MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
OF NEWTON-McDONALD COUNTIES, MISSOURI
ZOOM Meeting, April 27, 2020
There being a quorum present, the meeting of the Crowder College Board of Trustees of the Community College District of Newton-McDonald Counties, Missouri, was called to order by Board Chair, Mr. Andy Wood, at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, April 27, 2020, as a ZOOM meeting with participants attending electronically from home or office locations.
Members attending the meeting were:
Andy Wood, Chair
Diane Andris, Member
Vickie Barnes, Treasurer
Rick Butler, Vice Chair
Al Chapman, Secretary
Larry Vancuren, Member
Also attending the meeting were:
Glenn Coltharp, President
Martha Nimmo, Administrative Assistant to the President
Cindy Brown, Director of Public Information
Jim Cullumber, Director of Institutional Advancement
Adam Morris, Vice President of Academic Affairs
Amy Rand, Vice President of Finance
Haley Reardon, Assistant Director of Resource Development & Alumni Relations
Tiffany Slinkard, Vice President of Student Affairs
Al Stadler, Vice President of Information Services
A few moments of silence were observed to prepare for the meeting.
Minutes of Previous Meeting
Financial Reports
Mr. Wood noted the monthly cash flow statement, and Dr. Coltharp reviewed the checks written, selecting various checks on each page to point out. Board members asked additional questions as needed. He noted charges for the Bookstore website, which is separate from the regular website, and allows students to purchase items online through the website. He said employee years-of-service gifts have been purchased, and employees will be honored at a future event since the May awards luncheon is cancelled. Dr. Coltharp reported the Foundation Dinner Theater events that were scheduled for April have been cancelled. He said physical science lab kits were purchased this month, and moving the science classes to all online has been very difficult. He thanked Crowder faculty who have worked hard and grown tremendously as the shift to all online classes took place. Dr. Coltharp reported we now have a monthly technology backup system that is very beneficial. VP Stadler said it backs up our servers, Student Information System, email system and file shares, and it alerts us if the backup does not take place for some reason. Dr. Coltharp said the Arctic Wolf system is now completely activated so that we can quickly isolate the location where a virus comes in as needed. He reported we will plan a grand opening event at the McDonald County campus for the Nursing SIM Lab that was remodeled with one-time state funds although we received less funding than was originally anticipated. Mr. Wood noted two sets of checks needing approval for March 9-31 and April 1-8, 2020. Checks in the amount of $872,439.65 were approved ON MOTION by Mr. Vancuren, seconded by Mr. Butler and unanimously carried.
The rest of the fund balances and agency accounts were reviewed. Mr. Wood asked the administration to let the Board know if any large financial changes are anticipated in the next few months of this fiscal year. Dr. Coltharp agreed to do that. When asked, he said Transport Training classes with CFI will take place in May with students only coming to campus for skid pad training, and plans are developing to start on-campus classes soon with added safety measures. Dr. Coltharp reported we do expect to receive some Cares Act federal funds at some point as a result of losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said we are tracking specific losses closely, and discussion ensued. Mr. Butler asked about the Customized Training report; Dr. Coltharp explained all in-person trainings with businesses have been discontinued due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and further discussion took place. Mrs. Andris asked how our online course fees compare to other schools in the region. VP Rand said we compare very favorably. Dr. Coltharp said we may consider changing our fee structure in the future since all classes now require some technology usage. Mrs. Brown said for summer we are promoting that we are not charging any distance learning fees since all summer classes will be online, and the A+ scholarship will pay for all tuition and common fees for students. The rest of the center accounts were reviewed as well as the breakdown of revenue accounts, expenditure accounts, tables and reserves with Dr. Coltharp and VP Rand responding to questions as needed. Dr. Coltharp said we do not plan to use any reserve funds for the current fiscal year.
Personnel
Dr. Coltharp recommended approval of the following five resignations: Chrystie Braden, Student Services Coordinator, Crowder Nevada; Joseph Brenner, Accounts Receivable Manager; Chelsey Farris, Behavior Specialist, Maddox Hill BSC; William Luther Haase, Evening Custodian (PT), and Elizabeth Reed, Allied Health Instructor. A MOTION to approve all five resignations was made by Mrs. Barnes, seconded by Mrs. Andris and unanimously carried.
Dr. Coltharp recommended approval of the following six employments: Nathan Achey, Director of IT Infrastructure; Joseph Brenner, Associate Vice President of Finance/Controller; Brian Obermann, Physical Science Instructor; James “Kent” Pruitt, Welding Instructor, Joplin ATTC; Elizabeth Reed, Nursing Instructor, and Daniel Witcher, Manager of IT User Services. A MOTION to accept all six employments as recommended was made by Mr. Vancuren, seconded by Mr. Butler and unanimously carried.
Contract Renewals for 2020-2021
Mr. Wood said packet information includes contract renewal lists for administrators, directors, professional staff (full-time and part-time), classified staff (full-time and part-time), faculty (full-time and part-time/half-time), and part-time AEL faculty. Dr. Coltharp noted that employee salaries will stay the same except for classified staff which will be discussed in the budget information. Without further discussion, a MOTION to approve all of the contract renewal lists as presented was made by Dr. Chapman, seconded by Mr. Butler and unanimously carried.
Budget Draft for FY 21
VP Rand reviewed the budget notes about projected revenues. She said although the assessed valuation of property taxes may be the same, we are conservatively projecting a 5% decrease in revenue from last year since tax collections may be down from the prior year. Ms. Rand said we are projecting a 12% decrease in enrollment which affects tuition and fees revenue, and we will watch that closely to make modifications as needed. She said housing and meal plans are estimated at the 2020-21 approved rates although we are budgeting a 5% decrease in occupancy in Roughrider Village and full occupancy in Brown. Ms. Rand said the state appropriation will be at the MDHE 2020-21 budgeted amount although we will allow some funds in expenses for withholding and contingency. She said in order to make our budget balance, we will be using over $1M in college reserve funds in 2020-2021 which is not an additional revenue stream, but everyone should be aware of that and it should be noted. Revenues also included about $7M in PELL funds that flow in and out of the budget. Under expenses, VP Rand reported a 3-4% on average employee raise will be given for all full-time and permanent part-time classified staff. She noted that for some classified staff, the raise is in conjunction with the required federal minimum wage increases. She said we are currently holding $500,000 in state withholding allowance and $500,000 in contingency funds. The expenses also noted the $7M in PELL funds. Dr. Coltharp said we believe employees are all very appreciative that we have not laid-off employees, and our classified staff salaries are lower than they should be in comparison to similar positions and minimum wage standards. Ms. Rand reviewed the Budget Summary showing revenues and expenses by category for the previous year, current year and projected 20-21 fiscal year. She said the largest revenue decline is due to tuition and fees. She said currently the reserve funds are reflected under ‘other local’ revenues. Pie charts were provided showing the percentages of revenues and expenses. Ms. Rand asked if there were any questions on the rest of the budget which showed the revenues broken down by each account line and the expenses broken down by department. Without further questions, Mr. Wood asked if there were any objections to passing the Budget for fiscal year 2020-2021 to next month for final action, and there were no objections.
President’s Update
Dr. Coltharp thanked the Board on behalf of all faculty and staff for renewing all employee contracts as presented. He said it has been a very challenging year beginning with the previous technology virus and ending with the current real virus. He said the executive council has done an amazing job leading us through these difficult times saying we learned what worked in the fall during the technology issues which has helped us this spring. Dr. Coltharp thanked VP Al Stadler for being part of the team saying if we had not made the technology changes that we did last fall, this spring would have been much worse for us. He thanked all of the vice presidents as well as faculty and staff for all their great work during these difficult times. Dr. Coltharp reminded everyone that all summer school classes will be held in an online format without students or faculty on campus. He said the May graduation ceremony has been cancelled, and we may provide two ceremonies in December if there are enough May and December graduates who wish to participate at that time. He said wi-fi is being provided in all Crowder parking lots for those students who need it. Dr. Coltharp said we do have students who simply do not have enough technology to easily work online. He reported May 11 is currently the date set for staff to return to campus, and we are working on some guidelines for staff in enclosed areas to return on a phased basis. Dr. Coltharp said we are expecting to return to in-person classes for the fall semester although that could change at any time. He said we are also working to develop some safety guidelines that we will share with the Board as they are developed. He asked the Board to let him know if you feel strongly about future plans. He said we are keeping up with other schools in the area as it will be easier if we are all responding in the same way. Dr. Coltharp said we understand the winter flu season could be worse, and we will alert faculty and staff to the possibility of ending the fall semester online if needed. Brief discussion ensued.
Mrs. Andris asked about our marketing plan saying additional funds may be needed for that. Mrs. Brown said application fees have been waived through April and that may continue through May. She said we have increased the amount of social media, Hulu and online commercials, and we have been making lots of telephone calls. She said we continue to do email campaigns as well as direct mail. Mrs. Brown said advisors are calling prospective students while others are calling current students to make sure they are re-enrolling as well. She said we did get sole sponsorship through KODE/KSN to allow all area high school seniors to post digital pictures online, and this class of seniors will likely get more publicity than some of the previous classes.
Dr. Chapman asked about plans for the fall semester. Dr. Coltharp said we are currently preparing for the fall semester to be in-person classes, and staff will understand any safety regulations that may be needed or if a quick change to online courses must be made at some point in the future. General discussion ensued. In conclusion, Mr. Butler thanked Dr. Coltharp, the administration and all employees for their work making difficult decisions and for continuing to instruct students. Mrs. Barnes thanked everyone for their efforts to keep in touch and to keep the Board informed. Mrs. Andris thanked VP Rand for all her great work on the budget; Ms. Rand said it is a team effort. Mr. Wood thanked everyone for contacting students and for all of the marketing efforts that are taking place.
Adjournment
It was noted that the next regularly scheduled meeting is set for May 18. With no further business, Mr. Wood adjourned the meeting at about 12:15 p.m.
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