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Published on 10/6/2020.

Comments/Board Business

Member Comments: Trustee Kelley commented that he had completed the Effective Trusteeship program. Trustee Biggin informed the Board that the registration for the CCLC Conference is open.

Appoint Ad Hoc Committee on Nominations for Board Officers: President of the Board Dr. Mullery appointed Trustees Biggin, Emad and herself to the Ad Hoc committee. Per AP 2305, the Ad Hoc Committee will present a slate of officers at the November Board meeting to be voted on in December.  

Reschedule November Meeting of the Board of Trustees: The Trustees agreed to move the November regular meeting from the 3^rd to the 10^th.

Reschedule December Organizational Meeting of the Board of Trustees: We are required to hold this year’s annual organizational meeting within a fifteen (15) day period commencing with the date upon which the elected governing board member takes office. The date on which elected trustees will take office this year is December 11, 2020.  The Trustees agreed to move the December organizational meeting to the 17^th.

Draft Resolution 770 Against Racism and In Support for an Inclusive Environment for All: At a prior meeting, the Trustees expressed the thought that it was time for the College’s governing board to demonstrate its appropriate leadership by seizing this moment of public and political turmoil to encourage CR to be a force for fighting racism and advocating for inclusion. To that end, the Trustees agreed to agendize a resolution for discussion that communicates the Board's position on racism. The Board discussed a draft resolution at this meeting. The only comment made today was to consider revising the title of the Resolution. I attached the draft resolution to this summary article.

Consideration and Possible Action to Make Permanent Appointment to Fill Area 5 Vacancy on the Board of Trustees (Education Code section 5091): The Board interviewed three qualified applicants to replace Trustee Bruce Emad as the representative for Area 5. The Board voted to appoint Dr. Rebecca Robertson to a full term. She will be sworn in at the December regular meeting of the Board.

Consideration and Possible Action to Make Provisional Appointment to Fill Area 1 Vacancy on the Board of Trustees (Education Code section 5328): Three applicants were interviewed by the Board to replace Dr. Bonnie Diester as trustee for Area 1. The Board agreed to appoint Mr. Tracy Coppini to replace Dr. Diester who had resigned midway through her term. His provisional term of office began today after he was sworn in and will terminate November 2022.

Consent Calendar Action Items

Approve/Ratify Personnel Actions: The Board approved the employment of Mr. Michael Perkins as the new Director of Administration of Justice, Public Safety and Response effective December 7, 2020.  Michael’s background is well suited to take over the leadership of our Administration of Justice, Public Safety and Response department when Ron retires on December 18.

Michael has a Bachelor’s Degree from Phizer College. He retired from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office after a 27-year career. His last assignment with the Sheriff’s Office was serving as the Chief of Police Services for the City of Carpinteria. Prior to his promotion to this position, he spent over 8 years serving as the Training Bureau Supervisor. In that capacity, he developed and implemented training programs for law enforcement, custody and dispatch personnel.

In addition, he has been teaching a public safety-training program with Allan Hancock community college since 1999. He has developed a strong working knowledge of best practices in training methodology.

Please join me in welcoming three new associate faculty to our college community. Amanda Evers and Jonathon Iocco will serve as Nursing faculty on the Eureka Campus. Andrew Nichols will serve as a Counselor in our Eureka Campus based TRiO program.  

The Board ratified my decision to accept three resignations and one retirement. Irene Gonzalez-Herrera resigned as the LRC’s Administrative Office Assistant II and Graciela Ventura Haas resigned as the Student Services Specialist II at KTIS. Both of these resignations were effective at the end of September. Anthony Luehrs, a faculty member in our Mathematics department, resigned as of the end of this academic year.  

The Trustees also ratified my acceptance of Cindy Anderson’s retirement request effective December 30, 2020. I want to wish Cindy well in retirement.

Approve/Ratify Contracts, Agreements, MOUs:  The Board approved several contracts and agreements this month.  One contract of note is the agreement with Forefront Power, LLC to install and operate a solar photovoltaic and energy storage system for the Eureka Campus. This project will result in energy cost savings between $4 million to $4.8 million over 20 years.

Action/Discussion Items

Approve Monthly Financial Status Report: The Board approved the financial report that covered July 1, 2020 to August 30, 2020. In this report, we noted that State Apportionment is trending higher than at this point in time last year due to a 2019-20 prior year adjustment. However, our overall revenues this year are slightly lower because we are seeing lower FTES this fall versus last year and students are not able to register for the full academic year (fall and spring) at the beginning of the year.

Our salary and benefit expenses are trending slightly lower and Other Operating is much lower since the pandemic is causing a slowdown in spending.

We still plan to transfer money from the General Fund to the CDC, Shively Farm, and OPEB.

$90,000         Child Development Center

$50,911         Shively Farm

$645,000       OPEB Fund

$785,911       Total

It is important to remember that although the monthly financial status reports shows a projected 2020-21 ending fund balance of 9.0%, we still expect to see $5,000,000 in apportionment deferrals.  This means that although the fund balance appears to be $2,816,676, we will not have the cash to back it until the deferred payments are received from the State.

Informational Reports

Student Success Data: Update on Fall Enrollment: The Board requested a fall enrollment update after census. This report noted that our headcount was down 20% for fall 2020 compared to fall 2019. The good news is that our fill rate (a course efficiency measure) was 80% in fall 2020 compared to 72% in fall 2019. I will provide a much more detailed enrollment report by specific demographics at the end of fall semester.

Organizational Reports

ACADEMIC SENATE President Gary Sokolow: Gary’s written report mentioned that the Academic Senate and the Administration are going to participate in the annual faculty prioritization process. He also mentioned that the Senate would consider formally endorsing the work of the Del Norte Faculty and staff in compiling a Pelican Bay Scholars Handbook and discuss how the new CSU ethnic studies requirements for all GE courses will affect CR students who might transfer to CSU campuses.

Included in his written report was a list of concerns expressed by faculty at the recent informal faculty meeting. Among the concerns expressed were:

1. That many of our students are unfamiliar with on-line learning and have had a steep learning curve to climb. Much of the discussion of this issue dealt with how faculty can fully support their students during the pandemic and beyond.
2. That internet access for many of our students is an issue in our rural college district.
3. That current and prospective students be informed as soon as possible of schedule changes via Webadvisor.
4. The safety of students, staff, and faculty over the increasing number of classes which will be offered face to face this coming Spring semester.

CRFO President Michelle Haggerty: Michelle’s report mentioned that the semester is quickly approaching the halfway mark and faculty and students are adapting, with some pains, to the online teaching environment. Faculty are reporting struggles but have provided positive feedback about the manner in which CR has handled COVID. She noted that CRFO continues to meet weekly with the District to problem solve and create MOUs when the contract needs to be adapted and CRFO is working with the faculty senate to discuss faculty priorities.

Michelle also mentioned that she attended a two-day meeting with FACCC, on zoom. According to Michelle, all of her statewide colleagues are concerned with the state budget and how to support students and faculty. The FACCC board voted to support Propositions 15 and 16 that are on the ballot in November.

CLASSIFIED President Tami Engman: Tami’s report included the following:

As we trudge through another month of COVID, sheltering in place, working from home, or working on campus every day, the classified staff seem to be doing what they can to maintain a sense of normal. We’re “zooming” with coworkers and students, checking out laptops, changing out filters in buildings, and taking care of the day-to-day issues that arise CSEA has spent the last few months negotiating our Impacts and Effects of Layoffs MOU, and our Reopening MOU. Both of these agreements took a lot of time, dedication and diligence from both sides. Special recognition goes to our Labor Relations Representative Holley Luia, Chief Negotiator Jose Ramirez, and Negotiations team member Tom Cossey. Without these 3 individuals standing up for the rights of the classified staff and applying their institutional knowledge during negotiations the classified staff would be lost. THANK YOU ALL, for everything you do!

On behalf of CSEA, I would like to thank Trustee Bruce Emad for his years of service to College of the Redwoods. During your time on the board there have been many ups and down, but I know that many of us appreciate your willingness to speak up about things. Being in a leadership role typically means being willing to speak up, speak loud and speak proud. Thank you for doing each of these.

In some fun CSEA news, in early August, CSEA President Ben Valdepeña appointed me as Regional Representative (RR) for Region 14, which encompasses 14 districts from Del Norte to Southern Humboldt. RR’s are the eyes and ears of the Association, and we help chapters through things that are not labor or negotiations related. It is slow paced right now, but I expect things to pick up very soon!

Trustee Biggin took the opportunity in this agenda item to congratulate Tami on her appointment as the Regional Representative for Region 14.

Administrative Reports

President/Superintendent's Report: My written reported included the following:

• Vice President Julia Morrison will serve on the California Community College system's CCC/IOU (Investor Owned Utilities) Energy Efficiency Partnership Management Team and the statewide FUSION Steering Committee. The FUSION Steering Committee provides oversight of the FUSION budget, functionality, and enhancements to ensure the online platform is a viable and effective tool for all 72 districts with “brick and mortar” facilities.
• We are in the process of creating a COVID-19 operational plan for spring semester. I asked Kerry Mayer to work closely with CRFO to ensure that the plan includes appropriate protocols to safeguard the faculty-working environment. I also asked Julia Morrison to work with CSEA to make sure that safety protocols are included in the plan that will ensure the safety of classified staff. Marty Coelho will collate all the information into one comprehensive document. 
• The Department of State Architects (DSA) is reviewing the plans for the new Creative Arts building. The District expects to send this project out to bid early 2021. The Department of Finance has yet to allocate funds for the working drawings for the PE Complex project. 
• We want to recognize twenty-five student athletes for their selection to the 2019-20 All-State Academic Honors.

Women’s Basketball
Teresa Dickey	3.62
Abiona Katri	3.82
Bree Northern	3.86
Juliana Ortega-Miranda	3.62
Women’s Soccer
Kiah Martin	3.50
Juliana Ortega-Miranda	3.62
Grace Rosebrook	3.84
Softball
Karyn Jensen	3.84
Destiny Peters	3.55
Grace Rosebrook	3.84
Sadie Wilkenson	3.82
Men’s Basketball
Zachary Claus	3.84
Isaac Puzz	3.59
Drew Gillette	3.58
Men’s Soccer
Josevicente Chavez	3.70
Volleyball
Paula Mello	3.86
Baseball
Jonathan Lewis	3.87
Maxwell Shanks	3.7
Football
Cameron Governale	3.62
Christian Kasper	3.68
Michah Moon	3.53
Track/X-Country
Ruth Gross	3.79
Hailey Hopkins	3.95
Joshua Hunt	3.64
Owen Lien	3.67
Tegan Thompson	3.52
Kathleen Wright	3.93

I mentioned in my verbal comments that I am working with HSU and the Wiyot Tribe to create a joint land acknowledgement statements. I want to share the draft long and short versions of the statements that Alia Dunphy has provided input on:

"We acknowledge that the land on which we are gathered today is unceded territory of the Wiyot people who continue to live and thrive on today. It is surrounded by the traditional, ancestral, and present homeland of several indigenous nations including the Hupa, Karuk, Mattole, Tolowa, Wailaki, and Yurok that make up Humboldt County"

"We acknowledge that the land on which we are gathered today is unceded territory of the Wiyot people who continue to live and thrive on today.”

Dr. Jackson will now send the draft statements through his review process.

I also mentioned that I sent a letter to Dr. Frankovich and Dr. Ennis outlining our instructional and operational plan for spring semester.

Vice President of Instruction: Angelina’s written reported included the following information:

• Faculty have finished creating, and the Academic Senate has approved, over half of the Distance Education Addenda and Correspondence Addenda. The Academic Senate is on track to get 100 percent of the curriculum changes that need to take place because of COVID-19.
• The College has created a Task Force for Credit For Prior Learning to review the College's Credit for Prior Learning administrative procedure. A policy must be endorsed and published by December 2020 due to recent legislation. The Task Force includes members of the administration, Academic Senate, and CRFO.
• The Deans, Associate Deans, and Directors came together under the leadership of assessment coordinator Philip Mancus to continue training to use eLumen and make process changes to the way faculty assess outcomes in eLumen.

Angelina’s verbal comments included a welcome to Tracy Coppini back to the Board. She also congratulated Alia Dunphy for all the work she’s been doing related to equity, diversity and inclusion.

Vice President of Administrative Services: Julia’s written report included a legislative update:

• AB 2884, if signed, would expand the use of restricted Lottery funds to include expenditures on student basic needs.
• Tax Proposals AB 398, AB 1253, and AB 2088 were not pursued by Democrats in the 2019-20 legislative session.  AB 398 proposed a "head count" tax on for-profit businesses with over 500 employees at $275 per employee with the revenues split 50/50 between K-12 schools and local government.  AB 1253 proposed a new millionaires tax that would have imposed three new surcharges on millionaire households: 1% for taxable income over $1 million, 3% for income over $2 million, and 3.5% for income over $5 million.  AB 2088 proposed a new wealth tax that would have imposed a 0.4% tax on a resident’s net worth (except for real estate) in excess of $30 million or in excess of $15 million for married taxpayers filing separately.  
• Prop 15 is the Schools and Communities First initiative that would change how commercial and industrial properties are assessed. Proponents have been working on this change to Prop 13 for years, but this will be the first time the proposition will come before the voters. Revenue from Prop 13 would be split between existing local governments (about 60% of the new revenues) and a funding pool called the Local School and Community College Property Tax Fund (about 40% of the new revenues). The education funding would be split with 11% to community college districts and 89% to school districts, to be divided among districts based on their respective current funding formulas. These funds would be provided on top of existing Proposition 98 revenues.  
• Prop 19, if approved by the California voters, would change homeowner property tax assessments in two ways.  First, it would expand the number of homeowners who would be eligible to transfer the taxable value of their current residence to a new residence, allowing them to buy a new residence while keeping the low assessed level of their former residence for property tax purposes.  Second, when a home is transferred from a deceased parent or grandparent, it must remain as a primary residence in order to be shielded from reassessment, as under current law.   
• AB 685 Effective January 1, 2021, Labor Code section 6409.6 requires employers to notify certain employees, their exclusive representatives, and employers of contracted employees, within one business day, after the employer receives a “notice of potential exposure” to COVID-19, and to notify the local public health agency, within 48 hours, after learning of a “COVID-19 outbreak” at a worksite.

She also wrote that according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), the State ended the 2019-20 fiscal year in a stronger cash position than was anticipated.  While the projections signaled an ending cash position of $9 billion, the state was able to maintain a $37.3 billion cushion.  The $9 billion scenario was based on an anticipated increase in state medical costs as a result of COVID-19 and an expected decrease in state revenues. Neither the increase in state medical costs nor the decrease in state revenues in 2019-20 materialized. 

While this is good news, a high level of uncertainty remains related to revenue and expense projections if the pandemic persists.  In addition, the 2021-22 State Budget will have to include a large repayment plan as a result of the $12.5 billion in K-12 and community college deferred payments.

Executive Director of College Advancement and the Foundation: Marty noted that he is:

• working with production staff on potentially using some of CR’s buildings for filming a major new film for Apple,
• writing a draft white paper on the process to move community conversations related to policing forward,
• Overseeing a COVID Economic Resilience Consortium (CERC) committee developing the Latinx version of the Wear a Mask Campaign for Humboldt County, and
• working with Pru Ratliff to expand CR’s de-escalation training to local businesses.

Marty’s report also mentioned that the Foundation is collaborating with the Humboldt Area Foundation on the policing project.