This page is part of the 2016 Lane website archive, and is presented for historical reference only.

April 2013

LANE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
BOARD OF EDUCATION MINUTES
April 10, 2013

1. Attendance

Board members present: Bob Ackerman, Pat Albright, Susie Johnston, Tony McCown, Rosie Pryor and Sharon Stiles. Board member absent: Gary LeClair. Also present were: President Mary Spilde; Executive Dean Kate Barry; Chief Financial Officer Greg Morgan; Lane Community College Education Association President Jim Salt; and Lane Community College Employees Federation President Bob Baldwin; and Associated Students of Lane Community College President Merriam Weatherhead.

A. Chair Stiles called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.

B. President's Report

Good evening. Isn't it great to be meeting at the Downtown Campus? There's so much happening here. For example, our annual Muslim Festival of Films series kicks off at 7 p.m. tonight in Room 421. NAACP Eugene-Springfield is now holding its Back to School/Success in School tutoring and mentoring program for K-12 students here. We hosted the Eugene Chamber's Business After Hours event here on March 21; about 470 people attended. Thanks to Brian and the CML staff, to the LCC Foundation, SBDC, Continuing Ed, and to Brett Rowlett for coordinating. Congressman Peter DeFazio met with members of business community here on April 4 to talk about what Congress can do to help grow local businesses; thanks to the SBDC for sponsoring this.

And now let's hear from Brett Rowlett with an update on the legislative session. [Rowlett provided information on the proposed Community College Support Fund budget and relevant bills currently being tracked at the state level.]

I'd like to thank Sacred Heart Medical Center and PeaceHealth Oregon Region for renewing their support of our nursing faculty; they have signed a pledge with the LCC Foundation to provide $275,000 per year for the next three years. Kudos to Foundation Director Wendy Jett and Nursing Coordinator Trish Tulley.

I am sorry to note the passing of Jerry Sirois. He worked as an advisor at Lane for many years and was a true champion of students. Many Lane retirees and long time staff old timers attended his memorial service. It was great to see them but under such sad circumstances.

It is a pleasure to announce our annual Schafer and League for Innovation Awards. There were several awards but I'd like to call out the top winners:

  • The $2,000 Innovation of the Year Award went to Gary Mort and Brooke Taylor for their work in "Small Scale Kinetics: Sustainable Micro-Scale Chemistry Labs," which has cut waste by 95% and eliminated hazardous chemicals. A number of other awards were also given which Joan Aschim can send to you upon request.
  • Our "Taste of Lane" cookbook released in November by Conference and Culinary Services won a first-place Gold Paragon Award at the National Council for Marketing & Public Relations annual conference in Chicago in March. NCMPR is an affiliate of the American Association of Community Colleges. "Taste of Lane" is the division's first cookbook. It features farm-to-table recipes created by our renowned chefs, staff, students and alumni. Tracy oversaw the cookbook's design and printing and accepted the award for Lane.

It was a pleasure to speak to Florence Rotary on April 2. Thanks to Dean Mary Jeanne Kuhar and Board Chair Sharon Stiles for help in getting this set up.

Thanks to everyone who attended the First Friday of Color networking event in our Longhouse on April 5. We're glad to host this group that is working to support diversity in our community.

MEDIA:

  • After Florence rotary, I stopped at the KCST AM studio and interviewed with Bob Sneddon for his monthly "Our Town" broadcast.
  • I interviewed Monday with the Community College Times for a story on sustainability and how we are mentoring Rose College in Oklahoma.

I want to conclude my report with a congratulations, farewell, and thank-you to Greg Morgan. I'd like to thank him for his work and for thinking outside the box. You could always count on Greg for an alternative view. Greg worked diligently on the new market tax credits and various other financial challenges to fund this new building. We wish him well in his new position.

2) Personnel

The college's current personnel appointments were presented.

C. Board Agenda Review

Consent agenda item 2-C, CENTER for Student Success, Plaza, and Titan Store Complex, was moved to discussion item 3.G.

D. Statements from the Audience

Jim Salt read a statement from Alise Lamoreaux, Adult Basic and Secondary Education instructor, who stated that the new Downtown Campus is an improvement over the old building, but the natural light and exposure to the street activities present a challenge for the instructor and students. Faculty workspaces are unsatisfactory and do not meet the needs of the instructors.

Rodger Gamblin, IT Technician and LCCEF Officer, stated that the bargaining team for the administration and the employee's federation are meeting to negotiate a reopener of our contract. "Considering the large disparities between the two teams initial offers, and the state and financial position of the college, these negotiations promise to be very challenging. While this is going on, we've also been engaging in a facilitated mediation with the administration to improve relations between our two groups. The focus of these meetings has been to develop our professional relationship. This is going well. We've given ourselves an acronym and have an agreed upon mission statement. So it is with regret that I announce that the federation will be suspending our participation until after the bargaining teams have resolved the contract negotiations. It's not you, it's us. The challenge of conducting these two processes at the same time is proving too difficult, and the contract must be the union's priority. One of my team said that they were getting emotional whiplash going between the two meetings. To be clear, we are not abandoning the process and will make every effort to adhere to the mission statement we helped create. I want to thank the administration for taking the time and making the effort to improve our professional relationship. I ask that you be patient and please come back to the table once the contract negotiations have been completed." Gamblin also noted that Dawn DeWolf was a welcome addition to both teams.

Heath Pierce, Interim Director of Custodial Services, reported that Housekeeping has successfully completed 200 days of work without injury. The previous record was 52 days. Lane's custodial crew attended the meeting, and the board applauded their work.

2. Consent agenda

McCown moved, seconded by Pryor, to approve the Consent Agenda consisting of:

  • Approval of the March 13, 2013, minutes
  • Advisory committee list

Motion passed unanimously.

3. Discussion/Action Items

A. Funding Distribution Formula

President Spilde introduced the Commissioner of the Department of Community College and Workforce Development (CCWD), Cam Preus. Preus reported that Governor Kitzhaber called for higher education to move forward an outcome based funding system. Representatives from CCWD and the State Board of Education and six community college presidents are reviewing a system for outcome based funding. They have engaged NCHEMS President Dennis Jones, a national expert on this topic who is familiar with higher education in Oregon. Design principles include getting agreements on goals first, not constructing the outcome metrics too narrowly, design the allocation model to promote mission differentiation, include provisions that reward success for serving underserved/underrepresented populations, limiting the number of outcomes to be 'rewarded,' and choosing metrics that are unambiguous and difficult to gain. Implementation principles include making sure the pool of outcome money is enough to command attention, rewarding continuous improvement, not attainment of a fixed goal, including a phase-in provision, using a stop-loss provision for colleges to adapt to the new allocation model, continuing outcome-based distribution in good times and bad, putting a rigorous approach in place to assess quality and monitor results on an ongoing basis, and involving college representatives at each stage of the process.

The board asked what factors will be considered as completion. Preus responded that metrics such as associate degrees, certificates, credentials, transfers, and total hours completed will be taken into account. Others are completion of math, writing, 15 credits, 30 credits, and so on.

Board members raised the concern that upgrading skills and developmental education such as Adult Basic and Secondary Education and Continuing Education courses would not be viewed as completion. Preus responded that credit based courses are all that have been discussed thus far.

B. Spotlight on Student Success: Counseling and Advising

Craig Taylor, Director of Institutional Research, Assessment, and Planning, highlighted two of the SENSE benchmarks, Early Connections and Clear Academic Plan and Pathway, which focus on student success.

Jerry DeLeon, Director of Counseling, along with counselors and advisors, Jessica Alvarado, Anthony Hampton, Claudia Riumallo, Debby Anderson, and Martha Lehr, shared with the board the processes and procedures in place to promote student success, such as Learning Communities, Early Alert, DegreeWorks, and advising and counseling practices. Leroy Doe, a Student Services Associate, gave personal testimony to the benefits and assistance found through the counselors and advisors.

C. Tuition Mitigation Fund Proposed Policy

Spilde reminded the board that this policy was discussed last month as a first reading of the policy, and after that discussion, the board asked to move it to discussion/action items for this meeting.

Chief Financial Officer Greg Morgan demonstrated through visuals how funds are allocated, and the challenges of adding a tuition mitigation fund.

Ackerman moved that the item be moved to a second reading of the policy. Motion died for lack of a second.

The board agreed that they would like to see tuition costs as low as possible for students, but establishing a fund in a time when there is no excess is not feasible. Also, the board has the discretion of reducing tuition each year when rates are set. After considerable discussion about the benefits of mitigating tuition in order to ease the burden on students, the board concluded that it would prefer to see several proposed budgets, one of which would show no increase in tuition.

Pryor moved that the board direct the president to construct a budget that illustrates two to three levels of differing tuition, no tuition increases, minimal tuition increases, whatever might have been the worst case tuition increase, and bring back that information to the board in the budget process for our review and discussion and consideration. McCown seconded.

Motion passed unanimously.

D. Aviation Academy Aircraft Purchase

Stephen Boulton, Dean of Aviation, and Patrick O'Connor, Dean of Advanced Technologies, provided background on the proposed purchase of two new airplanes. The existing fleet is thirty to forty years old and does not provide students training with current technology. The newer planes are what graduates will be flying after completing their training. The aircraft are a reasonable cost and would be more sustainable as they use premium gasoline instead of leaded.

McCown moved to approve the authorization to secure a loan and purchase two RV12 aircraft. Albright seconded.

Motion passed unanimously.

E. Resolution No. 587, Declaring an Emergency and Exemption from the Competitive Building Requirements for Building 4 IEQ Repair and Maintenance

Spilde explained that in order to move forward on the health issues associated with Building 4, the college requests that the board make an exemption and declare an emergency situation. Meg Kieran, Legal Counsel, has prepared and reviewed the resolution.

McCown moved that the board approve the emergency board resolution to allow timely engineering services and construction/maintenance repairs to immediately address IEQ issues associated with Building 4. Pryor seconded.

Motion passed unanimously.

E. President's Evaluation Process

The president's evaluation is conducted annually and will include a self evaluation as well as an evaluation by the board.

McCown moved that the board approve the process for the president's evalution. Pryor seconded.

Motion passed unanimously.

F. Center for Student Success

Spilde explained that the reason this item was moved to discussion/action was that there were some questions raised regarding the architect's fee. Todd Smith, Bond Project Manager, clarified that the construction fees are not to exceed 11.45% of the project. At this point, it is uncertain whether the project will be a total of $21 million or $29 million, depending on additional funding. The bid awarded for the first phase of the project would be $778,172.

McCown moved that the board, in accordance with the bid documents, award a contract for Phase 1 for $778,172 to PIVOT Architecture of Eugene, Oregon. Pryor seconded.

Motion passed unanimously.

4. Policy Review

A. First Reading

1. Treatment of Learners

No changes were recommended to this policy. A second reading will be held in May.

Policy Number: A.020
Policy Type: EXECUTIVE DIRECTIONS
Policy Title: TREATMENT OF LEARNERS

With respect to interactions with learners, the president shall assure that procedures and decisions are safe, respectful and confidential.

Accordingly, the president shall assure that:

  • The institution represents itself accurately and consistently to prospective students through its catalogs, publications and official statements.
  • Admissions information forms avoid eliciting information for which there is no clear necessity.
  • Methods of collecting, reviewing, transmitting, or storing information about learners will be protected against improper access in compliance with federal and state regulations.
  • Facilities provide a reasonable level of privacy, both visual and aural.
  • The college environment is welcoming and accepting to all learners.
  • Learners have a clear understanding of what may be expected from the services offered.
  • Learners are informed of their rights and responsibilities and are provided a process to address grievances.
  • There is adequate provision for the safety and security of learners.

ADOPTED: November 9, 1998
REVISED: April 12, 2000
REVISED: May 12, 2004
REVIEWED: July 11, 2007
REVIEWED: February 3, 2010

2. Financial Planning and Budgeting

No changes were recommended to this policy. A second reading will be held in May.

Policy Number: A.040
Policy Type: EXECUTIVE DIRECTIONS
Policy Title: FINANCIAL PLANNING AND BUDGETING

Financial planning for any fiscal year or the remaining part of any fiscal year shall reflect the board's end priorities, avoid fiscal jeopardy, and shall be derived from a multi-year plan.

Accordingly, the president shall assure budgeting that:

  • Complies with Oregon Local Budget Law.
  • Contains sufficient information to enable credible projections of resources and expenditures as presented in the Budget Document in accordance with Oregon Local Budget Law.
  • Discloses planning assumptions.
  • Limits expenditures in any fiscal year to conservatively projected resources for that period.
  • Maintains current assets at any time to at least twice current liabilities.
  • Complies with budget and financial policies contained in Section E.

ADOPTED: November 9, 1998
REVISED: April 12, 2000
REVISED: January 14, 2004
REVIEWED: October 10, 2007
REVIEWED: March 17, 2010

5. Accountability/Reports

A. Benchmarks

Craig Taylor provided information on the following benchmarks:

  • Overview of Entering Student Engagement Benchmarks (April 2013)
  • High Expectations and Aspirations
  • Effective Track to College Readiness
  • Engaged Learning
  • Academic and Social Support Network

B. Facilities Update

An update on the status of bond and facility projects was presented to the board.

6. Reports

ASLCC President Mary Weatherhead reported that the students are lobbying in Salem. A rally is scheduled for April 25 to urge legislators to increase post-secondary funding. The students are doing their part to ensure that education is talked about every week and hope that the board is doing their part to get past $428 million for community colleges. The student administration has one and a half months left in office. The next board meeting will be Weatherhead's last meeting as ASLCC President. Elections are currently being held; most positions are unopposed.

LCCEF President Bob Baldwin stated that he will miss working with Greg Morgan. He reported that LCCEF has finalized their endorsements, endorsing Gary LeClair for the Lane Community College Board of Education and yes on the sheriff's levy. Baldwin regretted having lost Lane's most effective advocate against performance based funding when Sonya Christian left. He informed the board that LCCEF's Vice President expressed his frustration during the last facilitated mediation meeting with the college. There is a dichotomy between management's actions at the bargaining table and the words spoken in the mediation process. Those meetings have been postponed until management conduct warrants starting back up. Management's bargaining proposal is an insult and is being treated as such. A zero tuition increase cannot be done without layoffs. The union will now be operating under the assumption that the board is contemplating layoffs.

LCCEA President Jim Salt agreed that the Downtown Campus is a lovely building, but the process for the design didn't include or ignored recommendations and needs of the faculty. Environmental standards and awards are great, but we need to meet the needs of what the building is intended for—it is an academic building. The faculty need privacy to do their work. The performance based funding principles Commissioner Preus laid out have little to do with the model in place. The effects of this proposal are traumatic and dramatic and won't produce any of the goals behind the process. It was done with no analysis, no strategies, and with the assumption that administrators and staff don't care about completion. It is a gross insult to our commitment to education. The model would take about $700,000 away from Lane and $2 million from Mount Hood Community College. This would literally be taking money from schools with students who have the greatest challenges. Quality will suffer. Faculty are the guardians of institutional quality. Salt encouraged the board to take a position against this scheme. Regarding the discussion on tuition, the idea that we can ignore inflation would be to suggest that we can stop the earth from spinning. There is no way to have a tuition approach where it would not be raised without significant layoffs or cuts in pay. Faculty members are losing approximately $8,000 a year, compared with students who are paying an additional $360 year. Student debt can't be solved by taking money out of faculty pockets. LCCEA has been requesting a copy of the president's contract since last year and has yet to receive it and will proceed with bargaining with that in mind.

Executive Dean Kate Barry distributed the ASA highlights. Barry noted that Commissioner Preus stated that performance based funding is designed to promote student progression and completion in a way that addresses community college students. Lane has been engaged in student success efforts for a long time, ever since a cross-campus effort was made in 2001 when the Student Achievement Goals Assessment (SAGA). Learning is at the center of everything Lane does, and students have the right to succeed.

Chief Financial Officer Greg Morgan stated that it has been a pleasure to work with such a dedicated board. He thanked Spilde for her leadership and friendship. It has been an honor to be part of mission of Lane Community College. KLCC Director John Stark is taking an innovative approach to the radiothon and it is working very well. KLCC is on track to meet their goal. KLCC is celebrating five years in a new location with an open house this summer. He encouraged everyone to work together to overcome the budget challenges and remember that we have made a great path toward fiscal sustainability.

Board Reports

McCown will miss Greg Morgan and thanked him for all he has brought to the organization. Baldwin's assumption that board's motion to look at different budgets as one to suggest layoffs is negligent and disregards ninety percent of the discussion. This makes it difficult to accept that folks on every side are making efforts to engage in positive conversations.

Albright attended the Oregon Community College Association board meeting where discussions were held regarding the Community College Support Fund and what the legislature is doing. The 40/40/20 goal raises expectations of institutions, but that plan needs to be readdressed if the state isn't going to fund appropriately. Albright attended the Lane Economic Committee meeting which featured a speaker who is trying to rebrand our community somewhat akin to the Silicon Valley. Albright expressed concern with a lot of elements of the performance based funding plan. Populations are being ignored that we are expected to serve. This is going the way of the No Child Left Behind Act. Albright noted that Morgan was the first person to take him out to the airport to see the aviation program. He will be missed. He stated that Baldwin seems to have made decisions based on assumptions not verified in fact.

Ackerman requested that any loss the staff has experienced due to budget problems be traced to the state and not to this board. He commended Morgan for the risks he took to make the Downtown Campus a reality. Ackerman shared Albright's thoughts about performance based funding. The process is flawed and a waste of time.

Pryor commented on Baldwin's report, stating that he cannot and does not know the outcome of future board meetings. His comments were irresponsible and disappointing at best. Pryor will miss working with Morgan.

Stiles acknowledged that a lot of assumptions were made tonight and hoped that it would not continue. She thanked Spilde for speaking at Florence Rotary and following up on radio station KCST. The Florence Center received a Pay It Forward grant from the Three Rivers Foundation for financial emergencies intended to help students stay in school. The Siltcoos Station has a new caretaker. She thanked the board for putting student success on the agenda. She agreed that performance based funding has nowhere to go. She said goodbye to Morgan, who was one of the first people she met who mentored her after joining the board.

7. Date, Place, and Proposed Agenda Items for the Next Regular Meeting

Wednesday, May 8, 6:30 pm, Building 3, Room 216, Lane Community College Main Campus

8. The board meeting unanimously adjourned 9:40 p.m.

______________________________                        _____________________________

Mary Spilde, President/District Clerk                       Sharon Stiles, Chair

Prepared by: Donna Zmolek, Assistant to the Board