VGCC Board Accepts Donations from Faculty and Staff


The Board of Trustees received a symbolic check for $22,307 from the leaders of the VGCC Endowment Fund Faculty and Staff Drive at the November Board meeting. The money was raised to fund scholarships for deserving students at VGCC. Pictured from left: Jacquelin Heath, Board of Trustees Chair Deborah F. Brown, Amy O'Geary and Eddie Ferguson. (VGCC photo)

The Board of Trustees received a symbolic check for $22,307 from the leaders of the VGCC Endowment Fund Faculty and Staff Drive at the November Board meeting. The money was raised to fund scholarships for deserving students at VGCC. Pictured from left: Jacquelin Heath, Board of Trustees Chair Deborah F. Brown, Amy O’Geary and Eddie Ferguson. (VGCC photo)

The Vance-Granville Community College Board of Trustees held its regular bimonthly meeting on Monday, November 18 at the college’s Franklin County Campus.

The evening began with a joint dinner for the VGCC Board of Trustees and the Franklin County Commissioners. Dinner was followed by the regular meeting of the VGCC Board. Plans are also being made for the Board to hold joint dinners with county commissioners in Vance, Granville and Warren counties in the future.

During the regular meeting, the Board voted to approve the proposed addition of a new curriculum program, an Associate in Applied Science Degree in Mechatronics Engineering Technology. This proposal will now move forward to be considered by the state community college system office. Beginning in the 2014 fall semester, the program could be offered by VGCC, pending approval from the State Board of Community Colleges. Funded in part by a $1.75 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, the Mechatronics program will combine mechanical engineering and electronics, with a focus on advanced manufacturing.

Also at the meeting, Jacquelin Heath, Amy O’Geary and Eddie Ferguson, co-chairs of the annual VGCC Endowment Fund Faculty and Staff Drive, presented a symbolic check to the Board for $22,307. The money was donated by employees to fund scholarships for VGCC students. Deborah F. Brown, chair of the VGCC Board of Trustees, thanked the faculty and staff for their generosity and continuing support of the Endowment program. Dr. Stelfanie Williams, the president of VGCC, also expressed her gratitude to the faculty and staff and to the Drive’s co-chairs. At the most recent VGCC Scholarship Awards Ceremony in February, 324 scholarships (including four endowed by faculty and staff contributions) were awarded to students, representing approximately $219,000.

The Board welcomed Theresa Chiplis of Norlina, a student in the Global Logistics Technology, Accounting, and Business Administration programs, as the new Student Government Association President and Student Trustee during the meeting. Chiplis will represent student interests at all Board meetings for a one-year term.

The next regular meeting of the Board will be held on Monday, January 27, 2014 at 7 p.m. in the Board room on Main Campus.