KIRTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING
COMMUNITY FOCUS GROUPS
September 14, 2006
CALL TO ORDER
Vice Chair Roy Spangler called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance.
ROLL CALL
Members Present: Robert Bovee, Roy Spangler, Richard Silverman, Denis Weiss, Patricia Webb, Roberta Werle
Members Absent: Sally Galer
Others Present: Fay Bovee, Jo Ann Comerford, Ed Koliba, Doty Latuszek, Kathy Marsh, Charles Rorie, Tim Scherer, Dale Shantz, Bonnie Zoia
WELCOME
Members, employees and guests were welcomed by Vice Chair Roy Spangler.
COMMUNITY FOCUS GROUPS
Chair Roy Spangler turned the meeting over to Bonnie Wichtner-Zoia, Director of the MSU Economic Development Corporation. Trustee Denis Weiss explained that he approached her because the board desires to listen more closely to the community to find out what they want and what they think. Since the board needs help in doing that, her name came up as one who has experience with this type of effort. Trustee Richard Silverman said that his specific interest in encouraging community focus groups was to explore how well we are doing in serving senior citizens and how they see the college’s role in serving them. He said other than that, the board is unsure of which group to target and how to approach each group. The goal is to gain as much information as we can from the community.
Bonnie Zoia said that generally, focus groups consist of six to ten people. Larger groups of, say one hundred people, need to break up into smaller groups for discussion and sharing. She also emphasized that it is better to go into the community, go to the people, rather than have them come to Kirtland. But before that, the board has to define what are the major objectives, why, what are you going to do with it, and how are you going to know when you get there. Then, a facilitator can work to help the board accomplish the goal. An expected time frame needs to be established, and a commitment to change according to the results or at least explore the information that is gained, must be communicated in order for the community to see the value of participating.
Trustee Roberta Werle spoke of the groups she thinks the board needs to seek out to find out what is important to them, specifically the political subdivisions we serve, townships, conservationists, etc.
Richard Silverman said that he has changed his focus to a broader community representation because the information gathered would be especially helpful to a new president, which is another focus the board is to face in the next year. Roy Spangler spoke of the need to learn what relevancy Kirtland is in the view of the community.
Richard Silverman brought up the community phone survey conducted in 1998. Doty Latuszek offered to bring the raw data from that survey to the board as an information item. Focus groups could also be used as a follow-up to that survey, and a review of that survey might be a good springboard for planning focus groups as to what do we need to know. It was suggested to put this as an agenda item on next week’s regular board meeting for a review of the phone survey.
Bonnie Zoia said she would provide more specific questions for the board to consider by the next meeting.
Ed Koliba commented that there has been considerable change in the community over the past ten years, so perhaps it would be beneficial to do a major survey again, then use focus groups every other year or so to stay in touch. Tim Scherer said that the feedback from such activity is a good opportunity to learn what the community knows about the college. Charles Rorie agreed with starting off with a review of the survey of 1998.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was declared adjourned at 7:53 p.m. by Vice Chair Roy Spangler.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Koch
Recording Secretary