The Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College Board of Trustees convened a meeting on Monday, August 4, 2025, at 3:00 p.m., in The Brumit Center for Culinary Arts and Hospitality, Tillman Dining Room; Dr. Theresa Banks, Chair, presided.
In addition to Dr. Banks, the following members of the Board participated: Joe Barwick, Michael Garrison, Matt Kern, Judy Lewis, Roger Metcalf, Anthony Penland, Frances Ramsey, Ben Teague, Glenda Weinert, and Drew West. Himanshu Karvir, Libby Kyles, and Roger Reid were absent.
Others present for the meeting included: John Gossett, President; Deborah Bailey, Vice President, Economic and Workforce Development and Continuing Education; Amanda Edwards, Executive Director, College Advancement; Kerri Glover, Executive Director, Community Relations and Marketing; Cris Harshman, Vice President of Operations/CIO; Fairley Patton, Vice President of Student Services; Darryl Rhymes, Director, Employment & Employee Relations; Beth Stewart, Vice President of Instructional Services; Chris Campbell, College Attorney; and Carolyn Rice, Secretary to the Board.
Call to Order
At 3:00 p.m., Chair Banks read the ethics statement. Ms. Rice called the roll; a quorum was present.
Swearing-in
At 3:03 p.m., Judge Ward Scott swore Mr. Drew West, Mr. Michael Garrison, and Mr. Ben Teague into the Board.
Consent Agenda
At 3:10 p.m., Chair Banks welcomed the new and reappointed Board members and asked for a motion to approve the Consent Agenda.
Mr. Drew West moved to approve Consent Agenda items: 1. A. June 2, 2025, Board Meeting Minutes; 1. B. July 11, 2025, Executive Committee Meeting Minutes; and 1. C. Personnel Actions. Ms. Lewis seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Resolution/Action Items
2. A. During the June 3, 2024, meeting, the Board approved Procedure 110.01: Conflicts of Interest and Undue Influence Questionnaire for the Voting Members of the A-B Tech Community College Board of Trustees. The procedure was designed for Trustees to complete and sign annually to attest to reading the By-Laws of the College regarding Conflicts of Interest, Appearances of Conflicts, and other rules regarding Trustee conduct. Dr. Gossett asked all Board members to sign the Procedure so that the College may have it on file for the September visit from our accreditors, SACSCOC.
2. B. Ms. Dana Moore shared that the 2026-2027 Academic Calendar follows the pattern of previous academic calendars; however, the Commencement Ceremony has been moved to the third week of May in 2027. The College remains in compliance with the mandated twelve paid holidays per year.
Chief Penland moved to approve the 2026-2027 College Calendar. Dr. Weinert seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
2. C. Ms. Melissa Valko informed the Board that the North Carolina Community College System Office has yet to finalize the state budget for the Fiscal Year. The Continuing Budget Resolution allows the President and the College to pay state-funded salaries and other ordinary expenses of the College for the interval between the beginning of the new fiscal year and the adoption of the budget resolution by the Board.
Ms. Lewis moved to approve the Continuing Budget Resolution. Ms. Ramsey seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Budget Update
3. A. Ms. Melissa Valko discussed the State and County Budgets as of June 30, 2025, with the Board. Funding for Hurricane Helene, as well as funds from several grants, are included in the budget.
3. B. Ms. Beth Green shared that the countertops have been installed in the Vet Tech Clinic, and that repair and renovations are in the design phase. Both of these are Article 46-funded projects.
Trustee Business
4. A. Dr. Metcalf recognized Dr. Banks and Ms. Ramsey for serving with him on the Nominating Committee, and presented the following nominations to the Board: Dr. Joe Barwick as Chair, Ms. Judy Lewis as Vice Chair, and Ms. Carolyn Rice as Board Secretary for 2025-2026. Dr. Banks asked if there were any nominations from the floor, and there were none.
The Board approved the nominations as presented.
4. B. Dr. Banks asked the Board to nominate two members to serve on the Executive Committee. Mr. Kern and Ms. Ramsey each volunteered to remain on the Committee. There were no nominations from the floor.
The Board approved the nominations as presented.
4. C. Dr. Banks then asked for a nomination for one Trustee to serve on the A-B Tech/Buncombe County Joint Advisory Committee.
Ms. Ramsey nominated Mr. Kern to serve on the Joint Advisory Committee, which was approved unanimously.
4. D. Dr. Banks asked the Trustees to please let Ms. Rice know if they would like to attend the NCACCT Leadership Seminar in September.
President’s Report
Dr. Gossett shared the following with the Board:
- Dr. Gossett mentioned that attending the NCACCT Leadership Seminar is a great opportunity for Trustees to meet other community college Trustees and to share ideas across the state.
- A huge thank you to Ms. Valko and Ms. Green for keeping our state and county budget in check.
- Our culinary team won another gold medal and came in second place in the Nationals. We will celebrate the team and their instructors this fall.
- Dr. Patton and Student Services have been working hard on increasing enrollment, and we are up in both enrollment and FTE for the summer. Our fall enrollment numbers look good, and we still have early college students to register.
- In the Senate’s proposed budget, there was a line item of $2 million to hire a consultant to tell community colleges how to collaborate. That line item was not in the House budget and is unlikely to be in the final budget. However, Blue Ridge Community College and A-B Tech held a joint meeting last month and plan to continue to meet and collaborate regularly. Other community colleges have asked to join us in this endeavor.
- Dr. Gossett will discuss the repair and renovation needs for A-B Tech Enka and the need for a new cooling tower on the Asheville campus with the Buncombe County Commissioners. We will ask the County to allow us to make repairs using Article 46 funds.
- Dr. Gossett will discuss the Futures Factory with the Buncombe County Commissioners on August 19. The Futures Factory will be located on the Biltmore West property and will be an advanced manufacturing center/think tank, and will bring in much-needed manufacturing options to our economy. Dr. Gossett will ask the Commissioners to reallocate $5 million from the defunct Pratt & Whitney project to the new Futures Factory project. The funds will come from Article 46.
- The K. Ray Bailey Golf Tournament was a huge success, and had a great turnout. Thank you to Firehouse Subs for feeding the players!
- Dr. Jeff Cox, President of the North Carolina Community College System, announced his retirement. The search for a new President should start soon.
Staff Presentation
Dr. Beth Stewart stated that the College is scheduled for its decennial review in September, and shared the following information on the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) with the Board:
- SACSCOC is an institutional accreditor, and a school must be accredited in order for students to receive federal financial aid.
- Being in good standing with our accreditor is expected, as it demonstrates that a college has met the standards on financial stability, quality of education, and other important standards.
- During the decennial review, we submit a Compliance Certification that is reviewed by an off-site team, which notes any standards that may be noncompliant.
- The College then submits a focus report that addresses the noncompliant standards and submits a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). A-B Tech’s QEP is called PEAK Performance.
- The off-site team found us noncompliant on the following seven out of 40 standards:
- An insufficient number of full-time faculty members to support the College.
- Documented qualification of its faculty members for each educational program.
- Verification that a student registered in an online course or program is the same student who participates and completes the program.
- Student achievement and documentation of student success.
- Student learning outcomes for each of its educational programs.
- The Board of Trustees is not influenced by external persons or bodies.
- The Board of Trustees regularly evaluates its effectiveness through self-evaluations.
- All of the above-mentioned noncompliant standards have been addressed.
- The visiting team will be on campus September 15-18 and will also visit several high schools.
- Typically, Board members will be asked to have lunch with the visiting team.
Dr. Banks thanked Dr. Stewart for her excellent presentation.
Dr. Banks then thanked the Board for allowing her to be the Chair for the past two years! The Board then thanked Dr. Banks for all she has done for the College.
Informational Items
The 2024-2025 Student Success Scorecard and Divisional Updates are included in the Board packet.
The next Board meeting will be on Monday, September 8, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. in the Brumit Center on the Asheville Campus.
Adjourn
At 4:02 p.m., Ms. Lewis moved to adjourn the meeting, and Mr. West seconded the motion, which was unanimously approved.
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn H. Rice
Board Secretary