The Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College Board of Trustees convened a meeting on Monday, December 1, 2025, at 3:03 p.m., in The Brumit Center for Culinary Arts and Hospitality, Tillman Dining Room. Dr. Joe Barwick, Chair, presided.
In addition to Dr. Barwick, the following members of the Board participated: Theresa Banks, Michael Garrison, Judy Lewis, Roger Metcalf, Anthony Penland, Frances Ramsey, Ben Teague, Glenda Weinert, Drew West, and Robert Uhren, Ex-Officio. Matt Kern, Libby Kyles, Himanshu Karvir, and Roger Reid were absent.
Others present for the meeting included: John Gossett, President; Kerri Glover, Executive Director, Community Relations and Marketing; Cris Harshman, Vice President of Operations/CIO; Fairley Patton, Vice President of Student Services; Beth Stewart, Vice President of Instructional Services; Ashley Leonard, College Attorney; and Carolyn Rice, Secretary to the Board.
Call to Order
At 3:03 p.m., Chair Barwick read the ethics statement. No conflicts were reported. Ms. Rice called the roll; a quorum was present.
Consent Agenda
At 3:04 p.m., Chair Barwick asked for a motion to approve the Consent Agenda.
Dr. Weinert moved to approve Consent Agenda items: 1. A. November 3, 2025, Board Meeting Minutes; 1. B. Board Attendance Record 2024-2025; and 1. C. Personnel Actions. Ms. Lewis seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Resolution/Action Items
2. A. Mr. Cris Harshman informed the Board that the College would like to participate in the NC Department of Public Safety Law Enforcement Support Services (NC DPS LESS) 1033 Program on behalf of the College’s Police Department. The A-B Tech Campus Police would like to purchase an all-terrain vehicle to use to patrol the A-B Trek Trail, as well as to have on hand in preparation for any future disasters that may occur on campus. The NC DPS LESS 1033 Program allows law enforcement agencies to obtain surplus Department of Defense equipment at little to no cost.
The Board discussed the quality of surplus equipment, noting that sometimes the equipment is in a state of disrepair. The equipment will be procured with state funds, and if it is unusable upon purchase, the College will not purchase any additional items from NC DPS LESS.
Mr. West moved to approve purchasing surplus equipment through the NC Department of Public Safety Law Enforcement Support Services 1033 Program. Chief Penland seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
2. B. Ms. Ashley Leonard discussed changes made to the Board’s Constitution. The amendment to Article III, Section 6 was due to a typo, and amendments to Article III, Sections 4 and 5 are substantive changes based on attendance. Justifiable excuses were added, defining circumstances beyond the reasonable control of a Board member that prevent attendance at a regularly scheduled meeting.
Codification of the monthly attendance sheet is not needed and is in the packet for the Board's information only. If a Trustee needs to attend the meeting remotely, please let the Board Chair know a minimum of 48 hours in advance of the meeting.
Mr. Garrison moved to approve the amendments to the Board’s Constitution. Chief Penland seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Budget Update
3. A. Ms. Beth Green discussed Article 46 Funded Projects with the Board. Repair and renovation projects are in process. Cost estimates for the stormwater project should be available in January 2026. Projects at Sunnicrest and Chestnut are complete. We are still working with the county on purchasing the countertops for the Vet Tech facility, and the state board approved the welding and CNA lab projects at A-B Tech Madison.
3. B. Mr. Harshman discussed the State and County Budget as of October 31, 2025, with the Board. We will be tracking enhanced budget requests differently next year, and the budget remains on target.
President’s Report
Dr. Gossett shared the following with the Board:
- We are excited that the system office approved the renovations to A-B Tech Madison.
- The Executive Leadership Team is working to streamline our processes for scholarships, donors, and matching donor funds to students.
- We are working on the application for the prestigious Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence Prize, and all paperwork will be submitted by December 9.
- Dr. Gossett met with Buncombe County Commissioner Whitesides to discuss Article 46 and its future. The College will meet with the Buncombe County Commissioners early next year to discuss all of the items funded by Article 46 and the need for Article 46 to continue.
- With the reopening of the federal government, the application for the EDA Grant to fund the Futures Factory is back on track.
- Dr. Gossett attended another “Future of Learning, Conversations with Dr. Gossett” luncheon, where he and selected employees have frank and open conversations about the College.
- Several employees are attending the Annual SACSCOC Meeting in Nashville this week. The meeting will revolve around how SACSCOC will handle accreditation in the future.
- Dr. Gossett thanked the Board for all that they do and have done for the College, presented them with poinsettias, and wished them a happy holiday season!
SGA Report
SGA President Robert Uhren shared that it has been a fun and productive month. Several campus events were held, including board game day, Lego day, a hike on the A-B Tech Trail, a food drive, the national recognition of the NSLS Honor Society, and a bracelet-making session.
The SGA continues to coordinate with clubs to schedule events to get more students involved and to create some diversity in the activities that we hold. The Dental Assisting Club is decorating a tree with notes of good wishes. The School of Nursing is hosting a Toy Drive in conjunction with Eblen Charities. The FLBA wrote letters of affirmation to the children of the Black Mountain Home. A donor saw the letters and was so impressed that they purchased tickets for all of the children to attend “Disney on Ice”!
We are wrapping up the semester, taking finals, and getting ready for next year. The SGA is also helping with the food drive and has placed collection bins in several buildings on campus.
Staff Report
Mr. John Bradley gave the following Annual Information Security Report to the Board:
- The College is required to update the Board annually on the status of the information security program and compliance with addressing risk assessments, risk management and control decisions, service provider arrangements, results of testing, security events or violations, and management's responses.
- We have had three internal risk assessments to improve security.
- We are limiting and monitoring access to emails, and have added multifactor authentication measures.
- Employees are required to complete security training and training on the College’s Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure.
- We initiated and completed a phishing simulation training course for employees. We sent malicious emails to multiple employees and measured the reaction of the employees who received them. If the employee opened the malicious email, they were enrolled instantly in the phishing training course.
- We have discovered that multifactor authentication is not as perfect as we thought, and are now looking into getting a separate multifactor device for employees who have high-value accounts.
- The Board approved the Electronic Records and Retention Policy and Procedure recently; this multi-year initiative will be used to develop a campus-wide retention and disposal strategy.
- The National Guard was invited to test our internal network security in March, and we are working on the results of their report.
- The national issue of “Ghost Students” has hit the College as well. We have found malicious user accounts in our system. Ghost students create fake applications, apply for, and receive federal financial aid. The College has done a great job addressing these so far.
- Content filtering has been added to all employee accounts to comply with the restrictions regarding viewing pornography on state funded devises.
The Board thanked Mr. Bradley for his presentation and thought the phishing exercise was an excellent idea!
Closed Session
At 3:44 p.m., Chief Penland moved that the Trustees enter into closed session pursuant to G.S. 143-318.11(a) (1) and (3) to discuss confidential personnel matters pursuant to G.S. 115D-27-29 and to discuss matters protected by the attorney-client privilege. Dr. Metcalf seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
At 4:18 p.m., Chief Penland moved to return to Open Session. Mr. Garrison seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Open Session
Informational Items
The 2025-2026 Student Success Scorecard and Divisional Updates are included in the Board packet.
The next Board meeting will be on Thursday, February 5, 2026, at 1:15 p.m. in The Brumit Center for Culinary Arts and Hospitality on the A-B Tech Asheville main campus.
Adjourn
At 4:19 p.m., Dr. Weinert moved to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Garrison seconded the motion, which was unanimously approved.
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn H. Rice
Board Secretary