Meeting Minutes
SOUTHEASTERN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Meeting of the Board of Trustees
Monday, September 8, 2008 – 6:00 p.m.
A meeting of the
September 11, 2008, at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room (AD1) of the West Burlington Campus, 1500 West Agency Road, West Burlington, Iowa.
1.1 CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND PLEDGE OF
ALLEGIANCE:
In Board Chairperson Roth’s absence, Board Vice Chairperson
Fife-LaFrenz called the meeting to order.
Roll call indicated Trustees Janet Fife-LaFrenz, Jeff Heland, Landen
Hillyard, and Moudy Nabulsi were present.
Also present were President Dr. Beverly Simone, Treasurer
1.2 ADOPTION OF THE FORMAL AGENDA:
Trustee Heland moved that the tentative agenda be adopted. Trustee Hillyard seconded. Motion carried with all trustees present recorded as voting aye.
1.3 COMMUNICATIONS:
1.3.1 AUDIENCE: No report.
1.3.2
ADMINISTRATION: No
report.
1.3.3 BOARD: Trustee Heland reported that the 2008 Iowa Workforce Conference will be held at the Polk County Convention Complex in Des Moines on October 1 & 2. He indicated that he is unable to attend the conference due to a schedule conflict.
Trustee Hillyard encouraged everyone to vote in tomorrow’s school board election especially in light of SCC’s Six Cent Levy public measure being on the ballot.
Vice Chairperson Fife-LaFrenz reported that the Keokuk Campus child care center recently reopened under new management and that she attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Vice Chairperson Fife-LaFrenz reported that the SCC Women's Basketball Golf Outing was held at the Great River Road Golf Course in Nauvoo on September 7 with 22 teams participating. She also reported that a “Finally Friday” fundraising event for the SCC Women’s Basketball Team will be held on September 26 at the Keokuk Country Club. A host family will be assigned to each student athlete; this family will also serve as host to the student athlete for the “Finally Friday” dinner. Trustee Nabulsi suggested that monetary contributions to the Women’s Basketball team be made if Board members and college employees are unable to attend the event.
Vice Chairperson Fife-LaFrenz reported that a reception and steak fry benefiting the Women’s Basketball team will be held on September 20 at the Keokuk Elks Club.
Vice Chairperson Fife-LaFrenz reported that a recent article in the Des Moines Register focused on the lack of available technical instructors for Iowa’s community colleges.
1.4 IOWA ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRUSTEES REPORT:
Trustee Nabulsi reported that the groundbreaking ceremony for the new IACCT facility was held in Des Moines on September 5 with approximately70 people, including legislators and Iowa Department of Education representatives, in attendance. The IACCT Board also met on September 5 and the following items were discussed:
- Progress on construction for the new IACCT facility
- A review of One Source Training’s functions and its new website
- The IACCT audit report
- A Finance Committee was created which will meet quarterly
- Approved payment of Iowa Association of School Board dues for IACCT
- Iowa Department of Education presented Goals and Performance Indicators
Trustee Nabulsi will serve on the new IACCT Finance Committee and continues to serve as Chairman of the IACCT Nominating and Award Committees.
Trustee Nabulsi encouraged all Board members to make contributions to Iowans for a Skilled Workforce before the 2009 legislative session begins in January.
2.1 PRESENTATION ON ALCHEMY:
Vice Chairperson
Fife-LaFrenz introduced WIA Employment Training Specialist Diane Poisel and
WIA/PJ Director Linda Gidley. Poisel led
the Board members through an interactive demonstration of the Alchemy SISTEM software which is a collaborative compliance
management and training system that incorporates engaging, computer-based
training and automates the documentation process through an online-based
learning management system.
Gidley reported that the software, which
was purchased in 2008 with WIA funds, is currently used primarily with youth in
WIA programs. Numerous life-skill and
career readiness categories with many individual courses are included in the
software. Future possible uses for use
of the software could be to hold “career readiness” sessions for dislocated
workers, “lunch and learn” sessions at area businesses through CBIZ, or a
non-credit course for all incoming freshman at SCC.
3.1 APPROVAL
OF CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS:
1. Approval of Minutes for the August 11, 2008, Pre
Board Meeting and the August 11, 2008, Regular Board Meeting
2.
Presentation of Bills of Account
3.
Resignations, Terminations and Mutually Agreed to Contract Adjustments:
None presented.
4.
Employment Contracts:
ICCOC
Instructional Support Specialist Paula Henry
Trustee Hillyard moved approval of
the Consent Agenda items. Trustee Heland
seconded. Motion carried on a 4-0 roll
call vote.
3.2 BOARD POLICIES –
FIRST READING:
Vice
Chairperson Fife-LaFrenz reported that the Trustees had received copies of the
proposed new Board Policies for review prior to this meeting. President Simone explained that there are
four new categories of Board Policies:
·
Ends
(ES) – These policies reflect the outcomes SCC should strive to achieve
·
Governance
Process (GP) – These policies reflect how the Board will operate
·
Board/Employee
Relationship (BER) – These policies reflect the relationship between the Board
and SCC employees.
·
Executive
Limitations (EL) – These policies reflect the limitations placed upon the
College President and all other staff as to how they can achieve the Board’s
Ends.
President
Simone explained that three of the four Board Policies in the Ends section were
reapproved by the Board earlier this year.
The Board Policies in the new Governance Process section are based on
language from Section 200 of the current Board Policies.
Vice
Chairperson Fife-LaFrenz led a review of each individual Board Policy in the
Ends and the Governance Process sections.
Revisions were noted and will be sent to the trustees prior to being presented
at the October 13 Board meeting for further review. Board Policies in the new Board/Employee
Relationship and Executive Limitations sections will also be reviewed at the
October 13 Board meeting.
4.1 FINANCIAL REPORT:
Vice President of Administrative Services Meck reviewed the financial
statements for the period July 1, 2008 through August 31, 2008. He indicated that only “actual” year-to-date
figures are presented as this is the first time a financial report has been
presented to the Board for this period of time and that consequently no
comparative data is available. Meck
stated that the current financial position is appropriate for this point in the
fiscal year.
4.2 FACILITIES UPDATE:
President Simone reported that a letter was recently sent to Senator
Harkin requesting that the language for the bill for the appropriation of an
additional $1.2 million for the Emergency Services Program be changed so that
the funds could be used for specialized equipment and not for facilities. The concrete platforms which would be
constructed at the proposed Emergency Services Program site are considered to
be equipment. If the appropriations are
approved, SCC would receive the smallest portion of the funds with Southwestern
Community College receiving the largest portion of the proceeds and Indian
Hills Community College receiving the next amount. This allocation reflects the fact that SCC
received more of the state funds.
Vice President of Administrative Services Meck reported that he and Vice
President Fick held follow-up conversations with representatives from Ft.
Madison regarding the site for the Emergency Services Program which the City of
Ft. Madison proposes to transfer to SCC.
Three issues outlined in an August 15 letter to Ft. Madison Mayor Steve
Ireland are:
1.
Road use
easement: The City of Ft. Madison has
indicated that they will address this issue with adjacent land owner Gaylord
Construction and obtain the appropriate easement when the property transfer
occurs. There will not be any ongoing
road maintenance costs to the college.
2.
Utilities: SCC has a preliminary site plan
developed. The City of Ft. Madison will
bring the sewer line onto the property from the north and will end it at a
point on the property as designated by the College. Water will also be provided by the City of
Ft. Madison to the site. It is unknown
if this installation will include a hydrant.
Water must be available at the site before the facility can be operational.
3.
Buildable
site: The site is too low and uneven to
do normal site preparation or protect the area from future floods. The land that will be used for the building
of the facilities must be filled so that it is level and even with the road. Director of Buildings and Grounds Spencer has
surveyed the existing grade of the property and has roughly calculated the
amount of fill required at 10,000 cubic yards.
The City of Ft. Madison has offered to provide the fill material at no
cost but wants the College to pay for the hauling and excavating. Additional costs will be incurred for gravel
for site preparation for the building footings and driveway and professional
fees for architect/engineer services for site and soil analysis.
Vice President Meck reported that funding for the project in the amount
of $391,000 is available from the State of Iowa. He indicated that a $45,000 grant has also
been secured from the Southeast Iowa Riverboat Commission which can be used for
fencing and the concrete pads. It is
currently estimated that the project costs will exceed available funds by
$75,000 to $100,000 due to the necessity of fill material at the site and
restroom facility costs.
The Board recommended that President Simone communicate the following
information to the City of Ft. Madison:
1.
A
perpetual easement be filed in the Ft. Madison County Recorder’s office stating
that Gaylord Construction will maintain the road and be given a tax credit from
the City of Ft. Madison;
2.
Water
and sewer must be provided to the site by the City of Ft. Madison;
3.
Suitable
fill material will be delivered to the site at no cost the College. The fill material must be in place before
construction of the facility begins. It
could be suggested to the City of Ft. Madison that the Iowa National Guard be
contacted regarding hauling and excavating of the fill material at the
site.
Funds for the project from the State of Iowa must be expended by June 30,
2010.
4.3 PRESIDENT’S REPORT:
President Simone reported on the following items:
·
The Iowa
Association of Community College Presidents’ meeting was held on September 4.
o
It was
reported during the meeting that five candidates were interviewed for the position
of Administrator of the Division of Community Colleges & Workforce
Preparation which was previously held by Dr. Janice Friedel. It is anticipated that the position might be
filled within two weeks or the search extended.
·
Progress
report on the new IACCT facility.
·
Six new
CPI teams began training last week.
o
An
example of action taken from recent More-Same-Less sessions is that new food
service vender, Treat America, provides a weekly online menu to students and
employees. The weekly menu came about
from a More-Same-Less suggestion. Keokuk
Campus’ new food service vender, HyVee, also provides an online menu to
students and employees.
·
The
President’s Circle has received commitments from four donors out of the seven
personal meetings held to date.
Appointments are being set with prospective Keokuk donors.
·
The first
All-Athletics Picnic was well attended at the West Burlington Campus and
included all SCC sports.
·
Revenue
from SCC’s One Source Training endeavors was recently reviewed. Vice President Fick will meet with CBIZ staff
to consider future options.
·
Approximately
25 SCC employees participated in the /Burlington/West Burlington Paint-A-Thon.
·
Past SCC
President and IACCT Executive Director Dr. Gene Gardner is presently serving as
the Interim President at Blackhawk College in Moline, Illinois.
5.0 UPCOMING MEETINGS:
Vice Chairperson Fife-LaFrenz reviewed upcoming meetings. Trustee Hillyard reported that he will be
absent for the October 13 Board of Trustees meeting but may wish to be
connected via teleconference. President
Simone requested that the trustees review the Board/Employee Relationship and
the Executive Limitations sections of the new Board Policies and send any
comments to Secretary Zeller prior to the October 13 Board meeting.
6.0 ADJOURNMENT:
Trustee Hillyard moved to adjourn the meeting. Trustee Nabulsi seconded. Motion carried with all trustees recorded as voting aye.
These minutes have been approved by the Board of Trustees and this is certified to be a true copy.
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