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Published on 11/6/2019.

Comments/Board Business

Member Comments: Trustee Biggin thanked Joe Hash and Cynthia Petrusha for attending the mid-year celebration on our K-T site last month. Trustee Biggin also noted that she attended the ACCT conference in San Francisco. She suggested that we send trustee representatives to the ACCT Conference in San Diego.

Trustee Dr. Mullery commented that she also attended the ACCT Conference last month. Dr. Mullery thanked the District for allocating funds to allow trustees to take advantage of professional development opportunities such as this conference.

Trustee Kelley commented that he attended the Equity Summit held at Humboldt County Office of Education. The summit was very powerful. Trustee Kelley also informed the Board that he submitted his name for membership on an ACCT committee.

Board Committee Reports: Trustee Sally Biggin, Chair of the Ad Hoc Nominating Committee, reported that the ad hoc committee agreed to put forward a slate of officers for the 2020-21 calendar year. The Board will vote on the below slate of officers presented by the Ad Hoc Committee or nominations from the floor at the December meeting.

President: Trustee Dr. Colleen Mullery

Vice President: Trustee Danny Kelley

Clerk: Trustee Dr. Bonnie Deister

The newly elected Board officers assume office at the January Board meeting.  The terms of the officers shall be for one year or until their successors are elected.

Future Topics for Board Workshops: The Trustees discussed a list of potential agenda topics and meeting dates for future workshops. Below is a list of potential topics that were included for discussion.

• Long-term budget forecasts
• Cohort tracking
• Career Pathways (stackable degrees)
• The College Promise movement
• Progress on the District's Open Education Resources (OER) initiative
• The District’s OPEB obligation
• The Board's role in advocacy
• Connecting institutional research metrics to the evaluation of Board Policies
• Quarterly Board workshops--January 18 (Saturday), April 18 (Saturday), July 16 (Thursday), and October 17 (Saturday)

There was consensus that it would be in the Board’s interest to hold three workshops per year (January, August, plus one more) and use some time during the regular Board meetings to discuss “workshop” type topics.

Establish Board Meeting Dates, Times, Locations for 2020: The Trustees approved the Board meeting dates, times and locations for the 2020-21 calendar year. I attached the calendar to this article for information.

Establish 2020 Board Calendar: The Board calendar was approved. I commented that the calendar is a fluid document and will be adjusted throughout the year.

Status of Board of Trustees Requests: There are three board requests that I am acting on:

• C.R. History—Cathy Cox is gathering some information that may be useful in creating the CR History document.  It will take a least this academic year to complete this request.
• Update on Board Policy (BP) 7330 Communicable Disease and Vaccinations—The College Council is still reviewing the draft revised BP 7330.
• Update AP 6620—The Foundation Board will begin discussing the draft AP 6620 Naming Facilities and Properties at their November meeting.  I will consider the Foundation’s feedback when I submit the revised AP to the Board through its Ad Hoc Committee (Emad, Dorn and Kelley) for discussion. I expect to forward a draft revised AP 6620 to the Trustees sometime in the spring semester.

Consent Calendar Action Items

Approve/Ratify Personnel Actions: We added three new classified colleagues to our CSEA group:

General Fund

Taryn Pfrimmer, Budget Technician (Business Services)\

Kimberly Pisano, Instructional Support Specialist I (Del Norte Library

Other/Auxiliary Funds

Angela Schauber, Instructional Support Specialist III (Pelican Bay)

Action/Discussion Items

Monthly Financial Status Report:  The Board of Trustees approved the monthly Financial Status Report for year-to-date activity through September 30, 2019 for the 2019-20 fiscal year. We indicated that: 1) State apportionment revenue was coming in on schedule; 2) enrollment and nonresident fee revenue was high; 3) salary and benefits are on par with prior year; and 4) we are still planning to transfer funds out of the general fund to the Child Development Center ($90,000), Shively Farm ($94,377), and the OPEB fund ($520,000). 

You will see, if you have been tracking the transfers out, that the amount of funds we plan to transfer out of the general fund to the Shively Farm was decreased.  President of the Board Emad thanked Angelina Hill and Kerry Mayer for their work on reducing the transfer out to the Farm.

Quarterly Financial Status Report: The Board approved the CCFS-311Q (311) Quarterly Financial Status Report for the quarter ended September 30, 2019. The report noted that we do not see any significant fiscal problems that need to be addressed for this year. 

I commented that the annual 311 was submitted to the State on November 4.  The annual report noted that our 50% Law calculation was 53.94%. Also mentioned was that our estimated fund balance for 2018-19 is 8.8% and 2019-20 is 7.9%.  Given the budget assumptions we have available to us now, it was noted that we may see a 5.1% fund balance in 2020-21 and 2.9% in 2021-22.

First Read of Administrative Procedures: The Trustees reviewed eight administrative procedures as first reads. The Board asked me to look into including the Hoopa Tribal Police in AP 3520 Local Law Enforcement as an agency with which the District has an interagency protocol agreement.

RFP for Architectural Services: The Board and I have commented in the past on the poor condition of our residence halls. The Board approved the recommendation to publish a Request for Proposal (RFP) to solicit proposals from experienced Development Teams for the design, development, and financing of new student housing on the Eureka Campus.

My overall goals for the project include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Enhance the campus experience for all students, faculty and staff;
• Achieve housing affordability for students in a quality on-campus residential environment;
• Promote student equity, access and success, with progression to degree or certificate completion, and/or transfer, by engaging student residents in an enriching and secure living/learning environment;
• Support CR’s Facilities Master Plan and sustainability; where sustainability includes social equity, economics, and the environment;
• Achieve facility and operational savings (to further promote affordable rent) through innovative and efficient design and construction, without compromising overall Project quality;
• Provide reliable positive cash flow for CR to support the indirect costs of housing as well as the overall educational mission of the District;
• Create substantial programmatic and spatial ties to academic and student services to support student development;
• Maintain student housing affordability within the local market;
• Provide a sustainable, environmentally appropriate facility that is energy and water efficient;
• Maximize, to the extent reasonably practicable, the utilization of firms located and operating in Humboldt County;
• Enhance the College’s strategic goal of making CR the college of choice; and
• Provide broad based services to keep students on campus.

I expect to release the RFP in December, 2019.

Organizational Reports

Academic Senate: Co-President Gary Sokolow--Co-President Sokolow commented that the Senate is discussing Academic Senate's leadership model, the draft Vision Statement, and increasing the faculty minimum qualifications.

Student Trustee: Student Trustee Christine Peters commented on the food truck on the Del Norte Campus and the food pantries on the Del Norte and Klamath-Trinity locations.

Administrative Reports

President/Superintendent's Report: My written report included an update on the search for the new Police Chief, mention of the two new certificates we are going to add to our curriculum inventory, and recognition of Associate Professor Jonathan Maiullo for the publication of his book.

Update on the Search for the Police Chief

The second search for the Police Chief failed to result in suitable candidates for the position.  A third national search for the Police Chief has been reopened. I intend to hire a search firm to help us find a leader for this new department if the third search fails.

Two New Certificates to be Added

The Program Viability Committee (PVC) conducted a 4020 review of potential certificates in Bookkeeping and Cybersecurity. The PVC recommended, and I approved, the creation of a Bookkeeping Certificate of Achievement and a Cybersecurity Certificate of Achievement.  As next stops, the curriculum for the new certificates will go through the Academic Senate's curriculum approval process.

Congratulations to Jonathan Maiullo

I announced that Garod Books Ltd. published a new edition of CR Associate Professor Jonathan Maiullo's book Paper Mountains: An Armenian Diary (Expanded Edition) recently. Paper Mountains is an account of Associate Professor Maiullo's experience teaching English in Armenia from 2008-10.  The new edition of the book includes three new chapters.

I finished reading the book a few days ago. I highly recommend the book to you. You can find it at: 

https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Mountains-Armenian-Diary-Expanded/dp/1909382493/ref=sr_1_2?qid=1571340262&refinements=p_27%3AJonathan+Maiullo&s=books&sr=1-2&text=Jonathan+Maiullo

In my verbal comments I informed the Trustees that we received tentative approval to offer the LVN to RN bridge program in Del Norte starting 2020-21. We are very confident that the Board of Nursing will give final approval at the November 14 meeting. We have already stared to notify students on the LVN waitlist and students who completed the LVN programs so we can hit the ground running next fall.  I want to thank Nursing Director Roberta Farrar and the Nursing faculty for making this LVN to RN bridge program a reality.

Vice President of Instruction Report: Angelina’s report included the following:

California Virtual College (CVC)-Online Education Initiative (OEI) Update

 The CVC-OEI just made two important announcements.

• The Chancellor’s Office wants all colleges (whether they are part of the CVC-OEI Consortium or not) to fully integrate into the online Course Exchange by June 2023. This would mean that students from across the state will be able to access and enroll in online courses at all colleges across the system without submitting a separate application. Students would also carry their Promise Grant and other information with them.
• In the next few weeks, the OEI will send information about how colleges can apply to join the CVC-OEI Consortium. The Consortium plans to add at least 18 colleges this year, for a total membership of 75 colleges. Last year, the College of the Redwoods (CR) Academic Senate passed a resolution supporting CR's efforts to join the Consortium.

CR Students Traveling to Humboldt State University

Last spring, the HSU Transfer Specialist brought College of the Redwoods (CR) students to HSU so that they could visit faculty and students in their prospective departments. The event was a success. Sixty-five CR students took advantage of transportation from CR to HSU to connect with HSU faculty and students. The event took place on October 23 for students majoring in Art, English, and Sociology. A similar event will take place on November 20 for students interested in Forestry, Environmental Resource Engineering and Environmental Science and Management.

Preparing for an Online Bookstore

To ensure a smooth transition to a new online bookstore, faculty were asked to submit book orders earlier than usual for spring 2020. Faculty heeded the deadline so that students would have timely access to cheaper books. Molly Blakemore and Ashley Mitchell, are currently coordinating outreach to students to make them aware of the new online bookstore.

Angelina commented on the survey she sent to all faculty soliciting their ideas on how we can improve our response to emergencies such as power outages.

Vice President of Student Development Report: Joe’s written report noted the following:

Klamath-Trinity Food Pantry

The District's Klamath-Trinity (KT) Site food pantry opened for business on Monday, October 21.  Thank you to Food Pantry staff person Dominique Gardon, Dr. Kintay Johnson, and KT Site Program Director Melissa Ruiz for working hard to get the KT pantry operational. 

Dia de Los Muertos Celebration

The Multicultural Center (MCC) hosted a celebration of Dia de Los Muertos on Thursday, October 31 in the MCC. 

Black Student Union

The Black Student Union will present 'The Link Up' from 3-4 pm in the Multicultural Center on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month.  The Link Up is an opportunity to engage in dialog and learn more about black culture and history, black lives, and current events. 

Men's Cross Country Ranked 12th in Northern California

The California Community College Track and Cross Country Coaches Association ranked our men’s team at number 12 among programs in Northern California.  The Northern California Regional Championship Meet is scheduled for this Friday, November 8 in Salinas and the California Community College State Championship meet will be held in Fresno on November 23. 

Counselor Day

The CR Counseling and Advising department hosted local high school counselors as well as counselors from various county agencies and local Native American tribes at the annual Counselor Day on Friday, October 25. 

Joe commented that he attended the Equity Summit on November 1 and Klamath-Trinity’s mid-semester celebration.

Executive Director of Foundation Report:  Marty’s written report summarized the work of the Foundation:

• The Foundation’s Strategic Committee will meet on November 7 and the Foundation Board will meet on November 20, 2019.
• The proposed revised District naming policy (AP 6620) will be discussed at the November 20 meeting.
• The Foundation Board is raising funds for the GROVE's new emergency support services for College of the Redwoods (CR) students.  The new services include providing short-term housing in hotels (up to 14 days per student), meals in the cafeteria (up to 14 days per student), and mental health crisis counseling (up to 5 sessions per student).  The goal in offering this layer of support is to retain students when they are in the midst of a crisis and provide support before they become chronically homeless or food insecure. Counselors and advisors will work with these students to find new housing, employment, and access to County support services. To date, the Foundation has submitted two grants, is working on a third grant, and has asked a local donor group for support.
• The Executive Director contacted Ted Hernandez, Chairman of the Wiyot tribe, and discussed the installation of a bilingual sign on the CR Eureka campus saying “Welcome to Wiyot Land.” The Chairman was extremely appreciative and provided a translation of the sign into Wiyot.
• The Foundation provided branded CR window clings, pens, pencils, and drawstring bags to the District’s Outreach Teams, made contributions to the St. Joseph Health System Onyx Apartments, which provide housing to families with children who are experiencing homelessness, and gave to the Otter Project, which supports local artists, student opportunities and community-based watershed projects.