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Published on 2/4/2019.

Comments/Board Business

General Public Comments:

Member Comments: Trustee Kelley mentioned that he attended the Lemonade Day and encouraged CR to participate in the future. He also asked the Board to consider supporting a Public Health Plan option.

Board Committee Reports: Trustee Kelley, speaking for the members of the ad hoc committee tasked with creating a revised draft Vision Statement, reported that the ad hoc committee had met prior to the regular meeting. He mentioned that he and Trustees Biggin and Dorn reviewed an initial draft and asked me to incorporate their comments in a second draft for a future review. He reiterated that the draft Vision Statement will be submitted to the District’s constituent review process for comment.

Consent Calendar Action Items

Approve Contracts/Agreements/MOUs: The Trustees approved twenty five contracts/agreements. I would like to highlight four contracts: 

• Eureka City Schools District. We signed an agreement with the Eureka City Schools District for the use of two classrooms on the Eureka High School campus for adult education class offerings. This agreement will be paid via the categorical Adult Block Grant and not from the District’s general fund.
• Gerald Takano, Historical Preservation Specialist. We asked Mr. Takano to conduct a historical structure study of the Old Library building on the Eureka Campus. Mr. Takano’s findings will be submitted to the Humboldt County Planning Department as part of the permitting process to demolish the building.  I included the vacant Life and Physical Science buildings in the study in the event that we decide to take these two buildings down in the future. I expect Mr. Takano’s final report by the middle of February.
• Humboldt State University.  We entered into a lease agreement with Humboldt State University (HSU) last fall semester for the use of their Redwood Bowl for a few of our football games while the Eureka football field was closed.
• Humboldt Botanical Gardens. I reached an agreement with Humboldt Botanical Gardens that allows them to lease a vacant room in the Creative Arts building (CA 137) along with nonexclusive use of the restrooms and outside area.  The lease runs from March 1, 2019 to September, 2021 or when the Creative Arts building is demolished.

Approve/Ratify Personnel Actions: I want to thank the Board for approving or ratifying the employment of one new classified employee and seven new associate faculty. Mariya McPhearson will begin service as an Early Childhood Education Assistant I (Eureka) on February 11, 2019.  Our new associate faculty colleagues include: Jermaine Brubaker – Interdisciplinary – Basic Skills: Noncredit  (Del Norte); Sandra Dale – Agriculture (Eureka); Zachary Knowlton – Interdisciplinary – Basic Skills: Noncredit (Del Norte); Sonja Manor – Mathematics (Eureka); Jason Meyer – Biology (Eureka); Viki Radden – Interdisciplinary – Basic Skills: Noncredit (Eureka); and Elyse Warford-Spearman – Communication Studies (Virtual).

Resolution 738 Appointing Ericka Barber to the Crescent City Oversight Committee: By Board action Ericka Barber (Director of Administrative Services) will serve as the District’s representative on the Oversight Board of the Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Crescent City. Thank you to Ericka for volunteering to serve on this board.

Request for Proposal (RFP) for Virtual Bookstore: I reported to the College community last month that we intend to transition to a virtual bookstore by spring 2020.  Angelina Hill communicated that same intention in her February 3, 2019 Office of Instruction Update. An important step in the transition process from a brick and mortar bookstore to a virtual one is the publishing of a RFP to identify the appropriate vendor. With the Board’s approval, the RFP will be published as soon as possible. I hope to have a vendor identified and under contract in April, 2019.

Action/Discussion Items

Monthly Financial Status Report: The monthly financial status report covered the period of July 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018 or 50.00% of the fiscal year. In this report, we included adjustments to the 2018-19 Final Budget beginning fund balance, expenses, and transfers out since it was approved in September 2018.

Julia Morrison noted that our year-end audit identified additional revenue. The additional revenue pushed our 2017-18 ending fund balance to 8.25%. We used a portion of the  additional revenue to increase the OPEB transfer out to for 2018-19 by $90,000 to $340,000, increase the “other operating expenditure” budget by $56,000 to cover the U.S. Department of Education Title IV and Clery Act fines from 2013, and increase the budgeted 2018-19 ending fund balance from 6.3% to 6.6%.

We plan to transfer out the following:

• $90,000 Child Development Center
• $95,762 Shively Farm
• $340,000 OPEB fund
• $525,762 Total

The $340,000 transfer to the OPEB will, by our current calculations, make the OPEB fund whole.  Julia and I anticipate making additional adjustments to the 2018-19 budget as the Chancellor’s Office provides more precise apportionment figures in the coming months.

I attached the monthly financial report to this article in case you were interested in reviewing the numbers.

Approve Fees, Student Nonresident Tuition Fee and Student Nonresident Capital Outlay Fee for 2019-20: The background information of this agenda item was incorrect when the meeting’s agenda was published. The first paragraph referenced the November 6, 2019 meeting and the Chancellor’s Office memo dated December 21, 2019. The first paragraph of the background should have read as follows:

At the November 6, 2018 meeting, the Board approved a $283 nonresident tuition fee comprised of $282 in tuition and a $1 capital outlay fee for a total charge of $283 per unit. The Chancellor’s Office memorandum dated December 21, 2018 set a $265 minimum nonresident tuition fee. Therefore, the Administration is asking the Board to approve a fee of $266 per unit including the nonresident capital outlay fee.

Accept District Audit Report. The Audit Committee of the Board approved the Audit Report on January 8, 2019.  Per Board Policy the full Board accepted the final Audit Report at this meeting.  The auditors gave us an unmodified clean audit—the highest you can get.

The Trustees were very engaged in the conversation relative to our OPEB liability and sensitivity of the discount rate.  President of the Board Emad suggested that we should continue to increase the fund reserve as a safeguard against the volatility of the market, future economic downturns, and the negative effect the economic downturn will have our STRS/PERS and OPEB liability and District’s operations.

Second Read of the Draft March 1, 2019 Accreditation Follow-Up Report: The Board approved the March 1, 2019 Follow-Up Report. As I said before, we owe Angelina Hill, George Potamianos, Julia Morrison, and the Accreditation Oversight Committee a great deal of thanks for their time and energy getting our report written and submitted. The Follow-Up Report will be sent the ACCJC this week. 

First Read of Board Policy: A revised draft Board Policy (BP) 2210 Officers was submitted to the Board as a first read. At the January Board meeting, President of the Board Bruce Emad appointed an ad hoc committee comprised of Trustees Dr. Mullery, Biggin, and Dorn to review BP 2210. The ad hoc committee suggested a few revisions to the policy. 

Second Read of Administrative Procedures: The Trustees conducted a second read of Administrative Procedure (AP) 2715 Board Protocols for Effective Trusteeship. I submitted a revised AP 2220 Committees of the Board to include the appointment of a Trustee to the Redwood Region Economic Development Commission (RREDC). The Board approved both APs.

Appoint a Trustee to the Redwood Region Economic Development Commission (RREDC): Mr. Patrick O’Rourke from RREDC provided public comment on this agenda item. Mr. O’Rourke stated that he appreciated our Board member’s service to the College and reiterated the importance of having a Trustee on RREDC. President of the Board Emad appointed Trustee Kelley to the RREDC.

Informational Reports

Multicultural and Diversity Center Report: Alia Dunphy, Director of the Multicultural and Diversity Center, discussed the mission of Center, the Multicultural Center Ambassador Program, and the 2019 Spring MCC Event Schedule with the Trustees. Thank you to the students who accompanied Alia to the presentation and those who spoke to the Board about their experiences with the Center. I know that the Trustees appreciated the student’s stories of the impact that Alia and the Center had on their success.

Draft 2019-20 Preliminary Budget and 2020-21 and 2021-22 Budget Forecasts: We usually ask the Board to review the Preliminary Budget in April. However, we asked the Board to review the 2019-20 Draft Preliminary Budget at this meeting for two reasons. First, we wanted to provide additional evidence for our March 1 Follow-up Report. Second, we wanted to openly and transparently share a revised long-term budget forecast since additional information was recently made available and our budget assumptions changed.

Julia discussed our revenue and expenditures assumptions for the 2019-20 Draft Preliminary Budget. In terms of our revenue, we assumed that:

• The Student Centered Funding Formula (SCFF) revenue calculation will be based on 65% FTES, 20% Supplemental counts, and 15% Student Success Metric counts split. 
• A  2.71% COLA will be subsumed  into the FTES, Supplemental, and Student Success rates;
• An increase of 50 traditional credit FTES, as well a slight increases in special admit, incarcerated credit and noncredit, traditional noncredit, and career developmental and college preparation (CDCP) FTES;
• The number of degrees and certificates, transfers, and living wage achievements to align the budget with the goals of the Chancellor's Office Vision for Success will increase; and
• Lottery proceeds, other local revenue, and funds from nonresident fees will increase. 

In terms of expenditures, we assumed that:

• Permanent staff salaries would include step increases only and statutory and contractual increases to temporary staff salaries;
• The District would remain with the current provider (with a 5.75% increase in the medical rate); A STRS rate of 18.13% and 20.8% for PERS;
• An increase for some utilities and services, as well as a decrease in others as a result of anticipated savings from completed Utility Infrastructure and Replacement projects.

Given the above mentioned revenue and expenditure assumptions, we projected a 2019-20 Draft Preliminary Budget ending fund balance of $2.5 million or 8%.

The 2020-21 and 2021-22 forecasts we discussed with the Board were built on similar assumptions we used for the 2019-20 Draft Preliminary Budget.  We assumed increases in our FTES, the number of degrees and certificates awarded, the number of transfers, and living wage achievements.  The forecasts also assumed that permanent staff salaries will continue to include step increases only, we would remain with our current medical, dental, and vision provider, and transfers out will remain the same as in 2019-20.

We made one important revision in our 2020-21 and 2021-22 forecasts assumptions that I want to emphasize. We set aside funds for facilities and technology maintenance and replacement, as well as for strategic initiatives that will support our Vision for Success goals in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 budget years.

Given the aforementioned assumptions, the 2020-21 budget year ended with a 9.9% ending fund balance and 2021-22 with a 14.5% ending fund balance.  These ending fund balances are much more favorable than what's been presented in previous forecasts because Julia and I assumed that the faculty, staff and administration will continue to support initiatives that will support FTES growth and increase our student success counts to align the budget with the Vision for Success goals. Clearly, the forecasts will change if the revenue and expenditure assumptions change. Julia and I will continue to provide budget updates to the college community as our assumptions change.

I included the 2019-2020 draft Preliminary Budget and 2020-22 forecasts in this blog article.

Student Success Scorecard Data--Mr. Paul Chown: The Trustees initially reviewed the District's scorecard data in October 2018 as part of the Institutional Effectiveness Report. Director Paul Chown did an excellent job updating the Board on our Vision for Success targets and how the faculty’s work to improve student success and completion has impacted the student scorecard data.

Organizational Reports

Organizational Report: Academic Senate: Academic Senate Co-President Dr. Blakemore commented that the Faculty Prioritization Committee submitted a list of faculty position requests to the President late last fall. He mentioned that faculty are serving on several integrated planning committees, task forces, and Senate committees.

Organizational Report: CRFO: CRFO President Professor Michelle Haggerty reported that the contract negotiation process is going well and she hopes to have the contract finalized by the end of the spring semester.

Organizational Report: CSEA: CSEA President Tami Engman mentioned that the negotiation for the successor contract is underway. She also highlighted the excellent work Sheila Hall, our Scholarship Program Coordinator, is doing on behalf of the Foundation.

Organizational Report: Management Council: Management Council President Brady Reed congratulated Alia Dunphy on her accomplishments relative to the Multicultural and Diversity Center. She also updated the Board on the effect the recent government shutdown had on our students and operations.

Organizational Report: Student Trustee: Student Trustee Florentina Phillips mentioned that the ASCR is trying to get more students involved in student government.

Administrative Reports

Administrative Report: President/Superintendent Report: My written report announced the hiring of Mr. Kim Price as the new CalFire Academy Program Coordinator (a temporary part-time position). Kim has the necessary experience and contacts to help make our CalFire Academy successful. My report also included mention of several events celebrated in February: Black History Month, the Chinses New Year, Susan B. Anthony Day, and National Freedom Day.

I mentioned that we will hold goal alignment meetings on the following dates:

• Friday, March 22^nd – Klamath Trinity Instructional Site – 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.
• Monday, March 25^th – Del Norte Campus, Rooms 34 & 36 – 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, March 27^th – Eureka Campus, Board Room SS 202A – 3:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m.

Administrative Report: Vice President of Instruction Report: Angelina’s written report applauded our praised the work HSU is accomplishing to improve student transfers from CR to HSU. She also provided an update on the College Access Program.

You may remember that in 2017, the State Legislature established, and the Chancellor’s Office funded, the California College Promise for the purpose of increasing college attendance and graduation rates and reducing and eliminating achievement gaps for students.  As Angelina mentioned, the College Access Program is a tuition waiver awarded to students through financial aid. Our data showed that more students were eligible for the tuition waiver than end up using it waiver. Here’s a brief breakdown of the information we gathered:

• In fall 2018, of the students eligible for the fee waiver, 45% were enrolled in 12 or more units at census to qualify.
• This past semester 240 students were awarded the college access waiver, 102 students received the college access waiver, and 107 students who were eligible for the waiver did not enroll.

The College Access Program appears to have attracted more students to CR than is reflected in this data because many students applying for the program ended up qualifying for the Promise Grant (formerly BOG), and the Counseling and Advising Office has reported that many students inquired about the free tuition program.

Moving forward, the Admissions and Records Office will call all students who have yet to enroll or who have fallen below 12 units to encourage them to qualify for the fee waiver.

Angelina also mentioned the work faculty and staff are doing relative to our ESL Program.

Administrative Report: Vice President of Administrative Services Report: Julia noted that she and Paul Chown attended the Northern California Community College CBO Regional Student Centered Funding Formula (SCFF) Workshop.  She also mentioned that we submitted the 2018-19 P1 Apportionment Attendance Report to the Chancellor’s Office last month.

The total P1 resident credit and noncredit FTES was 3,495—an increase of 106 FTES from last year's P1 total of 3,389.  Non-resident credit and noncredit FTES was 170, which was a decrease of 36 nonresident FTES from last year's P1 total of 206. While this decrease will not affect our State apportionment, it will impact local revenue.

In her verbal comments, Julia noted the Fiscal Crises and Management Assistant Team (FCMAT) recently released a new version of the Fiscal Health Risk Analysis (FHRA) for Community Colleges this week. We intend to use the new FHRA tool to perform an annual self-assessments of our budget.

FHRA, if you don’t know, is a management tool that uses key fiscal indicators to help evaluate a community college district’s risk of insolvency. The evaluation questions are based on FCMAT’s work since inception and have been identified as common indicators of risk. This is one of the tools FCMAT uses when working with districts, but you can use the free tool to perform a self-assessment at any time to identify areas that may be putting your district at greater risk. We had FCMAT conduct an assessment of our budget and budgeting process a few years.

Administrative Report: Vice President of Student Development Report:  Joe’s written report noted that five students accepted the CR Homeless scholarship as part of the pilot program this Spring Semester. He also called attention to the excellent work that Jordan Hamill (Director of Residential Life), Ericka Barber (Director of Administrative Services), and Matthew Christman (Financial Literacy Specialist) have done to reduce the amount of debt left by Residence Hall students.

Joe noted the work the HSU Transfer Specialist is doing to encourage CR student transfer to HSU.

Administrative Report: Director of Human Resources: Wendy noted the number of positions HR is currently recruiting for:  

Classified

• Instructional Support Specialist I (Klamath Trinity)
• Custodian I (Evenings)
• Early Childhood Education Assistant I
• Early Childhood Education Assistant II
• Administrative Office Assistant II

Administrative

• Director of Nursing

Faculty

• Assistant Professor, Nursing (LVN)
• Assistant Professor, Nursing (Psych)

Wendy's written report also mentioned that the improved version of PeopleAdmin will make it much easier for us to stay in compliance with State mandated EEO reporting. In her verbal comment, she stated that she is going to attend the Building Diversity Summit in Los Angeles on February 8-9, 2019.