Call to Order
The meeting was called to order
at 6:14 p.m.
Roll Call
Present: Brannan, Laverty,
Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith
Absent: Canady
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The pledge of allegiance was not
performed due to the absence of the flag.
Additions/Deletions to the Agenda
There were no additions or
deletions to the agenda.
Limited Public Comment Regarding Agenda Items
Zach Hansen – Good evening, my
name is Zach Hansen and I’m the president of the Part-time Clerical
Technical Union. The words that you will hear tonight represent the
collective facts and thoughts of all seven labor unions at LCC
including the Michigan Association for Higher Ed; the Educational
Support Personnel; the Administrative Association; the American
Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees; the Fraternal
Order of Police; the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees; and
the Part-time Clerical Technical Union. All of us have been at the
healthcare bargaining table for many months along with the
management team. Many issues have arisen. We find ourselves facing
internal equity issues between part-time and full-time employees.
Additionally, we face external equity issues with other comparable
colleges. Last week, MAHE informed you of a large percentage of
part-time employees here at LCC in their unit. They are not alone.
LCC continues to have a large percentage of part-time employees.
Therefore, when we consider the percent of part-time employees we
must begin to treat them as valued employees. This includes the
opportunity to purchase pro-rated healthcare. We have worked
diligently along with your team to try and address many issues that
make up the healthcare dilemma. The Healthcare Task Force, which
includes all of the unions and management, have collectively learned
many facts that both help and confound the issues. We have worked
to try to establish trust in each other, to work together to address
the increasing healthcare costs and to understand each other within
the framework of the needs of the College and the constraints of the
budget. One of the things that we have learned is that we pay more
for our benefits than other employees at other institutions.
Additionally, we have learned that pool rating insurance saves money
over experience rating because it spreads the risk over a greater
number of lives. Our current healthcare provider utilizes this
pooling. Thank you.
Denny Morse – Good evening. My
name is Denny Morse and I’m the president of the Administrative
Association at Lansing Community College and I’m just going to
continue along Zach’s line of thinking or line of communication. As
we have stated previously in support of both the millage increase of
several years ago and the tuition increase effective this fall, we
understood that the College needed additional funding to support its
priorities. We urged approval of the tuition increase, expecting
not only the College would continue to address its infrastructure
needs, but that it would also adequately address the equity issues
in compensation and benefits for all its employees. We have been
greatly disappointed that so far at the healthcare negotiations the
College has not addressed these needs. Additional revenue was
produced through the switch from credit hours to billable hours in
the fall of 2004, and greater tuition revenue has been collected
this fall than was anticipated. Rather than the 3% predicted
decrease in this year’s budget, enrollment has increased. Student
fees have also increased. Yet we are told that we must have an
additional revenue stream to support greater compensation and
increased benefit costs for employees, and the hint is that such a
revenue stream can only be gained by eliminating programs, services,
and employees. But if this is the case, and the College’s
calculation of its return on investment is the primary basis for
determining program elimination, what will happen to the most
expensive, yet in-demand programs, such as healthcare? And who
would want such programs to be curtailed or eliminated, when their
students are in such great demand? Labor does have an idea for
increased revenue stream. Union members have been seeking to add to
LCC and other public educational institutions’ revenue streams by
circulating petitions for the K-16 initiative. These petitions seek
to increase state funding for public education. Today, we had
petitions available in the Arts & Science lobby for students and
other registered voters to sign and tomorrow we will be there as
well. Tonight Patty Ayers, in the audience, has petitions and
blanks for any audience member or Board member who would like to
sign a petition or join in circulating them to try and increase this
revenue stream. The College has continued building more buildings
and continues to address technology needs and absorb public
criticism for some of its choices. If rumors are true, it also has
plans for an additional building beyond the planned University
Center, while all the time saying, “times are tough financially.”
But the priority seems to put precious resources into
infrastructure. Reviewing the…on October 10th reviewing
the campus Facilities Master Plan and we see plans for campus
beautification, a University Center, modified expansion for Dart
Auditorium, and also additionally, possibly the Science Program
expansion and Parking expansion. However, there are no comparable
institutional plans to address human capital resource needs of the
employees at Lansing Community College.
Sally Pierce – Hi, and I’m Sally
Pierce, President of MAHE and the person who’s going to wrap up
labor’s statement here. I think that Board members should have
gotten a one-page comparable. Actually it’s being passed out. I
tried to not leaflet you during our speech, but it’s coming. So you
can see what we’re looking at when we look at comparables around the
state. We suggested that it is time for the College to address the
College’s human capital needs and we think that those also include
the need for good healthcare and adequate salaries, which are
paramount to keeping our human resources current, productive, and
competitive. It’s said that good employees are priceless, and that
is certainly the enlightened view in the knowledge and information
age. We know you believe this because the College paid for Stephen
Covey to come and tell us that productive employees are created in
an environment of constant learning and updating of skills and
knowledge. In the knowledge and information age, the workforce is
the most important asset of any business. It is time to compensate
us fairly and competitively. It’s said that healthcare is a
privilege. It’s also said that it’s a right. We believe that it is
a necessity, particularly during a time in which our government
remains mute on the subject. Employers use their benefit packages
to recruit the best and the brightest to their ranks. And it’s time
to put a real effort into keeping our benefits competitive with
comparable community colleges. Your negotiators have said it’s
right for employees to bear most of the cost, excuse me more of the
costs of their healthcare if we continue with our current plan.
But, we know of other comparable institutions, such as Mott, where
employees pay no part of their premium co-pay for a superior plan.
And when you look at your comparable sheet, the ones with the
asterisks are ones that we’ve found are super care one. Perhaps the
members of the Board don’t realize that for many years LCC employees
have been paying more of their healthcare costs than employees of
comparable institutions. Our research also shows us that many of
these institutions are contributing towards part-time healthcare and
you’ll notice that we designated those. LCC has supported its
employees with staff training in the form of the Learning and
Leading Collaborative coupled with greater support for the employee
wellness program over the past year. And the cost of those efforts
is approximately half a million dollars. Yet, we continue to haggle
at the table over 4 tenths of 1% of our $100 million budget to be
spent addressing the healthcare issues we face. All told,
healthcare costs are approximately 5% of the budget – about $5
million. There appears to be money for every initiative except that
of appropriately compensating employees. Even campus beautification
seems to take precedence over employee needs. Money is available
for consultants for such things as software problems, legal issues,
financial aid issues, and other items such as EEO compliance.
Perhaps greater monitoring of such spending will create an
additional revenue stream for improving the status of employee
compensation. Now is the time to invest in the College’s most
precious resource: its employees. We urge you to work with your
team and with us to bring a successful conclusion to negotiations.
Thank you.
Julie Liberti – Good evening.
I’m hoping my voice doesn’t go out; I’ve had a cold for a couple of
weeks. So, but good evening everyone. I’d like to introduce myself
and give you some personal background. My name is Julie Liberti. I
come to you this evening as soon to be a former employee of Lansing
Community College. My career with the College started in January of
2000 as a part-time lab technician for the Aviation Department. I
am currently a part-time instructional lab tech, an adjunct faculty
member. My actual job title is Certified Flight Instructor, Single
Engineer Plane with an instrument rating and Certified Ground
Instructor Advanced with an instrument rating. I teach students in
the classroom and in the airplane. My pay rate while I’m in the
airplane is $14.26 an hour. And while I’m in the classroom it is
$28.14 an hour. Because I am part-time I have no benefits and am
limited to 30 hours per week. Prior to being employed at the
College I was a student in the Aviation Program beginning in the
fall of 96. I graduated Magna Cumme Laude; received an Outstanding
Student Award through the Women’s Resource Center; belonged to Phi
Theta Kappa; and was honored to speak at the WRC’s 25th
Anniversary Celebration. Following my first two years of teaching
Aviation I earned a gold seal designation from the FAA. I did all
of this while working part time, running a house, raising three
daughters, volunteering at their schools and being a wife. I
divorced three years ago and continued raising my two youngest. For
me LCC and the airport has become home. I want to start by saying
that I have loved my time at LCC. I’ve met some amazing people;
instructors, students, colleagues, and friends. I had one of the
greatest flight instructors. He taught me more than I ever thought
I could know. One of my greatest accomplishments as an instructor
was teaching a student who was afraid of flying and helping him to
earn a pilot’s license. His first words to me were, “hi, my name is
Steve and I’m afraid of flying.” I said, “hi Steve, let’s see what
we can do about that.” He’s been flying for almost two years now.
Former students and co-workers – I still count them as friends. But
on the other hand I can’t say that I’m sorry to be leaving LCC
either. I’ve watched so many of the best people that I had as
instructors and colleagues that I’ve worked with leave this
institution. Many for the same reasons as myself. I’ve been
threatened on several occasions with my job. I’ve been asked for an
opinion and told to do it their way or be fired. I’ve been told to
teach a certain way and in a certain amount of time or be fired. I
understand that most people in this room do not understand what it
is like to fly an airplane let alone teach in one. It is not a one
way fits all type of teaching environment. Not everyone follows the
same path in learning how to fly. Everyday is a unique and new
challenge. The safety is always the number one factor and I will
never compromise on that issue. The people that have left along
with me have been the ones pushing this department to be all it can
be. But we are seen as a threat and quite often pushed out. The
administrators of this college that make the decisions regarding the
Aviation Department need to learn what it takes to be a flight
instructor and a flight student. I give you a challenge this
evening. One of you to become a flight student and get a first hand
look at what it entails from both sides. I’d like to turn to the
salary issue at this time. As a part-time adjunct faculty member I
teach the private pilot ground school. It is a four-credit class
with four hours of contact time. The teaching load for this class
is 8 hours with a 30 hour limit that leaves me with 22 hours that I
can put in as an instructional lab tech. But of those eight hours
of load time I am only getting paid for four hours. Effectively, I
am earning $14.07 per hour. The full-time faculty members getting
paid more on an hourly basis plus being paid for the entire load
time. Our jobs are the same; teaching students. Why the difference
in pay? You don’t have to be a math wiz to understand the
inequity. When I’m in the airplane teaching a student how to avoid
stalling the aircraft or getting into a spin. How to avoid wind
shear and weight turbulence. How to make a landing without having
anyone’s teeth rattle in their head or being blown into the landing
lights and then flipping over. How not to get lost. How to avoid
putting themselves into a death spiral. I’m getting paid $14.26 per
hour as an instructional lab tech. But I’m not guaranteed that many
hours. I run out of one-on-one ground training time; the airplane
is down for routine inspections; the weather‘s been bad for the last
five days; the student can’t make it in I don’t get paid. I work
three jobs just to make ends meet. Sometimes I succeed and
sometimes I don’t. I’ve asked myself numerous times, why the
part-timers at LCC stay? From what I see it’s the love of teaching
others and passing on a passion to new generations. For me it’s
been a love for flying and hoping to bring that joy and wonder to
those whose feet are planted on the ground. And I am almost
finished. The last issue relates to health insurance. I have been
fortunate enough to qualify for the Ingham Health Plan. It is not
insurance; there isn’t much flexibility, but it has helped me out
tremendously in some situations. It covers doctor visits; it can
get you in…if they can get you in when you need to. Some
prescriptions, except the one I need. It doesn’t cover emergency
visits, like the time I needed stitches and when I had an allergic
reaction. It didn’t cover my urgent care visit two weeks ago when I
had an ear, throat, and eye infection. But when I found a lump in
my breast I was very grateful for the plan. By some miracle that
lump disappeared. They thought it was cancer. I have no idea what
I would have done. I admit that when I first started working for
LCC pay and benefits were not the big issue. I was married and he
worked in a good job, but I hoped to be able to make a difference
through the union and try to show people where the inequities were.
How can anyone not see it? I guess I was naïve. I look at all the
pretty new buildings, see all the technology updates and all of the
new furniture, but I continue to see salary discrepancies staying
the same. I continue to see part-time staff being passed over
again, and it’s a shame. I applaud all of the teaching staff for
doing what they do with no intentions of moving on. I am not able
to justify that for myself any longer. As a Board I beg of you to
do the right thing. And as an administration I beg of you to do the
right thing. A teaching institution is only as good as its staff.
As this commanded staff retires and moves on who are you going to
get? Only those that will be using it as a stepping stone to bigger
and better things. Will you then have the finest staff for our
students and how will the turn over rate affect them? I know how
badly it’s hurting the Aviation Department. I will be finished at
the end of this semester. I can only pray that this issue is
resolved quickly and I wish the teaching staff good luck and
goodbye.
Jack Rotman – Hi, I’m Jack
Rotman. I was here last time. I want to start off by reviewing…I’m
still a professor of Mathematics. I still want to talk to you about
respect and investment. Last time I talked about respecting and
investing in faculty. This time my presentation is a lot simpler.
I have a graphed page which the Board has. It’s pretty simple. The
blue line is the College’s revenue for the last three years based on
the document from their May meeting. The general fund. The red
line is the consumer price index (inaudible) and the green line is
me. And you can see there’s a little bit of a gap…quite a big gap.
Of course, I’m not very pleased. It shows the College is not
investing. It has more resources and is not investing a large share
of those in faculty. So, that is the main thing. If this was a
Math class I would make you find the area in between the curves to
show you how much inequity there is. I’ll leave that as an exercise
later. I would welcome to answer any questions you may have. Thank
you.
Mark Thomas – Thank you, Mr.
Chairman. My name is Mark Thomas and I began at Lansing Community
College in 1984 as a student. I received a scholarship for which I
am eternally grateful. I served as an editor on The Lookout. My
experience at Lansing Community College led me to pursue an advance
academic degree and a 15-year career in government and politics. I
am now able to come back to Lansing Community College and give back
to the College and the students who helped me so much. I am an
adjunct faculty member in Political Science. And I care deeply
about my students. I work hard for them and I do a pretty good job
at teaching them. I work three jobs to make ends meet. In fact I
have to leave shortly for one of those jobs as I conclude my
remarks. I work the three jobs so I can make the payment for the
very limited health coverage that the College offers. I am grateful
to have that opportunity. If I had the command of numbers that the
previous speaker had, I’d tell you what percentage of my income it
is. But I can’t tell you that exactly. I know in a couple days
it’ll come out of my checking account. And as one of the other
previous speakers mentioned I can’t do this much longer. I would
love to continue teaching at Lansing Community College. I’ll do
that as long as I can, but eventually the economic realities will
win out and I’ll need to leave to find a job where I can have more
comprehensive healthcare benefits. And I’d just urge that you keep
that in mind as we continue in contract negotiations because I think
there are many, many part-time faculty members who are in a similar
situation. And it would just be a shame to lose too many of those
very good faculty members. Thank you for your time.
Steve Klimecky – My name is
Steve Klimecky and last time I had spoken with you and reminded you
or at least some of you know about maybe for the first time the
gross inequity in salary between full-time and part-time faculty
here. And I mentioned the statistic that I do 75% of a full-time
teaching load and get 20% of full-time pay for that work with no
benefits. I am here to urge you again to put your support behind
MAHE’s proposal for proportional or pro-rated pay for adjunct
faculty. One of the usual arguments against that is that all other
community colleges exploit part-time faculty in that way. So, to do
so is considered usual and customary, etcetera. Well, that’s really
not the most viable or rationale argument. First of all, not all
community colleges do that. For example, here in Michigan, Mott
Community College pays their adjunct or part-time faculty on a
proportional basis. And need I remind everyone that in the 18th
and 19th century in this country there were a fair number
of states down south that utilized forced labor. Well, just because
it was widely practiced, does that mean it was o.k.? Just because
everyone down there was doing it that didn’t make the practice right
or proper or moral or just. A lot of lives and blood were shed to
correct the situation. Now, I’d like to address a rhetorical
question personally to President Cunningham. And ask you how do you
feel to be the leader of an institution that functions on the
wholesale exploitation of the vast majority of its faculty? Now,
when this new contract is being negotiated you have an opportunity
to be a leader in academics as well as morality. By putting your
personal support behind the idea of proportional pay, you have the
opportunity to be the Abraham Lincoln, the Martin Luther King, Jr.
of community colleges in Michigan by signing on to the idea of the
emancipation of your adjunct faculty from their current position as
hemi-slave labor or worse. Now as far as the money issue, well,
there is money there. And a number of the previous speakers have
mentioned some of the ways to either generate new revenue streams or
prevent the loss of revenue by waste, by mismanagement, by
purchasing millions of dollars worth of software that doesn’t work
and having then spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to
consultants to fix it, for adopting technology upgrades that are not
needed, and this new technology doesn’t even work as well as the
previous stuff that was thrown away and it actually works, not as
well as a lot of the previous technology. Last year’s expenditure
of new buildings alone – a tenth of a billion dollars. That would
have been enough money to provide for equitable pay for all adjunct
faculty on this campus for over seven years. And now you’re
thinking about even more buildings. I think the quality of
education comes down to the quality of the instruction and
interaction between the instructor and the students and the
instilling of learning. Yeah, new pretty facilities factor somewhat
into the quality of learning. But it’s time that investment into
your people raises or rises to the top of your priority list. A lot
of us were considered to be really good faculty here, but we
literally can’t afford to do our job here much longer under these
excessive exploitative conditions. And Ms. Cunningham, again, you
have the opportunity to be a leader, and do the right thing, the
moral thing, the right, proper, just and moral thing and put your
support behind the idea of proportional or prorated pay for
part-time faculty. It’s the right thing to do.
Joseph Warren – Good evening
members of the Board, President Cunningham, my name is Joseph Warren
from the Humanities & Performing Arts Department. There are several
points I’d like to make and this is directed to the Board. What
will be your legacy when you leave the Board? Will it be a college
of strong programs, dynamic leading programs? Or will it be a
collection of academic mausoleums that are just barely outfitted
with minimum staff to run the program? The question is how did we
get to this point? In the 37 ½ years that I’ve been here, the
College has valued buildings and equipment over staff. First the
priorities go to buildings then to equipment; whatever is left over
goes into what’s referred to the little bitty pot for salaries and
benefits. Well, is that the priority this Board wants to
establish? And if so, then we will remain non competitive with
other community colleges. So, I’m asking the Board to do two
things. One, put a moratorium on any IT purchases until we learn
how to use the stuff we purchased and make it work. Two, put a
moratorium on buildings and new facilities until we have the
programs that we have right now fully staffed and fully funded. And
with that what’s left over let’s put into buildings and IT&T.
Again, I draw a metaphor, what if General Motors adopted the LCC
approach? Building great factories, but having such a short amount
of staff. Would it not be able to build Cadillacs? Or would it be
limited to building Yugos? At this institution let’s build an
academic Cadillac, not to get stuck with a Yugo that doesn’t work.
Thank you very much.
Chairperson and Board Member Reports
Chairperson Laverty
Financial Aid Issue
Chairperson Laverty stated that
following the last Board meeting and based on issues surrounding the
financial aid issue he appointed Trustees Rasmusson, Brannan, and
Pelleran to an ad hoc committee. They will work with the College
and the auditors regarding reviewing the problems, what was the
source that led to the challenges with financial aid and to ensure
this does not happen again. The Committee is in a mode of gathering
information. One informal meeting with the auditors was held this
afternoon, but there is still a lot of work and information to be
gathered in order to move forward and not have this happen again.
He asked Trustee Rasmusson to elaborate on this agenda item.
Trustee Rasmusson stated that
the Committee requested a lot of documentation to refresh their
memories and bring some Trustees up to speed on the issues. They
will then meet with the auditor. He distributed a motion to the
Board regarding having a campus-wide communication sent out
encouraging faculty and staff to contact the ad hoc committee with
any complaints or suggestions so that all the facts are found. The
communication could be sent by email to Trustee Rasmusson’s personal
address or by mail to his office. If anyone wishes to contact the
Ad Hoc Committee, their identity will not be disclosed.
IT WAS MOVED by Trustee
Rasmusson and supported by Trustee Pelleran to adopt the motion
encouraging faculty and staff to contact the Ad Hoc Committee.
Trustee Smith stated that it is
important that as we look at this financial aid crisis that anyone
that feels they have information that could be of help that they
should be able to do so in a very safe and secure environment. She
felt that this resolution ensures that there is no fear of
intimidation or any reprisal for their positions. Trustee Smith
clarified that they are not assuming that this currently exists.
Ayes: Brannan, Laverty,
Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith
Nays: None
Absent: Canady
Motion carried.
IT WAS MOVED by Trustee Brannan
and supported by Trustee Pelleran for the College or employees not
to participate in or conduct any external presentations related to
Oracle Applications and Technology Solutions Software. That Lansing
Community College discontinue sales of Oracle Applications and
Technology Solutions and to remove Oracle related material, articles
and links from the website until the Committee is through with its
findings.
Trustee Rasmusson felt that it
is important to have alliances with businesses; however, we have to
get on top of the Oracle problem and make sure that there isn’t a
problem or if there is something, correct it.
Trustee Smith asked Trustee
Brannan to clarify what he meant about things being on the web and
conducting presentations.
Trustee Brannan responded that
he is concerned with the College promoting that Oracle is such a
great thing and that a lot of money has been saved when he’s not
sure if that is accurate; therefore, until this issue is resolved,
he is requesting all things related to Oracle be removed from the
College’s website.
Ayes: Brannan, Laverty,
Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith
Nays: None
Absent: Canady
Motion carried.
Follow Up to Willard Daggett
Presentation
Chairperson Laverty thanked
President Cunningham and the College for bringing in Dr. Willard
Daggett on September 23. He stated that it was an excellent
presentation and hopes the College will continue to do things like
this. He distributed a white paper written by Dr. Daggett titled
“Jobs and the Skill Gap” that he found on his website (it is on file
with the official Board materials.) Chairperson Laverty also
distributed an article entitled “Technology 2008: Preparing Students
for a Changing World.” He made extra copies available for anyone
interested in the audience. Chairperson Laverty encouraged everyone
to pick up the following books Dr. Dagget cited during his
presentation: The World is Flat and Jobs Revolution.
He stated both books will be in the Board Library.
Board Bylaw Discussion and
Approval
Chairperson Laverty presented
the Board bylaws. He stated that he received changes to the bylaws
in addition to the ones in the Board packet. In order to implement
the new changes, the bylaws need to be waived.
IT WAS MOVED by Trustee Pelleran
and supported by Trustee Brannan to waive the bylaws pertaining to
revision so that the Board may consider the new changes.
Trustee Smith asked if they
would still have an opportunity to make changes.
Chairperson Laverty responded
that it will all be done tonight.
Ayes: Brannan, Laverty,
Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith
Nays: None
Absent: Canady
Motion carried.
Additional changes were made to
the bylaws, which are as follows:
1.4.5
Quorum, Voting, and Roll Call Voting – Second Paragraph
No
act of the board is valid unless voted at a legal meeting by a
majority of the members elect of the Board, consistent with
1.5.5, and a proper record made of the vote. A roll call vote is
required for approval of any expenditure of College proceeds or for
any other vote if requested by any Board member.
1.5.3
Public Participation in Public Meetings – Second Paragraph
The
Chairperson may order the removal of any person, by Campus
Police and Public Safety Officers or any lawful means,
who persists in improper conduct during a meeting of the Board of
Trustees.
1.6.1,
Authority and Powers Reserved by the Board – Third Paragraph
More specifically, the duties of the Board of Trustees shall
include, but are not limited to, the following: 1) appoint,
evaluate, and/or remove the President, Vice-presidents,
Deans, and Departmental Chair level administrators; the terms
“Vice-presidents, Deans, and Departmental Chair Level
administrators” shall mean any person paid by LCC, whether employee
or consultant or contract person, or person paid through a firm in
which such paid person has a legal or equitable ownership interest,
and which payment in any calendar year shall exceed that of the
average full time faculty member; 2) review and approve all
terminations and/or discharges; 3) review and approve all consultant
contracts; 4) approve the issuance of College degrees and
certificates; 5) adopt, develop, and define Board and College
policies; 6) establish an annual College budget; 7)
establish and authorize College tuition, course fees, and other fees
that apply to all students; 8) authorize the sale, purchase,
construction, and renovation of College land, buildings, and major
equipment; 9) define and review College strategic direction
and goals; 10) institute and promote major College
fund-raising efforts and authorize the acceptance of gifts to the
College; 11) authorize the incurring of debt by the College;
12) evaluate the President, consistent with 1.6.3.
Trustee Smith asked if changes
could be submitted at a different opportunity.
Chairperson Laverty responded
yes.
IT WAS MOVED by Trustee Pelleran
and supported by Trustee Brannan to accept all the revisions and
changes to the bylaws.
Trustee Smith asked if this
action is revoking a previous action or is this something new that
is being adding. She asked if it had been part of the bylaws before.
Trustee Rasmusson responded that
since he has been on the Board they have tinkered with the
delegation. This is just a revision of what was there before.
Trustee Smith stated that there
hasn’t been a lot of information given as to why this action needs
to be taken. She asked for more background information as to why
this action needs to be taken.
Chairperson Laverty responded
that it does not fall in line with Policy Governance and that it is
about trust.
Trustee Smith stated that she
knows Policy Governance and knows that the Carver Model is a tool
that the Board uses. She said we need to decide what our philosophy
is as a Board.
Roll call vote:
Ayes: Brannan, Laverty, Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith
Nays: None
Absent: Canady
Information and Announcements
Chairperson Laverty reported on
the following events:
·
There is a volleyball game tomorrow
night.
·
The NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet on
October 21.
·
The Performing Arts event,
Soundscapes 2005, on October 22 and 23.
·
On November 4-6 is the performing arts
event, House of Desires.
·
The first basketball game is on
November 10.
He distributed a list of
committee assignments to help the Trustees keep track of what
committees each Trustee serves on (it is on file with the official
Board materials.)
Chairperson Laverty announced
that the Lip Sync event was last night. He is looking forward to
hearing the results. The money raised goes toward scholarships for
students wishing to attend Historical Black Colleges. He
complimented President Cunningham and Mr. Cunningham on their
performance and complimented Trustee Smith on her performance.
He thanked staff for getting
them all new name tags and Facts-at-a Glance brochures.
Chairperson Laverty distributed
a draft letter on behalf of Trustee Smith regarding her application
to the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) Diversity
Committee. Unless there are no objections, he is recommending that
Trustee Smith be the delegate on the ACCT Diversity Committee.
He distributed a recent article
that Trustee Rasmusson wrote for the Corporate Board
publication. Chairperson Laverty thanked Trustee Rasmusson for
doing a great job on the article and for the work he’s doing in this
area.
Board Members
Trustee Proctor – Workforce
Development Board
Trustee Proctor reported that
Lansing Community College submitted an application to the Workforce
Development Board for approval to secure $280,000 for the Youth High
School Completion Program. The College is one of four organizations
applying for the grant. He stated that the matter is still pending
and applications are being reviewed by the committee.
The College has also submitted
applications for training for some 1274 employees in the area; 88 of
which are new. It is a collaboration with nine corporations in the
greater Lansing area.
Trustee Smith – Foundation
Board of Directors
Trustee Smith commended the
Foundation on the 2005 Lip Sync. She said it was a great event.
There were 76 people in the cast, and it was standing room only.
There was $17,450 raised through sponsorships. She gave the
following Foundation Board highlights: the changes in the Employee
Development Fund bylaws were approved to assist the EDF Committee to
recruit broader and more diverse representatives from the College;
the Foundation spending funds were approved to support an alumni
updating project. Trustee Smith also thanked Ms. Sue Fisher and
Vice President Ruth Borger for their hard work that they put into
the Lip Sync event.
Trustee Proctor asked that
everyone that performed in the Lip Sync event to stand and be
recognized.
Trustee Pelleran – Michigan
Community College Association
Trustee Pelleran reported that
she attended the Michigan Community College Association (MCCA) Board
of Directors meeting on October 7 and 8 in Alpena, Michigan. She
stated that President Cunningham also attended this same meeting in
her home town. As Lansing Community College is known for many
things and Alpena Community College is known for their work in
concrete technology. They were able to showcase that program and
the partnership they have with Besser Corporation. The Besser
Corporation’s world headquarters is in Alpena and they hold the
international patent on the equipment that makes the cement block.
The Board of Directors talked
about the recent appropriations and what the recommendations were.
They looked at the community college budget, economic development,
job training funding, capitol outlay, reorganization legislation,
and the K-12 petition which is the Education Funding Guarantee. The
MCCA Board voted to take a neutral position on this petition because
they felt it wasn’t good public policy. Trustee Pelleran stated
that we have to look at funding local issues, and at the state level
and federal level. She said priorities cannot be funded unless you
are willing to pay for them. The MCCA Board also discussed the
Governor’s proposing November as Return to Learn month. Trustee
Pelleran felt it was a good, intense meeting on the issue of base
appropriations for some community colleges and the group came to a
meaningful position.
Chairperson Laverty asked if
there was discussion on reorganization of community colleges
statewide.
Trustee Pelleran responded that
there was some discussion, but it wasn’t the issue. Baseline
funding was the more contentious issue. She asked President
Cunningham if she agreed.
President Cunningham responded
that she agreed with Trustee Pelleran.
Chairperson Laverty asked if the
reorganization is being written, but hasn’t been introduced yet.
President Cunningham responded
that they were looking for a sponsor and asked Vice President Borger
to elaborate.
Vice President Borger responded
that the legislation is being drafted and they are pursuing
sponsors. Sponsorship needs to be acquired before the bill is
introduced.
Chairperson Laverty asked Vice
President Borger to give a synopsis of this legislation and what it
could mean to the College.
Vice President Borger stated
that in light of the Cherry Commission findings it is critical to
have equal access to community colleges across the state. There are
many communities that do not reside in a community college
district. This new legislation addresses the issue in a way of
improving access for individuals as well as the need for additional
funding.
Trustee Brannan thanked
President Cunningham and staff for a job well done as a sponsor of
the Dr. Covey event.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Informational Items
College Spotlight – Child
Development
President Cunningham asked Dean
Roberta Peterson to introduce the presenters.
Dean Peterson introduced Ms.
Olga Hernandez-Patino, Department Chairperson of the Health & Human
Services Department.
Ms. Hernandez introduced the
speakers, Ms. Marcia Rysztak, full-time faculty member and Academic
Team Leader from the Child Development Program; and Ms. Jane Bobay,
part-time faculty member and Coordinator of the Early LCC Program.
Ms. Rysztak and Ms. Bobay gave a
PowerPoint presentation on the Child Development Program (the
presentation is on file with the official Board materials.)
Ms. Christina Guinn, Lansing
Community College student studying Elementary Education, has two
children who have been enrolled in the Early LCC Child Care
program. She is a recipient of the Early LCC child care stipend,
which has helped to pay for high quality childcare. She shared that
it has given her children a safe place to be while she studies,
works, and takes classes.
Ms. Deanna DeJesus-Farless
received her Associates Degree in Child Development in May of 2004.
She shared her experience in the Child Development program and how
this is benefited her in her career. She currently serves as an
Infant Teacher at the Education Childhood Center and is currently
pursuing her Bachelors Degree in Community Services with Sienna
Heights University.
There was a question and answer
period after the presentation.
President Cunningham thanked Ms.
Rysztak, Ms. Bobay, and staff for taking the program to a higher
level with limited budget and for securing alternative funding
through grants.
Financial Aid Update
President Cunningham gave a
status report on the financial aid issue. She said this doesn’t
mean everything is correct or fixed, but it does mean they are
continuing to review this issue. The purpose of the report is not
to assess blame. She takes full responsibility for this issue as
the leader of this institution. If we are going to continuously
improve, we need to know where the system broke down, how we are to
make certain this doesn’t happen in the future, and the risk and
vulnerability of this institution as we move forward. As horrible
as it was for some of our students who needed their financial aid
checks, she applauded the creative thinking, hard work, long hours,
and dedication of everyone across the entire College who has come
together to help address this issue. This institution has enjoyed
success in many areas and when challenges have arisen we’ve worked
hard to make certain to address them head on. Whether it was
payroll, finance, collaboration suite, computer-on-wheels, or
whatever the issue we have always focused on how to continuously
improve.
She explained what had caused
the break down in this area. The methodology, the timelines,
identification of various processes, load testing that were all used
for the implementation of the human resources and finance systems
were not sufficient for the student system. External factors which
guide financial aid as well as the individual factors impacting each
student’s award, challenges navigating through the problems,
increase in backlogs, key positions not being filled in a timely
manner, and a back-up plan that was too labor intensive to
implement, lack of effective communication, student error and other
issues all led to the most recent challenges in having a successful
implementation of financial aid for all students. As a result,
approximately 2,000 students were significantly impacted in
receiving timely communication and/or their financial aid awards.
It would be impossible to list every single issue or reason that a
student did not receive their aid in a timely manner. In addition
to the above, what we have learned is that given the time, training,
the complex nature of financial aid, and the Oracle system’s
difficulty in addressing all of these issues was underestimated.
President Cunningham addressed
what we are doing now. She stated that for the past several weeks
our primary goal was to get eligible students their financial aid
awards. We believe we have done that; however, since that time all
efforts have been focused on how to improve the system, how to
secure it and how to ensure compliance with regulatory agencies and
identify what can accurately be done in the short term and what
would require more extensive overhaul. The Financial Aid staff and
others need to know what information will be available and what
information is reliable. To that end, the following procedures have
been implemented: an Immediate Response Team has been created which
President Cunningham chairs that meets daily to track progress,
identify issues, and craft responses; Ms. Nancy Lombardi has been
named Project Manager, who is working directly with Mr. Masota of
BDO Siedman and President Cunningham to clearly define the project
scope, have the appropriate signoffs, systems map, and a complete
list of priorities. The Information Systems and College Development
division and Oracle continuously work on systems issues. Oracle is
a full partner with these issues and has agreed, in writing, to
continue to provide on-going assistance, as they’ve done in the
past, as we face these challenges. We’ve solicited the services of
a financial aid director, Ms. Nancy Barnett (Note: President
Cunningham misspoke; the correct name is Nancy Sinsabaugh), on
an interim basis to be the point person in Financial Aid. We are
also looking at external packaging of loans to relieve the workload
while lingering issues and necessary training are identified. We’ve
identified additional human resources necessary to alleviate the
workload of an already exhausted staff. We’ve developed a call
center that took telephone wait time from more than two hours during
peak periods to less than five minutes. We will continue to review
these issues daily until all are resolved and the system is running
smoothly. President Cunningham stated that they will continue to
meet and report our findings and successes. She applauded everyone
who has worked so hard to continue to serve students during this
very challenging time. She stated that Chairperson Laverty has
formed a committee to also review this issue and they would be happy
to share any information with them.
Budget Update
Vice President Larson reported
that the Governor signed an omnibus bill on September 30. Lansing
Community College’s appropriation in that bill is $28,097,100 which
is exactly what the College budgeted for this fiscal year. We are
hopeful this level of appropriation will continue unlike last year
where there was an executive order which reduced the College’s
budget mid-year. There was partial restoration of that executive
order, so this level of funding actually represents a .9% reduction
from last year. Staff will move forward with budget monitoring and
budget planning will soon begin for the next fiscal year.
There was brief discussion
regarding the capitol outlay dollars intended for the University
Center.
High School Dropout
Initiative
Vice President Rich Howard
reported that in order to address the growing amount of high school
dropouts a Pilot Committee, charged by President Cunningham, is
working at bringing a similar program to the ISUS Program in Dayton,
Ohio to the Lansing area this coming fall. They would be able to
receive their high school diploma as well as life skills, job
skills, college credit, and possibly a certificate of achievement.
They are establishing relationships with the Ingham Intermediate
School District who has pledge over $100,000 this year and have
communicated that they may pledge the same amount next year.
President Cunningham received a letter of support from
Superintendent Kovak pledging the unconditional support of every
superintendent in Ingham County. We are prepared to move forward
and are looking at a number of funding sources. For example, we
have applied for a grant through the Capital Area Michigan Works!
We do intend to have students identified in December for the program
to begin in January 2006.
Chairperson Laverty thanked
President Cunningham, Vice President Howard, Dr. Stanley Chase, and
Ms. Toni Glasscoe for all of their hard work in this endeavor. He
said they’ve done a great job in bringing all the experts together
from the Lansing School District, Ingham Intermediate School
District, and other areas. Chairperson Laverty supports the program
110%. This is one of the biggest problems facing this community
with having a 70% graduate rate not only in Lansing, but across the
country.
Trustee Smith shared that she is
excited about this initiative because she believes the dropout rate
is the most critical issues this community faces. This is a
wonderful example of how a collaborative effort can develop an
exciting program. Trustee Smith expressed her excitement to see how
this program will be implemented and will affect our community.
Facilities Master Plan Update
Vice President Larson stated
that every year the College is to submit an updated Facilities
Master Plan to the State’s Department of Management and Budget. A
draft will be submitted on November 4 and with approval from the
Board at its November 21 meeting, a final document will then be
submitted. Vice President Larson introduced Mr. Chris Strugar-Fritsch,
Director of Facilities, and Mr. Eric Glohr, Director of Auxiliary
Services.
Mr. Strugar-Fritsch and Mr.
Glohr provided a PowerPoint presentation on facilities master plan
update (it is on file with the official Board materials.)
There was a question and answer
period throughout the presentation and a discussion about parking.
President Cunningham stated that
this will be brought back for Board action in November.
Action Items
Approval of Minutes –
September 19, 2005 Regular Meeting
President Cunningham presented
the September 19, 2005 meeting minutes for the Board’s review and
approval with the changes indicated.
There were no additional
changes.
Meridian Township Downtown
Development Authority Resolution
Vice President Larson presented
the resolution to opt out of the Meridian Township Downtown
Development Authority. The College was recently made aware that
Meridian Township wants to create a Downtown Development Authority.
The current property value in that area is $17 million which equates
to $65,000 per year to the College. In the discussions with
Meridian Township there is no specific plan as to what they will be
using the captured taxes for.
Trustee Pelleran asked what
conversations has she had with Meridian Township.
Vice President Larson responded
that she spoke with the Assistant Manager and informed him of the
recommendation staff would be presenting to the Board. She said he
was very understanding. They discussed whether the Board of
Trustees would be reviewing this again once the Downtown Development
Authority plan was in place and that it would be up to the Board
through correspondence with the President’s Office in the future.
IT WAS MOVED by Trustee Pelleran
and supported by Trustee Smith to separate this item and approve the
resolution to opt out of the Meridian Township Tax Increment Finance
Plan.
Roll call vote:
Ayes: Brannan, Laverty, Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith
Nays: None
Absent: Canady
Motion carried.
Finance – Approval of Bids
The following bid was presented
for the Board’s approval:
Expansion & Updating of College Network Infrastructure and VOIP
Telephony in the amount of $379,935. The bid was awarded to Netarx,
Inc., of Farmington Hills, Michigan.
Trustee Brannan stated that he
will not support the bid with the renewal option in light of the
current budget situation. He would support it on a one-year basis,
but not how it is written.
Ms. Beckie Beard responded that
the $379,000 was a negotiated amount based on a five year contract.
If we went with a one-year contract, it would be slightly higher.
Trustee Pelleran asked if bids
were sent to six suppliers, and we received only three proposals,
why did we not send to more than six suppliers.
Ms. Beard responded that there
is a certain level of certification that is required by the
suppliers to respond.
IT WAS MOVED by Trustee Brannan
and supported by Trustee Pelleran to vote on the President’s report
action items separately.
Trustee Smith asked if this was
a contract that already has been established and if renegotiation
would have to take place to change it to a year-to-year contact.
Ms. Beard responded that if we
were to change this to a one year contract, we would need to seek
pricing for a one-year period. She clarified that the current
contract is expiring and this would be a brand new contract. The
incumbents always have to re-earn our business and when we go out to
bid we like to have more than a year long relationship with a
service provider.
Ayes: Brannan, Laverty,
Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith
Nays: None
Absent: Canady
Motion carried.
Trustee Rasmusson asked what is
the standard for deciding on whether to make a technology
investment. Usually an investment is not made unless you are saving
money or there is a capability that you have to have.
Vice President Glenn Cerny
responded that if this maintenance agreement is not approved we will
not have any support. So, if the phone system goes down we will
have no maintenance contract, which includes all 3,500 phones at the
College.
Trustee Rasmusson stated that is
a compelling reason, but he clarified his question. He asked what
is the basis for purchasing new technology. Some industries say
that it has to pay for itself in one year or typically it’s for
three years.
Vice President Cerny responded
that we take the budget that is allocated and we evaluate the
requirements that each user has and we proportion accordingly. This
is how it’s been done for the last five years.
President Cunningham stated that
on this phone system we are able to get our email, send messages,
voice mail, and it is much more sophisticated.
Vice President Cerny responded
that it is part of the network and it is not like a phone system
with SBC; it is data over the phone system. He explained that
return on investment is conducted in order to find out how we can
adjust according to the technology needs to ensure money is being
saved.
There was discussion regarding
if this is not approved tonight would we no longer have phone
service. It was clarified that not approving the contract would
mean we would not have maintenance service as the contract would
expire on October 31, 2005.
President Cunningham shared that
this is part of the electronic campus and a very comprehensive
technology master plan that looks at efficiency, accessibility,
quick service, and how we can integrate systems.
IT WAS MOVED by Trustee
Rasmusson and supported by Trustee Smith to approve the bid.
Roll call vote:
Ayes: Laverty, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith
Nays: Brannan, Pelleran
Absent: Canady
Motion carried.
IT WAS MOVED by Trustee Brannan
and supported by Trustee Rasmusson to approve the September 19, 2005
meeting minutes.
Ayes: Brannan, Laverty,
Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith
Nays: None
Absent: Canady
Motion carried.
Chairperson Laverty asked if
there is any objection to proceed with public comment prior to going
into closed session.
There were no objections from
the Board.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There were no comments from the
public.
CLOSED SESSION
IT WAS MOVED by Trustee Smith
and supported by Trustee Brannan for the Board to go into closed
session to discuss a strategy connected with negotiations of a
collective bargaining unit and pending litigation.
Roll call vote:
Ayes: Brannan, Laverty, Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith
Nays: None
Absent: Canady
Motion carried.
The Board entered into closed
session at 8:23 p.m.
The Board returned from open
session at 9:25 p.m.
ADJOURNMENT
IT WAS MOVED by Trustee Proctor
and supported by Trustee Brannan for the meeting to adjourn.
Ayes: Brannan, Laverty,
Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith
Nays: None
Absent: Canady
Motion carried.
The meeting adjourned at 9:25
p.m.
