MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
OF NEWTON-McDONALD COUNTIES, MISSOURI
September 21, 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, September 21, 2020, in the Crowder College Wright Conference Center.
Members present for 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
Joseph Brenner, Associate Vice President of Finance/ Controller
Cindy Brown, Director of Public Information
Kathy Parker-Collier, Grants Director
McKenzie Conner, Title III Curriculum Specialist
Jim Cullumber, Director of Institutional Advancement
JP Dickey, Director of Admissions
Aaron Divine, Director, McDonald County Instructional Center
Nathan Fent, Title III Career and Technical Education Advising Specialist
Adam Morris, Vice President of Academic Affairs
Melissa Oates, Director/Division Chair, Post-Secondary Career and Technical Education
Monte Padgett, Director, Nevada Instructional Center
Suzanne Prior, Communications Instructor/ Honors Program Coordinator
Amy Rand, Vice President of Finance
Tiffany Slinkard, Vice President of Student Affairs
Melissa Smith, Director, Joplin ATTC and Training and Development Solutions
Al Stadler, Vice President of Information Services
Jamie Ward, Associate Vice President of Student Affairs
Phillip Witt, Associate Vice President of Career and Technical Education
Keith Zoromski, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs
A few moments of silence were observed to prepare for the meeting. The following new employees were introduced and welcomed: Taylor Hendrick, Talent Search Advisor; Brian Obermann, Physical Science Instructor; Dr. Mari Beth Linder, Clinical Program Supervisor, Nursing; Kelli Jennings, Accounts Payable Assistant; Missy Williams, Accounts Receivable Manager, and Jane Gray, Office Manager, Joplin ATTC. Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Reed, Nursing Instructor, was introduced in her absence.
Minutes of Previous Meetings
Minutes of the August 24, 2020, Tax Hearing and regular meeting were approved as written and previously distributed.
Financial Reports
Mr. Wood noted the monthly cash flow statement. Dr. Coltharp reviewed the checks written, selecting various checks on each page to point out. He said one payment for Qwickly, Inc. is for the attendance taking software that ties into our Blackboard system to take student attendance for each class. He noted payment for an EMT/Paramedic charge for ReelDx, Inc. that provides real patient videos for online instruction saying this gives real life experiences for our students in one of our hands-on programs. Brief discussion took place regarding our cooperative agreement between Crowder CTEC and the Neosho Beauty College, making it more affordable for high school students in the one-year program. Dr. Coltharp said we have been able to purchase a UV light air filtering and cleaning system for several facilities and sites that cleans germs out of the air as well as helps control humidity using CARES Act funding. He noted several other CARES Act purchases along with the purchase of laptops using Title III funds. Dr. Coltharp said this is the third year of our contract with EMSI to provide a web service for Career Services called Career Coach that helps students assess various careers including annual pay, demographics and educational needs. He explained ZOOM Rooms that are being installed in several classrooms so that the teacher could be at home while the students are in the classroom. Mr. Wood noted two sets of checks needing approval for August 10-31 and September 1-4, 2020. Checks in the amount of $1,292,010.80 were approved ON MOTION by Dr. Chapman, seconded by Mr. Butler, and unanimously carried. The rest of the current fund balances and agency accounts were reviewed. Dr. Coltharp said currently the fastest growing industry in the U.S. is Transport Training, but we are not seeing an increase at this time. Dr. Witt said there are still many license offices that are not open to provide permits, which are required to begin the program, and the majority of our students come from CFI. The rest of the centers, revenue and expenditure accounts and various tables were reviewed. Mr. Wood noted the reserve funds are doing a little better than this time last year.
Personnel
Dr. Coltharp recommended approval of the resignations of Misty Bond, SSC/ Retention Specialist, and Michael Moon, Custodian. A MOTION to approve their resignations with thanks for their service was made by Mrs. Andris, seconded by Mr. Vancuren and unanimously carried.
Dr. Coltharp recommended approval of the following five employments: Sam Hoover, Computer Technician, Title III; Karissa Johnson, Evening Custodian, Crowder Webb City; Lecia Sims, Student Support Services Director, Crowder Webb City; Russell Souza, Student Support Services Academic Coordinator, Nevada, and Brek Walker, Accounts Receivable Associate. A MOTION to approve all five employments as recommended was made by Dr. Chapman, seconded by Mr. Vancuren and unanimously carried.
2020-2021 Budget Modifications
VP Amy Rand provided an updated Budget Summary saying although we normally update the budget in December after grant funding comes in there were several positive changes that have taken place to prompt the update this month. She said enrollment numbers were up more than were budgeted or projected, CARES Act funding has come in, and several new grant programs have been awarded for which we are now expecting funding. She thanked the Grants Office for their work getting those new grants for our students. Ms. Rand reviewed the Budget Summary showing the revenues for the May budget, the September budget, and the difference between the two with comments explaining the adjustments. She reported the new grants received are for HEP, NSF (National Science Foundation), and SSS at the Webb City campus. Ms. Rand said some modifications have been made in housing to abide by CDC recommendations and to keep students safe. She said there are more students in single room housing this year, and we are keeping a few rooms open and available for needed isolations or quarantines. She noted the state withholding that took place in July and a slight reduction in Secondary Perkins funding. VP Rand said the overall revenue funds went up almost $2.5M. When asked, she said we hope that we will not have any further state withholdings, but we do have $1M held in contingency funds. Ms. Rand reviewed the expenditures saying there were reductions in personnel areas due to the position eliminations that took place earlier this summer, and all of the increased expenditures are due to the new grants that require personnel, supplies and technology needs. She said the amount of College reserve funds needed to balance the budget has decreased to $430,000 instead of the $1,050,000 that was projected in May. VP Rand said this is significant progress. She noted the composition of expenses separated by labor and non-labor expenses saying the COVID-19 expenses are included in non-labor expenses. She pointed out the pie charts on the second page showing the breakdown of revenues and expenses. When asked, Dr. Coltharp said all COVID-19 expenses are carefully tracked so that we are ready for any federal audit that could take place. VP Rand said our College auditor will review these expenses and, similar to any grant funds, we expect a third-party evaluator to review the expenses at some point. Without further discussion, a MOTION to approve the updated Budget Summery was made by Mr. Vancuren, seconded by Dr. Chapman and unanimously carried.
Title III Update
Mrs. Collier reported this is the annual report for year three of the Title III grant, and we are very grateful to have received the grant that will provide over $2.2M over a five-year period. She showed the first three years of funding that have focused on the Neosho, Webb City and Cassville sites saying $364,900 was spent to upgrade the infrastructure to provide wireless access and $237,171 was spent to improve classrooms with large commercial displays. She reported the grant has provided support for faculty professional development with classes for online and advanced Blackboard instruction. Mrs. Collier said we are excited that BILT (Business and Industry Leadership Team) model training will begin in October with the founder of the BILT model actually providing the training that is changing how advisory boards operate. She said the grant has also provided funding to hire a CTE Advisor, Nathan Fent. Mr. Fent reported he has focused on looking at programs that could have stackable credentials added to them so that students can receive certificates for smaller increments of coursework in an effort to help them complete skills and get job offers. He said we have started the UConnect program of offering all general education courses leading to AA degree completion in an eight-week format with cohorts started in Neosho and Webb City. He showed data for those students saying many of those courses are staying in the eight-week format because students like them so well. Mr. Fent said he is reviewing advising policies and procedures and how we track students when they may have as many as five different credentials. Mrs. Collier said we are very pleased with the data for students in the UConnect program who are on track for completion and show a high degree of student satisfaction. She said year four will pilot the UConnect program at the Cassville campus this fall, and it will begin at the Nevada campus in year five next fall. She showed the amount of Crowder Foundation scholarship funds provided to UConnect students saying the scholarships purposely increase each year to encourage retention and continuation in the program. Dr. Coltharp said one of the reasons we tied the Title III grant to all of the campus sites was so that every site would receive the new technology similar to the Neosho campus. He said one of our CTEC goals was to have an advisor to work closely with students and help remind them of what classes they need to stay on course for completion, and Mr. Fent has done a great job of that. Dr. Coltharp thanked McKenzie Conner as well for her work on the curriculum for the UConnect eight-week courses. He said the success rate for this program has been very good, and we hope more students take advantage of it. The Board thanked those involved for their great work.
International Admissions Program Review
Mr. JP Dickey reported the International Program has changed since this summer, but he has always been the PDSO (Primary Designated School Official) for the program that he is now running. He said there are currently 44 active Crowder international students registered with the Department of Homeland Security. He said most of them are enrolled this fall although some of them are still at home taking online classes or waiting to begin courses in the spring semester. He said we have 18 students scheduled to come for Spring 2021. Mr. Dickey reviewed his day-to-day functions including handling all online and email inquiries saying Crowder does not require TOEFL standardized test scores, which is likely one reason students come here. He said we receive all of the needed documentation that is required by the government and Crowder including an application, scholarship and financial information of how they are paying, passport and proof of insurance, and finally, their VISA as official travel document. He said once we receive all of their pre-documentation, we issue their I-20 along with an embassy letter and an attendance letter for their insurance company. He said international students have to pay a fee to the federal government for their database tracking service. Mr. Dickey said advising and enrolling of international students is being distributed to various advisors alphabetically with all students having to be enrolled in at least twelve hours. He said normally only one three-hour online course is allowed, but the government has become more lenient saying if they are returning students they can take more. He said Brazilian students are currently taking all of their classes online because there is still a travel ban for Brazil. Mr. Dickey reported that last year the BSU (Baptist Student Union) wanted to take a more active role assisting international students so they started the Friendship & Family Program to help students find living locations and to help with transportation to and from the airport. He announced that Spanish Instructor Destinie Roque has volunteered to be the International Club sponsor this year saying she is excited to take on this new responsibility. Mr. Dickey showed data for the number of students who have applied and enrolled, applied and not enrolled, retention rates that have increased over the last few years, graduation rates that have remained consistent, and ELI numbers saying there are a lot of non-international students in the ELI program as well. Mr. Dickey responded to questions saying Brazil and Canada are the main countries where students come from for our athletic teams. He said students learn about Crowder by word of mouth, and Crowder’s advantages are affordability, not requiring the TOEFL, and the rural setting. He said about two-thirds of our international students are athletes on scholarship while about one-third pay for themselves or have a relative or sponsor who supports them. The Board thanked him for the great report.
Honors Program Review
Mrs. Suzanne Prior said eligibility for the Honors Program has not changed and recent high school graduates must meet at least two out of the four criteria: a minimum composite ACT score of 26; within the top 10% of their high school class; a minimum cumulative high school GPA of 3.5; and valedictorian or salutatorian of their high school class. She noted there are two valedictorians in the current incoming class. She said transfer students must have 26 college credit hours completed with a cumulative GPA of 3.5, and the criteria for staying in the Program have not changed. Mrs. Prior said the Honors Program is limited to 20 recipients, and there are currently 17 this year. She said one of the best recruiting methods is to attend high school awards ceremonies, but those did not take place this spring. Mrs. Prior reported 99% of Honors Program graduates last year were either hired in their field of study or transferred. She said we have always followed the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Program Guide, and we continue to do that, but PTK has changed their focus from doing service projects to more research based projects called “Honors In Action” so she has begun requiring the papers as part of her Honors English course. Mrs. Prior said every two years PTK designates a new topic for students to focus on in their seminar projects, and the most recent topic was ‘Fake News and Media Literacy’. She said the students’ research found that those who spread fake news on social media more than anyone are 65 years or older. She said the students were not able to complete their entire research this spring, and they only scored about 70%. She said this was their first effort in this new student-driven research based project. Mrs. Prior said the new PTK topic this year is based on a quote from Thomas Aquinas, and the students are looking at how to promote viewpoint diversity, the impact of political polarization and how to create awareness to make a positive difference. She said the final project is scheduled to be submitted next year. Mrs. Prior said future goals include recruiting more qualified applicants, expanding the Honors curriculum to include an additional Honors paper, and improving the Honors In Action research scores in an honest way with students doing the work. She responded to questions saying we would like to see more eligible students who meet three or four of the criteria instead of just two of the criteria, because there have been students with fewer criteria who have not been able to succeed in the Program. She said the 20-student Honors Program limit is mainly due to funding since these students receive full tuition, fees and books for their participation. The Board thanked her for the good report.
President’s Update
Dr. Coltharp provided a summary sheet of Federal Stimulus Money to Crowder College 2020. He reported most of the CARES Act funding goes through at least four different levels of approval including the staff member’s supervisor, the department head or division chair, the vice president, the COVID-19 Task Force, and finally, Executive Council. He said the approval process follows all of Crowder’s normal purchasing procedures; all documentation is kept separately by the VP of Finance, and the process meets audit guidelines. He said most of the purchases are for maintenance items for added safety, and there are also technology items to support virtual instruction. Dr. Coltharp said CARES Act funding was divided into two categories: funds for the students ($1.3M) and funds for the institution ($1.3M) for expenses directly due to the pandemic. He said the student portion was disbursed quickly, and he reviewed the breakdown of expenses by the institution for various items as of July 21. He noted that over $600,000 is still available until the funds expire on March 1, 2021. He said an additional $129,000 came to us because of having a Title III grant, and those funds have been expended. He said the GEER Fund (Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund) was federal money that came to us through the state, and those funds have been expended. Dr. Coltharp showed that there are still funds available from the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) to address response/ reopening and remote instruction. He said those funds expire on November 15, 2020, and we do not see any problem expending those funds by that date. Dr. Coltharp said we have never been in this position where we are asking employees of ways to spend funds, and we are carefully considering how to best use the money within the specified guidelines. He responded to questions saying we are so grateful for these funds that have been extremely beneficial.
Dr. Coltharp provided two updated organizational charts, one with positions only and one including employee names. He said COVID-19 numbers are being shown on the Crowder website. He noted that we are still keeping outside groups from renting rooms on campus in an effort to keep our Crowder community more safe. Dr. Coltharp said the next big event coming up is Graduation, and we are concerned with putting large numbers of family members together in the Gym so we recommend doing a video Graduation Ceremony in December. He explained how that would work saying students could still participate in a future Graduation if desired. Board members agreed to the video Graduation option.
Dr. Coltharp asked VP Slinkard to review the student processes with COVID-19. VP Slinkard said we began by setting up a webpage on the Crowder website to both accept and provide updated information there. She said a link is provided there for anyone in our campus community who: has been in close contact with a positive case, is symptomatic, or is testing and waiting for results or has received results, to report their status on the website link. She said once a report is submitted it is immediately assigned to a case manager or contact tracer, and we reach out directly to everyone who submits a report. VP Slinkard said there have been 253 online reports to date. She said if they are simply a close contact to a positive case, the CDC says they should quarantine for 14 days. She said if you are waiting for a test you are required to isolate, and if you test positive you must isolate for 10 days, and the individual will be contacted by us and by the local health department for monitoring through the course of the isolation. VP Slinkard reported there are currently 82 people with active reports (either quarantine or isolation), 171 who are recovered or have come out of quarantine or isolation, and there have been 45 positive cases since July 8, 2020. Dr. Coltharp noted that those students or staff in quarantine or isolation are asked to continue working online as much as they are able. VP Slinkard said people are following the orders of the CDC as well as wearing masks, and we are not aware of any students who have become sick from classroom contact. Dr. Coltharp said although it is hard to compare schools, it appears we are doing well among the community colleges. The Board thanked him for the informative report.
Adjournment
Mr. Wood noted the fall semester Board Retreat set for October 2 at 9:00 a.m. at the McDonald County campus and the next regular meeting set for November 2 at 10:00 a.m. in the Wright Conference Center. With no further business, he declared the meeting adjourned to lunch at 12:25 p.m.
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