Board of Directors May 2019 Meeting Minutes
May 9, 2019
Board Members Present:
- Ms. Charlene Harris, Chair
- Mr. Clay Parker Davis, Vice Chair
- Ms. Kelly Johnson, Secretary
- Ms. Holly Bowers
- Mr. Phillip Duncan
- Lidia Godbey
- Mr. Gary Napier
- Mr. Marshall Todd
Board Members Absent:
- Mr. Jonathan Arnett
- Dr. Allison Cherry
Call to Order
Chair Harris called the meeting of the Somerset Community College Board of Directors to order at 1:02 p.m. in the Citizens National Bank Community Room in the Harold Rogers Student Commons. She announced that this would be the last meeting for student member, Ms. Godbey, and introduced Mr. Tyler Stapp, who will be the 2019-2020 Student Government Association president and the Board student member for the next year. She thanked Ms. Godbey for her service and presented her with a plaque. This is also the last meeting for staff member, Ms. Bowers, who is leaving SCC to work for the SCC Barnes & Noble Bookstore. Ms. Bowers was also presented with a plaque in appreciation for her service.
Minutes
Chair Harris called upon Secretary Johnson to present the minutes from the last meeting.
MOTION: Mr. Davis moved that the Board approve the minutes of the January 24, 2019 meeting. Mr. Napier seconded the motion.
VOTE: The motion passed unanimously.
Board of Directors Self-Evaluation
Chair Harris presented the summary results of the Board of Directors self-evaluation. The average of total scores from the questionnaires was between 33 and 34%. According to the chart, that score indicates that the Board is in good shape, just needs some fine-tuning. Dr. Castle expressed appreciation for the comments submitted with the self-evaluation and the good information and thoughts that will be useful in future planning. Mr. Duncan asked if the scores were about what were expected and Dr. Castle responded that the scores were very good.
Action Item
Ms. Jill Meece, Chief Business Affairs Officer, presented the FY 2019–2020 Operating Budget Request. The budget changed slightly from the one issued in the agenda books, so Ms. Meece pointed them to the revised budget request at their places.
After presentation of the budget request, Ms. Meece requested the Board of Directors approve the request of $57,714,500 for FY 2019-2020, as presented, with the understanding a few minor modifications may be made by KCTCS.
MOTION: After some questions and discussion, Mr. Davis moved that the Board approve the Budget Request as presented. Mr. Duncan seconded the motion.
VOTE: The motion passed unanimously.
President's Remarks
Dr. Castle explained that his remarks would be somewhat of a capsule from July, 2018 until today. The next meeting in July, Dr. Castle will discuss plans for the future and where SCC is going in the coming year and pieces that will be specifically addressed as we move forward.
Dr. Castle stated there will be a little more than 1,100 awards for graduation, consisting of 780 graduates, with close to 300 going through commencement. Enrollment for the last fall was actually at a slight decline, 5,870 vs. 5,905 the previous year. Unofficially, there was an increase for spring, 5,057 compared to 5,004 from last year. Summer enrollment is currently approximately 200 less than last year. Retention rate from last year to this year is about 47% for the fall. There was a significant increase in dual enrollment. We value dual enrollment with our high schools and we have been talking with our area technology centers and high schools and figuring out the best ways we can work with them moving forward. There has been good progress in the last year.
This past year SCC enrollment had about a 60% female to 40% male ratio, which trends about right with the nation. We are seeing an increased trend for part-time students. We are currently at about 76% part-time, which is a slight up trend. We expect that to increase slightly which means we are impacting the places that we want to – more dual credit, more specific programming with companies, and more specific programming in more specific modalities and times. Mr. Duncan asked about minority numbers. Dr. Castle stated that he had not really seen any change in minority numbers. The current minority percentage is approximately 7%, with approximately 2-3% being African American, about 1% American Indian and about 2% Latino.
Since SCC started using a recruiting focus tool called Radius in November, approximately 570 potential students have expressed interest in attending SCC. Those potential students will be contacted, to try to bring them in for the fall semester.
Tracy Casada is leading the development of a new strategic enrollment plan,
Dr. Castle called upon Trent Pool, Director of the University Center of Southern Kentucky, to update the Board. Mr. Pool gave a timeline of the development of UCSK, from initially creating a vision, mission and logo to a press release, moving into the Students Commons, etc. Currently the MOA is being fine-tuned, which will hopefully be done within the next few weeks. Also, work continues on a five year plan and Mr. Pool is working on grant opportunities with Elaine Kohrman. There will be a signing day with SCC partners. Also, there is a Partner Council, which consists of a VP from each University, and the Council meets every two weeks.
Dr. Castle informed the Board of current work on a Title III grant, which will be several million dollars over a five year period. The grant has a lot to do with how we work with students, improve faculty and staff professional development, and improve programs. A consultant has been hired to help with writing the grant application. There are several grants that are being worked on, but the other big one is an ARC grant in conjunction with the Tennessee College for Applied Technology.
Programming updates include the start-up of the CDL program. One truck has been donated and two more are in process, along with several trailers. We are also adding expanded program in nursing, HVAC, cosmetology, welding, and expanding electronics and electrical in Laurel County. The auto body program has been suspended. We will complete the program for the students already in the program, but there is need for re-evaluation. We are currently analyzing all programming with low enrollment.
Facilities at the Laurel South Campus have been been getting updates in painting and looks for the technical programs located there. On the Somerset Campus, a sign located by Highway 27 will be ready by August 15. The sign will have a digital component. The sign at the main entrance by the Blakley Building will also have a face-lift.
The shared governance model is working well. Dr. Castle feels this is the way to go because it helps us better develop and make decisions college-wide from a broader stance. It’s not just a few making the decisions.
The implementation of the Institutional Effectiveness Division, led by Dr. Bruce Gover, is finding its way and doing a very good job. We’re getting a lot of data and information that we didn’t necessarily have before, or we had but didn’t know how to get.
The Centers are doing well. Center leadership includes Shawn Anderson at McCreary, JR Thompson at Russell and Casey, and we are looking for new leadership for the Clinton Center.
In the coming months we will be rewriting our Strategic Plan. Part of that rewrite includes the new mission and vision which the Board will have to approve. Dr. Castle called on Cindy Clouse, Vice President of Institutional Advancement, to present the process. Ms. Clouse explained that the first step of the process is to develop our mission, vision and our values. The College has created an Institutional Steering Committee, which is divided into three groups. Ms. Clouse and Ms. Meece are leading the effort for the mission, vision and values. The College mission statement has to be endorsed by the SCC Board of Directors and the KCTCS Board of Regents every three years. Also, the SCC Board of Directors has to review the mission, vision and values every year. The last time for approval was October 27, 2016 by the SCC Board and December 2, 2016 by the KCTCS Board of Regents. At the next Board meeting in July, the final version of the mission statement, vision and values will be presented for approval. In the past, we looked at the KCTCS mission and adopted it as our mission also. The SCC Executive Team decided to tweak the mission and vision to make it a little more personal to our College. Before each Board member is a listing of the old mission, vision and values along with a draft of a revised mission, vision and values. The wording may change a little because of input from faculty, staff, community members and Boards. Ms. Clouse asked Board members to review the statements and provide input on any recommended changes by the end of May. SCC Board approval will be sought in July and KCTCS Board of Regents approval in September.
Dr. Castle announced that Dr. Hayes is working on a Master Academic Plan. The first groups are being developed to meet and discuss the plan. This will be a key leadership thread throughout the College in determining where we need to go.
Dr. Castle concluded his remarks by announcing the bigger summer events. The Master Musicians Festival will be held in July and the Lake Cumberland Slaves Memorial will be installed on the Somerset Campus in the patio area behind Meece Hall.
Action Item
Chair Harris explained the process and responsibility of the SCC Board of Directors in annually evaluating Dr. Castle as President and CEO of Somerset Community College. Board members anonymously submitted a completed evaluation form to Chair Harris to compile the data using a weighted average in four categories. The summarization is required to be presented and discussed in an open meeting. Chair Harris presented the summarization of the evaluations to the Board.
Upon completion of her summarization, Chair Harris asked for a motion to approve the evaluation as written. Mr. Napier made a motion to approve. Mr. Todd seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Chair Harris will forward the evaluation to KCTCS.
Adjournment
The next meeting of the Board will be on July 25, 2019. There being no further business, Mr. Todd moved that the meeting adjourn. Mr. Duncan seconded the motion. The meeting adjourned at 2:03 p.m.
Date Approved by Board of Directors
7-25-2019
Charlene Harris, Chair SCC Board of Directors
Signature on file
Kelly Johnson, Secretary SCC Board of Directors
Signature on file
