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2014 n 1,228,462 contact hours registered
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2016
What is it? n On the 12th class day, KC tallies and sends in the number of enrolled students and contact hours to determine how the school will be funded. The numbers listed here are not officially recognized by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, but are presented to give the KC community an idea of our enrollment numbers for the Fall 2016 semester, according to Dr. Staci Martin, vice president of institutional research.
2015 n 1,147,944 contact hours registered
The Flare
n 1,172,288 contact hours registered as of press time.
Friday, September 16, 2016
KC WELCOMES NEW FINANCIAL AID DIRECTOR
Vol. 80 No. 3 Serving Kilgore College since 1936
Trustees finalize strategic plan,taxes MEAGHAN MORTON Executive Editor
Kayla Terrazas / THE FLARE
New Financial Aid Director, Dr. Reginald Brazzle prepares for the new semester in the financial aid department.
Making KC a better machine DAJAH THOMPSON Staff Writer Sitting in his office, day in and out, staying late when needed to make sure KC is set for the drop of the 2016 student financial aid which is estimated to release on Sept. 26, and to answer any needed questions by the student body and staff is the job of the financial aid director. KC introduced Dr. Reginald Brazzle, the new financial aid director, on Monday, Aug. 29, to the campus. Brazzle comes to Kilgore with 30 years of experience and several years using the recently purchased college software, Jenzabar-Ex/Power Phase. Brazzle is excited to get out and meet the student body, long with all KC faculty and staff. He is a pastor in Longview with his Doctorate Degree as a licensed pastoral counselor. “Being a pastor makes me a people person,” Brazzle said. “It gives me patience while understanding the needs of every student because every student is different
in their own way.” Brazzle has worked at several community colleges and four-year colleges such as Tyler Junior College and Parker University in Dallas for three years. “A few improvements I will strive to make as the financial aid director is the information that students receive, informing students on cut-off dates, process and procedures, and timelines for communication,” Brazzle said. “The main purpose of my job is to become the vehicle for students to know all that is going on, on-campus.” Annette Morgan, the recently retired financial aid director, is pleased the transition went so smoothly. “It’s nice to know that Dr. Brazzle has the same goals and mindset. He will take it to another level, making challenges known and solved,” she said. “It’s nice to know that I am leaving Kilgore after 27 years of service with someone who knows exactly what he is doing. He is just like me in all aspects. We even finish each other’s
sentences.” Brazzle currently resides in Longview and said he enjoys watching all sports, especially the Dallas Cowboys. One of his major goals is to help every student graduate with a career or the opportunity to transfer to another college. He plans to help advance the program here on campus by looking at what is already happening and figuring out ways to improve the process by seeing what the main needs are for the student body. He discovered the open financial aid director position here on campus by pure accident, but is glad to be here. “God put me here for a reason” Brazzle said. Now that he has taken off full force, he has a few things up his sleeve for improving the campus program. “The goal is to make a good machine better, add to the greatness that is already here, and see what will work best for KC,” Brazzle said. “One of my strengths is following rules, and doing things the right way, not cutting corners.”
Seats were filled in anticipation for the September board meeting that would finalize this year’s tax rate and the new strategic plan. To start off the Action Item agenda, the tax rate for tax year 2016 (FY2017 budget) was approved. There was no raise from the previous year, keeping the rate at 0.175 per hundred dollars of property value. At last month’s board meeting, Dr. Brenda Kays’ strategic plan was introduced to promote KC’s priority of achieving student success. Trustees unanimously approved the new president’s directive. “The 2016 - 2019 Strategic Plan reflects the voices of our KC Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, students and the communities we serve,” Kays said. The plan is broken down into “subgoals” in order to make each goal more realistically reachable for KC. Each sub-goal is an explanation and plan to make sure each point of the plan can be accomplished. “Our objectives, priorities and goals build upon one another to create the appropriate steps to accomplish our mission and vision and live our values,” Kays said. The plan is split into four priorities: • Improve student learning and success; • Enhance college resources to adequately support student learning and success; • Provide students with safe, wellmaintained and accessible environments that foster student achievement and engagement; • Provide instructional programming that enables students to achieve marketable credentials that provide a living wage by focusing and aligning workforce curriculum with service area standards and needs. Some of the sub-goals helping accomplish these four main priorities are improving the ease of connecting with KC, upgrading technology infrastructure and connectivity to provide tools to enhance student learning, improve campus safety and security and increase educational opportunities for students in short-term programs and courses. According to Kays, statistics will be taken in order to answer the question: Are we achieving the goal? In presentations, Dr. Staci Martin introduced a plan with a timeline to make See BOARD, Page 3
Cheyanne Huntsman / THE FLARE
Lead actors, Sera Allen (left), as Annie Sullivan, teaches Madison Gable, as Helen Keller, how to sign and understand the word “water.” The story of the legendary teacher and her student from the early 1900s will be portrayed in “The Miracle Worker,” set to take the stage Oct. 6 by the KC Theatre Department. For more information, and the complete cast list, see p. 2.