What’s up Roadrunners! It’s week five and we are jamming through spring semester!

The Butte College Board of Trustees meeting was on Valentines Day, February 14, 2024. Before the meeting, the Board and I went on an official tour of the Child Development Center (CDC) building on campus where free daycare is provided for Butte college students. Interested students with children should apply, and the program mostly serves children six months – five years of age. It was nice to see so many little ones. Plus, there is a study space for student parents! Then we had lunch and celebrated Trustee John Nock’s early birthday. Trustee Nock represents area 6 in Butte County which is Durham. To learn more about the different trustees, visit this link.

Now to the good stuff!

During the meeting, Trustee John Blacklock from Paradise brought a bunch of dental hygiene items to donate to the Roadrunner Hub which is awesome! If you ever need a snack or a bag of groceries, the Roadrunner Hub can help.

Most importantly, the Board had to make a decision about increasing transportation fees and the out-of-state tuition fee. If y’all didn’t know, as a student you pay a $73 transportation fee if you’re taking over six units a semester. The proposed increase was to $90 per  semester, which is a big jump. Butte college is one of the few community colleges that operates our own bus system because we are in such a unique location. Over the years, the cost to operate the system has  grown, and each semester fewer students are using the bus. Butte College is in over a million-dollar deficit, so the  increase is to help repair the debt.

Since our Board members are so awesome and student centered, they realized that going from $73-$90 is a big jump! So, they settled instead for a 10% increase over a span of time, meaning that the fee change is predictable and only going to $80. Reminder–financial aid does cover your student fees, including the change to the transportation fee.

Out-of-state fees affects our college’s accreditation which affects our reputation as a college. The current fee is $295, and the proposed increase was to $406. The Board also agreed to only increase the fee by 11% so the total will be $330.

That was the meeting!

As always, if you have any questions, contact me at [email protected].

Our next meeting is March 13 at 1:00p.m. at the Glenn County Center.

See y’all next month, Liz Heaton