KIRTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE

SPECIAL BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING

 MINUTES

September 16, 2008

Board Members Present:                 MaryAnn Ferrigan, Richard Silverman, Roy Spangler, Denis Weiss,

Roberta Werle

Board Members Absent:                  Sally Galer, Patricia Webb

Foundation Members Present:       Pauline Cournyer, William Curnalia, Ruggero Dozzi, Bill Gannon, Loretta Hassan, Pepper Karstendiek, Teresa Money, Tom Quinn, Tom Richardson, Sandy Woods

Foundation Members Absent:         Ruth Ferguson,

Others Present:                                   Sandra Hull, Kathy Koch

INTRODUCTIONS

At 11:30 a.m. College President, Tom Quinn, welcomed everyone and explained that there is no formal agenda for today’s gathering, The intention is to get to know each other better in addition to thanking the members of each board for their service to the college and the communities they represent. Introductions were made around the room.

LUNCHEON

Lunch was served from 11:38 to 12:05 p.m.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

College President, Thomas Quinn, provided a presentation on initiatives and ideas being explored for developing opportunities and meeting challenges the college faces for where we might be headed in the coming years. Quinn’s vision is for Kirtland to become a vanguard college, out in front of the rest, in the State of Michigan, nationally, and in the global arena.

Chair Roy Spangler commented that we now have a working board with a breadth of experience and backgrounds to contribute to the college’s success. He acknowledged the same for the Foundation board and suggested a summary of Foundation meeting agenda items be included in the meeting packets for the board of trustees meetings. He said that Dr. Quinn has been here one year and one month, and although the decision to hire was difficult, it appears that we have hired more than a college president, we have a leader. Kirtland can reach its potential with the efforts of all the leaders of the district represented here today.

Trustee Richard Silverman expressed that communication between the two boards could be briefly summarized about what the Foundation is looking at. Silverman reports to the board about the Foundation activities as a communication process. At our next board meeting, Kathleen Guy is coming to speak from Traverse City at Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) and she will talk about what to look for in an executive director and how to deal with companies that out source fund raising activities. Then the foundation will look at what they/we should do. NMC’s foundation brings in 2 million dollars a year so they have a lot they can share with us. We are looking at what kind of projects can we do through the Foundation as well as a half-time foundation director.

Foundation member Tom Richardson asked about enrollment. The response was that at a time when many colleges are expanding in enrollment, we have stayed rather steady, with a small increase. However, we are projecting that we will lose students as the K-12s are losing enrollment due to demographics. We need to produce a value-added situation through transfer opportunities and programming. Retention is a huge issue for Kirtland. Transportation issues are also a factor with the higher gas prices.

Foundation member William Curnalia asked whether T-1 lines through M-33 in Roscommon would automatically be available to all.  The response was yes.

Foundation member Sandy Wood asked about T-1availablity due to her lack of access where she lives in El Dorado. Verizon has been the only phone company available; will M-33 compete with them? The response was yes; being able to get Internet connectivity through her cell phone has been a good thing.

Bill Curnalia suggested scheduling a semi-annual joint meeting like this for the future. Everyone agreed. Exchanging minutes was another idea.. An email with the link to the web-sites where minutes are published would be helpful.

Meeting adjourned at 1:05 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathy Koch

Recording Secretary