By Gillian Crist
Page Editor
Amarillo College’s board of regents approved a three-year contract for Dr. Jamelle Conner. Conner stepped into her new role as AC’s president, replacing interim president, Denese Skinner, at their monthly meeting on Jan. 28.
During the meeting, Skinner, who has been acting as AC’s interim president stepped down from her seat at the regent table, allowing Conner to step into her new role.
Conner comes from St. Petersburg College in St.Petersburg, Florida, where she served as Vice President of Student Affairs. She brings experience in financial planning, analysis and leadership. She has also previously served as Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at Sage Software Healthcare Division and Senior Financial Analyst for Regulatory Planning at Progress Energy Corporation.
She earned her bachelor of science degree in accounting and computer information systems from Florida Southern College, her master’s degree in business administration from the University of Tampa and her PhD in leadership from Barry University.
Conner’s contract includes a base salary of $280,000 per year. To help her transition into her new position, Conner has a 100-day adjustment plan in place to familiarize herself with the college and its day-to-day operations.
In an email to the AC community, Conner said, “I want to hear what’s working, what challenges you’re facing and how we can work together to continue Amarillo College’s legacy of creativity, innovation and caring to help students meet their academic goals and drive economic prosperity across Amarillo and the Panhandle.” There will be a meet-and-greet for Conner from 11 a.m. until noon on Feb. 11 in the College Union Building (CUB) on the Washington Street Campus.
During the status update portion of the same meeting, Amarillo College Police Chief, Aaron Huddleston, presented data from a required racial profiling analyst report. According to Huddleston’s presentation, no findings of racial profiling by the ACPD were found. He explained there were methodological issues when using aggregate data to assess individual officer behavior.
“We’re taking all this data, and we’re trying to determine how that data was what an individual officer does, and you can’t prove an individual officer has racially profiled in individual motors based on the rate at which the department stops any given motors. There’s no way to determine what that officer’s intent is,” Huddleston said.
Huddleston also said that the report compares the racial demographics of AC students to those involved in traffic stops, but that there is no definitive way to determine whether a motorist is a student or a community member. “There’s really no way of knowing who we’re stopping without going into a more intensive investigation,” Huddleston said.
The regents also approved the purchase of $65,000 in carpentry supplies, with most of the materials designated for East Campus Housing. The board motioned to approve a liaison for parenting students to help accommodate and ensure their success. Jordan Herrera from the Advocacy and Resource Center (ARC) will serve in this role.
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