More buildings for Ellis County

By Floyd Ingram

Waxahachie Daily Light

During a recession and tough economic times many people decide to further their education and that trend is true for Navarro College campuses in Midlothian and Waxahachie.

The Navarro College board of trustees met in Midlothian on Thursday night and heard a report from Dr. Harold Nolte, dean of Navarro College Waxahachie, on the explosive growth the schools in Ellis County are experiencing.

“The population data I am presenting to you predicts Ellis County could have half a million residents by 2020,” Nolte said. “We are seeing dramatic enrollment in our schools on the (U.S.) Highway 287 corridor, specifically Midlothian and Waxahachie.”

Navarro trustees met at the Midlothian Conference Center as part of their annual meeting at each of the college’s campuses in Mexia, Midlothian and Waxahachie. The college’s main campus is located in Corsicana.

Trustees voted to hire five fulltime professors with three of those positions being filled on the Waxahachie campus and two in Midlothian.

Nolte said while Navarro only has two campuses in Ellis County, they draw from Cedar Hill, Red Oak, Ennis and even Mansfield and Maypearl.

“We are seeing tremendous growth on the outskirts of the Metroplex – and Mansfield now has five high schools serving that community,” Nolte said. “I think as the growth continues we will see something similar happen in both Midlothian and Waxahachie.”

Nolte said he and Navarro President Dr. Richard Sanchez were traveling to Dallas on Friday to hear about proposed light rail plans for both Midlothian and Waxahachie.

“If that happens it will open us up to even faster growth,” Nolte said of the campuses in Midlothian and Waxahachie. “Preliminary plans actually have one of the stations in Waxahachie being right next to our campus. We could actually draw students from as far away as Dallas.”

Nolte pointed out the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex has not experienced the dramatic economic downturn that other parts of the nation have seen. He added the Metroplex is still one of the fastest growing regions in the country.

Nolte said Navarro opened or expanded campuses in Waxahachie and Midlothian in just the last three years and facilities are full.

“We will probably start the second phase in Midlothian in a year or two and a new building will come out of that,” Nolte said. “We also have plans for more facilities in Waxahachie.”

The Navarro campus in Midlothian opened its 25,000-square-foot building in January 2006. The sandstone building at 899 Mt. Zion Road is the first of up to four buildings to be built on the site during the next 10 to 15 years by Navarro.

The Midlothian City Council voted unanimously in January 2005 to sell $4.75 million in general revenue bonds to build the first building in Midlothian. Student tuition services those bonds, college officials say. About 75 percent of city voters approved two proposals Sept. 11, 2004, that allowed Navarro College to purchase land and the city to issue the bonds.

In other business:

• Trustees voted unanimously to increase room-and-board fees at its Corsicana campus. Room and board rates this fall will be $2,145 per semester for an 18-meal-a-week plan. That fee is still below several other junior and community colleges in the region, according to college officials.

• Trustee voted to increase a variety of class fees by $1 for the fall 2009. That increase is expected to bring in $150,000, with the money earmarked to fund five new faculty positions. The $1 increase will be attached to tuition, lab fees, building use fee, out of district fee, parking fee and matriculation fee.

• Trustees heard mid-fiscal year reports that indicate revenue and expenditures remain constant despite the economic downturn, according to Gettie Moreno, vice-president of finance.

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