CC Regents hold first meeting in Childress

Clarendon College Regents held their first ever meeting in Childress last Thursday, July 21, as CC continues to expand its presence in that community.
The college has offered classes in Childress for many years, and voters approved a five-cent maintenance tax there in 2008. Since that time, the college has offered more technical and traditional classes in that community, and recently CC has embarked on new partnerships in Childress, particularly in the health care industry, under President Robert Riza.
Regents met at the Childress Regional Medical Center and were joined by several local dignitaries, including hospital administrator John Henderson, Childress County Judge Jay Mayden, Childress ISD representative Sarah Mills, Red River Sun publisher Chris Blackburn, and Jennifer Foster representing the local office of State Sen. Charles Perry.
During the meeting, Mayden expressed his appreciation for what Clarendon College and Dr. Riza are doing for the people of his community.
In addition to touring the facilities at the CC Childress Center and the new nursing program classroom at the medical center, Regents worked their way through a short agenda of business items.
The board approved a new five-year contract extension with Great Western Dining, which give the college $20,000 for equipment upgrades. Great Western services several small colleges and has a longstanding relationship with Clarendon.
“We’re very pleased with the company,” Riza told the Enterprise. “They support community colleges.”
Regents also approved a letter of engagement with CMMS for the college’s annual audit.
Under personnel, the board ratified the hiring of Garner Small as assistant men’s basketball coach and Raylynn Cruz as a cosmetology instructor; acknowledged the resignations of Associate Dean of Career, Technical & Continuing Education David Hall, Vocation Nursing Program Director Daniel Trejo, Daniel Tharp, and Derrick Harwood; and acknowledged the retirement of Kathy Shields. Also approved were the reassignments of Aaron Lopez, who will oversee correctional education programs, and Dr. Cathy Rosser, who becomes the Interim Director of Allied Health.
In his president’s report, Dr. Riza discussed meeting with officials of the Jordan and Roach correctional units to continue working to offer federal Second Chance Pell Grants to qualified individuals. Riza  also discussed the possibility of Clarendon offering courses to meet training needs for local and area law enforcement and corrections officers.