CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at
6:08 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Present: Brannan, Laverty,
Murray, Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson
Absent: Canady
Trustee Canady was excused from
the meeting due to a health situation in his family.
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.
CHAIRPERSON AND BOARD MEMBER
REPORTS
Chairperson Laverty
Legal Services
Chairperson Laverty stated this
agenda item was brought forward by Trustee Rasmusson at a previous
meeting.
Trustee Rasmusson stated this was
prompted by the College's bid process. Services that will cost
$25,000 or more must go through the competitive bid process. He said
the proposal is not to bid out the legal services, but rather to have
the administration verify if it is feasible or if the services are so
unique that they have to be farmed out.
There was discussion regarding
Miller Canfield and the possibility of establishing an office of
general counsel and establishing criteria for bidding out legal
services. It was requested that staff contact organizations such as
Meridian Township and Michigan State University that went from using
legal firms to establishing an in-house counsel and determine if they
received better service or saved money.
President Cunningham shared that
the administration is reviewing ways to reduce legal costs such as
using some of the existing resources at the College, but it does not
answer the Board's question regarding its legal representation. She
distributed a spreadsheet which highlighted the legal costs from July
2003 through January 2004 (it is on file with the official Board
materials.)
Trustees Proctor and Rasmusson
asked staff to contact the community colleges that have established
offices of legal counsel and determine if they saved money and if the
quality of work was affected.
President Cunningham responded
that they have already contacted several community colleges. The
information will be pulled together and shared with the Board.
The Board agreed to continue
discussion on this agenda item for future meetings.
Trustee Pelleran asked for an
itemization of what the Board's legal costs included.
RED Team
Chairperson Laverty reported that
he attended the Regional Economic Development Team meeting on February
5.
Other
He reported that he attended the
following events:
?
Hope Scholarship Awards on January
21 where 500 students received scholarships
?
Women?s? and Men?s? Basketball
games
?
the Mayor?s State of the City
address
Chairperson Laverty thanked
President Cunningham for her leadership in creating a partnership with
the Family Independence Agency and the Dental Program in providing
dental services to Ingham County foster children.
Chairperson Laverty shared that
the Board received suggested changes to Board bylaw 1.7.7, Conflict of
Interest, which will be discussed during the March Board meeting. He
explained that the changes include having the Board members fill out a
conflict of interest form on an annual basis.
Chairperson Laverty stated that
they are still working on a Board retreat in trying to identify a
facilitator. Once a facilitator is selected then a retreat will be
scheduled. He announced that the Michigan Community College
Association Summer Workshop will be July 22 - 24, 2004 at Northwestern
Community College.
Chairperson Laverty complimented
Trustee Rasmusson for his work on the Audit Committee and appointed
him as the chair of the Committee.
Board Members
Trustee Thomas Rasmusson - Audit Committee
Trustee Rasmusson reported that
the Audit Committee met with the College's legal counsel, auditor and
Chairperson Laverty regarding the first draft of the proposed
Committee rules. Several changes were made to the rules that would
not apply to the College but would apply to corporations. Trustee
Rasmusson presented the Audit Committee rules to the Board.
The Board agreed to take more time
to review the rules and contact Trustee Rasmusson if there were any
questions. This agenda item will be voted on at the next meeting.
Trustee KP Pelleran -
Foundation Board of Directors, Leslie Local Finance Development
Authority
Trustee Pelleran reported that she
attended the recent Leslie Local Finance Development Authority
meeting. They welcomed the new part-time economic development
director.
She reported on the following
regarding the Foundation Board of Directors:
?
someone recently passed away and
they bequeathed their estate to the Foundation
?
if anyone would like to set up a
scholarship, they may contact the Foundation office
?
the cruise to Alaska is May 23
through May 30
?
the Foundation Board of Directors
met with Mr. Dan McCormick who gave a presentation on capital
campaigns
?
the board approved the Finance
Committee?s revised investment policy
?
$119,000 were received during the
month of January
?
the Foundation has received 445
scholarship applications and the Allocations Committee will begin the
selection process and the awardees will be notified by April 1
?
the Foundation Board will be
meeting on March 25
Trustee Robert Proctor -
Workforce Development Board
Trustee Proctor reported that he
attended the most recent Workforce Development Board meeting. He said
the board continues to address issues of reduced funding including the
elimination of the Welfare-to-Work Program and the potential plant
closures in the area.
Trustee Rondy Murray - Michigan
Community College Association
Trustee Murray reported that she
attended the Michigan Community College Association (MCCA) Winter
In-Service meeting on January 30 on behalf of Trustee Brannan. She
stated that there was a state budget presentation, and all of the
community colleges are facing the same budget situation. There was
discussion regarding if the colleges held their tuition to the rate of
inflation, 3% would be refunded. However, there was a question
regarding if that 3% would hold since there are no guarantees.
Trustee Murray stated that there was a presentation from a gentleman
from California regarding a purchasing coalition and a variety of
services and products that institutions of higher learning are able to
purchase. The MCCA is going to further study the possibility of a
purchasing coalition.
President's REPORT
Informational Items
College Spotlight - STAR Institute
Dean Chris Holman introduced Ms. Toni Glasscoe who is
the Director of the Star Institute.
Ms. Glasscoe introduced several staff members, former
Star Institute students and community partners that were present. She
introduced Mr. Justin Morgan, Mr. Brian Smith, Mr. Andr?
Collins-Riddle, and Miss Ahnna Moore who are students at the Star
Institute and Ms. Melanie Lynn who is an instructor at the Institute.
Ms. Glasscoe shared that the vision at the Star Institute is to
develop skilled, agile high schoolers who will cross the bridge from
high school, academic preparation into the workforce. This is
accomplished by partnerships with business and industry, educators,
parents, and with the community.
Mr. Morgan, Mr. Smith, Mr. Collins-Riddle and Miss
Moore provided a PowerPoint presentation that highlighted the Star
Institute. They shared with the Board the project they were involved
in with the St. Vincent de Paul organization and how this process
improved their communication and leadership skills.
Trustee Pelleran commended the students for the fine
presentation.
Chairperson Laverty thanked the students for having
been there tonight.
Former graduates of the Star Institute shared the
projects they were involved in with various area businesses when they
attended the Institute.
President Cunningham stated that Dean Holman is
researching the possibility of receiving stipends in order to offset
the costs at the Star Institute.
Budget Update
President Cunningham announced that on February 25
there is a budget workshop scheduled. She asked Vice President
Barbara Larson to provide the Board with a budget update.
Vice President Larson provided a
budget update which was included in the Board packet.
There was discussion regarding the budget scenarios and
if the contact hour would or would not constitute an increase. Staff
responded that they have received mixed messages from the State and it
is unclear at this point.
Trustee Pelleran was concerned that there is not a
clear answer from the State before having the Board vote on charging
by contact hour.
President Cunningham responded that we have not
received consistent feedback from the State. There are 17 other
community colleges that have switched to charging by contact hour and
for those colleges it was not considered an increase. The MCCA has
taken a stand on this because other community colleges may increase
their technology fees and they are questioning if this would
constitute an increase in tuition. These colleges are experiencing
the same communication difficulties as we are. Since the State has
not provided a clear answer, the MCCA will be providing them with a
definition of what constitutes a tuition increase. Any fee that is
uniformly distributed and if the tuition increase impacts more than
50% of the student body, this will constitute an increase. President
Cunningham stated that if Lansing Community College chooses to charge
by contact hour, this definition would not apply to the College as
less than 50% of the student body would be affected. She said that if
the State does not accept this definition and charging by contact hour
is seen as a tuition increase, the administration would revisit this
issue.
Trustee Pelleran stated that based on President
Cunningham?s comments, she will be supporting the recommendation to
charge tuition based on the contact hour.
Human Resources
Administrative Appointments?
Jack Bergeron, Director of Academic Affairs,
Academic Affairs, Executive Office
Action Items
Approval of Minutes - January 20, 2004 Regular
Meeting
President Cunningham presented the
January 20, 2004 regular meeting minutes for the Board's
approval. She thanked Ms. Norma Mendez for her outstanding work with
the minutes.
Charging by Contact Hour
President Cunningham presented the recommendation to
charge tuition by contact hour.
Course Fees
President Cunningham presented the course fees for new
courses that will be implemented in summer 2004. She also presented
the course fee reductions for fall 2004.
There was discussion regarding the course fees.
Trustee Murray appreciated how the information was laid
out. She felt that it was easy to follow and it simplified the
decision making process.
Smoking Policy
President Cunningham presented the revisions to the
smoking policy (the revised policy is on file with the official Board
materials.) She stated that with adoption of the changes to the
policy smoking shelters will be implemented along with a communication
plan and signage.
Trustee Pelleran felt this version was an improvement
of a restrictive policy. She said with the acquisition of Washington
Mall it is important to have sites for students to smoke. She hopes
that as this is implemented we continue to have dialogue and
information is shared with students and staff who smoke.
Finance - Approval of Bids
President Cunningham presented the
following bids:
-
Foundation & Floors for the
Administration Building in the amount of $714,900. This bid was
awarded to Kares Construction of Charlotte, MI.
-
Structural Steel for the Administration
Building in the amount of $628,000. This bid was awarded to Steel
Supply & Engineering of Grand Rapids, MI.
IT WAS MOVED by Trustee Pelleran
and supported by Trustee Proctor to approve the action items of the
President's report.
Roll call vote:
Ayes: Brannan, Laverty, Murray, Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson
Nays: None
Absent: Canady
Motion carried.
Trustee Pelleran asked that the
minutes reflect that Trustee Canady be excused from tonight?s
meeting. She explained that Trustee Canady had a personal health
problem in his family and asked to be excused.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There were no comments from the
public.
ADJOURNMENT
IT WAS MOVED by Trustee Brannan
and supported by Trustee Murray for the meeting to adjourn.
Ayes: Brannan, Laverty, Murray,
Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson
Nays: None
Absent: Canady
Motion carried.
The meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
