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Published on 9/10/2019.

Comments/Board Business

Member Comments: Trustee Kelley mentioned his visit to the Blue Lake Rancheria with RRDEC. Trustee Mathews voiced her support for the convocation activities she attended. Student Trustee Peters commented on her participation in the Student Trustee Workshop.

Board Committee Reports: Trustee Dr. Mullery stated that the Board's ad hoc committee looking at the President's contract and compensation will forward a recommendation to the Board next month for discussion. She also asked the Trustees to provide feedback on the draft Board 2019-21 Goals. The Goals will be included in a future open session agenda.

Consent Calendar Action Items

Approve/Ratify Personnel Actions: The Board approved or ratified the employment of two new classified colleagues. Levi Cortez began service as the Evening Custodian I today. Lauren Larsen started as the part-time Schedule and Assessment Support on September 1, 2019.

We also welcome Kaliym Butler (Psychology – Klamath-Trinity), Alicia Chivington (Early Childhood Education – Klamath-Trinity), Nicholas Karavatos (Non-Credit – Eureka), Johanna Mowrey (Nursing – Eureka), Taylor Morrow (Kinesiology – Eureka), Katherine Powell (Library – Eureka), Julie Przepiora (Nursing – Eureka) and Ashlie Wooded (Nursing – Eureka) as new associate faculty for the fall semester.

The Board approved the retirement of Su Harrington as an Instructional Support Specialist III. Her last day will be December 30, 2019.

Approve Bond Project Status Report:  We included the below rebalanced budget changes approved at the August Board meeting in today’s bond project status report:

• $305 total moved from Physical & Life Sciences Repurpose or Demo
• $6,034 total moved from Address SWACC Inspection Report Deficiencies
• $4,679 total moved from Transfer Center Upgrades
• $30,000 total moved from Student Union Upgrade
• $45,000 total moved from Mandated improvements to wastewater plant
• $19,961 total moved from Technology Infrastructure Upgrades
• $6,263 total moved from Document Imaging and Secure Storage
• $19,428 total moved from Project Management
• $1,645 total moved from Completed Q Project balance

We also showed the following additional rebalancing actions:

• $6,362 from Updating Career Education Lab Upgrade
• $1,000 from Automotive Technology Lab Upgrade
• $4,749 from Welding Area Cover Expansion

Action/Discussion Items

Monthly Financial Status Report:  The monthly financial status report covered the first month of the new 2019-20 fiscal year. The report showed that our Enrollment Fees and Non-Resident Tuition revenue are coming in higher than at this time last year and our Fixed Expenses and Other Operating expenses are a bit high. The increase in expenditures is due to the timing of the payments of our planned transfer out of the general fund to the Child Development Center ($90,000), Shively Farm ($95,762), and the OPEB fund ($520,000). It is important to note that we are increasing the amount of our OPEB fund transfer to meet our obligation to our retirees.

Approve 2019-20 Final Budget: We presented the 2019-20 Final Budget to the Board for approval.  We are happy to report that the budget is balanced without relying on transfers in from other funds and we will continue to maintain the unrestricted fund balance above 5% for long-term fiscal stability.

I attached the 2019-20 Final Budget to this summary article. What you will see (if you read the budget document) is that we have elected to take a conservative approach to our revenue projection given the uncertainty of whether the State can fully fund the Student Centered Funding Formula (SCFF).  I attached a copy of the Final Budget to this article.

If you remember from our past discussions on the SCFF, the SCFF was favorable for the District when the new funding formula was introduced to the community college system.  However, the State has signaled that, in all likelihood, it will not be able to fully fund the SCFF in 2018-19 and 2019-20. Additionally, the Chancellor’s Office has significantly changed the components of the SCFF model. The changes resulted in a reduction in revenue districts would receive.  For these reasons, we decided that it would be prudent to assume the Hold Harmless revenue amount and not the SCFF revenue for 2019-20. 

Here is quick synopsis of the 2019-20 Final Budget:

• The total unrestricted general fund revenue budget for 2019-20 totals $30,864,543, which is an increase of $391,917 or 1.3% from 2018-19 revenue.
• The total unrestricted general fund expenditure budget for 2019-20 totals $30,373,269, which is an increase of $238,837 or .8% from 2018-19 expenditures.
• Decreases to the salary budget were driven by retirements of employees at the high end of the salary schedule and were replaced at a lower salary level.
• The benefits budget was increased slightly to cover the rising costs of PERS and STRS.  The increase was offset by Health & Welfare savings as a result of switching to SISC as the Medical, Dental, and Vision JPA.
• The net result is a $238,837 increase to the 2019-20 expenditure budget, comparing favorably to revenue budget growth of $391,917, by a positive $153,080.
• The budgeted transfers-out have been increased to $705,762. The transfer-out to the OPEB fund was increased by $180,000, to cover the current cost of retiree benefits. The 2019-20 Final Budget for transfers-out provides $90,000 for the Child Development fund, $95,762 for the Shively Farm fund, and $520,000 for the OPEB fund, for $705,762 total.
• The fund balance budget decreased by $214,488 or .8% for 2018-19 to 6.5%. However, the fund balance is still above the 5% minimum required by the ACCJC and the Chancellor's Office.
• If the State is able to fully fund the SCFF and, given the recent formula adjustments, CR could realize an additional $600-$800 thousand in revenue.

Informational Reports

Student Success Data: Humboldt County Jail and Pelican Bay Enrollments: We provided a summary of the Pelican Bay and Humboldt County Jail enrollments as information to the Board.  The data showed that our Pelican Bay enrollment, and the number of credit sections offered, increased in the last three years. Conversely, our enrollment and the number of sections offered at the Humboldt County Jail decreased between 2017-18 and 2018-19. However, in total, between both locations, the enrollment in the District's incarcerated programs is trending upward.

Capital Projects Update: Fred Sturner and Steven Roper updated the Board of Trustees on several of the District's capital projects. The electronics did not work in the Boardroom today so we could not show Steven’s presentation. However, he did a masterful job discussing the various current and future capital projects. I included a copy of his PowerPoint to this article for reference.

Organizational Reports

Academic Senate: Co-President Gary Sokolow mentioned that the administration provided several thousand dollars in faculty development funds for fulltime and associate faculty. He also stated that Angelina’s report to the Senate regarding the online bookstore was well received.

CRFO: President Michelle Haggerty noted some of the work that CRFO engaged in over the summer including problem solving, discussing contract re-openers, and working on a MOU for faculty teaching in Pelican Bay prison.
CSEA: President Tami Engman requested that we make a slight change in how people are accounted for in the organizational report section of the Board agenda.

Student Trustee: Ms. Christine Peters’ comments included information related to the Del Norte food truck, her visit to the KT site, and her experience at the Student Trustee Workshop.

Administrative Reports

President/Superintendent's Report: My report summarized the background that Mr. Fred Flores brings to the Temporary Chief of Police position. I also called the Board’s attention to the commitment I made to salvage as much of the original building materials from the Old Library, Life Science, and Physical Science buildings as possible before we demolish those buildings.

My verbal comments included a statement of thanks to Burk McBride for his services as the Manager for Public Safety and the press release announcing the hiring of Fred Flores as the Temporary Chief of Police.I attached a copy of the press release to this summary article.

Vice President of Instruction Report: Angelina reported that we are seeing an increase in our fall 2019 enrollments. She noted that students received a text message from the College urging them to pay their balance or to complete a FAFSA to avoid being dropped for nonpayment and Enrollment Services staff called over one-thousand students who were at risk of being dropped for nonpayment.  She thanked Courtney Bishop, Lauren Larsen, Cameron Papp, Matthew Shell, Ashley Vandal, and Tina Vaughn for calling and connecting with students.

Angelina mentioned that the 4% enrollment increase for fall 2019 is holding steady as of yesterday.  I thanked Angelina for the tremendous work she's accomplished to put the College in the right position to enjoy the increase in enrollment at a time when several our sister colleges are decreasing.

Vice President of Administrative Services Report: Julia’s written report spoke to the virtual bookstore implementation, the 2019-20 Final Budget open forums, and Business Office trainings.  

Update on the Virtual Bookstore Implementation.

The first week in October, faculty will be sent a spreadsheet for book adoptions for the spring semester. Faculty will need to complete the spreadsheet by October 15, 2019. Faculty who need course packets will complete a separate form and provide a pdf of the material needed for the packet. The course packet information will be turned in to Ashley Mitchell, who will pass it along to MBS. Departmental support staff will help reach out to faculty that do not turn in their book information on time, to ensure the implementation progresses smoothly. The projected day for the virtual bookstore to be open for ordering online is December 16, 2019.

Open Forums for the 2019-20 Final Budget and Multi-Year Forecast.

Several Open Forums have been scheduled for staff, faculty, students, etc. to participate in a discussion about the District's 2019-20 Final Budget and Multi-Year Forecast.  Two Open Forums are scheduled at the Eureka Campus, one at the Del Norte Education Center, and one at the Klamath Trinity Site.  The schedule is as follows: 

Eureka

Tuesday, September 24, 4-5 pm in the Boardroom

Thursday, September 26, 9-10 am in the Boardroom

Del Norte

Tuesday, September 24, 11:30 am -12:30 pm in DM 29

Klamath Trinity

Thursday, September 12, 3-4 pm in HTEC 3

Fall 2019 Business Office Training.

The Business Office will host a three-hour training as well as introducing new staff members on Thursday, October 3, 2019. Topics to be covered include, but are not limited to: sales tax, budget, budget transfers, fixed expenses, purchasing, contracts, travel, Cal-Card’s, revolving cash, and deposits. The Business Office will also be providing tips and tricks for Datatel.

Vice President of Student Development Report: Joe’s written report informed the Board that:

• The Del Norte food pantry opened this week.  The Del Norte pantry student staff are undergoing training to operate the pantry including how to assist students with CalFresh applications.  The Klamath Trinity food pantry will open when the pantry staff are hired and trained.
• Twenty-seven colleges and universities from across the United States provided representatives for the Districts’ annual Transfer Day on the Eureka Campus.  The event is advantageous for students to start getting ideas, plan a streamlined transfer, ask questions, learn more about campuses and programs, or to just begin seeing transferring as an opportunity available to them.
• The District's Counselor Day is scheduled for Friday, October 25.  This is an opportunity for CR to share information with local high school staff regarding news and updates from the college. 
• The District's HSU Transfer Specialist, Kailyn Doyle, will provide CR students with an opportunity to explore the next steps on a pathway to becoming a teacher when HSU hosts a 'School of Education Fair' on September 18 from 10am-2pm in the LRC. 

Director of Human Resources Report: Wendy noted that:

• There were 24 trainings offered over a three-day period beginning August 21, 2019.   Based on the attendance sheets, Guided Pathways was the most highly attended training followed closely by I Am A Scholar: Face-to-Face Higher Education in Prison. 
• On Sunday, August 25, 2019, the North Coast Rape Crisis Team provided a Title IX training to the residence hall students.  The training included topics such as what constitutes consent and how to file a complaint.  On Monday, September 30, 2019, North Coast Rape Crisis Team will be back to conduct Title IX training for the athletes.
• There are several trainings scheduled in September, including a visit by School & California Legal Services attorneys Ellie Austin and Erin Stagg.  Ms. Austin will train managers and administrators on progressive discipline, while  Ms. Stagg will provide Brown Act, Record Keeping, Public Records Act, and Public Contracting trainings. 
• We are using the online recruiting company Indeed.com to increase the pool of prospective applicants for open positions.
• Members of the Interest Based Problem Solving team will work with two departments on the Eureka Campus in October.  The team will work with the departments utilizing the interest-based process to foster open and honest communication in order to reach fair and efficient solutions.