Southwest Mississippi Community College trustees accepted a bid to replace the sound system in the Fine Arts Building auditorium.
Sound and Communications of Pearl provide new system equipment for the building for $127,667.
President Dr. Steve Bishop told trustees in a previous meeting that the new equipment will replace a system that is more than 20 years old.
Walthall and Associates of Contonment, Fla., will oversee the installation of the new equipment.
Board members also approved a change order on the school’s ongoing energy conservation project.
The change order increases the bill on the efficiency project by more than $1.1 million, but t comes with good news on the funding front.
The project was largely being funded with local money, but changes to the rules on spending federal Higher Education Emergency Relief program funds will now allow those funds to be used on the project instead.
The HEER program was enacted by Congress to help address the COVID-19 pandemic, just as the ESSER program was enacted for elementary and secondary schools, and other programs were created under the American Rescue Plan Act.
In other business, the board:
• Promoted Michael Clements from part-time assistant softball coach to full-time.
• Learned from Bishop that the largest Stage Band in school history will present its Christmas show Dec. 1-4.
• Heard from Bishop that two organizations had ranked the associate’s degree nursing program second and third in the state.
• Learned the ADN program had partnered with North Pike to provide access to labs.
• Noted winter graduation will be 3 p.m. on Dec. 12.
• Moved the December board meeting to 6 p.m. on Dec. 13.
