FON Meeting Summaries
August 2022
Members of the Friends of Nighthawks were invited to the Paluxy Hall Ribbon Cutting & Dedication event on August 17. They learned about the additional access to education and high-wage, in-demand skills training that the new building will provide the community. Friends of Nighthawks members also toured the new Bluebonnet room, housed on the third floor of Paluxy Hall. The Bluebonnet room will be available for community rental in late 2022. Members were provided with marketing materials to help promote the use of the building.
March 2022
During the March 23, 2022 meeting, Dr. Garcia provided an update on college expansion projects including its new Paluxy Hall building that will expand science and technology courses and allow the college to grow its career and technical programs. Additionally, Dr. Garcia provided an overview of the expanded services to be provided by the new $7.7M Veterans Center, a stand-alone facility, funded by the State of Texas appropriations provided to the Alamo Colleges for 2022-2023 that will provide a “one-stop” location offering a central place for our military-connected community to have direct access to academic and non-academic services. The college expects to break ground on this facility later this year. To conclude the meeting, they learned about the lack of internet access by zip code and ISD in the communities that NLC serves. The next meeting will be held in August 2022, in conjunction with the college’s ribbon Cutting & Dedication Ceremony for Paluxy Hall.
October 2021
During the October 21 meeting, Dr. Garcia gave a presentation that outlined student metrics, including enrollment trends by student type, graduation, and persistence rates, and provided an update on our student veteran population. Ms. Peggy Chavez in the Career Services department gave an update on the college’s Earn & Learn program, discussed the options for local businesses to post jobs for our students on campus, and how to recruit our students for external internships and other experiential learning opportunities. A survey will be sent out to committee members as the Friends of Nighthawks plan for 2022.
May 2021
At this meeting, Dr. Garcia provided a graduation update to include graduate demographics and profiles. She also included college highlights from the 2020-2021 academic year that include award recognitions, college accolades, and an update on the construction progress of the college’s new STEM building. The meeting concluded with a review of the feedback gathered from the previous session as the group works to update its purpose statement. The group reviewed the proposed statement and approved the statement as drafted. The new, updated purpose was placed on the Friends of Nighthawks webpage
October 2020
At the October 2020 meeting, Dr. Veronica Garcia, NLC President, provided a demographic overview of the student population at NLC. She also provided a detailed overview of the zip codes and communities that the college serves. The focus of the presentation was on returning to campus and the college’s health and safety protocols in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Northeast Lakeview College began providing limited on-site classes in August 2020. Details were provided on what the next steps are in the phased return to campus plan.
February 2020
At the February meeting of Northeast Lakeview College’s (NLC) Friends of Nighthawks President’s Advisory Group, participants engaged in a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) focus session. A QEP is needed for an institution’s reaffirmation and affirms a commitment to enhancing overall institutional quality and effectiveness by focusing on an issue that the institution considers important to improving student learning outcomes and/or student success. An integral part of the initial stages of the QEP process (topic development) is to ensure broad-based support of institutional constituencies, including internal and external stakeholders. The external group of local business, community, and ISD officials brainstormed ideas on how NLC could overcome barriers to student learning. Their ideas will be combined with the employee and student feedback so that a QEP focus area can be identified by May 2020. Additionally, Dr. Garcia, NLC President, provided college updates and highlights and gave attendees an overview of NLC’s student profile, demographics, and completion and retention rates. The group meets quarterly with their meeting scheduled in May.
October 2019
At the first Friends of Nighthawks in October 2019, members participated in a purpose statement exercise. Established in 2014, this President's Advisory Council is celebrating five years and members of the group thought it was important to evaluate the current purpose of the group and future goals. Members participated in a group activity where they provided recommendations for updating the group's current mission and purpose. Members will vote and finalize the purpose stated at the February 2020 Friends of Nighthawk meeting. Additionally, participants received a copy of the college's 2019-2022 Strategic Plan. Their input and feedback were combined with that of employees and students to establish the new goals and objectives of NLC.
February 2019
At the first Friends of Nighthawks meeting for 2019, Dr. Garcia, NLC President, provided college highlights and accolades from the Fall 2018 semester. She also provided the group with a student profile update that included student demographic information, graduation and completion rates, and overall satisfaction results. The information presented was then used as the groups provided feedback for the next phase of development for the college as the college looks to expand and enhance the Friends of Nighthawks, President’s Advisory Council.
View the presentation to include college highlights and student profile information.
View the Friends of Nighthawks discussion feedback
September 2018
As Northeast Lakeview College prepares to update and develop its new Strategic Plan, The Friends of the Nighthawks and other key community partners participated in a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) exercise and Visioning Session at the September meeting. The feedback received from this community group, along with employee and student feedback, will be used to guide the college’s new Strategic Plan. Participants at the September Friends of Nighthawks meeting included representatives from the three counties NLC serves (Bexar, Comal, and Guadalupe Counties), including school district and higher education constituents, business partners, community members, and elected officials.
Click here to see the feedback received from the Friends of Nighthawks
May 2018
At the Spring quarterly meeting of the Friends of Nighthawks, Dr. Garcia, NLC President, provided a few college updates including the college’s ability to award Veteran benefits and the receipt of two performance excellence awards. Additionally, the results of a recent environmental scan were presented to the group. Results included a jobs forecast, employer training needs, partnership opportunities, and more. Based on the environmental scan and programs already offered at other Alamo Colleges, NLC’s four areas of focus moving forward are health sciences, manufacturing, information technology, and STEM fields. The group will participate in a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis at the group’s next meeting.
February 2018
Dr. Garcia provided the group with a college update to include the Department of Education approval for Title 4 Programs, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs approval to certify chapter benefits through Northeast Lakeview College (official notice coming soon), and the development of two new technical programs (Associate of Applied Science - Information Assurance & Cybersecurity; Associate of Applied Science -Network Administrator). Additionally, attendees participated in focus group sessions to gather feedback on branding, perception, and future programming that Northeast Lakeview College can use in its continuous improvement and Strategic Planning process. On a planned cycle, Northeast Lakeview College engages with its external stakeholders to identify institutional strengths and weaknesses and determine college needs.
September 2017
The September meeting once again included a combined session with the Friends of the Nighthawks members as well as the Lower Valley School (LVS) committee members. The discussion began with an update on action items on the LVS restoration project assigned at the July meeting. After contact with several historical preservation groups, relocating the schoolhouse to them was not going to be an option, and a review of the cost of a second restoration proposal was shared. Northeast Lakeview College is now working with the City of Schertz, The Chamber (Schertz-Cibolo-Selma area), and Schertz – Cibolo -Universal City ISD to finalize plans to relocate the contents from the schoolhouse to the organizations in the communities where the Lower Valley Schoolhouse has original roots, and NLC agreed to create a tribute space in the library to commemorate LVS. The intent is to continue the legacy of the schoolhouse through an exhibit of the contents. At the conclusion of the meeting, members were reminded of two upcoming 10th-anniversary activities including the 5K Race Around the Lake & Celebrate 10 Outdoor Festival happening on September 30 and the President’s Gala on November 9. Both events are raising funds for college scholarships.
Update: The Alamo Colleges District Board of Trustees approved at the December 12, 2017 meeting to transfer the contents of the LVS original building to Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD. Dr. Garcia met with the members of the Lower Valley Schoolhouse on December 14 to finalize and close out the remaining aspects of this project and to thank them for their years of service. All donors who previously provided monetary support to this restoration project will be contacted and given the option of receiving the unused portion (65% of their gift) returned or re-designating the unused funds to scholarships for students in NLC’s service area. The Lower Valley Schoolhouse legacy will continue in the communities where the school began and the former students and their families now live.