The Northern Oklahoma College Board of Regents received an internal audit report from Wade Fisher of Hinkle & Company, PC and an external audit from Dan Bledsoe of Finley & Cook, PLLC.
Both audits were “clean audits” according to Fisher and Bledsoe.
“I appreciate so much the work that (Vice President for Financial Affairs) Anita Simpson and her staff put in to ensure that our finances are handled properly. In my 10 years at NOC, we have always had clean audits and that is a testimony to Anita and her staff’s hard work and diligence.”
The updated enrollment report and financial reports were shared.
Northern Oklahoma College President Dr. Chery Evans commented on the status of the institution. NOC has been working to secure additional external funding to help offset the overall decrease in our enrollment and budget deficit.
“I am pleased to report that since our September 8, 2020 Regents meeting, NOC has secured almost $600,000 in external funding through federal CARES funds and private Northern Oklahoma College Foundation (NOCF) funds,” said President Evans.
“We are grateful to receive the additional federal CARES Act funding allocation totaling $119,000 from the Governor’s office to help us offset the unexpected costs and revenue losses associated with the pandemic. We appreciate the efforts of Representative Kyle Hilbert and Secretary of Budget Mike Maizzei to help secure these funds for higher education.”
The regents also approved NOC’s financial report for September.
In addition, the regents approved a Spring 2021 Academic Calendar revision. The first day of the Spring 2021 semester is moved to Tuesday, Jan. 19 and NOC will not have a spring break. The semester ends May 6, 2021. These changes are an effort to help prevent a spring spike in the virus and to keep NOC’s academic calendar aligned with OSU’s as agreed with our NOC/OSU Gateway Partnership.
In the administrator updates, Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Pam Stinson explained a new Weekend College program that will provide flexibility for students in Spring 2021. Students can take classes on Friday evening and all-day Saturday for three weekends. The classes are in person at the University Center in Ponca City or NOC Online Live. NOC is partnering with the University Center in this new program.
Raydon Leaton, Vice President for Enid, reported that a recent Oklahoma Blood Institute Blood Drive netted 51 blood donations. He said the President Leadership Council students assisted with the project.
The regents also heard a report from athletic trainers Julie Baggett and Summer McClure on NOC athletic department protocols for Covid-19.
The next regent’s meeting is Wednesday, Nov. 11 in Tonkawa. The regents also added a special January meeting on Monday, Jan. 25, 2021.