CCCC trustees extend Knoettgen’s contract

Extending the contract of president Amber Knoettgen one year, through June 30, 2025, was approved by the Cloud County Community College board of trustees during its regular meeting Tuesday.
Knoettgen was officially hired president of the college in November of 2020 after serving as the interim president for seven months.
Prior to being named interim president, Knoettgen served as vice president of administrative services for three years after working as the director of advisement and retention.
Before the board of trustees approved extending it by a year, Knoettgen's contract ran through June 30, 2024.
Included in the consent agenda, approved by the board during the meeting, was the contract renewal for administrative personnel for 2022-2023.
The consent agenda included the hiring of Blayne Harris as assistant wrestling coach, effective July 18, and Linda Ramsey, Abilene, as an Allied Health instructor at the Geary County campus, effective July 15.
Harris, who is originally from Beloit, is a graduate of Cloud County and Fort Hays State University. He served as a volunteer coach for the Thunderbirds this past season.
Ramsey is currently the director of nursing at Village Manor, Abilene.
A five-year agreement with Instructure, in the amount of $110,385 for the use and customer support of Canvas and authorize payment from tech fees, was approved by the board.
Canvas provides a platform for students enrolled in online and face-to-face courses to interact with their instructor, access course materials, submit assignments and to view grades.
The college signed an initial agreement with Instructure for Canvas services in the fall of 2012 at a cost of $124,044. The agreement was extended in 2017 for five years at a cost of $111,032, which is based on enrollment.
The board also approved, by a vote of 5-1, the renewal of the two-year lease agreement with Darrel and Margo Hosie for the building space at 2015 Lincoln St., that is utilized by the college's renewable energy program, in the amount of $72,600.
Under the agreement, the college will pay $3,000 per month for the space during the 2022-2023 fiscal year. That is up from $2,650 paid per month in the previous agreement.
The rate per month during the 2023-2024 fiscal year will be $3,050.
Cloud County first entered into the agreement with the Hosies in August 2012 to provide space for the newly developed wind energy program. The college extended the contract from 2012 through 2017 and than again for an additional five years.
The current agreement for the space is set to expire on June 30, 2022.
It is the intention of the college to lease the space for two additional years during the construction of the new Technical Education and Innovation Center.
A bid from Image Quest, in the amount of $31,963.68 for the first year of a five-year lease of a multifunction copier, effective July 1, 2022, was approved by the board.
The copier agreement includes 12 replacement copiers serving the Concordia and Geary County campuses plus regular maintenance services to support the college's print, copy and fax environment.
There were five bids received by the college for the copier lease and the low bid was submitted by Image Quest.
The board met in three separate executive sessions for a total of one hour.
A 15-minute executive session for the purpose of negotiations included Knoettgen, Zant, Wood, Wilson and college attorney Justin Ferrell.
The board then met in two executive sessions, totaling 45 minutes, for attorney/client privilege.
There was no action taken following the executive sessions.