WC spring enrollment up, student housing at capacity
Classes for the Spring 2022 semester begin next week, and enrollment at Weatherford College is slightly up from last spring according to the monthly report provided by President Tod Allen Farmer Thursday at the WC Board of Trustees January meeting.
The enrollment report shows 4,400 students enrolled 10 days prior to the start of the new semester compared with 4,101 students at the same time last year. Projections estimate the final Spring 2022 enrollment to be around 5,000 students, slightly up from last year.
Additionally, for the first time ever in a spring semester, the Coyote Village residence hall is at maximum capacity.
The board also received an update on CARES (Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security) III funding. WC has received $7.76 million in CARES funding for the 2021-22 academic year. Of that total, $4.66 million was expended during the Fall 2021 semester serving 2,971 students.
Funds are still available to students for the Spring 2022 semester and can be applied for at wc.edu/cares. College administrators anticipate all the currently available CARES funding to be expended by the end of the spring semester.
In other business, the board:
- Approved the minutes from the Dec. 9 meeting.
- Approved the financial reports ending Dec. 31.
- Approved an expansion of the Cardiovascular Sonography Program. WC plans to offer an evening program beginning in the Fall 2022 semester to better meet workplace demands, incorporate elements from the existing echocardiography and vascular certifications into a unified Associate of Applied Science degree program.
- Received an update on Guided Pathways outlining partnerships with Midwestern State University and DeVry University.
During his President’s Report, Farmer:
- Announced that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board recently authorized WC to offer an Associate of Applied Science degree and Level 1 certificate program in robotics and automation engineering.
- Thanked Trustee Judy McAnally and Texas Health Resources for sponsoring the WC Staff Member of the Year cash award recently represented to Dr. Deborah Jogie Cregger in December. During the same awards ceremony, Nina Maniotis was named Faculty Member of the Year.
- Announced the Emerging Technologies and Workforce Building is on schedule for completion within the next two weeks and will come in under budget. Furniture and instructional materials are making their way into the building and class will soon begin in the new facility.
- Announced the resignations of Kitty Hollister and Patricia Murr, custodians at the WC Wise County campus.
- Announced the retirements of Dr. Arleen Atkins, dean of institutional effectiveness; Thomas Blair, instructor and coordinator of the public safety fire academy; Rebecca Byrd, director of student services at WC Wise County; and Kay Landrum, interim executive dean of student services.