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President/Superintendent's Blog


Summary of the August 4, 2020 Board of Trustees Meeting


Published on 8/4/2020.

Comments/Board Business

Member Comments: Trustee Kelley mentioned that he intends to apply for the CCLC Committee on Legislation. Trustee Biggin reminded the trustees of the CCCT Thursday workshops.

Swear in Student Trustee—Ms. Christine Peters: President of the Board Dr. Mullery swore Christine in for a second one-year term as student trustee.

Consent Calendar Action Items

Approve/Ratify Personnel Actions: The Trustees took the following personnel related actions:

Employment of Classified Staff

  • Mariah Southworth, Interim ECE Assistant II, .78 FTE effective August 3, 2020

Employee Change of Status General Fund

  • Alexandra Baker, Lead Cashier, 1.0 FTE to Administrative Office Assistant III, .50 FTE effective August 1, 2020
  • Lynn Durkee, DSP Specialist, .865 FTE to Library Technician, 1.0 FTE effective August 1, 2020
  • Irene Gonzalez-Herrera, Administrative Office Assistant II – MDC, 1.0 FTE to Administrative Office Assistant II – LRC, .725 FTE effective August 1, 2020
  • Mike Haley, Professor, Math, to Interim Dean, effective August 1, 2020 – July 31, 2021
  • Aimin Huang, Library Technician, 1.0 FTE to Custodian I – Evenings, 1.0 FTE effective August 1, 2020
  • Laura Meglemre, Purchasing Specialist, 1.0 FTE to Purchasing Specialist,.50 FTE effective August 1, 2020
  • Gary Ronne, Student Development Advisor, 1.0 FTE to Student Services Specialist II, 1.0 FTE effective August 1, 2020
  • Jose Serrano, Human Resources Analyst, 1.0 FTE to Payroll Technician, .80 FTE effective August 17, 2020
  • Brian VanPelt, Web Specialist, 1.0 FTE to Web Specialist, .50 FTE and Instructional Technologist, .50 FTE effective August 1, 2020

Employee Change of Status Categorical/Other Fund

  • Amber Atkins, Administrative Secretary I - Counseling, 1.0 FTE to Administrative Office Assistant II – MDC/Foster Care, 1.0 FTE effective August 1, 2020
  • Sheila Hall, Scholarship Program Coordinator, .60 FTE to Scholarship Program Coordinator, .475 FTE effective August 1, 2020
  • Michele Holper, Instructional Support Specialist III – ASC, .865 FTE to Instructional Support Specialist II – DSPS, .394 FTE effective August 1, 2020
  • Jennifer Levang, ECE Assistant I, .394 FTE to Interim ECE Assistant II, .788 FTE effective August 3, 2020 – June 30, 2021
  • Scott Pieper, Shipping and Receiving Clerk, 1.0 FTE to Shipping and Receiving Clerk, Range 110, .50 FTE and Interim Delivery Driver/Warehouse, .50 FTE effective August 1, 2020
  • Jencie Smith, Student Services Specialist I, .50 FTE to Student Services Specialist I, .25 FTE effective August 1, 2020
  • Jencie Smith, Instructional Support Specialist II, .50 FTE to Instructional Support Specialist II, .25 FTE effective August 1, 2020
  • Colin Trujillo, Instructional Support Specialist III - EOPS, 1.0 FTE to Instructional Support Specialist III – ASC, .865 FTE effective August 1, 2020
  • Shannon Walkley, Student Development Advisor – TRiO, 1.0 FTE to DSP Specialist, .865 FTE effective August 1, 2020
  • Jordan Walsh, Student Development Advisor - EOPS, 1.0 FTE to Student Development Advisor – TRiO, 1.0 FTE effective August 1, 2020
  • Alex Wright, Student Development Advisor, 1.0 FTE to Instructional Support Specialist III, 1.0 FTE effective August 1, 2020

New Associate Faculty Appointments General Fund

  • Daniel Jones – Construction Technology – Eureka
  • Jennifer Reynolds – Social Work and Human Services – Eureka
  • Juliann Stell – Nursing – Eureka
  • Jennifer Taylor – Construction Technology – Eureka
  • Sam Zahn – Philosophy – Eureka

 Resignations

  • Courtney Wilkinson, ECE Assistant I – last day of employment August 7, 2020

 Retirement

  • Tina Vaughan, Administrative Office Coordinator – last day of employment December 30, 2020

Action/Discussion Items

Monthly Financial Status Report: This month’s report covered our unrestricted general fund revenue and expenditures from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. The report highlighted the following:

  • State apportionment revenue budget increased and property tax revenue decreased.  We adjusted the Prop 30 EPA revenue budget to reflect actual revenue received to date.
  • State Lottery Revenue receipts still only reflect quarters 1 and 2. So we expect to receive additional revenue for this fiscal year.
  • Salary and benefit expenses are slightly under budget and total expenses are lower than at this point in time last year.
  • Over the next several weeks, business office staff will continue to work on closing the books for 2019-20.
  • Our planned transfers out are $90,000 to the Child Development Center, $86,177 to Shively Farm, and $520,000 to the OPEB fund.

Approve President/Superintendent 2020-21 Goals: My draft goals for 2020-21 was discussed with the Trustees in closed session on July 7, 2020. The Board approved my final goals at this meeting. Cynthia will upload my new goals to the President’s webpage shortly.

Second Read of Board Policies and Administrative Procedures: The Trustees approved the revised BP 1200 and AP 2715.

Informational Reports

Student Success Data: I provided the following enrollment numbers:

  • Fall enrollment is approximately 20% (~2,000 seats) below the district's 3-year average with 26 days to the start of the semester.
  • The number of withdrawals from Spring semester was nearly double the District's average spring withdrawals. More than 1,000 of the Spring 2020 withdrawals were EW (Excused Withdrawal) due to COVID-19.

I will provide another fall enrollment update to the Board after Fall 2020 census.

SPURR/Forefront Solar Presentation: We have been discussing the need to install a microgrid energy system for the Eureka Campus for several months. The Administration has been in discussion with ForeFront Power to ascertain whether it would be in the district’s best interest to install a solar microgrid energy system on the Eureka Campus.

Forefront was selected through a statewide, competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) process to provide solar power services to educational institutions on California.  The statewide RFP allowed us to collaborate with Forefront Power using an accelerated process to provide a solar solution for the Eureka Campus.

Representatives from Forefront and SPUUR provided a presentation to the Board. I attached ForeFront’s presentation to this article.

Organizational Reports

Management Council (MC): President Hamill’s written report contained the following:

  • The MC thanked Ron Waters for serving as Management Council President and Kristy Seher for service as MC Secretary for the 2019-2020 academic year.
  • Managers across the District are working to prepare their programs for the Fall 2020 semester.

Administrative Reports

President/Superintendent's Report:  My written report included:

  • The Administration has demonstrated its commitment to championing free speech and academic freedom become a member of the Heterodox Academy (HxA). HxA is a politically diverse organization that discusses controversial topics from a variety of perspectives. There are 41 community colleges represented in HxA nationally. College of the Redwoods is one of two California community colleges included as members.  As a member of HxA, we are committing to create an institutional environment that supports viewpoint diversity, open inquiry, and constructive disagreement.
  • Kintay Johnson deployed a survey late last spring that assessed a students’ level of food, housing, and homelessness security. The survey used questions derived from The Hope Center's 2018 California Community College #RealCollege Survey.
  • Ron Waters hosted a second law enforcement academy advisory committee meeting to discuss potential adjustments to the basic law enforcement academy training. I want to thank Ron for his facilitation of the dialogue and the willingness of the police leadership to listen to community concerns. The discussions have been a model of honest open inquiry and viewpoint diversity.

I made a verbal comment related to the budget we’re going to use to fund the interim dean position. The costs for the interim dean position would not add to the general fund since we are going to augment Mike Haley’s regular faculty salary with money from the associate faculty budget.  In addition, we will not hire a temporarily replacement to backfill Mike Haley’s faculty position.

Vice President of Instruction Report: Angelina’s written report noted that:

  • Our Keep Teaching site, which serves as the primary resource to help faculty convert in-person classes to online and correspondence, has been a success.
  • Ashley Mitchell, coordinated with IT, student services staff, and faculty to implement a new online textbook adoption tool for faculty.  Several faculty have commented on how easy and effective the tool is to use. In addition, consolidated shipping options have been re-negotiated to allow for shipping options that work better for CR students.

Angelina verbally mentioned that we have implemented a temporary minor organizational and leadership changes in the instructional divisions.

  • Administration of Justice & Police Academy, Health Occupations (nursing, dental, EMT/paramedics), and Physical Education & Kinesiology will be located in a newly formed  Safety, Health, and Physical Education (SHAPE) division, and Dave Bazard will serve as the division’s dean.
  • All behavioral & social sciences disciplines (Anthropology, Native American Studies, Political Sciences, Psychology, and Sociology) will move to the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences division. George Potamianos will remain the dean of this division.
  • Mike Haley, current professor of mathematics, will serve as interim dean of the Math & Sciences division.
  • Kerry Mayer will remain the Dean of Career Education, but all health occupation programs will be in the SHAPE division instead of Career Education.

Vice President of Administrative Services Report:  Julia’s written report included the following solar energy update:

  • ForeFront Power and the School Project for Utility Rate Reduction (SPURR) have a partnership that offers California schools, colleges, and other public agencies a streamlined path to solar and energy storage solutions. SPURR selected ForeFront Power through a state-wide, competitive Request for Proposal process.  Forefront did an initial assessment of the Del Norte and Klamath-Trinity sites to see if solar solutions could be feasible at those locations as well.  Unfortunately, the systems would be too small scale to create rate savings.
  • Here is a preliminary project timeline that outlines the next steps: 

 

Item

Timeline

Solar & Storage Agreement Execution

August 2020

Microgrid Study Completion

November 2020

Microgrid Contract Execution

December 2020

Federal Tax Credit Step Down From 26% to 22% 

January 2021

PG&E Detailed Study Completion

May 2021

Construction Start

May 2021

System Commercial Operation

December 2021

NEM 3.0 New Net Energy Meter Rules

TBD 2022

 

Executive Director of Foundation Report: Marty’s report included:

  • A grant was secured from the Humboldt Area Foundation for $33,000 to purchase 150 Chromebooks for the District.
  • Marty, Trustee Kelley, Foundation Board Member Amy Hunt, and I have been meeting with the Humboldt Area Foundation to plan for a “Community Conversation on Policing.”
  • Marty is working with Cooperation Humboldt and the Wiyot Tribe to research possible grant funding of the Food Forest project and resilience initiatives.
  • Prudence Ratliff, in collaboration with Marty, offered four successful de-escalation trainings in July. Additional classes will be offered due to strong community and business response.

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