{"id":3622,"date":"2026-09-15T12:55:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T17:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/?p=3622"},"modified":"2026-09-16T10:05:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T15:05:10","slug":"board-of-trustees-bring-fresh-ideas-to-jccc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/2026\/09\/15\/board-of-trustees-bring-fresh-ideas-to-jccc\/","title":{"rendered":"JCCC’s Board of Trustees Bring Fresh Ideas To Campus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo Courtesy of JCCC<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

The JCCC <\/span>Board of Trustees<\/span><\/a> is a seven-member, all-volunteer board elected on a rotating basis, responsible for the college’s overall governance, setting the budget, and managing the local tax levy.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Laura Smith-Everett, Chair, Board of Trustees, described the board of trustees as the old fuddy-duddies who were elected to oversee JCCC and make sure they spend taxpayers\u2019 money well and take care of the students.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That is a very good explanation of what the board of trustees does, in very plain terms; however, the board of trustees is more than just old fuddy-duddies. They are a group of elected officials who are creating an atmosphere of innovation and bringing fresh ideas to JCCC.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the college\u2019s new <\/span>Facilities Master Plan<\/span><\/a>, they are preparing to oversee the construction of the new Health and Sciences building, amphitheater, and on-ground observatory, which will be the first buildings added to campus in six years.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Science and Healthcare<\/span><\/a> building will be a new campus building that will allow JCCC to house all of its medical fields in one location and bring back students who attend classes at the Olathe Health Education Center (OHEC), giving them access to campus resources like tutoring and counseling.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leslie Grimm, a student, said, \u201cI think that is cool and good that more people can get into the program and experience it.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Science and Healthcare building will enable JCCC to increase enrollment in the nursing program and attract new students. Also, it will expand into programs such as sonography, surgical technology, and radiographic technology.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat means we’re going to be able to increase our enrollment for those programs. So, if we increase enrollment for nursing, we can build several new programs,\u201d Smith-Everett said.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, it will help the community as a whole increase the number of health<\/span> care providers in Johnson County.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to offer many pathways for our community to be able to get certifications, or maybe you’re just trying to move up on the career ladder, and you want to come and get an additional certificate, or you want a full degree. We’re going to really expand what we can offer and make it easier for our community to get that degree,\u201d Smith-Everett said.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The new <\/span>amphitheater and outdoor on-ground observatory<\/span><\/a> will both benefit the JCCC campus and offer new facilities for students and the community.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The amphitheater will offer a new outdoor space for learning and activities.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe amphitheater will provide an outdoor learning space, and I think that is definitely something that has been needed,\u201d Smith-Everett said. \u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to being able to offer that and see how our community, faculty, staff and students utilize that space.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Students like the idea of the amphitheater as well.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like that is a good thing, and I feel like I\u2019m excited to see it,\u201d Aubrey Miller, a student, said. \u201cI want to be able to witness something new coming to campus while I’m here.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The new on-ground observatory will feature a roll-back roof and provide the community with a space to come and look at the stars.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI personally am really excited about the observatory,\u201d Smith-Everett said. \u201cWe have a great group of community members who love to come and use our telescope and take our classes.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the most important aspects of the board of trustees is managing JCCC’s budget. When handling the budget, the board always considers the needs of the students and the community.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Every decision that the board of trustees makes is made with the students and community in mind. Chad Carroll, Member, Board of Trustees, described their mission as being financially responsible.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to make sure we’re making the right investments, and being good stewards,\u201d Carroll said. \u201cGood financial stewards.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Part of being stewards is helping keep tuition costs down for the local community and making JCCC affordable for all students.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to make sure that we’re keeping tuition affordable,\u201d Carroll said.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If students want to stay up to date on what happens during board of trustees meetings, they can access meeting <\/span>packets and minutes<\/span><\/a> or watch <\/span>videos<\/span><\/a> of previous meetings.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Board of trustees <\/span>meetings<\/span><\/a> are open to the public, and they are welcome to attend in person.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part of being stewards is helping keep tuition costs down for the local community and making JCCC affordable for all students.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":3623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[342],"class_list":["post-3622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Saul Epstein","author_link":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/author\/sepstein\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/files\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-15-at-12.52.44-PM-300x169.png","coauthors":[{"link":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/author\/mike-kemper\/","display_name":"Mike Kemper"}],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["News<\/a>"],"unlinked":["News<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 7 days ago","modified":"Updated 6 days ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on September 15, 2026","modified":"Updated on September 16, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on September 15, 2026 12:55 pm","modified":"Updated on September 16, 2026 10:05 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":342,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"mike-kemper","display_name":"Mike Kemper","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","first_name":"","last_name":"","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/files\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-15-at-12.52.44-PM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3622"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3640,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3622\/revisions\/3640"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3622"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=3622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}