Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 6:11 p.m.
Roll Call
Present:
Heywood, Holden, Jeffries, Patterson, Pelleran, Rasmusson
Absent: Canady
Additions/Deletions to the Agenda
There were no additions or deletions to the
agenda.
Limited Public Comment Regarding Agenda Items
There were no comments from the public.
Public Hearing
Chairperson Jeffries stated that at its meeting
on August 26, 2002, the Board of Trustees reviewed a recommendation
from College staff that the Board invoke its powers under PA 281 of
1998 to empower the College's Police and Public Safety Department
officers to act as law enforcement and peace officers.
The recommendation proposed would not change the operation of
LCC's Police and Public Safety Department or the responsibilities of
its officers. Nor would the College incur additional liability.
Prior to taking action on this recommendation, the Board of
Trustees must hold two public hearings on the matter.
The Board held one on October 21, 2002 and this would be the
second one.
Chairperson Jeffries opened the floor for
comments.
There were no comments from the public.
Chairperson Jeffries closed the public hearing.
Chairperson and Board Member Reports
Chairperson
Bylaws Policy Committee Update
Chairperson Jeffries reported that the
Bylaws/Policy Committee would be meeting on November 20.
Several policies that the committee will be reviewing include
the smoking, intellectual property, and purchasing policies.
He said that there was a request to consider an organ donor
policy, and they will also be discussing the five remaining policies
that labor is still reviewing.
Tentative Schedule of Future Agenda Items
Chairperson Jeffries stated that in the board
packet there is a document titled Tentative Board Agenda Items. This document contains agenda items starting in December 2002
and ending in June 2003. He
said that the intent was to identify issues that will be coming
forward to the board as either informational or action items.
Chairperson Jeffries said that these are not set in stone.
He said that beginning in January and every month thereafter
there is a budget work session that is to be announced.
However, it really should be a committee of the whole session.
He would like to create a second meeting for each month where
items will be considered for informational purposes.
Chairperson Jeffries said that he does not anticipate any
action items coming out of those meetings, except for purchasing bids.
He?s asked the President to put together dates and times that
are convenient for staff as well as a budget for this as this will
incur additional expense for the board.
Chairperson Jeffries will be bringing it back for the Board's
consideration next month.
President's Performance Review
Chairperson Jeffries stated that under the
bylaws, and the President's contract, there is an annual review of
the President's performance review.
Chairperson Jeffries asked President Cunningham to present the
review.
President Cunningham stated that no one does
anything alone. The
report speaks to the commitment, dedication of the faculty and staff
at Lansing Community College. The
content areas are derived from the Board approved strategic plan.
She said that the strategic plan is scheduled for review in the
coming months and the plan will be brought to the Board for their
review sometime in the early spring.
President Cunningham presented to the Board the performance
review. (The report is on
file with the official Board materials.)
Chairperson Jeffries thanked President Cunningham
for her work and leadership she?s given to Lansing Community
College.
IT WAS MOVED by Trustee Holden and supported by
Trustee Heywood to accept the President's performance review.
Ayes: Heywood,
Holden, Jeffries, Patterson, Pelleran, Rasmusson
Nays: None
Absent: Canady
Motion carried.
Board Members
Trustee Pelleran - Multicultural Center Fall
Reception
Trustee Pelleran attended the Multicultural
Center Fall Reception. She
thanked Queen McMiller and her staff.
She said that it was a beautiful reception.
Trustee Holden - Foundation Board, Clinton
County Center Dedication Ceremony
Trustee Holden reported that the Foundation Board
met last week. She said
that the search for a foundation director is moving along nicely.
The College received sixty applications. Trustee Holden reported on the Lip Sync event.
She said that it was well attended and it raised a net of
approximately $20,000. Trustee
Holden reminded the Board of the Foundation holiday reception on
December 4 and the breakfast meeting on January 13 between the
Foundation and Lansing Community College Board.
Trustee Holden reported on the Clinton County
Center dedication ceremony held on October 28.
She said it is a marvelous center and the event was well
attended.
Trustee Heywood also attended the event.
He said that he was blown away and was impressed with the
facility.
Trustee Holden thanked Jean Morciglio and her
staff. She said that we
all should be proud of the facility.
Trustee Heywood reported on the Gay Straight
Alliance dance, which was the first event held on campus.
He said it was the first student funded event and was impressed
with the turnout. Trustee
Heywood said that it was very exciting for him to be with the students
and to hear them talk about how safe they felt on the campus and how
open the campus felt. He
said that since he?s been a student and now as a Board member, he
said that this has been a progression that has picked up speed since
President Cunningham has taken leadership.
President's Report
President asked the Board to move up agenda item
VII, B, 5, a, Financial Audit Report. There was no objection from the
Board.
Finance - Year-End Financial Audit Report
Mr. Bruce Dunn, from Maner, Costerisan, and
Ellis, presented the College's financial audit report to the Board. He stated that starting next year, the financial audit report
format would be changing. He
said that the reports would more closely resemble those of a
for-profit organization. (The
financial audit is on file with the official Board materials.)
Mr. Dunn presented the financial audit of the
Foundation. (The
Foundation financial audit is on file with the official Board
materials.)
IT WAS MOVED by Trustee Pelleran and supported by
Trustee Rasmusson to accept the financial audit reports.
Roll call vote:
Ayes: Heywood, Holden,
Jeffries, Patterson, Pelleran, Rasmusson
Nays: None
Absent: Canady
Motion carried.
Information Items
Credit Hours vs. Contact Hours
President Cunningham stated that is just for
information. She said
that they are continuing to review course-pricing options.
They have been told to prepare for a 5% cut from this year?s
budget with an additional 5 to 20% from next year?s budget. There will be a significant reduction in State
appropriations.
President Cunningham reported that 10 of the 28
community colleges in Michigan currently have contact hours and there
are another 4 colleges that are looking at implementing them in the
fall. She clarified that
charging by contact hours are more closely tied to tuition revenue for
the labor costs and direct instruction costs.
President Cunningham stated that this agenda item would be part
of the budget deliberation workshop that the Board will have in either
March or April.
Trustee Heywood said that in reading the report
there are a lot of positive aspects.
He asked if there are any negatives aspects that have been
identified.
President Cunningham responded, yes, and this is
just a piece of what the college is reviewing.
For example, in Aviation and Healthcare courses, there are many
contact hours. Students
may not be able to afford that, so an alternative would have to be
created. This will be
brought to the Board again, and this is simply an overview.
Chairperson Jeffries asked what this would do to
course fees.
President Cunningham responded that in some cases
we would have to look at having a course fee in addition to the
contact hour. For
example, for an Aviation course, the contact hours would not cover the
costs of that course. Approximately
200 courses out of 500 have course fees that are $5, $10, $15, or $20.
Those will probably be eliminated; however, there may be four
or five courses that constitute more than 50% of our course fees and
those are substantial such as healthcare, aviation, and truck driver
training. She said that
some reductions would take place.
Trustee Holden said that any discussion about
contact hours has to be a discussion about tuition.
President Cunningham said that was correct, and
the report that will be brought back to the board will include tuition
rates.
Vice President Barbara Larson stated that more
schools are looking at this each year.
Fifteen of the community colleges in Michigan are now
recognizing that charging by contact hours is part of the price of
tuition.
President Cunningham stated that there would be a
lot of information provided to the Board regarding this agenda item
prior to making a decision.
Spotlight - Nanotechnology
President Cunningham stated that Mr. Tony Juliano,
Mr. Alex Azima and others have looked at nanotechnology, not only from
the academic side of it, but also in terms of partnering with the
private sector in providing nanotechnology.
Mr. Tony Juliano, Executive Director of the
Business and Community Institute, and Christine Schopper, President of
Innovative Business Logistics, gave a PowerPoint presentation to the
Board on nanotechnology. (The
presentation is on file with the official Board materials.)
Trustee Rasmusson stated that he is impressed
with the work that has taken place.
Trustee Holden asked if there are other community
colleges that are pursuing this actively.
Mr. Juliano responded that he is not sure of the
academic side, but he is not aware of any community colleges that are
pursuing it on the private sector side of it.
He asked Ms. Stephanie Shanblatt if she was aware of any
community colleges pursuing nanotechnology.
Ms. Shanblatt responded that she is not aware of
any colleges pursuing this.
Chairperson Jeffries asked where is the College
looking to go with this.
President Cunningham responded that the College
is exploring possibly offering an Associates degree in this field, but
it is still at the exploration stage.
Trustee Pelleran asked if she envisioned the
alternative fuel project to be placed in research, academic programs,
or through the Business and Community Institute.
President Cunningham responded that it is
currently located out of the President's Office.
The grant came from MEDC and it will affect the entire college,
not just one division. In
order to centralize it, it is currently in the President's Office,
but it eventually may go to BCI.
Action Items
Approval of Minutes - October 21, 2002 Special
Meeting; November 5, 2002 Special Meeting; November 8, 2002
President
Cunningham presented the October 21, 2002; November 5, 2002; and the
November 8, 2002, meeting minutes for the Board's consideration.
Trustee Pelleran referred to the October 21
meeting minutes, page 3, where Mr. Barry Stearns commented that 20% of
the entire full-time faculty are on terminal contracts.
She hoped that the Board could have further dialogue on that
particular issue.
President Cunningham responded that shortly after
the October 21 minutes, staff followed up with a memo regarding those
numbers.
Trustee Pelleran said that was true, but she
still would like the Board to continue dialogue on this issue.
Trustee Pelleran referred to the November 8, 2002
meeting minutes, page 5. She
referred to her comments made regarding the three Board members who
met with Mr. McIntyre and Ms. Lazar about that particular issue and
how she was comfortable with their decision.
Trustee Pelleran requested that those comments be included in
the November 8 minutes.
Annual Results Inventory Report - Financial
Responsibility
Vice President Barbara Larson presented the
Financial Responsibility report to the Board (the report is on file
with the official Board materials.)
Trustee Heywood asked how many women owned
businesses, regardless of their color, has the college made purchases
from.
Ms. Beckie Beard said she could provide that
number.
There was discussion regarding what categorizes
an in-district or out-of-district vendor and whether all in-district
vendors pay taxes. Staff
clarified that the physical address categorizes the vendors as
in-district or out-of-district and this is similar to the way the city
of Lansing and other entities categorize their vendors.
It was also stated that there is not enough staff to verify for
all of the 2,000 vendors if they pay taxes.
Course Fees
President Cunningham presented the proposal for
additional course fees for NURS 196, Long-term Care Nurse Intern
Program and DHYN 226, Anxiety and Pain Control Management.
She said that there was a question about personnel costs
regarding the NURS 196 course. There
is a course coordinator at 40 hours, lecture faculty at 64 hours, lab
faculty at 96 hours, and a clinical liaison for 48 hours and two
clinical faculty. In
response to community demand, this is being brought forward to the
Board for course fee approval outside the regular budget cycle.
The second course is in response to new legislation in the
state of Michigan, which allows registered dental hygienists to
administer local anesthetic. In relation to the personnel costs, the faculty and student
ratio is 1 to 6, which is $25 extra.
The ratio of clinical hours to credits is 3 to 1, which is $50
extra. This means that
the college pays for three faculty hours for every one credit the
student pays for. That is
some of the rationale, which is included in the packet, for increasing
the course fees.
Grant of Authority for Police and Public
Safety
President Cunningham stated that the Board's
support of this would mean that the College will be able to swear in
an officer, and an advisory committee will be established.
The advisory committee will consist of two faculty and two
staff members. She said
that some change in the language needs to occur in the general orders
before anyone is empowered or sworn in.
Trustee Rasmusson stated that he did not suggest
to delay any swearing in of officers, but he thought it would be wise
to have the College's legal counsel review the general orders.
Vice President Larson stated that 96% of the
general orders are fine as they are in terms of standard operating
procedures for the police force.
However, there may be some changes and staff will follow up
with the College's legal counsel.
President Cunningham asked that Trustee Rasmusson
share what was discussed over dinner regarding this agenda item.
Trustee Rasmusson said that what was discussed
was a situation where the department is called to aid other
departments and we wouldn?t necessarily want to get involved with
things that weren?t a breach of the peace.
For example, a strike.
Chairperson Jeffries asked the President to
consider placing a student on the advisory board and have a report
given back to Board.
Trustee Heywood asked that the Board separate the
Course Fees section from the President's report.
The Board agreed to Trustee Heywood?s request.
Chairperson Jeffries asked for a roll call vote
on the President's Report excluding the course fees section.
Roll call vote:
Ayes: Heywood, Holden,
Jeffries, Patterson, Pelleran, Rasmusson
Nays: None
Absent: Canady
The President's Report was approved.
Chairperson Jeffries asked if there were any
comments on the course fees.
Trustee Heywood responded that he is opposed to
the increase in course fees because he sees it as nickel and diming
our students. He will not
be approving another course fee.
Chairperson Jeffries asked for a roll call vote
on the course fees.
Roll call vote:
Ayes: Holden, Jeffries,
Patterson, Pelleran, Rasmusson
Nays: Heywood
Absent: Canady
The course fees were approved.
Finance - Year-End Financial Audit Report
This agenda item was moved to the top of the
President's Report.
Public Comment
Trustee Pelleran - As a point of personal
privilege, I?d like to publicly congratulate you (Chairperson
Jeffries) on your recent victory.
And I wish you well in your tenure on the Lansing City Council.
Chairperson Jeffries - Thank you.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.
