April 22, 2008

Board approves purchase of tasers for security officers

Following up on last month’s discussion into future security techniques for Cowley College, members of Cowley College’s Board of Trustees voted in favor of purchasing three tasers for its security officers during its regular monthly meeting Monday night.

Eddie Santiago, the college’s director of security, told members of the board that security officers need the tools to intervene in a situation when called upon.

“A taser would come in handy if someone is being attacked,” Santiago said.

A Taser is an electroshock weapon meant to stun and subdue a targeted subject from a distance.

Board member LaDonna Lanning spoke about the benefits of providing tasers to the college’s security officers.

“We owe it to our students to protect them and to our security people to not put themselves at risk without some sort of protection,” Lanning said.

In other matters, the Board:

1. Saw Cowley President Dr. Pat McAtee present a gift to Elisha Swope of Arkansas City for being named April Student of the Month.
2. Discussed the Annual Summer KACCT/Cop Retreat, which will be hosted by Hutchinson Community College on June 20-21.
3. Heard from Meg Smith, director of journalism, as well as Cowley students Courtney Crain and Alex Skov, as they provided board members with a brief report on their five-day seminar in Paris, France. They thanked members of the Board for allowing them the opportunity to attend the seminar. Smith also thanked Mark Paton for the contribution he made to help with the trip.
4. Tony Crouch, executive vice president of business services, provided an update on construction of the new dorm. All of the precast panels for the building are in place as are all hollowcore flooring/roofing panels. Interior block walls are complete on the first and second floors and in process on the third floor. Mechanical and electrical rough ins are more than half complete. The fire protection system is also nearing completion. The building is scheduled to be dried in from a roofing standpoint near the middle of the month, which will allow interior drywall to begin soon after that. Exterior brick veneer has been moved up approximately three weeks pending good weather. The anticipated finish date is Aug. 4.
5. Approved the proposal from Waldorf-Riley of Arkansas City to replace the boiler in Renn Memorial Library. In the proposal, Waldorf-Riley will replace the original boiler with two smaller staged high-efficiency units, and clean the remaining parts. Crouch stated in addition to this, we would replace the pneumatic controls with DDC controls and move the control system to the new web-based software that gives us open access to changing and monitoring the system. This part of the proposal is by C & C Group of Lenexa and totals $12,950. The proposal from Waldorf-Riley of Arkansas City is $31,000. Total cost of the project is $43,950.
6. Approved the proposal of Kansas Contract Design of Wichita to replace all the practice goals and the north game goal in W.S. Scott Auditorium. The practice goals are original to the building and are starting to flex due to the weight of newer attachments. The north game goal has worn to the point that it is near impossible to realign after it is moved. All six goals will be replaced with folding goals, electrically actuated. This will allow the goals to be aligned properly, reestablish the structural integrity of the systems, with the goals being easier to move. Total cost of the project is $45,158.
7. Viewed a spring enrollment report that indicates as of April 16, full-time equivalency was 2,952, which is up from this time last year. Summer full-time equivalency is 589, which is slightly down from this time last year.
8. Approved trip and expenses to be paid for six students and PBL advisor Teresa Klingsick for the Phi Beta Lambda National Conference, which will be held June 21-25 in Atlanta, GA.
9. Approved payments of overload contracts for the spring semester in the amount of $155,650 for 35 instructors.
10. Accepted the resignation of Todd Kelley as instructor in Business/Service Technology, effective May 21; Accepted the resignation of Angela Fry as switchboard operator/clerical support, effective March 28; Accepted the resignation of Chris Cosby as Mechatronics instructor, effective May 15; Accepted the resignation of Joseph Byrne as instructional specialist at the Aviation Tech Center.
11. Approved the employment of Tiffany Sowa as director of E-Learning, effective April 22.
12. Held an executive session for preliminary discussions relating to personnel matters of non-elected personnel, professional negotiations, and consultation with governing body’s attorney for 15 minutes.