Agenda - 06-01-2021; 8-a - Minutes

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11 1 facility. He said health care demand is skyrocketing, and DTCC is also seeing the same 2 significant demand in skill trade, logistics, and mass manufacturing. He said DTCC is seeing 3 demand outstripping the supply DTCC will be able to provide. 4 Commissioner Fowler asked if DTCC will be able to stick to the timeline of planning. 5 Dr. Buxton said yes. 6 Chair Price said she was on the Board of Trustees for several years, and this group 7 spent a year on a strategic plan. She said information was gathered at that point. She said the 8 listening sessions have refined the work already done. She said it has been a long process to 9 get to this point, and it was being talked about back to 2013, and they had to push for the need 10 for the second building. 11 Commissioner Greene said she attended one of the sessions with folks from the local 12 food economy. She said she remembered a lot of need was expressed, but has not heard Dr. 13 Buxton address that yet. 14 Dr. Buxton said some of the issues with that conversation are logistics. He said there 15 have been some follow up sessions, and DTCC is starting to think about a dining facility 16 because there are a lot of students with nowhere to go, especially those that do not have easy 17 transportation. He said DTCC is starting to think about a kitchen that could possibly meet both 18 needs. 19 Commissioner McKee asked how much federal COVID relief funding each of the County 20 public schools systems have received, and how much they expect to receive. 21 Chair Price suggested coming back to this question after other Commissioners were 22 able to finish questions about DTCC. 23 Chair Price said she was in Chatham County recently, where they have a culinary school 24 that was lovely. 25 Commissioner Dorosin complimented the work President Buxton has done since coming 26 to DTCC. He said DTCC has prioritized expanding the Orange County facility and services, 27 while recognizing the needs and the ties with economic development and the school boards. 28 He said there have been discussions about how to enhance relationships, including having 29 representation of school districts on Durham Tech Board. He said he is a current trustee and 30 highlighted the work the Board has done and its commitment to the expeditious work that is also 31 economically reasonable. He said this meeting is a good reminder that they should all be 32 thinking about education as a Pre-K to 16 system, and how the pieces should fit together more 33 seamlessly. 34 Commissioner Hamilton asked if the enrollment pre-covid versus during the pandemic 35 could be identified. She also asked how most students get to the Orange County campus. 36 Dr. Buxton said the pre-pandemic headcount was 19,000 students, and is closer to 37 18,000 during the pandemic. He said the total FTE was 6,000 before and just fewer than 5,000 38 during the pandemic. He said there are significantly higher rates of African American, Latinx, 39 and men pressing pause on higher education during the pandemic. He said the rates are better 40 than the national average, but are pretty consistent with trends seen in North Carolina: around 41 5-10% depending on the semester. He said a lot of work was done to reach out to students 42 close to graduation, but who were not planning to come back in the spring. He said the 43 feedback DTCC heard was that students wanted to be back in person. He said a lot of students 44 have struggled online, and many are waiting to have classes and advising in person. He said 45 he expects higher numbers in fall and spring. He said there is a park and ride and bus service 46 for students, and there are a good number of students with cars. He said there are some 47 people going between the campuses, because some course are only offered at one campus, 48 and those students use cars because public transportation options between the two campuses 49 are not optimal. 50 51 2. Operating Budget Updates