Orange County NC Website
6 <br /> <br />Commissioner Bedford asked if staff could report how the pandemic has affected both <br />campuses this spring semester. <br />Dr. Ingram said DTCC went on-line with all of its classes within 2 weeks. He said, of the <br />500 sections of classes, all but 25 were converted to online. <br />Dr. Ingram said Durham Tech’s summer term will be online as well, and DTCC hopes to <br />do face classes in the fall sometime. He said Durham Tech will receive $2.8 million from the <br />CARE Act, which will be used for student aid. He said Durham Tech is learning how to use <br />virtual platforms for many of their internal operations. <br />Commissioner Price thanked both Penny Gluck and Dr. Ingram for all of their work over <br />the years. <br />Commissioner Price referred to the Orange County building 2, and asked if Durham <br />Tech could make these slides available to the BOCC. <br />Commissioner Price said a couple of years ago there were concept plans, and asked if <br />there is a specific point where this process is on hold. <br />Dr. Ingram said a couple of years ago Durham Tech had some preliminary discussions <br />about what it wanted to offer in its second building. He said, this spring, County staff told <br />Durham Tech that plans are to move this project to year 6-10 in Orange County’s CIP, and that <br />is why Durham Tech put a hold on significant planning for now. He said more planning will be <br />done closer to when the building will be built. He said the Orange County Board of <br />Commissioners asked about this last week, and that is why he added the slide. He said it <br />shows a breakdown of how Durham Tech will need the funding over the three years. <br />Commissioner Price asked if Durham Tech still has the plans from two years ago, or will <br />everything start from scratch. <br />Dr. Ingram said what they saw in the past was a high level, conceptual plan, and a land <br />use plan that included how many parking spots would be needed. He said Durham Tech would <br />look for designers to help the school program plan if they moved forward. He said the site plan <br />from the past appears to have been more in the parking arena, and that was all it was. <br />Commissioner Dorosin referred to the $1.4 million CARE funds, which have been drawn <br />down, and asked if its specific uses could be identified. <br />Dr. Ingram said Durham Tech is developing the program for these funds, and additional <br />requirements from the Department of Education came down. He said this round of funding will <br />not be able to be used to offset tuition, and it will be distributed based on need. He said <br />students will submit an application, and it can be used for rent or groceries, but will not be able <br />to be used to offset tuition bills students have incurred. He said the second round of $1.4 million <br />will have more flexibility in what it can be spent on. He said the students had already paid for <br />tuition for this semester, and there is no legal provision to refund it. He said Durham Tech will <br />use some of the second round of funding for those students that had to withdraw and had paid <br />tuition. He said it will be in the form of a credit for future use. He said the flexibility of the <br />second round will help the college to recoup some of its expenses due to the pandemic. <br />Ashton Powell asked if Durham Tech’s online delivery has altered the UNC system <br />comprehensive articulation agreements, or the transferred admissions policies. <br />Dr. Ingram said that is a moving target and, as of now, it has not. He said Durham Tech <br />moved from a graded system to a pass/fail system, and the university is leaving it to local <br />campuses as to whether or not to make that decision. He said most university campuses do not <br />accept the no pass/fail option in transfers. He said some students have said that they do not <br />want to go to a pass/no pass/fail option. He said the system has provided some guidance that <br />universities can accept a “high pass” (C or better) but universities do not have to accept that. <br />He said Durham Tech is polling faculty to consider pass/fail option, and his sense is that most <br />faculty will remain with the graded option. <br />Dr. Ingram said he has heard some chatter that graduating high school students are <br />considering foregoing traditional university and going to community colleges instead, due to the