November 14, 2012 | Board of Education

LANE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
BOARD OF EDUCATION MINUTES
November 14, 2012

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

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

B. President's Report
With Election Day behind us, we now know the make-up of the Oregon Legislature and Congress for the upcoming sessions. In Salem, the Democrats picked up four seats in the House, giving them a 34-26 majority. Tina Kotek is expected to be the next Speaker. Locally, all incumbents were re-elected. I would like to congratulate them as well as John Lively, who was elected to fill Representative Terry Beyer's seat, as well as Caddy McKeown, who was elected to fill Arnie Roblan's coastal district. Arnie was elected to fill Senator Joanne Verger's seat, who is retiring after 30 years of public service. For the Republicans, after serving six years in leadership positions, Rep. Bruce Hanna has chosen not seek a leadership position for the next session. Powell Butte attorney Mike McLane has been chosen as the new minority leader. On the Senate side, the Democrats still maintain a 16-14 majority. Peter Courtney is expected to remain Senate President, but it is unclear whether Republicans will keep Ted Ferrioli as minority leader.

In Washington, things remain about the same. President Obama was elected to a second term. Ballots in some of the House races are still being counted, but Republicans were successful in keeping their majority. In the Senate, the Democrats picked up two seats, giving them a 53-45 majority. Two independent members of the Senate are also expected to caucus with the Democrats. In Oregon, all five members of the Oregon House delegation were reelected. Congress will be pretty busy over the next month. Unless a budget deal is reached by the end of the year, a substantial number of budget cuts and tax increases go into effect, known as "going over the fiscal cliff." Most economists agree this would have a devastating impact on the U.S. economy and result in another recession – not to mention all the cuts to federally-funded programs on campus and in the community – so we will be watching this closely and will have another update for you next month.

In Salem, Governor Kitzhaber has his first full Democratic majority in 10 years as governor. While the legislative session doesn't begin until after the first of the year, the budget process begins next month. The Governor's Budget, the starting point for the legislative process to create the 2013-2015 budget, will be released on December 1. A few weeks later, the next revenue forecast will be released. We will update you by email and at next month's meeting.

The OCCA annual conference was this past weekend at the Salem Conference Center. I would like to thank Sharon, Pat, Susie and Tony for attending. Speakers included Josh Wyner from the Aspin Institute, AACC President Walter Bumphus, Chabot College professor Katie Hern, and Dr. Kay McClenney. Congratulations to OCCA on their 50th anniversary and another great conference.

On November 2, I attended a community forum to examine how Lane County will meet the state's 40-40-20 goals. Greg Darnieder, Senior Advisor to Secretary Duncan on the College Access Initiative, visited a spoke about what other regions of the country are doing to increase high school graduation and college completion rates. The event was hosted by the Oregon Student Access Commission and Springfield School District. Thank you to Andrea Newton, Al King, Deron Fort, Dawn DeWolf, Sheryl Berman and Brett Rowlett for attending.

On October 24, we partnered with Lane County, Trillium Health Services, Savon Pharmacy, LTD, and KEZI to offer a free immunization clinic in the lobby of the Health and Wellness Building. Over 400 flu shots and TDAP vaccinations were given. The vaccines were free to the uninsured or underinsured. Thanks to Brett Rowlett, Nadine Wilkes, Mona Arbuckle, Sheryl Berman, Facilities, and everyone else who helped make the event such a success, especially the Student Nurses Association and all the nursing students who volunteered their time and skills.

Last week I shared information with staff about the administrative transition plans. Sonya and the executive deans prepared transition plans and recommendations that have been really helpful. In addition, I have talked to many stakeholders and reviewed the many initiatives and projects, current ones or those that are on the horizon. The overall conclusion is that we have a tremendous amount of work before us here at the college and in the state and we should move expeditiously in filling the vacancies so we can have the person power to do the work. We are sticking with the organizational structure approved by the board in 2008, which was extensively reviewed by a committee chaired by Sonya Christian. This structure was not fully implemented but it will serve to move us forward.

I am looking forward to being more fully and directly involved internally again, leading the transition and working with the many leaders at all levels across the college. The two searches for the executive deans are moving forward and we will open the vice president vacancy by the end of fall term. Having a chief academic officer is essential for the college. The vice president of operations will be open sometime next year, and I will be able to accomplish that without adding any money to the management budget. We have leadership at all levels of the college, classified, faculty and management, so we will be able to move forward and be sure that all the initiatives are progressing.

Fourth week enrollment reports show FTE down 9 percent overall. Compared to our 43 percent increase since 2008/09, we still have many people to serve. The change was expected and is a sign of economic recovery as more people go back to work and fewer enroll in college. In Oregon, the unemployment rate is 8.7percent.

I would like to congratulate two classified staff members: Georgia Soto was named Outstanding Classified Employee of the Month for October. She works in Child and Family Education and was instrumental in helping the center earn its recent five-year accreditation. She started at Lane in 1995 and also helped ASLCC establish its childcare co-op. Russ Pierson was named Outstanding Classified Employee of the Month for November. He was hired in June 2010 in Facilities Management and Planning. He has made significant contributions to the bus pass program, Zimride, BikeLane and other innovations.

We are featured in a national report titled "Greening the Bottom Line" published by the Sustainable Endowments Institute. The report tells how Lane uses what's known as a green revolving fund, or GRF, to finance energy efficiency upgrades by reinvesting energy savings.

We enjoyed another wonderful Harvest Dinner last month and raised more than $262,000 for scholarships and programs.

Those of you who attended the Harvest Dinner got a look at "Taste of Lane," the first cookbook published by our Conference and Culinary Services Division, featuring farm-to-table recipes created by the division's renowned chefs, staff, students and alumni. You have one at your places. This is a collaboration of the Culinary Division and Marketing.

In other marketing news, we brought home some awards from the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations District 7 annual conference in Salem last month: A Bronze Medallion award for a Publication Series for our Career-Technical posters and another Bronze Medallion Award for logo design for Food Services. Finally, we have increased our marketing outreach to the local Latino community by running monthly two-page ads and information in Exito Magazine which is locally published and distributed.

We dedicated the Maxwell Student Veteran Center in Building 19 on November 5, and were honored to welcome its namesake, Robert Maxwell of Bend. He is one of only 12 surviving World War II Medal of Honor recipients in the US. He taught auto mechanics at Lane from 1966 to 1986. I'm sure you saw one of the many media reports, including the front-page story in The Register-Guard.

As you know Dr. Rudy Crew, Oregon's Chief Education Investment Officer, will be at the college this Friday, November 16 to meet with four of you and with faculty and staff. This is an opportunity to hear a bit about his work in creating a 0-20 education system in Oregon and to engage in dialogue with him regarding your perspectives.

I will conclude my report by wishing everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

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

C. Board Agenda Review/Changes
No changes were made to the agenda.

D. Statements from Audience
Justin Blakely, former student, expressed dissatisfaction with Disability Resources.

Roger Gamblin welcomed back Interim Executive Dean Kate Barry.

2. Consent Agenda
Albright moved, seconded by LeClair, to approve the revised Consent Agenda consisting of:

Approval of the October 15, 2012, Minutes
Academic Calendar
Resolution No. 586, Oregon Savings Growth Plan

Motion passed unanimously.

3. Policy Review
A. Second Reading
1. Integrated Pest Management, D.170

The board held a first reading of this new policy created in order to comply with ORS 634.700, which was enacted by the Oregon Legislature. The Integrated Pest Management Plan will also be brought before the board for approval at the December meeting.

Pryor moved, seconded by Ackerman, to approve the second reading of board policy D.170 Integrated Pest Management.

Motion passed unanimously.

Integrated Pest Management, D.170

POLICY NUMBER:    D.170
POLICY TYPE:           Miscellaneous
POLICY TITLE:          Integrated Pest Management Policy

Consistent with Oregon's State Pesticide Control Act (ORS Chapter 634), the Board is committed to ensuring that the College has a coordinated decision-making and action process that uses the most appropriate pest control methods and strategies in an environmentally sound manner to meet the College's pest management objectives. The College shall adopt an Integrated Pest Management Plan ("IPM") that emphasizes the least possible risk to students, employees and community members and shall adopt a list of low-impact pesticides for pest control.

The Board delegates authority to the President to designate an employee as the Integrated Pest Management Plan Coordinator with those responsibilities set forth in ORS 634.700 to 634.750. The IPM shall provide a proactive strategy for the long-term prevention and/or suppression of pest problems through economically sound measures.

B. First Reading
1. Capital Reserve Funds, E.050
No changes were recommended to this policy. A second reading will be held in December.

POLICY NUMBER: E.050
POLICY TYPE: BUDGET AND FINANCIAL
POLICY TITLE: CAPITAL RESERVE FUNDS

The college shall establish and maintain separate reserve funds (as described in ORS 341.321 and ORS 294.525) in Capital Projects Fund IV for the following purposes:

To replace capital equipment that is broken or beyond its useful life as determined by the Capital Assets Replacement Forecast;
To maintain and repair college facilities according to the Major Maintenance Schedule;
To maintain and upgrade the college's information/telecommunications system according to planning schedules maintained by Information Technology;
To build new instructional facilities and/or to purchase property that facilitates planned long-term growth of the college.

Appropriate levels of funding for reserves will be determined using existing college decision-making structures. The president will make recommendations to the Board of Education for approval to establish and fund these reserves.

Optimal funding levels will be determined using benchmarks, professional standards and best practices from other colleges and adapting these to Lane's specific situation. It is expected that full funding of these reserves will take place over a number of years and that annual transfers to these reserves will be budgeted from the General Fund and other sources as appropriate.

As required in ORS 294.525, the board shall periodically review the reserve fund "and determine whether the fund will be continued or abolished." While ORS 294 allows review to take place every 10 years, reserve funds established under these policies shall be reviewed (a) annually by the president; and (b) at least every three years or more frequently as determined by the board.

As allowed in ORS 294.525, the board may determine at any time that a reserve fund is no longer necessary or that some or all of the reserves may be transferred to the General Fund.

ADOPTED: January 14, 2004
REVIEWED: February 14, 2007

REVIEWED: October 19, 2009

2. Budgeting of Non-Recurring Resources, E.060
No changes were recommended to this policy. A second reading will be held in December.

POLICY NUMBER: E.060
POLICY TYPE: BUDGET AND FINANCIAL
POLICY TITLE: BUDGETING OF NON-RECURRING RESOURCES

Non-recurring resources are resources that are not part of an annual revenue stream. Non-recurring resources include but are not limited to such categories as:

Fund balances (i.e., "carryover")
ReservesOne-time grants or awards of money
Funds withheld from annual budget allocations (e.g., funds held back from annual General Fund transfer to Capital Repair & Improvement)
Special allocations from the state (e.g., allocations from the Emergency Board)
Other special allocations (e.g., "seed money" for a project)

Non-recurring resources shall not be budgeted for ongoing recurring expenditures.

Non-recurring resources may be allocated for one-time expenditures including but not limited to the following:

Capital equipment
Capital construction
Investment in a new program or service that will move to recurring funding sources after a specified trial period
Projects related to the strategic directions of the college.

However, the college shall not rely on non-recurring resources for funding ongoing needs such as major maintenance and equipment replacement.

ADOPTED: January 14, 2004
REVIEWED: March 14, 2007
REVIEWED: November 4, 2009

4. Discussion/Action Items
A. Construction Management/ General Contractor for Building 11
LeClair moved, seconded by McCown, to approve funding and authorize the college to provide notice for a public hearing.

Approved unanimously

B. Downtown Campus Update
President Spilde reported on the following two items:

1. Titan Court update
Currently, 89 beds are leased. Lane students make up 85 percent, UO dual enrollment students are 10 percent, and Norwest Christian College a little under 5 percent. Most of the renters are from outside of Eugene and a few are international students. Leasing has not advanced as wished due to the speed of completion. The units were not ready when the students needed to look at them.
The normal cycle would have been to start in January, and it was not until June that one unit was ready for show. Also, the UO has seen a softening in student housing due to an increase in supply. It is common to see a neighborhood that used to have one student property, now have five or six properties. Another reason is that the project looked like an active construction site through the first week of September. Even now, the academic part of the building is still an active construction site.

The president also reported that the college is transitioning to a new property management firm, Campus Advantage. Blanton Turner is returning to its properties in Seattle. Legal counsel has advised that we are within the timeline to honor the bid that Campus Advantage had also presented in January. They manage other student properties in Eugene, and assisted us with the feasibility study of the Eugene market. With the help of Blanton Turner, the transition should be smooth and seamless.

Spilde explained the financial situation that the empty beds create, noting that analysis shows that in years three and four we can expect surplus to cover the gap through 2021, assuming that we do the work needed to lease up. After that the Board can decide to return surplus to the general fund.

The president mentioned that an analysis of the current situation has been done. The project has positive points. It is a good building and package, prices are $150 a month less than similar properties, utilities are included, and it is in a good location. These features need to be promoted. There will be increased focus on international students. A new program for one-year leases has been developed to help students that might need to leave the country before the year is over. Hard work is being put into completing all the small details in the units, as well as other issues that occur in a construction site. Staff is working very closely with students to resolve any issues they might have. Intense focus on marketing the building, branding, etc., is being done. The studios and two bedrooms have been rented faster, although the feasibility study found that there is a need for four bedrooms units as well. Family housing has not been discussed yet. It will present several issues.

The staff move into the academic building should be completed by winter term, but realistically the college might continue using the old building for a while.

2. Existing Downtown Center building
President Spilde established a committee to analyze options for the existing DTC building under the lead of Brett Rowlett. The committee offered some options for the Board's consideration and wanted to know if the Board leans toward any of the options, and what they would like staff to do next.

The question is if the current building is considered a liability or an asset. The City called it an "albatross" a few years ago but at the end of the day the college has found it to be an asset. Downtown development is turning around and Lane is the catalyst. The DTC is an 80-year-old department store. It hasn't had a lot of renovations and the maintenance is costly.

Options:

Put it on the market. Cons are that there may not be much of a market for this type of property. The property will have to be empty for a while until is sold. This is not the one of the highest priorities for the staff to recommend for Board consideration.
Partner with a private developer and have them pay the costs of renovation and manage the leasing. This has the same disadvantages as selling.
College could develop and manage it as is. The committee favors this option and has been exploring some opportunities as a small business incubator or a nonprofit shared use space.
Develop a business incubator with a public partner such as the example included in the Board's packet. This is an education-technology business incubator in partnership with the UO. This option could be good, but would take a while until a feasibility study was done. In the meantime Lane could consider small leases of the building so it is not left as another empty property in downtown.

Board members expressed their opinions and agreed that a feasibility study would help them to make a decision. The committee will bring a report on the assessment of selling to the next meeting. The feasibility report can start in January.

C. Tuition Rate Index Options
McCown moved, seconded by LeClair, to approve the Tuition Rate Index Options.

Motion passed unanimously.

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

2010 Oregon High School Graduates Enrolled at Lane in the 2010-11 Academic Year

And the following Mission Fulfillment Indicators:

1.5: Term to term persistence rates
2.6: Term to term persistence rate of CTE students

B. Facilites Update
An update on the status of bond and facility projects was presented.

C. Financial Conditions and Activities Quarterly Report
The Financial Condition and Activities Quarterly Report was presented.

6. Reports
ASLCC President Mary Weatherhead reported that students had a very successful voter campaign. Final number of registrations was 6,689, with more than half being Lane students. OSA registered more than 50,000, the largest nonprofit campaign in Oregon history. They passed out 3,894 voter education guides; put in 160 hours of get-out-the-vote phone calls; Oregon and Lane county youth vote at 81 percent higher than the national level. They received good media coverage including by KEZI. ASLCC will attend the Oregon Students of Color Conference this weekend. There were 900 students from the Northwest at OSU for the same conference last year and 27 students from Lane. OSA and ASLCC thanked President Spilde for her donation for sending students to the conference and for her commitment to diversity. They are starting legwork to be in Salem biweekly to make sure that student issues are being paid attention.

LCCEF President Bob Baldwin shared a recent personal medical emergency that explained his current use of oxygen. He thanked Sonya, Don and Andrea who visited him in the Seattle hospital. He welcomed Kate Barry. He said labor relations continue to be a challenge. Evaluations continue to be a problem with some managers using this as a disciplinary tool. He said Human Resources do not train managers. The Association does not support the proposed management structure and believes the college should start with the question of what the structure should be, and then create it. He expressed regret at not attending the Harvest Dinner. The best news in the world was the election, he said; all the races were a perfect sweep for the progressive cause.

LCCEA President Jim Salt reported that on the election a Democratic majority means Michale Dembro will be chair of the Higher Education Committee. He said "we have no better friend for community colleges in Salem." He plans to have a detailed OEA community colleges council resolution calling for a coalition to push the state to complete QEM for community colleges, and to identify the responsibility of the state for that figure, which he thinks, should be 100 percent. They also want to identify where state responsibility falls short and to have them lead the way on revenue reform. The performance funding issue was raised such as from the governor's funding task force who said as a start, 30 percent of community college funding would be tied to performance outcome measures. There is resistance from many including Lane and this Board and at OEIB hearings and from students speaking for community college funding needs, not schemes. Rumors are that the governor will not pursue this in his budget recommendations. The OEIB position is not clear. There is a conflict of interest for Lane. The college Learning Council unanimously recommends that President Spilde resign from the OEIB to fully represent college interests, not OEIB interests.

Interim Executive Dean Kate Barry thanked everyone for the welcome wishes. She read academic highlights passed to the board in a separate document. She emphasized that the items in the report tie directly to the student success discussion that the Board had during the earlier work session. Results of a survey will be available at the end of the year.

Chief Financial Officer Greg Morgan reported that KLCC met its fundraising goals again. He also said auditors are at work and will be ready by the next board meeting.

Jim Salt asked the chair for extra time to make another point that he had forgotten during his regular reporting time. It was allowed. Salt said the Federation also opposed the president's proposed management structure. He said they asked for a review committee that was refused. He said this should not be the president's unilateral decision. The existing governance system should be included in the decision, he said, and that the Federation recommends the Board review that decision.

Board Reports
McCown explained that College Council and the governance system helps plan and provide guidance. The structure was designed and the concept of an executive vice president did not occur until later. The board decided that two VPs were most appropriate given constraints and personnel. One VP at a community college is not great and we have the opportunity to correct this now and not be the only one in Oregon with only one VP. He welcomed back Kate. He said he was glad to see Bob here and hoped for an upward trajectory.

LeClair said, with reference to the organizational structure, that we are moving in the right direction and there is no point in redoing the structure if you lose some key players. He said he will not be able to attend the Shining Star event. He said the elections made us happy and was a victory for women. He saw a wonderful play, "No Exit" at the Blue Door Theater but it was sadly attended and hard to get tickets online or by phone; the system should be revised.

Pryor went to the faculty concert and found it was amazing. She is proud of the foundation's hard working staff. She noted that the Shining Star event is tomorrow. Last Friday she and 12 of her colleagues came to do the Iron Chef competition which knocked her socks off.

Albright echoed all that was said. He heard OCCA applause for the voter drive. As to the election, he said the Obama-Biden ticket will keep community colleges on the front burner for at least four more years. As to Achieving the Dream, we learned we need to tighten things up in order to loosen them up. He testified at OEIB. At OCCA, what stood out was the notion of student engagement. "As I always say, show me the money to be able to do that," he said. OCCA is going to ask for $510 million, but he is hearing the budget will be closer to $410 million. He wants over $600 million to serve students and achieve attainment and student success. Mary will present at LEC on Monday.

Ackerman said the Shining Star is the most inspirational event he has ever seen. "It reminds us why are we here."

Johnston was happy to see Bob. The discussion about student success has been mentioned a lot lately in state conferences as well as the Achieving the Dream breakfast. She appreciated the video presented at the work session as it helps us remember why we are here. She agreed with McCown regarding the management structure. She strongly supports President Spilde's presence on the OEIB, because it is a position that can influence what happens in community colleges, and not only at Lane; continually she hears support from people across the state for our President's contributions to OEIB and community colleges.

Stiles wished her best to Bob Baldwin. She said the OCCA Conference was amazing and thanked to Meg and Jim Salt for their presentations, and Mary for her keynote. Lane is always at the top of everyone's list, she said, and Mary is the reason for that. The Harvest Dinner was fantastic. The children's library fundraising was great. She mentioned a marketing award that was received and not mentioned was that President Spilde was named NCMPR District 7 Pacesetter of the Year. She wished everyone a very happy thanksgiving.

7. Date, Place, and Proposed Agenda Items for the Next Regular Meeting
Wednesday, December 5, 2012, Boardroom, Building 3, Lane Community College

8. The board meeting unanimously adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

______________________________ _____________________________

Mary Spilde, President/District Clerk Sharon Stiles, Board Chair