LANE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
BOARD OF EDUCATION MINUTES
May 14, 2014

1. Attendance
Board members present: Bob Ackerman, Pat Albright, Matt Keating, Rosie Pryor, Sharon Stiles, and Tony McCown. Board member absent: Gary LeClair. Also present were: President Mary Spilde; Vice President Brian Kelly; Executive Dean Dawn DeWolf; Lane Community College Education Association President Jim Salt; Lane Community College Employees Federation President Bob Baldwin; and Association Students of Lane Community College President Paul Zito.

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

B. President's Report
Lane students Audrey Barney and Sean Baker were honored along with their peers from other Oregon community college's at OCCA's 2014 All Oregon Academic Team event in Salem on April 22. Our special guests were Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown and Chief Education Officer Nancy Golden. I appreciate OCCA for offering this opportunity to recognize scholastic achievement at the state's community colleges.

Our spring conference was, as always, energized with the enthusiasm of our faculty and staff for what we do here at Lane to educate students and help them be successful. We had excellent workshops and presentations and an inspiring keynote presentation by Jilma Meneses, Chief Diversity Officer for Portland State University. Special thanks to Donna Koechig, Roxanne Watson and all the team who helped put on the event.

Our workers compensation carrier, SAIF, has confirmed that our insurance experience factor for 2014/2015, otherwise known as the experience modifier or mod rate, went down from 1.09 to 0.90 = a .19 reduction. Experience mod rates below 1.0 are considered very good indicators of effective safety outcomes by employees. Lower mod rates reduce workers compensation premiums by tens of thousands of dollars in annual premiums. Our outcome is a credit to Lane managers and employees who have engaged in safer workplace practices.

I am sorry to note the sudden passing of Peggy Sherman-Hill, administrative coordinator for the Aviation Academy since 1992. She was very supportive of the students and faculty and a tireless advocate of Lane's educational mission.

This Saturday is the memorial service for David Walton, who passed away in January. David worked for nine years in Information Technology.

Congratulations to Cascade Health Solutions for being named Lane's Cooperative Education Employer of the Year at the college's annual recognition event for advisory committees on April 30. Cascade offers internships in medical reception, health records technology, medical office assistant, human services and network operations. They have provided opportunities for 23 students since 2005, and have hired 6 of them as regular full-time employees. Their CEO, Cheryl Boyum, wrote a letter of thanks to the college. Among other things she said, "We appreciate the proactive, strategic efforts Lane makes to assess current and future needs of local employer as you determine curriculum offerings each year."

Congratulations to Jeri Steele in the Foundation Office. She was named April's Classified Employee of the Month. Jeri has been with the Foundation since 2000. She consistently thinks outside the box and as the Foundation's only in-house accountant, she oversees all financial and investment reporting, organizes and manages Finance and Investment Committee meetings, and works with the Foundation treasurer.

Brian Kelly and I, Bob Baldwin and Alen Bahret met with Kevin Boyle this week. We have agreed to move forward with engaging in further discussions on our labor management relationship. The way we are going to approach that work is instead of talking about process, we are going to deal with real issues that we are facing and apply processes to see if we can get to good outcomes. I want to thank Bob and his leadership team for engaging in that work with us.

We hosted the Achieving the Dream coaches at the end of April. The coaches noted significant improvement in retention rates, but we still have quite a bit to do to make progress in our developmental math efforts.

I'd like to congratulate ASLCC on another great voter registration drive. More than 2,000 students were registered to vote for the May primary election. Lane students also went to local high schools and helped register seniors to vote in their first election. Election Day is May 20th; be sure to get your ballots in.

The City of Springfield and LTD have launched a stakeholder advisory committee to examine the long-term transportation needs of Springfield and determine whether there is a need for a future EmX bus route from the Thurston area to LCC. Brett will be representing the college on the committee, and the group hopes to have recommendations sometime next year.

We've had many events lately and I hope you've had a chance to enjoy some of them. Piano Mania was a delight; kudos to everyone in our music program. Thanks to Donna Koechig for bringing Lady Palmo to Lane last Thursday to share her experience and insights as a survivor of the invasion of her native Tibet, and more recently of her battle with cancer. Donna also helped arrange for concert pianist William Chapman Nyaho to play at Lane last Friday. Thanks to Stan Taylor for this year's Peace Symposium which focused on the how the modern dream of consumption is counterproductive to wellbeing.

I want to congratulate Jim Salt on his award from the Oregon Education Association (OEA).

We will all be back just in time to enjoy the annual Employee Recognition Gala on May 28.
Looking a bit further ahead but not too far ahead, we will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the CLASS project on Monday, June 16 at 10 AM. Brett will send out additional details as the date draws closer.

I want to address what has been in the news this week - the student loan default rates. I think this is very much recession related. When you look at the graph of our default rates over the past several years, you'll see it was in the teens up until the recession, and then we had a spike in 2010 and 2011. The rate for last year was 30.6%. This year, our draft rate is 30%. Over 30% is a flag that we need to do a few things. You'll remember that last October when we were in Cottage Grove, you had a pretty extensive report on Financial Aid, and Helen Faith went through the default strategies we had already implemented to try and get ahead of this. Financial Aid is a federal program and governed by rules and regulations that are outside our control. We have little authority to deny or limit a loan. Basically, if a student qualifies for financial aid, they are entitled to get a loan. However, if the student then defaults, the college is held accountable for that. We need to work on getting some more authority on the front end. We are working with our federal partners. We've been in touch with Congressman DeFazio and Senator Merkley, and they are making inquiries into what the Department of Education is doing. So what are we doing? We've done a number of things to date, but in the short term we are challenging some of the factors used in determining our default rate. We've done a review of all the data. We've submitted 37 challenges to the Department of Education. They are systematically going through these challenges, and we don't need many of those challenges to stick to get us under the 30%, which kind of restarts the clock again. That doesn't mean to say that we shouldn't continue to do what we can to limit the default rate, but it would get us under that 30% threshold. It's a little worrisome that one of the challenges we made was related to students who had passed away prior to their loans going into default. While the loans have been discharged, those students are still held in that number. Just dealing with that would get us under the 30%. This is one of the ridiculous federal regulations that we are challenging. We'll continue to work at the federal level, and we'll work on questioning the data. Then we have a number of strategies that we are putting in place. You'll recall that Helen talked about the SALT project, which is working with students to provide financial literacy, but also to work with them when it looks like they are going into default. By now, most of these students have left the college, and it is sometimes hard to work with them. It is particularly hard because when the federal government moved to direct loans, they hired a number of loan servicing agencies, so now we are working with eleven different loan servicing agencies. It is not as easy as it used to be when there was one loan servicer and the college in this work. I think we are probably going to have to get a little more aggressive on the education side, which probably means bringing in one of the expert companies to help us work with students, and it will probably need increased staffing to comb the data to make sure that the loans servicers aren't making these kinds of errors like including the students who have passed away. The budget we proposed to you this evening does not include additional money, so by the time we come back with a final budget, we are going to have to include some additional funds for this purpose while we work on the policy end. Helen Faith has been doing a great job keeping us on top of what needs to be done. We were part of a national project with ACCT and TICAS, and they have given us quite a bit of advice on next steps and how to try and impact the default rate while trying to work on the policy to try to get some of the ridiculous regulations changed that put us in this position. This is an Oregon problem. Almost every college in Oregon is in the 20% range and some of them, like us, are on the brink of 30% - I think the highest is 35%. It certainly has to do with state disinvestment and increases in tuition, but changes in regulations from a two-year cohort to a three-year cohort also caused some of this problem. We are taking this very seriously. We are implementing as much as we can to mitigate the problem, but at the end of the day, we can do as much education as we like, but we can't make the former student write the check. That is what is so unfortunate, that we are held responsible for something that we have limited control over.

On a happy note, I'd like to recognize Paul Zito as our outgoing ASLCC President. This will be Paul's official last meeting. He has accomplished so much. He is an articulate advocate for students. He is thoughtful, courageous, and calm in the face of adversity. It has been a privilege and honor to work with him this past year. We wish him every success in the future.

1) Personnel
The college's current personnel appointments were presented.

C. Board Agenda Review/Changes
Item 3-H, Travel Policy, was removed from the agenda.

D. Statements from the Audience
Justin Blakely, former student, expressed dissatisfaction with services he received from Disability Resources.

Deb Holloway, former student, urged the board to reconsider any reductions made to the Human Services program.

Felicia Dickinson, ASLCC senator, requested that tuition for next year not be increased more than $1.88, which is the amount the increase in the Pell Grant will cover.

Joshua Wright, student, stated that increases in tuition would have a negative effect on enrollment.

Sharlita Holmes, student, urged the board not to increase tuition.

Malissa Ratthasing, ASLCC Vice President elect, asked the board not to balance the budget on the backs of the students.

Zack Wright, ASLCC senator, stated that the Rainy Day Food Pantry is needed on campus. He invited all to attend the silent auction to be held May 22.

Sara Shepherd, ASLCC State Affairs Director and OSA board member, requested that there is not an additional increase in tuition for next year.

Rebecca Ellis, ASLCC Vice President, asked the board not to increase tuition.

Shoshana Karoski, UO Human Services Director, urged the board to reconsider any reductions made to the Human Services program.

Trevor Moore, ASLCC Senator, asked the board not to increase tuition.

John DelNero, Criminal Justice Instructor, stressed the importance of the Criminal Justice program in the community.

Thomas Hurd, Human Services Advisory Committee member, urged the board to reconsider any reductions made to the Human Services program.

Mike Reinhart, student, expressed frustration with the Auto Body program and asked that the program be reviewed.

Lori Hildebrand, Oregon State University employee, asked that the board add e-cigarettes to the campus tobacco ban.

Nancy Schweorer, Food Services employee and member of Lane's Safety Committee, asked that the board add e-cigarettes to the campus tobacco ban.

Christi Inskip, Lane County Public Health Tobacco Prevention Coordinator, asked that the board add e-cigarettes to the campus tobacco ban.

Dr. Lisandra Guzman, Lane County Public Health employee, asked that the board add e-cigarettes to the campus tobacco ban.

Marianna Paradones, OSA Secretary, asked the board not to increase tuition.

Dennis Gilbert, Physics instructor, stated that programs cuts and reductions would be counterproductive and other solutions need to be found.

Eric Kim, Psychology instructor, stated that the budget balancing proposals are short sighted and undermine the revenue increase seen in past years. He urged the board to provide flexibility to faculty and deans.

Lee Imonen, Art instructor, stated that the college needs to look at all factors in balancing the budget. Program reductions would mean less tuition and state reimbursement.

Tamara Pinkas, Cooperative Education instructor, stated that the urgent task before everyone – students and staff alike - is laying the basis for action for public support for public education.

Garry Oldham, Human Services Instructor, noted the benefits of the Human Services program to the college and to the students who enroll in the program and asked the board to evaluate the criteria and process for reductions.

2.A. Consent Agenda
McCown moved, and seconded by Albright, to approve the Consent Agenda consisting of:

• The approval of the April 9, & 28, 2014 meeting minutes
• Appointment of District School Clerk and Deputy Clerks
• Titan Store and Basement Renovation GMP
• International Program Access Programming

Motion passed unanimously.

3. Discussion/Action Items
A. Spotlight on Student Success: Assessment
Christina Howard, Physical Therapist Assistant Coordinator, shared Lane's assessment plan. The goals of the plan are to create, support, and sustain a culture of assessment; facilitate systematic assessment of student learning outcomes across programs, general education and instructional modalities; promote and disseminate evidence of assessment of student learning; and serve as liaisons to broad college initiatives on student success, progression, and completion. Howard discussed various methods for achieving the goals and collecting data. In 2012, the assessment team created Core Learning Outcomes (CLOs) that would describe the transferable skills common to all general education courses taken by transfer and career and technical students. Since then, more CLOs and rubrics have been developed by faculty from 8 discipline teams and a three-year strategic plan for CLO assessment has been developed.

B. Wellness Committee – E-Cigarettes
Wendy Simmons, Wellness Coordinator, recommended that the board of education include e-cigarettes in the tobacco ban in the Use of Tobacco policy. Use of e-cigarettes is rapidly on the rise, and they have not been proven effective for smoking cessation. Other concerns include health effects from first and secondhand exposure and safety issues. E-cigarettes include nicotine and other chemicals, including propylene glycol. Lane's Public Safety Department also supports a ban of their use on campus and recommends restricting use to the smoking shelters as they present a challenge to the enforcement of Lane's smoke-free campus.

The board will add the Use of Tobacco policy to the agenda for the June meeting.

C. Accreditation
Executive Dean Maurice Hamington shared Chapter 4 of the accreditation self-study, which includes Standard 3B as well as 4A and 4B. Chapter 4 addresses Core Theme Planning, Assessment, and Improvement. Hamington asked the board to review the document to determine if it represents the institution appropriately and requested board comments and questions. The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities will visit Lane October 29 – 31, 2014.

D. ASLCC
McCown moved to approve the ASLCC 2014 election results. Stiles seconded.

Motion passes unanimously.

The student body was applauded for using a new system to increase voter turnout.

E. Rainy Day Food Pantry
Ackerman moved to accept and affirm the report of the Rainy Day Food Pantry taskforce and to include the Food Pantry in the remodel of the CENTER basement as part of the CLASS project. Keating seconded.

Motion passed unanimously.

Ackerman thanked everyone who helped on the project, including Paul Zito, Michael Weed, Barb Delansky, and Matt Keating.

F. 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 evaluation. Stiles seconded.

Motion passed unanimously.

G. Board Evaluation Process
A self-evaluation of the board is conducted annually. Board members will each complete their self-evaluation and results will be distributed for the June meeting.

4. Policy Review
A. Second Reading
1. Financial Integrity
Stiles moved, seconded by Ackerman, to approve the second reading of the board policy, Financial Integrity.

Motion passed unanimously.

CATEGORY: EXECUTIVE DIRECTIONS
TITLE: Financial Integrity

Clear financial policies and procedures, regularly reviewed and revised as necessary, are critical to the effective management and operation of the College. The president shall oversee the responsible development and management of all College financial resources, such as financial planning, operating and capital budgets, reserves, investments, fundraising, cash management, debt management, and transfers and borrowings between funds.

B. First Reading
1. Student Services
A first reading was held on the board policy, Sexual Assault. A second reading will be held in June. The following changes were recommended, as well as possible revisions to address vague language in articles 4 and 8.

CATEGORY: STUDENT SERVICES
TITLE: TREATMENT OF LEARNERS STUDENT SERVICES – GLOBAL DIRECTIONS

With respect to interactions with learners services for students, the president shall assure that procedures and decisions are safe, respectful and confidential. Student success is at the heart of Lane's mission, and the foundation upon which faculty and staff shall organize and plan their work, measure their success, and to achieve Lane's vision of transforming lives through learning.

Employees support student success by ensuring access and opportunity for all eligible students and by aligning academic and support services to: provide quality educational experiences; promote student progression; and achieve high rates of completion.

Accordingly, t The president shall assure that:

1. The institution represents itself accurately and consistently to prospective students through its catalogs, publications and official statements.
2. Admissions information forms avoid eliciting information for which there is no clear necessity.
3. Methods of collecting, reviewing, transmitting, or storing information about learners will be protected against improper access in compliance with federal and state regulations.
4. Facilities provide a reasonable level of privacy, both visual and aural.
5. The college environment is welcoming and accepting to all learners.
6. Learners have a clear understanding of what may be expected from the services offered.
7. Learners are informed of their rights and responsibilities and are provided a process to address grievances.
8. 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. Technology
No changes were recommended to this policy. A second reading will be held in June.

Category: TECHNOLOGY
Title: TECHNOLOGY – GLOBAL DIRECTIONS

Provision of technology and technological support are critical to the learning mission at Lane. Technology must reflect responsible stewardship of available resources, and be used in a responsible, legal and ethical manner. To ensure effective, sustainable technology systems and infrastructure that support Lane's management and operational functions, academic programs, and support services, the president is directed to oversee the development of procedures that include, but are not limited to:
• Allocation of Resources
• Appropriate Use of Equipment
• Approved software lists
• Copyright
• Emerging Technologies
• Network Etiquette
• Network Resources
• Online education
• Security
• Staff training and support
• Strategic planning
• Student access to computer resources
• Tech support equipment/software parameters
• Use of email
3. Sexual Assault
A first reading was held on the board policy, Sexual Assault. A second reading will be held in June.

Category: HEALTH AND SAFETY
Policy Title: SEXUAL ASSUALT

Sexual assault, forced or unwanted sexual contact, sexual or physical abuse, and stalking of any kind, or the threat of such conduct, on property owned, leased, or controlled by the College is prohibited.

Sexual contact shall be considered unwanted or without consent if:

• No clear consent is freely given;
• Inflicted through force, threat of force, or coercion; or
• Inflicted upon a person who is unconscious, or without the physical or mental capacity to give consent. Impairment caused by alcohol or drugs may be considered without consent.

4. Harassment
A first reading was held on the following board policy, Harassment. The following changes were recommended. A second reading will be held in June.

CATEGORY: MISCELLANEOUS INSTITUTIONAL INTEGRITY
TITLE: HARASSMENT

Harassment Policy

Lane has a zero tolerance policy regarding all forms of harassment. Any proven harassment will result in immediate and appropriate action to stop the harassment and prevent its recurrence, including employee discipline consistent with collective bargaining agreements, or student sanctions. Remedial action will be designed to stop the harassing behavior. Any remedial action will be in keeping with the educational mission of the college. Whether or not the alleged harassing behavior is sufficiently severe or pervasive to be judged a violation of this policy, the college may take action to address a complainant's concerns and to ensure that Lane, as a workplace and as an academic institution, maintains a respectful environment. All forms of harassment, including student-to-student harassment, are covered by Lane's harassment policies. Incidents of harassment may bring about sanctions up to and including termination of employment or expulsion from the college.

Sexual Harassment

Sexual discrimination in the form of sexual harassment is prohibited. Sexual harassment is defined as unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and/or other verbal, written, visual or physical sexual conduct that makes the terms or conditions of employment or attendance contingent on the acceptance of unwanted sexual advances that negatively affects employment or educational opportunities, or that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment for one of the parties.
Harassment Based on Race/Ethnicity, or National Origin or Sexual Orientation.
Harassment based on race, ethnicity, or national origin or sexual orientation is defined as unwelcome verbal, written or physical conduct based on a person's actual or perceived race, ethnicity, or national origin or sexual orientation that unreasonably interferes with an individual's work or academic performance, adversely affects the targeted individual's or others' work or learning opportunities, or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment.
ADOPTED: November 9, 1998
REVISED: September 8, 2004
REVIEWED: January 14, 2009
REVIEWED: January 11, 2012

5. Accountability/Reports
A. Benchmarks
Craig Taylor, Institutional Research, Assessment, and Planning director, responded to questions and comments on the following benchmark:

• Achieving the Dream (ATD) Student Success Outcome Measurement 4: Student Persistence Term-to-Term and Year-to-Year

B. Facilities Update
An update on the status of bond and facilities projects was presented to the board.

C. Financial Condition and Activities: Quarterly Report, A.050
The Financial Condition and Activities quarterly report was presented to the board.

6. Reports
ASLCC President Paul Zito reported that students are concerned about the dire situation regarding tuition price. They also care about the diversity of programs and fair pay for faculty and classified. There is a strong desire to build a coalition of students, classified, faculty, and managers to fight against the public disinvestment of education at the state level and to stop the infighting happening at the college. Zito reviewed his year as student body president, stating that he had accomplished all of his platform issues. He congratulated incoming president Michael Weed on his election and stated that Weed has put in more hours than anyone this past year. He praised the board for adopting a cultural competency policy. He thanked the board members for working with him this year.

LCCEF President Bob Baldwin reported that the union had submitted a demand to bargain regarding the Laundry closure. The college has not identified a bargaining team and appears to be going forward with its plan to outsource those services. The administration's budget concerns may be based on faulty information as some costs being allocated to Laundry actually belong to other services. The union's biggest concern regarding the closure of the Laundry is the ease with which the college board has voted to displace Specialized Support Services clients. Baldwin reported that the union and the college are back in the mediation process. However, the day after the initial meeting, the union witnessed one of its members being intimidated by the Human Resources Director.

LCCEA President Jim Salt thanked Zito for his work this year. He has been one of ASLCC's most outstanding leaders and he will be missed. Salt had heard from several faculty members on budgets and cuts. He commented that the union has not received information regarding the proposed program reductions and yet some faculty members were informed of reductions. The faculty ratified the tentative agreement reached with the college in April and hoped it will be ratified by the board shortly. Salt reported that his nephew is acting on Broadway and has received rave reviews.

Executive Dean Maurice Hamington gave kudos to the college and LCCEA on their tentative agreement. The Torch won 25 awards at a statewide conference on May 9. International Day was held at the college last week. He encouraged all to attend The Works dance production.

Vice President Brian Kelly recognized Zito and wished him success in the future. He thanked LCCEF officers for agreeing to go back into mediation. He congratulated Salt on his OEA award. Kelly recognized Hamington for his work on accreditation. He recently attended the Climate Action Education Forum, and he will be asking the board to keep Lane as a leader in this aspect in the near future.

Board Reports
Keating praised the college and faculty for their tentative agreement. He congratulated Michael Weed and Malisa Ratthasing on their election as ASLCC President and Vice President. He recognized Zito for his work this year. He reminded everyone to vote on Election Day on May 20.

Albright reminded everyone that public name calling is offensive and undermines efforts of bringing forward genuine concerns. He noted that Zito will be missed. He agreed that more effort needs to be made to lobby at the state level. He encouraged students to take on as much of an aggressive role statewide as you have in this community. He congratulated Salt on his Lifetime Achievement Award but reminded him that he can still achieve much in the future.

Ackerman recognized Zito's work. He has worked with several student body presidents, Zito is a remarkable example.

Stiles also commented on Zito's wonderful work as ASLCC president and looked forward to working with Weed. June 12 is scholarship night for the Florence Center, where $25,000 in scholarships will be distributed. Lane's Performing Arts program brought Midsummer Night's Dream to Florence, and it outsold the main campus performances. It was fantastic. She commented on Baldwin's report, stating that there are avenues for dealing with complaints regarding employees and a public forum such as the board meeting is not the place to do so.

McCown reported that he has worked with a lot of student body presidents, and Zito is the first one he has seen make significant institutional changes.

Pryor congratulated Lane's student scholars Audrey Barney and Sean Baker, Lane's Cooperative Education Employer of the Year Cascade Health Solutions, Jenette Kane for her appointment to NCCET, the Torch for the 25 awards, all of the employees being recognized this year for their service, Salt for his OEA award, Weed on his election, and Zito for a fabulous term as ASLCC president.

7. Date, Place, and Proposed Agenda Items for the Next Regular Meeting
Wednesday, June 11, 6:30 pm, Boardroom, Building 3, Lane Community College.

8. The board meeting unanimously adjourned at 9:35 p.m.

______________________________ _____________________________
Mary Spilde, President/District Clerk Rosemary Pryor, Board Chair

Prepared by:
Donna Zmolek
Executive Assistant to the President