. SO, UH, SO IT'S REALLY A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN A CC AND DELL VALLEY, AND I'M JUST INCREDIBLY EXCITED ABOUT IT. THERE'S SOME OTHER REALLY INTERESTING ASPECTS OF THIS. WE'RE DOING IT A LITTLE DIFFERENTLY THAN SOME OF THESE PROMISE PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN DONE. AT, AT LEAST THAT'S THE PROPOSAL THAT IN, IN SOME OTHER PLACES LIKE ALAMO COLLEGE, THE STUDENTS HAVE TO TAKE THEIR PELL MONEY FIRST AND APPLY THAT TOWARDS THEIR TUITION. AND THEN THE FREE TUITION ONLY COUNTS AFTERWARDS TOWARDS ANYTHING LEFT UNDER, UH, THAT ISN'T COVERED BY PELL. SO, UH, A CC IS SETTING IT UP TO GIVE THEM THE TUITION, THE FREE TUITION FIRST. THEY CAN STILL GET THE PELL MONEY AND USE THAT TOWARDS OTHER LIVING EXPENSES AND SO FORTH. THE GOAL, PART OF THE GOAL IS TO GET ONE MINUTE, GET MANY MORE STUDENTS INTO FULL-TIME, UH, AS FULL-TIME STUDENTS RATHER THAN PART-TIME STUDENTS, WHICH GRADUALLY INCREASES BOTH THEIR LIKELIHOOD OF GRADUATING AND, UM, UH, THEIR LIKELIHOOD OF GRADUATING AND GOING CONTINUOUSLY AND THE SPEED AT WHICH THEY CAN GRADUATE. SO ALL OF THAT SEEMS LIKE REALLY POSITIVE, REALLY EXCITING, AND I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT IT. WHEN THIS IS PASSED IN MARCH, I, UH, I WOULD, I HOPE THAT DELL VALLEY MAKES A REALLY AGGRESSIVE EFFORT TO PROMOTE IT TO, TO THE STUDENTS AS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO CONTINUE ON. SO I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT. THANK YOU. UH, BY THE WAY, I DON'T OFFICIALLY SPEAK FOR A C I'M AN A CC EMPLOYEE, BUT I'M NOT AN OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE COLLEGE IN THIS AT THIS MOMENT. SO , I WANTED TO MAKE SURE CLEAR THANKS. PERFECT. THANK YOU. AND THANK YOU FOR SHARING THAT OPPORTUNITY. ALL RIGHT. THAT CONCLUDES OUR PUBLIC COMMENT THIS EVENING. UM, AT THIS TIME, [IV. Closed Session] THE BOARD WILL ADJOURN INTO CLOSED SESSION TO INTERVIEW POTENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICT TWO. TONIGHT'S AGENDA WILL GO AS FOLLOWS. AS YOU CAN SEE, WE'LL HAVE, WE'LL INTERVIEW OUR CANDIDATES THAT WE HAVE ON, [00:05:01] ON BOARD, AND THEN WE'LL COME OUT AND WE HAVE TWO, ONE OF TWO OPTIONS ON THE, ON THE AGENDA FOR DISCUSSION LATER. UM, SO I WILL ADJOURN UNDER THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS, 5 5 1 0.071 AND 5 5 1 0.074. THE TIME IS CURRENTLY 6:36 PM ALL RIGHT. ALL RIGHT. THE BOARD ENDED ITS CLOSED SESSION AT 8:15 PM WE ARE NOW BACK IN REGULAR SESSION, AND WE HAVE THE FOLLOW. THE NEXT ITEM ON OUR AGENDA [V.A. Consider and Act on Appointment of Board Member to Fill Single Member District 2 Vacancy] IS TO CONSIDER AND ACT ON AN APPOINTMENT OF A BOARD MEMBER TO FILL SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICT TWO VACANCY. WE HAD THREE CANDIDATES FOR THIS POSITION. THE CANDIDATES WILL BE TAKEN IN ORDER. UM, NOMINATIONS WILL BE TAKEN FOR THE CANDIDATES IN ORDER IN WHICH THEY APPLIED ON THE BALLOT. EACH CANDIDATE WILL BE VOTED INDIVIDUALLY. IT WILL TAKE A MAJORITY OF THE MEMBERS PRESENT IN VOTING TO, FOR A CANDIDATE TO MOVE FORWARD. IF ONE CANDIDATE DOES NOT GET THE MAJORITY, WE'LL MOVE ON TO THE NEXT CANDIDATE AND SO ON. IF A BOARD, IF A CANDIDATE FAILS TO GET A NOMINATION, A BOARD A VOTE WILL NOT BE TAKEN ON THAT AND WE'LL GO TO THE NEXT CANDIDATE BOARD MEMBERS. ANY QUESTIONS ON THAT? NO. OKAY. SO THEN WE'LL GO WITH THIS. DO I HAVE A NOMINATION FOR, UH, MR. DAMIAN PANTOJA TO FILL THE SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICT TWO OR FOR APPOINTMENT OF THE SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICT TWO? I NOMINATE DAMIAN PENTO. OKAY. I'LL SECOND. PERFECT HAVING A, UH, MOTION AND A SECOND. DO I HAVE ANY DISCUSSION? OKAY. ALL OF THOSE IN FAVOR OF MR. DAMIAN PANTOJA FOR, UH, APPOINTMENT FOR SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICT TWO. OKAY. THAT'S FIVE CANDIDATES HAVING THE MAJORITY OF THE VOTES FOR THE, UM, SEAT. THEN WE, I DON'T, WE DON'T TAKE ANY OTHER NOMINATIONS. THAT MEANS THAT MR. PANTOJA IS THE, UM, CANDIDATE FOR THE APPOINTMENT. UM, FOR THOSE OF THOSE ON THE BOARD, UM, WE WILL DO AN OATH OF OFFICE FOR TUESDAY, TUESDAY'S BOARD MEETING AND THAT THE CANDIDATE WILL TAKE THE SEAT AT THAT TIME. OKAY. HAVING NO OTHER ITEMS ON THE AGENDA FOR THIS EVENING AND NO FURTHER DISCUSSION, I SAY THAT WE ADJOURN. I HAVE MOTION THAT WE ADJOURN AT 8:23 PM. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.