A delegation of 24 people representing Seminole State College attended the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education’s Southeast Oklahoma Legislative Briefing at Pete’s Place in Krebs on Jan. 18.

OSRHE Chancellor Glen Johnson presented on the educational requirements of jobs in the state in the near future, saying 67 percent of all jobs created by 2020 will require a long-term certificate or a college degree. He went on to discuss the higher education budget for the 2019 fiscal year and provided a spending breakdown. He discussed budget needs for the next fiscal year, which include purposed salary increases for full-time faculty.

Johnson briefly discussed restructuring governance of Oklahoma’s six rural community colleges, as proposed by the 2017 Task Force on Higher Education. The task force recommended eliminating the local Board of Regents for rural community colleges and placing the colleges under the purview of or comprehensive universities. SSC’s Board of Regents recently approved a resolution in support of retaining local control of the College.

 Those representing Seminole State College at the event were SSC President Lana Reynolds, Director of SSC Rural Business and Resources Center Larry Smith, SSC Director of Community Relations Kristin Dunn; SSC Regents Curtis Morgan and Kim Hyden; former SSC Regent Melvin Moran; Foundation Trustees Lance Wortham, Jim Hardin, Doug Humphreys, Jeramy Rich, Andy Tucker and David Wilson; Seminole City Manager Steve Saxon; Seminole City Council Member Tom Poplin; Seminole Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Amy Britt; SSC Consultant Karel Brewster; SSC students Adrienne Foster of Seminole, Kenzie Sheldon of Prague and Tijah Johnson of Shawnee; as well as area legislators Senator Roger Thompson, Senator Jason Smalley, Representative Danny Sterling and Representative Dell Kerbs.