CCCC board of trustees approves hirings

The hiring of staff members to fill three open positions was included in the consent agenda approved by the Cloud County Community College board of trustees during its regular meeting on Tuesday.
The board approved the hiring of Stephanie Downie as the director of auxiliary services, Brent Cox as the bookstore manager and Michelle Schultze as a nursing instructor at the Geary County Campus.
Downie, who is currently the Foundation specialist and administrative assistant for the Cloud County Community College Foundation, will take over the role as director of auxiliary services that was previously held by Caesar Wood, effective February 1.
Wood was hired as the vice president for administrative services back in April.
Downie is a 2010 graduate of Cloud County Community College with an associate of arts degree in social work. She earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in interior design from Fort Hays State University in 2013.
Serving in her position with the Foundation since March 2017, Downie is in charge of the financials, the scholarship process, marketing and event planning. She has also been the college cheer coach since June 2017.
Cox will replace Morgan Cool as the bookstore manager, effective February 1.
A graduate of Doane College with bachelor of arts degrees in English and history, he has worked as an assistant registrar and school certifying official at Cloud County since November 2020. Prior to that he was assistant/general manager of the book store from May 2016-October 2020.
Schultze was hired to fill a new position to support the nursing program at the Geary County Campus. Her contract will begin August 15. She is currently an adjunct certified nursing instructor at the Geary County Campus.
After completing her professional development in education and biology at Fort Hays State University, Schultze earned her bachelor of science degree in nursing and her registered nursing degree at Missouri Western College and her master of science degree in nursing from Fort Hays State.
In the only action item on the agenda, the board approved accepting the 2020-2021 audit presented during the December meeting by Neil Phillips, Jarred, Gilmore and Phillips, P.A.
College president Amber Knoettgen reported to the board that Cloud County has been invited to continue in the $1-million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence.
“I was told that this is a very competitive thing that we have just met and that we should be very proud of ourselves,” Knoettgen said.
The college was notified back in November that it was one of 150 institutions eligible for the Aspen Prize, the nation's signature recognition for high achievement and performance among America's community colleges.
The colleges selected for the honor stand out among more than 1,000 community colleges nationwide as having high and improving levels of student success as well as equitable outcomes for Black and Hispanic student and those from lower income backgrounds.
During the next phase of the competition, the college will have three leaders participate in a 45-minute interview on February 15.
Knoettgen said the number of institutions advancing to the next phase of the competition was not announced.
A panel of experts in community colleges, higher education and workforce training will announce the 10 finalists for the Aspen Prize this coming spring or summer.
In the fall of this year there will be site visits to each of the 10 finalists, during which the Aspen Institute and partners will collect additional information, including employment and earnings data about promising practices.
Announcement of the Aspen Prize will be made in late spring 2023.
The board met in executive session for 15 minutes with Knoettgen, Wood, vice president for academic affairs Kim Zant and college attorney Justin Ferrell for the purpose of attorney/client privilege.