KIRTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE

KIRTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE

BOARD OF TRUSTEES MINUTES

April 20, 2006

CALL TO ORDER

Chair Sally Galer called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m.

ROLL CALL

Members Present: Robert Bovee, Sally Galer, Roy Spangler, Richard Silverman, Denis Weiss, Roberta Werle

Members Absent: Patricia Webb

Others Present: Stacey Barnes, Irene Borak, Jim Enger, Marj Esch, Carol Finke, Sandy Hull, Ed Koliba, Doty Latuszek, Kathy Marsh, Charles Rorie, Ilene Scherer, Tim Scherer, Dale Shantz

WELCOME

Members and guests were welcomed by Chair Sally Galer.

OPEN DISCUSSION

Community Focus Groups

Trustee Richard Silverman identified senior citizens and high school graduates for community focus groups. Roy Spangler checked with Michigan State University Extension (MSUE) office about facilitating focus groups and Denis Weiss provided a memo of his conversation with Bonnie Zoia, an agent of the Ogemaw County MSUE office. She feels that MSU’s participation as a facilitator for our focus groups would fit well into their goals and activities. There needs to be a lot more discussion on the activities, such as what kinds of questions do we want to ask, what are we going to do with the answers to the questions, what are our target groups, do we want focused groups of eight to ten people or larger public groups, and have we considered using one of the campus classes to conduct a phone survey. Silverman commented that the last item might provide a service learning opportunity in the social sciences area. Ms. Zoia also mentioned conducting mall intercept surveys, hiring a firm to do a service-area-wide survey, and do we have funding available to help pay for the focus group activities. A special board meeting on this with Ms. Zoia present was recommended for further discussion and development of the process for holding focus groups. Denis Weiss agreed to pursue some dates and times with Ms. Zoia for scheduling such a meeting.

Trustee Roberta Werle commented that she is uncomfortable with the seating arrangements for the board meetings because people are looking at her back rather than the board facing the audience. After some discussion, it was agreed to return to the former seating arrangements for board meetings.

Trustee Roberta Werle pointed out that fees and tuition rates were adopted last month, but someone pointed out to her that the fees shown in our catalog do not agree with what was adopted. Stacey Barnes, Dean of Student Services, said she would check into it and make any corrections necessary. Kathy Marsh, Dean of Instruction, asked for some specifics so she could also look into it and make any corrections before registration starts on Monday, April 24, 2006.

MINUTES

Minutes from the March 14, 2006 Open Forum on Student Housing were reviewed. After a motion from Trustee Richard Silverman supported by Trustee Denis Weiss, the minutes were declared approved. Minutes from the March 16, 2006 regular board meeting were reviewed and amended to list Denis Weiss as present. Trustee Roy Spangler moved to approve the March 16, 2006 minutes as amended which was supported by Trustee Robert Bovee. The minutes were declared approved.

COMMUNICATION

College President, Charles Rorie, shared a letter and transfer report from Ferris State University showing how well Kirtland students did at their institution. The average cumulative grade point average of students from Kirtland is 3.18 compared with the average of all Michigan community college transfer students of 3.10 and all Ferris State University students of 3.04. He commented that it is a very useful document, and he would like to see other universities produce such a report.

Charles Rorie discussed some upcoming dates for the board of trustees to be aware of, including the Kirtland Regional Police Academy graduation on Friday, April 28, 2006 at 11 a.m. in the Performing Arts Center, the college commencement ceremony on May 5 at 7:30 p.m., the Kirtland’s Warbler Festival on May 20, and the Firing Range grand opening on Friday, June 2 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Charles Rorie also shared a letter of appreciation from the Gerrish Township Police Department expressing how impressed they are with the qualified training provided by instructors Mel Hill and Chuck Beckwith to their Citizens Police Academy group.

Charles Rorie cited the newsletter of the National Service Learning Exchange for our north central region, naming our faculty member, Nick Holton, as a model for excellence in service learning. He has been a presenter at many workshops and training sessions for service learning, so it comes as no surprise that he has attained national recognition for the work he has done. Rorie said he wanted to be sure and bring this to the board’s attention.

Chair Sally Galer noted for the record that the board received a memorandum of intent from Charles Rorie dated April 6, 2006 communicating his intent not to automatically roll-over his two year contract which currently expires on June 30, 2008.

Special Presentation

Carol Finke, English Instructor, provided an update on the Writing Center and HOWL, Kirtland’s Helpful Online Writing Lab. She explained that it has been learned from surveys, that 40% of responding businesses spend 3.1 billion dollars annually in training for their employees to develop better writing skills. The English faculty members here at Kirtland Community College have volunteered their services to help students with questions and concerns when writing papers. They wanted to offer these services to the on-line students and those working on assignments at midnight as well, so they developed HOWL for this purpose. Students are using this program and since it is term paper season, they have received at HOWL 122 student papers for a total of about 829 pages. Students access HOWL services at http://services.kirtland.edu/howl/

The Writing Center provides drop-in help with questions about writing as well as courses in the basic “mechanics” of writing. It is located in Room 134 of the lower level of the Administration building and open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. plus some evenings until 7. Additional hours may be available by special arrangement by calling extension 386. It is staffed by specially trained members of the Kirtland writing faculty.

QUARTERLY FINANCIAL REPORT

Chief Business and Finance Officer, Ed Koliba, provided a Kirtland Community College Financial Report for the period ending March 31, 2006 with comparative figures at March 31, 2005.

BUSINESS FOR BOARD ACTION

2. Resolution to establish the general fund revenue estimate for the 2006-07 fiscal year

The following preamble and resolution were offered by Trustee Richard Silverman and supported by Trustee Deny Weiss:

WHEREAS

1. Michigan Public Act 331 of 1966 requires the estimate of general fund revenue for the upcoming year, and

2. The college administrative team is recommending that the board of trustees establish the general fund revenue estimate for the 2006-07 fiscal year based on a thorough review of available data and sound assumptions.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT

The general fund revenue estimate be established in the amount of $14,500,000 for the 2006-07 fiscal year.

Vote: Ayes, six Nays, zero Abstain, zero Absent, one Resolution declared adopted.

3. First Reading: Resolution to move POL 2.025 College Owned Vehicles revision to second reading

The following preamble and resolution were offered by Trustee Denis Weiss and supported by Trustee Robert Bovee:

WHEREAS

The Kirtland Community College Board of Trustees has been presented the proposed revisions to POL 2.025 College Owned Vehicles as a first reading at this meeting,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT

This proposed revision to POL 2.025 College Owned Vehicles be moved to a second reading at the next scheduled

Vote: Ayes, six Nays, zero Abstain, zero Absent, one Resolution declared adopted.

4. Resolution to move POL 2.035 Travel/Conference Expense Reporting/Reimbursement revision to second reading

The following preamble and resolution were offered by Trustee Richard Silverman and supported by Trustee Denis Weiss :

WHEREAS

The Kirtland Community College Board of Trustees has been presented the proposed revisions to POL 2.035 Travel/Conference Expense Reporting/Reimbursement as a first reading at this meeting,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT

This proposed revision to POL 2.035 Travel/Conference Expense Reporting/Reimbursement be moved to a second reading at the next scheduled meeting.

Vote: Ayes, five Nays, one Abstain, zero Absent, one Resolution declared adopted.

5. Resolution to move proposed Associate in Teaching Transfer degree to second reading

The following preamble and resolution were offered by Trustee Robert Bovee and supported by Trustee Denis Weiss:

WHEREAS

1. The board of trustees has been presented a proposal to add the Associate in Teaching Transfer Degree as a first reading at this meeting, and

2. The college administrative team has reviewed the recommendation and concurs that the Associate in Teaching Transfer Degree be added,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT

The proposed addition of the Associate in Teaching Transfer Degree be moved to a second reading at the next scheduled meeting.

Vote: Ayes, five Nays, one Abstain, zero Absent, one Resolution declared adopted.

6. Statement of Outcome of President’s Evaluation (as amended)

On April 17, 2006, the Kirtland Community College board of trustees, at the request of President Rorie, met in executive session without Dr. Rorie to arrive at a consensus concerning its evaluation of the President. The following statements summarize the general agreement that the trustees arrived at concerning the evaluation of Dr. Rorie. This was then shared with Dr. Rorie in the executive session:

1. Dr. Rorie has established a solid financial base for the college by promoting the efficient use of resources.

2. Dr. Rorie has demonstrated a strong commitment to improving student life, student success, and student retention.

3. Dr. Rorie has demonstrated a commitment to improving technology as a means of better serving students and improving administrative processes.

4. Dr. Rorie has made progress toward maintaining and improving the physical infrastructure of the college. However, this will require his continued attention in the future.

5. Dr. Rorie has consistently identified most of the crucial issues that Kirtland is facing.

6. The trustees are extremely concerned that there is still an urgent need to improve trust through more effective communication. The President must take individual responsibility for improving the way he communicates information to staff and the public. It is also imperative for him to make a strong and consistent effort to improve the way his administrative team communicates to staff. If these concerns are not addressed, Kirtland will have difficulty progressing as a college.

7. Although Dr. Rorie’s senior administrative team members have demonstrated certain abilities as managers, they have not yet demonstrated the creativity and vision that is required of all effective management teams. Dr. Rorie must cultivate these abilities in members of his administrative team.

8. The board expects President Rorie to report on the progress he has made towards addressing the concerns stated in items #6 and #7 in January-2007, March-2007, and in a more formal year-end report that will be distributed to the internal and external college community in June-2007.

Trustee Roberta Werle moved to accept this into the official record supported by Roy Spangler.

Vote: Ayes, six Nays, zero Abstain, zero Absent, one The motion was declared approved.

REPORTS FOR BOARD INFORMATION

College Marketing Plan Update

Jim Enger, Director of Marketing, presented an overview of the current marketing plan. He pointed out that the goal is to get as many students to come to Kirtland Community College as possible and to continually improve the image of the college. The strategy is to talk about the quality of our programs and instructors. This is done by newspaper ads, radio advertising, public TV, subscription binders in local public libraries, promotion cards in automotive parts shops, etc. Jim introduced Marj Esch, Webmaster, and Irene Borak, Director of Public Relations. Marj gave an overview of the new web site, and Irene spoke about Kirtland’s 40 year celebration plans for this year.

College Plans for Progress 2006-09 Draft

Charles Rorie presented a draft of a format for the three to four year plan for progress for the college. He stated that he will bring the complete plan to the board by the June meeting. He asked that if anyone had any comments between now and June, to send him an email or call him directly.

Proposed response to Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) letter of January 9, 2006

Charles Rorie provided information about a planned response to DEQ regarding the water well system. The proposal to DEQ will be to revert to the Type III well while we await a response to our state capitol outlay funding proposal.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Trustee Roy Spangler moved to enter into executive session for the purpose of discussing Kirtland Community College Federation of Teachers negotiations, supported by Trustee Denis Weiss .

Vote: Ayes, six Nays, zero Absent, one The motion was declared approved at 9:31 p.m.

Others present: Sandra Hull, Ed Koliba, Doty Latuszek, Kathy Marsh

An update of current negotiations was presented to the board by the administrative team involved with the Target Specific Bargaining process.

Trustee Robert Bovee moved to go out of executive session, supported by Trustee Richard Silverman.

Vote: Ayes, six Nays, zero Absent, one The motion was declare approved at 9:50 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT

With no further business to come before the board, the meeting was declared adjourned at 9:50 p.m. by Chair Sally Galer.

Respectfully submitted,

Sandra Hull and Kathy Koch

Acting and Editing Recording Secretaries