Leaders Give Updates via 'Hot Topics'

We are pleased to share this month's Hot Topics, a feature to update the Thomas Nelson community about our efforts within each College division. The College's executive leaders highlight items they are working on and share other pertinent information. We hope this will provide one more avenue of communication to ensure that all members of the College community are fully informed.

As we offer this update only once each month, we encourage you take advantage of several other communication modes the College offers to keep you abreast such as minutes of meetings by many groups including the President's Cabinet and the College Board. Hot Topics for May are as follows:

Office of Finance and Administration - Steven Carpenter, Vice President
The FY2021 budget process is well underway. During the month of May, the Finance Department will be leading a Budget Forum for the Thomas Nelson Community. During the forum, the budget process will be reviewed and we will take a first look at the FY2021 and FY2022 budget considerations.

The "Water Infiltration and Masonry Work Project" between Wythe and Templin halls is now complete. The entire brick wall on the northeast side of Templin Hall has been torn down and rebuilt properly to keep the rain water out.

The latest Roof Top Unit Replacement Project at the Peninsula Workforce Development Center is nearly complete. Only the HVAC balancing remains. Upon completion, the second floor offices and several classrooms; as well as the first floor conference center will have brand new HVAC systems.

Office of Student Affairs - Dr. Kris Rarig, Vice President
Finish What You Started scholarship. The Thomas Nelson Educational Foundation really stepped up for this one, allocating a fund specifically for dual enrollment students with 15 or more accumulated credits and a 2.0 to apply for a last-dollar scholarship. Since many DE students have accumulated significant amounts of credits, many could complete their degree with us without any debt. This is a great scholarship to add to our strong pool of scholarships!

Power Hour. Enrollment Services is taking Zoom technology for a spin and is offering an hour of Q and A for students and parents. The first one is next week, I'll report back on how it goes!

Weekly Division meetings. On the bright side, Student Affairs usually only meets twice a year as a division. There is never a good time for us to be closed, so we rarely are. We have been enjoying Friday Follies where I give what news I have and then we just catch up, have a laugh, and try to stay connected.

Office of Institutional Advancement - Cynthia Callaway, Vice President
Click here to view a special message from Thomas Nelson Educational Foundation's executive director. The Thomas Nelson Educational Foundation works hard to ensure that our students, faculty and staff are supported in every way possible. We have been even more diligent in this charge during this unparalleled health crisis we are now facing. Many of our students, faculty, staff are facing trying times that have come upon them fast and unforeseen. It is in times like now, more than ever, that we ask you to help us support those who are being hit hard by this pandemic. There are several avenues to help support our students:

• John and Peggy Dever Changing Lives Fund- contribute to Dr. Dever's legacy, a fund that will provide unwavering support to Student Success, Service, and Leadership at Thomas Nelson Community College. Click here for more information.
• The Impact Fund- giving to this fund allows Educational Foundation officials to apply your donation to the area of greatest need to positively impact the education of our students.
• Student Emergency Fund- this fund is a resource that can help ease some of our students' stress by lifting a variety of financial burdens
• Bridge the Gap- a campaign that helps bridge the financial gap many of our students experience. Click herefor more information.

Your generous contributions can make a world of difference. Learn more at https://tncc.edu/donate.

Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness - Steven Felker, Director
The 2020 Thomas Nelson Student Experience Survey is now open to all Spring 2020 students. As you have the opportunity, please encourage students to participate in the survey. We want to hear from them about what we are doing well and what they feel we need to improve upon. If students are interested in participating, they can check their VCCS email for a message regarding the survey or can access the survey directly at www.tncc.edu/survey. The survey will remain open through Monday, May 18.

The Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness is currently working on revised enrollment projections for Summer 2020 and the remainder of the 2020-2021 academic year. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered the enrollment outlook for the year, and has added a great deal of uncertainty. Heightened unemployment rates create the potential for new enrollment demand, while the movement to mostly or all online instruction may cause fewer students to participate in higher education. Multiple enrollment projections are being developed now to try to account for different scenarios around these and other related factors.