New Sonography Program Approved By PJC Regents

The board of Regents approved a five-year plan to create a new Diagnostic Medical Sonography program at Paris Junior College during their monthly meeting Monday, Jan. 24.

“The closest sonography programs are at Tyler or Dallas, and members of the local medical and veterinary community have asked PJC for it,” said Dr. Pam Anglin, PJC President.

An advisory committee worked for a year to create a proposed curriculum for the associate degree; the PJC Curriculum Committee approved this. They put together a program startup costs and enrollment projections to submit to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for approval. The first-year equipment outlay is estimated to be around $390,000.

In other business, the regents:

• Received good news on the 2020-2021 audit of Paris Junior College and the PJC Memorial Foundation from Teffany Kavanaugh with McClanahan and Holmes, LLP, as they accepted the audit.

“You have a clean opinion on the financial statements,” Kavanaugh told the regents.

• Approved the interlocal agreement with the City of Paris, consenting in advance to the re-sale of tax-foreclosed properties to persons and entities to develop affordable housing following the City of Paris 5-In-5 Housing In-fill Development Program. The regents thanked Paris Mayor Paula Portugal, Assistant City Manager Rob Dine, and Director of Planning and Community Development Andrew Mack for their attendance in supporting the agreement.

• Heard the report from Pfluger Architects CEO Terry Hoyle, AIA, on plans for a seven-unit apartment building and restroom remediation plans as called for in the recent Office of Civil Rights Americans with Disabilities Act audit. After discussion, the regents accepted the methods and approved moving forward with competitive sealed proposals for the project.

• Gave required annual approvals to the Investment Policy – CAK (LOCAL) and the list of Authorized Brokers / Dealers for Investments.

• Approved updated admissions selection criteria for the licensed vocational nursing and associate degree (RN) nursing programs. Both gave greater weight to grades in prerequisite courses and HESI A2 (LVN) and HESI LPN to ADN Mobility Exam (ADN) test scores.

“The majority of the points are placed solely on the prerequisites and the HESI assessment, which are the two primary indicators of success within nursing,” said PJC Workforce Education Vice President John Spradling.

• Adopted the Local Policy Update 42 provided by the Texas Association of School Boards Policy Service. In addition, state legislative changes cause the updated response.

• Heard a report on the latest Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) report comparing PJC to 23 peer community colleges in Texas. PJC spends less in all categories than peers and yet has a graduation and retention rate higher than the peer group.

• Accepted employment of Instructor and Women’s Soccer Coach Paul Burns, effective Jan. 18 and Licensed Vocational Nursing Instructors Amanda Jackson and Madelyn Loschke, effective Jan. 31; the retirement of Workforce Training Director Bettye Finnell effective Jan. 31; and the resignations, with an admonishment for breaking contracts, of Mathematics Instructor Charla Holzbog effective Dec. 17, 2021, and LVN Instructor Casey Escobedo effective Feb. 22.