Blinn Board of Trustees adopts $121 million budget, authorizes Old Main Building improvements and repairs

Trustees also authorize bids for RELLIS Phase II building furniture, fixtures, and equipment

June 15, 2021

The Blinn College District Board of Trustees adopted a $121 million budget for Fiscal Year 2021-2022 during its regular meeting Tuesday.

The budget includes a 2% pay increase for full-time employees and a $25 per course increase for part-time faculty. For the second consecutive year, Blinn employees will see no increase in the cost of health premiums.

Trustees also authorized the College to proceed with design and to seek qualifications for construction manager at risk services for improvements and repairs to the Old Main Building on the Brenham Campus. These items, which include upgrades to the building’s HVAC systems, elevator, bell tower, lighting, data systems, interior finishes, and other systems, are outside the scope of the repairs related to the February winter storm. These renovations were included in the Districtwide Facilities Master Plan approved in May and will occur while Old Main is offline for the winter storm repairs.

In other action, the board authorized the College to seek proposals for furniture, fixtures, and equipment for the RELLIS Campus Phase II building. Scheduled for completion in time for the Fall 2022 semester, the $32.5 million RELLIS Phase II building will be located next to the Walter C. Schwartz Building on the RELLIS Campus, where Blinn partners with The Texas A&M University System as a member of the RELLIS Academic Alliance.

Blinn’s three-story, 80,000-square-foot Phase II building will include an engineering lab, computer science classroom, information technology lab, esports arena, student services suite, 19 lecture classrooms, study spaces, faculty and administrative suites, and meeting rooms. The project also includes employee and visitor parking, sidewalks, pedestrian lighting, a circular entry drive, and a plaza.

The board also heard graduation and enrollment reports from Dr. Becky McBride, Vice Chancellor for Student Services. Blinn’s spring 2021 enrollment of 15,504 students was a 9.2% decrease from 2020, while contact hours declined 7.91%. The College budgeted for a 20% enrollment decline.