---

Published on 10/3/2023.

Audit Committee Meeting

We asked KNN Finance to discuss potential funding mechanisms for our student housing and community stadium upgrade projects with the Board’s Audit and Finance Committee in March. Following the March meeting, we were able to narrow down potential funding options for further discussion.

The Audit Committee met with KNN Finance again before the April regular meeting of the Board and directed me to work with bond counsel and KNN to create a resolution that will allow us to use a Negotiated Sale funding mechanism to borrow up to $8 million payable over a 30-year term with a 10-year call option for our student housing design and community stadium upgrade projects. The Audit Committee will meet again to review the funding resolution before it is presented to the full Board for approval in May.  I included KNN’s pdf presentation in this blog summary for your information.

Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees

Comments/Board Business

Land Acknowledgement:  President of the Board Biggin read the District’s formal statement recognizing our area’s Indigenous Peoples as the original stewards of the land that College of the Redwoods occupies. 

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 this land 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 and Del Norte Counties.

Member Comments: Trustee Dorn informed the Board that former CR Trustee Barbara Rice was appointed to the Mendocino College board of trustees. Trustees Biggin, Mathews, and Dr. Mullery noted that they attended the recent CCLC Legislative Affairs webinar. They specifically called attention to the LAO’s and some legislator’s views on student housing for UC, CSU, and the CCC  as well as the tax filing deadline extension. To this last point, we may not have a final state budget until after July or August since the tax revenue picture may not be clear at that time.

Board Committee Reports: Trustee Dr. Mullery noted that the Ad Hoc Committee for the President’s Evaluation finalized the survey instruments. There will be two separate instruments—one for Trustees and one for constituent groups (Academic Senate, CRFO, CSEA, Management Council, Deans/Directors, and Executive Cabinet).  Both surveys will be deployed soon with each group given two weeks to complete. The survey results will be discussed at May Board meeting.

Trustee Dorn commented that the Board’s Self-Evaluation Committee finalized its evaluation instrument and intends to deploy it two days after the President’s evaluation two-week period.

Trustee Dorn also mentioned that the Audit Committee met and recommended that an action go to the full Board in May that will give the Administration permission to use a Negotiated Sale mechanism to borrow up to $8 million for the student housing design and community stadium upgrade projects.

Annual Review of Mission Statement: Accreditation Standard I.A.1 and Eligibility Requirement (ER) 6 call on CR “to have a mission that describes the institution’s broad educational purposes, its intended student population, the types of degrees and other credentials it offers, and its commitment to student learning and student achievement.” Additionally, Standard I.A.4 calls on the Board of Trustees “to periodically review the Mission Statement and update it as necessary.”

To remain in compliance with the accreditation standards and ER 6, the Board of Trustees reviewed our mission at this meeting:

College of the Redwoods puts the success of each student at the forefront of every strategic effort. The college provides accessible and relevant educational programs that promote student academic achievement, career readiness, and lifelong learning so that our students may thrive in a rapidly changing world. We endeavor to meet the diverse needs of the communities we serve and to be a nimble and pioneering partner in the educational, civic, cultural, and economic development of the region. We recognize the future of learning will require flexibility and resiliency and we are committed to developing and expanding innovative in-person and online programs and responsive student services. Through assessment and evidence-based research, we continuously improve programs and address equity gaps to ensure that each student has the opportunity and support to succeed. We are dedicated to a just and sustainable world, to fostering a safe and inclusive educational community, and to advancing the values and goals of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

To achieve its mission, the Redwoods Community College District follows the mission of the California Community College System as determined by the State Legislature.

During the discussion, it was clear that the Board wants our mission statement to reflect that College of the Redwoods is committed to economic development of the region by offering critical career education programs and remains nimble and creative.

Review of Board of Trustee Goals: ACCJC Standard IV.C.10 calls on our Board of Trustees to establish a process for board evaluation that assesses the board’s effectiveness in promoting and sustaining academic quality and institutional effectiveness. Additionally, “The governing board regularly evaluates its practices and performance, including full participation in board training, and makes public the results…The results are used to improve board performance, academic quality, and institutional effectiveness.”

To remain in compliance with Standard IV.C.10 and ensure the long-term health of the District, the Board conducted a review of their goals to coincide with their evaluation. The Board will revaluate its goals next August.

Consent Calendar Action Items

Approve/Ratify Personnel Actions: I am delighted to share that, by Board action, we have an opportunity of welcoming new classified and managerial colleagues to our community. Joining our classified service are Shirley Graser (Instructional Support Specialist II (Greenhouse)), Alexis Lopez Camacho (Public Safety Officer), and Bryan Dunn (Gardener I).  And Leslie Marshall will begin service as our Director of Facilities and Planning on April 10, 2023.

Please join me in congratulating Haley Cisneros, Lupita Martinez, and Jeanette Whitley for their employee change of status. Haley moved from Custodian I to Student Services Specialist II – Residential Life. Lupita moved from the Human Resources Technician to the Human Resources Analyst position. Jeanette Whitley moved from her Early Childhood Education Assistant I to Early Childhood Education Assistant II position.

As we welcome new colleagues, we also say goodbye to Jessica Kahoalii. Jessica resigned from her Administrative Office Assistant II position in the LRC on March 31.

PE Replacement Project: We received permission from the Board to publish Request for Proposals (RFP)s for an Inspector of Record and for Special Testing and Inspection Services for the Physical Education Replacement Project.

Action/Discussion Items

Approve Monthly Financial Status Report: We made a few budget adjustments that were reflected in this report:

• Other State Revenue is coming in higher than expected due to some prior year adjustments. As a result, the budget was increased by $350,000.
• The Non-Resident Tuition Revenue budget was increased by $100,000 due to an increase in enrollment. 
• The Salaries and Benefits Expense budgets were increased to reflect the effects of the recently approved 2022-25 Faculty Contract.   
• Transfers out are comprised of the following:

•      $90,000      Child Development Center
•      $67,122      Shively Farm
•    $750,000      OPEB fund
•    $150,000      Capital Outlay
• $1,057,122      Total

Informational Reports

Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Project: We are engaged in a Chancellor’s Office SEM initiative to strengthen our strategic enrollment management efforts. We formed community of practice project team led by Dr. Crystal Morse to examine and address our enrollment challenges and opportunities. The SEM project team took some time at this Board meeting to update the Trustees on their work.  I want to thank Nicole Bryant Lescher, Colin Trujillo, Joe Hays, and Katrina Hanson for a wonderful and thought-provoking conversation.

Organizational Reports

Academic Senate: Academic Senate President Gaines commented on the various policies the Senate is working on.

CRFO: CRFO President Haggerty’s comments included a “shout out” to the Payroll Department for working hard to change the faculty’s wage records to ensure that their salaries reflect the compensation levels agreed to in the recently approved CBA. She also mentioned that CRFO and the Academic Senate are discussing ways to rebuild communication bridges between faculty that were lost during COVID as well as creating a healthy faculty culture for new faculty hires.

Classified: President Engman’s comments included a mention that CSEA will bring a resolution to the May Board meeting recognizing the work of the classified staff.

Management Council: Management Council President Sorenson provided a written report that noted several updates including:

• The Management Council is planning two Classified Professionals Appreciation Meals. One on Tuesday, May 23rd on the Del Norte Campus and the second one on Thursday, May 25th on the Eureka Campus for both the Eureka and KT Locations.
• Vice President Ericka Barber will become the new Management Council President when Erik Sorensen’s tenure ends in May.
• Business Office training to took place on Thursday, March 30.
• A Career Fair was held at Del Norte on March 23.
• Erik attended the yearly Chief Information Systems Officer Association (CISOA) Technology Summit with two of staff members. The focus of many of the sessions was Cybersecurity, fraud prevention, and student success.  Based on the constant threat that the colleges are faced with, the Chancellor’s Office is setting some IT and Cybersecurity Implementation Goals. By December 31, 2023 the CCCCO will implement Course Exchange, Multi-factor Authentication, Endpoint Detection and Response, Local Single Sign-On, Privileged Access Management, and Vulnerability Scanning. The CCCCO will have to adopt SuperGlue. Additionally, all districts must show progress on eliminating End-of-Life systems. CR’s IT and IS teams have put in a lot of effort and are ahead of schedule to meet these goals. IT staff have many of them completed and are working to address the remaining issues.
• Facilities & Maintenance is remodeling a room in the Student Services Building to create a certified lactation room. Per legislation, we need to have it up and operational by the end of April.  

• Many members of management council attended the Mid Semester Celebration for the Klamath Trinity Instructional Site on Tuesday, March 21. The group would like to recognize Misty Knight and her team of staff for putting on such a great event to celebrate our students.
• Recently, the Chancellor’s Office released an article about our Klamath-Trinity Site and the support they provide to the community.  The article is entitled “Bringing hope to the Hoopa Valley” can be found at this link:

https://www.cccco.edu/About-Us/News-and-Media/California-Community-Colleges-Outlook-Newsletter/february-2023-college-of-the-redwoods

Student Trustee: Student Trustee Madsen’s written report included:

• ASCR elected Netanya Arevalo as Executive Vice President and Stephanie McKindley as Klamath Trinity Campus Senator.
• ASCR is preparing for the 2023-24 student leadership elections which will be held online from April 13-20. 
• ASCR Executive Organizational Senator, Jessica Lamas, held the first InterClub Council (ICC) meeting in over 6 years on Friday March 24. Clubs in attendance included the Queer Student Union (QSU) who informed the group about their upcoming Drag Show at the CR theater on April 29, the Redwoods 180 Bible Club that has been doing outreach and providing food, water, and warm and waterproof clothing to homeless individuals in our community, Asian and Pacific Islander (API) Club spoke about a night market they will be participating in at Eureka High School to sell Asian foods and raise awareness about Asian culture, Club TRiO spoke about their field trip to the Sequoia Park Zoo in the fall semester, Crafting Club expressed gratitude for club member’s enthusiasm in the fall semester and noted that they haven’t been able to meet yet in spring due to scheduling challenges, Computer Science Club attended and reported on their great success in collaboration with CR’s whole Computer Information Systems department at the National Skyline Cyber Security Competition where CR finished 72 out of over 3000 colleges and universities nationwide, Welding Club brought flyers and spoke about how the club is working to keep CR students engaged with metal craft and learning new welding techniques.  Entrepreneurship Club is getting started recruiting members and should be submitting their official charter application soon. Official CR clubs that were not represented at the meeting due to scheduling conflicts were Forestry and Natural Resources Club, Latine Club, Tales of Xira Club (just chartered 3/7), and the Educated Radicals (a Pelican Bay Scholars Club). The ICC meeting was a great success and the group agreed to have their next meeting in mid-April (exact date and time to be determined).
• Three ASCR senate members (Marabeth Madsen, Jessica Lamas, and Stephanie Byrd) and ASCR Advisor Stephen Quiggle traveled to the Klamath Trinity instructional site along with representatives from several CR departments, including EOPS, Retention, and TRiO to support KT’s Mid-semester Celebration on March 21.
• ASCR thanked Julia Morrison for presenting the revised draft Facilities Master Plan to ASCR for feedback. ASCR enjoyed the presentation and seeing how CR is growing and changing in support of the updated Education Master Plan.
• ASCR thanked Marty Coelho for speaking to them about their options for the scholarship endowments.
• ASCR voted to dedicate $50,000 to endow scholarships at CR with an additional $7,500 in scholarships for Spring 2023 and an additional $7,500 in scholarships for Fall semester 2023 while the endowment accrues interest.
• ASCR voted to put $50,000 towards the Student Emergency Grant Fund with a recommendation that future ASCR Senates replenish the fund as needed.
• ASCR voted to fund up to $2,000 for the purchase of up to 100 tickets to the upcoming Drag Show as well as funding transportation from the Del Norte campus. They are also looking into funding transportation for students interested in attending from the Klamath Trinity campus. Asian and Pacific Islander Club also requested and had funds approved to vend merchandise at the Drag Show. Proceeds will be donated to a local Queer support organization (to be determined).

Administrative Reports

President/Superintendent's Report: In my written report I noted several items including:

• Our Police Department Oversight Committee met on March 29. The committee is comprised of Dr. Crystal Morse, Mason Koski (student), two classified staff (Mark Bernards and Matthew Gilliland), three managers (Kintay Johnson, Nate Kees, and Anthony Finck), and two community members (David McClain and Tucker Noir). Dr. Morse and Matthew Gilliland agreed to serve as co-chairs of the committee.
• My office sent a letter to the Assembly Higher Education Committee supporting AB 1040 (Alvarez), which would add a course credit opportunity for community college students who provide one-to-one mentoring to disadvantaged children for at least two semesters.
• We are scheduling "Surviving an Active Assailant" (SAA) trainings through a contract with Keenan/IMReady. The SAA trainings will take place at the Eureka Campus on August 18 and will consist of two trainings. The Module 1 training is an overview session, which focuses on the fundamental core concepts of SAA. The Module 2 training is a workshop that builds on the concepts covered in Module 1 and provides an opportunity to exercise techniques in controlled, hands-on scenarios. According to Keenan/IMReady: "Attendees should gain a basic understanding and awareness of Critical Mass Casualty (CMC) incidents and the knowledge, willpower, and tactics necessary to increase their odds of surviving a CMC incident."
• HR sent an email calling for nominations for the Kathryn G. Smith Leadership Award. The award will be presented at the fall 2023 convocation.
• Professor Hillary Reed has been asked to attend the American Indian Career Fair in Hoopa, Crescent City, and Eureka. Professor Reed's invitation is the result of working closely with United Indian Health System for several years and sending them interns that qualify for their services and who are part of the community.
• Our athletic coaches wrote a letter to the community noting the passing of Coach Jim McAuley and how important he was to the CR Athletic Program.

In my verbal comments, I mentioned that the college is continuing to explore the topic of the future of learning. I noted that Kerry Mayer, Chris Gaines, and I had a great conversation recently about the potential impact of AI technology on our future operations. We talked about a March 26 Goldman Sachs article that projected that 300 million jobs could be impacted by AI and 27% of today's work in Educational Instruction and Library could be automated. This is concerning given how fast AI technology is evolving.  

Vice President of Instruction Report:  Lisa’s written report noted that the Klamath-Trinity Site held its mid-semester celebration on March 21was well-attended by CR staff and faculty. Additionally, the CR woodworking program hosted RedWoodShop: A Showcase of CR Woodworking in the College of the Redwoods Art Gallery, with an impressive showing of furniture pieces made by CR students and faculty.

Lisa commented on the Fifth Friday professional development session with Interim Deputy Chancellor Dr. Lizette Navarette.  Participants in the session discussed the future of learning, workforce development, dual enrollment, common course numbering, and flexible course offerings with Dr. Navarette.

Vice President of Administrative Services Report: Julia’s written report highlighted the work of the the Budget Advisory Committee (BAC). She noted that the BAC is working to complete program audits of the Manufacturing Technology and Social Sciences programs and has finalized the Annual Budget Outlook Statement. She also noted that the following primary goals will be used to inform the 2023-24 budget assumptions:

• Explore ways to assess the costs, participation & effectiveness of our Professional Development programs.
• Continue providing resources for program development such as Cal Poly Humboldt (CPH) Collaboration and social work human services.
• Continue to provide resources for development of courses for the California Virtual Campus- Online Exchange Initiative (CVC-OEI) in order to increase FTES and degree completions.
• Continue to fund initiatives for the student experience such as Outdoor Campus Collaborative (OCC), health and wellness center, CR app, support for student advising and registration, etc.  
• Continue to allocate funds for ongoing technology replacement budget.
• Continue to allocate funds for ongoing maintenance and capital outlay budget.
• Explore ways to balance the attainment of FTES targets with course efficiency rates.
• Allocate funds to ensure there is adequate budget to fund capital outlay annual debt repayment.

In her verbal comments, Julia thanked the Board for approving the employment of Leslie Marshall as our Director of Facilities and Planning. As noted in a Personnel Action section, Leslie will start on April 10, 2023.

Interim Vice President of Student Services Report: Crystal’s written report called our attention to two important initiatives:

• The CR SEM Project Team hosted two CCCCO/IEPI appointed Strategy Coaches on site March 24, 2023. Our cross-functional team of ten CR professionals held coach-guided work sessions furthering the CR SEM Team Project for AY 22-23: The Student Journey - Improving the Orientation and Onboarding Experience. The team is comprised of Peter Blakemore, Rory Johnson, Angela Stewart, Bernadette Johnson, Colin Trujillo, Nicole Bryant Lescher, Katrina Hanson, Joseph Hays, Myke Magdaleno, and Crystal Morse. The CCCCO/IEPI appointed Coaches include Tamika Connor (Vice President of Strategic Enrollment and Student Success, Calbright College) and Drew Yamanishi (Dean of Students, Glendale Community College). This group will continue its current project through the final state level SEM Convening on May 19, 2023.
• The CR Career Center and Retention Program collaborated to host Career Exploration Day on March 27, 2023. This event allowed for over 150 attendees to connect with local businesses and organizations to learn about career opportunities and how CR certificate programs, degrees, and transfer opportunities can help them gain the skills and knowledge sought in a successful employee. Currently enrolled CR students as well as high school students from Alder Grove Charter School, Eureka High School, Fort Bragg High School, Northern Humboldt United Charter School, Southfork High School, and Pacific Coast High School engaged with 36 general and health occupations industry/employer partners throughout the event.  

In Crystal’s verbal comments, she thanked the Board for approving the personnel action item that approved the employ change in status for Haley Cisneros. Haley will now serve as our Student Services Specialist II in Residential Life.

Interim Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives: Kerry updated us on several strategically important initiatives for the college.

• Kerry is collaborating with the Center for Rural Policy, secured a $75,000 grant to support workforce development efforts focused on behavioral health, particularly in the areas of Social Work and Human Services and Addiction Studies. These funds will be used to support the convening of an Indigenous Advisory Council to provide input to CR's Social Work and Human Services (SWHS) and Addiction Studies programs. Additionally, funds will be used to support the expansion of the SWHS/Addiction Studies clinical placement sites to include sites focused on serving Native populations and to create an internship program for students who desire to fulfill their clinical field placement requirements in service to native populations through those sites.
• She joined members of the President’s Council in a listening session on March 16 at CR Del Norte to garner input on CR Del Norte's ability to respond to workforce readiness and workforce training needs in Del Norte County. Several themes emerged during the session that present opportunities for CR Del Norte to better serve the community including: 

1. Increase course offerings through our Adult and Community Education department, which could include Adult Education offerings in English as a Second Language courses, support for GED Completion, Computer Literacy courses, as well a variety of workforce preparation courses through Community Education in areas like Pharmacy Technicians, Truck Driving, and Phlebotomy.
2. Develope of Dual Enrollment offerings through the Del Norte high schools in areas such as welding, automotive technology, and career exploration-based guidance courses.
3. Collaborate with Del Norte Tribal partners to offer CR courses on site at Tribal education facilities and, potentially, to develop new academic programs based at the Del Norte Campus (Tourism & Hospitality, Cultural Monitoring, Natural Resources Interpretation, etc.).
4. Partner with the Del Norte community and business leaders to provide Del Norte-based mentorship, internship, and job shadowing opportunities to CR Del Norte students.

• She is working on the following applications for grant funding.

1. Native American Student Success and Support Program grant through the Chancellor's Office. The focus of this five-year grant project is to support colleges in developing and delivering local Native American student support and success programs to better meet the Vision for Success Goals, particularly increasing the number of Native American students served, increasing their persistence rates, and increasing completion rates. If successful, this grant award will total $1.5 million over five years. The submission deadline is April 7, 2023 with the award notifications scheduled for April 30, 2023.
2. Nursing Education Investment Grant through the Foundation for California Community Colleges. This one-year grant is designed to benefit nursing education within the California Community Colleges. The Foundation anticipates awarding three or more grants statewide, and the combined total amount to be granted is just over $500,000.

In her verbal comments, Kerry mentioned how valuable it was that she joined a delegation of workforce and economic development partners that included representatives from Cal Poly Humboldt, the Humboldt County Office of Education, the County of Humboldt's Office of Economic Development, the Operating Engineers Local #3, and the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on a site visit to CityBuild SF. CityBuild provides comprehensive pre-apprenticeship and construction administration training to San Francisco residents.

Executive Director of College Advancement and the Foundation: Marty’s written report noted that he is working on the spring cycle for the Presidential Innovation Grant applications closed on March 31 and the Foundation’s Innovation Grants Committee will meet with applicants on April 21. He noted that the Scholarship Receptions will be held on April 12, 5:30 - 6 pm, at CR’s Del Norte Education Center and on April 20, 4 – 5:30 pm, at the Wharfinger Building, in Eureka for all scholarship recipients.

In his verbal comments Marty noted that two potential Foundation board members will be submitted to the Foundation board for approval soon. He also commented that he received eleven Innovation Fund proposals—4 academic, 3, economic, and 4 from staff.