Thursday, March 28, 2024

𝗧𝗦𝗖 𝗕𝗢𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗠𝗘𝗘𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗥𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗘 𝗥𝗨𝗕𝗘𝗡 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗥𝗔


TSC Board of Trustees

Thursday evening's Texas Southmost College Board of Trustees meeting at Gorgas Hall, the first since the passing of Ruben Herrera, started fittingly with a video tribute to the departed trustee.

Board Chair Adela Garza, along with TSC President Jesus Roberto Rodriguez, watched the tribute on a monitor in front of them while the rest of us were fixated on a large wall screen.

Adela's face repeatedly lit up as she watched the portrayal of Ruben's life.  It was the same video played at the funeral, but more moving in the intimate quarters of Gorgas Hall.  As a keen observer of humans all my life,  it was more than obvious that Ruben loved helping put people on the road to success in their lives.

The school's accountant compassionately raced through the financial report, knowing full well no one cares about the numbers as long as the bills are paid.

Three salesmen presented what I considered gimmicks for the board's consideration.  

Why are high school and college boards such easy marks for Doctor Gillespie's Magic Elixer in various forms?

Barracuda Email Protection offered an annual contract that wards off 13 different email threats for an annual fee of a mere $66,500. (I found "barracuda" a fitting name.) 

The Mongoose Texting Platform was offered to allow students the facility to message each other individually or in a "chat room"  via "phone, tablet or computer" and for the school to send a mass mailout to students for only $32,819 the first year, then a mere $28,463 in years three and four.  Aren't there already a dozen or more ways for students to communicate online for free and can't "mass mailouts" be sent to email addresses?

Then, there was a brief presentation by EBSCO Information Systems, providing computers for the library, but no cost was mentioned.

Ruben with Grandson Patrick Ruben

Don't mind me.  I'm just a cynical 76 year old with a finely tuned bull shit meter and, anyway, tonight's meeting was really about Ruben Herrera.

2 comments:

  1. Adela is over doing it…. On another note … Jim, I hope you can attend TSC meetings n report on a monthly basis. What are they doing with our tax money … our students are paying more per hour than tstc n south Texas in McAllen… WHY ? TSC is charging higher than Texas jr college tuition n fees… student enrollment is stagnant

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  2. 11: 04 When you have an incompetent leader like Adela things will never change. She is using the college to promote herself and her family. We need to see reporting on the number of full time students on campus, part time students on campus and the number of high school students taking college class at their home schools

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