August 27, 2009 Minutes of Regular Board Meeting

The Board of Trustees of Illinois Valley Community College District No. 513 convened a regular session at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 27, 2009 in the Board Room (C307) at Illinois Valley Community College.

Members Physically Present:

Dennis N. Thompson, Chair
Thomas C. Setchell, Vice Chair
David O. Mallery, Secretary                                                                 
Leslie-Anne Englehaupt
Larry D. Huffman
Melissa M. Olivero
Cheyanne Smith, Student Trustee

Members Telephonically Present:

Michael C. Driscoll

Members Absent:

Others Physically Present:

Jerry Corcoran, President
Cheryl Roelfsema, Vice President for Business Services and Finance
Rick Pearce, Vice President for Learning and Student Development
Lori Scroggs, Vice President for Planning and Institutional Effectiveness
Walt Zukowski, Attorney

PUBLIC HEARING

This being the time and place published for a Public Hearing regarding the FY2010 Budget, Board Chairm Dennis Thompson, called for questions and/or comments from the audience.  Mr. Mallery questioned the budget process especially in regard to the budget shortfall this past year in the childcare fund.  Ms. Roelfsema stated each department receives worksheets to prepare their own budget.  Each department is provided four to five years of history on expenses and revenues and also what was budgeted the previous year.  Each department must make a presentation before the budget council on their budget.  Mr. Mallery was concerned that the childcare center’s expenses were $50,000 over the revenues.  Mr. Setchell indicated that Mr. Mallery was looking at the enterprise funds which are a proprietary type of accounting where the fees should support the expenses or the expenses should be cut. Fees over the past few years have not met the revenues. The childcare program is not working.  The College should not approach an enterprise fund with a deficit if it is going to be supported by fees.  Mr. Thompson suggested perhaps looking at the childcare center as a service and not expect it to provide the income to cover all of the expenses.  This is one of the charges that the audit/finance committee will be asked to look at for the future.  Mr. Thompson stated there are other programs where enrollment is low and expenses exceed revenue, but these programs are in the educational fund where other programs make up the difference and no transfers are needed.  Mr. Mallery was still concerned with the budget process and if there were controls in place.  It was explained that if a department’s budget request was much higher than its budget history, an explanation is needed and submitted to the budget council.  Mr. Setchell believes this is a policy decision and not an accounting decision.  If the decision is to provide this service then the board must make that decision.  To bring this issue to closure, Dr. Corcoran stated the college has a new Vice President for Learning and Student Development and he has some new ideas.  Dr. Corcoran respectfully asked to give him the opportunity to look at the program over the next year to see if there is a better way to handle it.  Dr. Corcoran looks forward to the discussion from the audit/finance committee on how to budget accordingly for these programs.  Dr. Corcoran is proud of the budget process and is delighted that the college continues to be recognized by the GFOA and in the last two years has received awards.  Ms. Roelfsema reported the final state appropriations are different than what was built into the budget.  The final appropriation is $300,000 less for the Education and Operations and Maintenance funds than in FY2009.  She suggested three possible ways to make up the difference:  1) a $200,000 contingency fund in the Operations and Maintenance Fund; 2) anticipating the new value of the Exelon Generating Plant will be significantly higher; and 3) higher enrollments mean an increase in tuition revenue, but it also means more faculty salaries and more instructional supplies.  The administration will proceed cautiously in its spending and make the necessary adjustments.  Hearing no other comments, Mr. Thompson closed the Public Hearing. 

Mr. Driscoll entered the meeting telephonically at 6:47 p.m.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

It was moved by Ms. Olivero and seconded by Ms. Smith to approve the agenda as presented.  Motion passed by voice vote.

CAMPUS UPDATE – ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAM

Sara Escatel, Director of Adult Education, presented an update on the Adult Education program at IVCC. The Adult Education program provides Adult Basie Education (ABE), Adult Secondary Education (ASE), General Education Development (GED), English as a Second Language (ESL), and Literacy classes.  The program offers GED and ESL classes at off-campus sites throughout the district and also offers GED online for students who may, for a variety of reasons, be unable to attend a traditional classroom.  Enrollments in Adult Education have increased over the past year.  Ms. Escatel reported 678 students completed at least 7.5 hours of attendance in FY2009.  The Adult Education Department works cooperatively with many agencies throughout the district – Youth Service Bureau, Starved Rock Associates for Vocational and Technical Education (SRAVTE), the IVCC Human Services program, and I-Read Partnerships.  Ms. Escatel was pleased to report the Adult Education’s funding was restored through the Governor’s discretionary funds.

CONSENT AGENDA

It was moved by Ms. Englehaupt and seconded by Ms. Smith to approve the consent agenda as presented. Motion passed by voice vote.

The following items were approved in the consent agenda:

Approval of Minutes – July 23, 2009 Board Meeting; July 25, Board Retreat; August 3, 2009 Special Board Meeting; and August 3, 2009 Facilities Committee Meeting.

Approval of the Bills - $1,815,620.52

Education Fund - $1,255,315.13; Operation and Maintenance Fund - $184,985.87; Operation and Maintenance (Restricted Fund) - $101,153.24; Auxiliary Fund - $113,100.87; Restricted Fund - $96,892.21; Audit Fund - $9,500.00; Liability, Protection and Settlement Fund - $54,673.20.

Treasurer’s Report

Personnel

Approved the stipends for the pay periods ending July 25, 2009 and August 8, 2009. 

Bid Results – Hunter 4-Post Alignment Rack

Accepted the bid of $19,500 from Standard Industrial Auto Equipment – Hanover Park, IL, for a Hunter 4-Post Alignment Rack.

Bid Results – Biology Instructional Supplies

Accepted bids totaling $10,456.38 from Ward’s Natural Science – Rochester, NY - $5,186.10; Sargent-Welch – Arlington Heights, IL - $3,548.98; and Fisher Scientific – Pittsburgh, PA - $1,721.30.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Dr. Corcoran reported credit hours for the 2009 summer term ended up 30 percent over summer 2008 and fall credit hours are significantly ahead of fall 2008.  Diane Christianson and Marianne Dzik applied for the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) Program and were notified by the Department of Education that the application earned the maximum number of points for funding and will receive $20,000 per year for four years to be used for partial tuition waivers for students with children using the Early Childhood Education Center.  Dr. Corcoran reported 100 percent of the July Therapeutic Massage graduating class passed the National Certification Board Exam and are now licensed massage therapists.  Over the 10-month program, the six graduates performed over 1,500 free therapy sessions, which amounts to over 1,000 hours of community service.  Cheryl Roelfsema has spoken with Brad Nell from the Capital Development Board regarding the Community Technology Center. Brad is working with the governor's office on a roll-out plan for all the construction projects that the state will be overseeing. This could take another week or two. In the meantime the college has been advised to continue working with the architects on the schematic design.  The IVCC staff is meeting regularly with City of Ottawa officials on plans pertaining to the proposed IVCC Ottawa Center. The architectural firm of Serena Sturm has been hired by the City of Ottawa to prepare the building renovation plan for the Centrue Bank facility on West Main Street. The plan is going to include a number of “green” features to enhance energy conservation for fiscal and educational purposes. A grant will be sought from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation to cover the cost of the green features. The goal at this point is to have a final agreement ready to be presented at the October or November meeting of the Board of Trustees for approval. The college has received letters of support for the Ottawa Center plan from Dan Joyce, superintendent at Serena Unit School District, Dr. Pat Hato, superintendent at the Earlville Unit School District, and Ron Spandet, principal at Marquette High School.  Dr. Corcoran thanked Reed Wilson and Dr. Rick Pearce for their part in securing a contract with the Ottawa Civil Service Commission in upgrading Civil Service Exams.  Earlier this week, Reed, Rick, Jamie Gahm, Jennifer Scheri and Dr. Corcoran met with representatives of the Illinois Valley Contractors Association and Illinois Valley Building Trades Council on setting up new safety training and building trades training programs. On September 18^th, Dr. Corcoran will be meeting with the full Building and Construction Trades Council to talk about the Ottawa Center as well as the Community Technology Center and what the projects will mean in terms of job opportunities for the local community.  As a reminder, the ICCTA Northwest Regional meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 22 at 6 p.m. at Kishwaukee Community College.  Ralph Martire, executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, will be speaking on the subject of Funding for Higher Education in Illinois.  Board members are to let Jeanne Hayden know by the end of next week (Friday, September 4^th) of their interest in attending the meeting.  On Friday, September 4^th, at 1:30 p.m. State Representative Mike Boland, chair of the House Higher Education Committee, will be on campus to talk about his "Challenge Scholarship."  After his press conference, he has asked for a tour of the campus. Dr. Corcoran invited board members to attend the activities.  Board members received the fall edition of Advisor, which is the newsletter published by the Illinois Community College Training Resource and Information Network. Jennifer Scheri is the president of the group and Dr. Corcoran complimented her on the work she does not only in the Business Training Center but also the leadership she has shown this group of professionals across the state.  Cheryl Roelfsema has asked for the audit/finance committee to check their schedules and see if they could possibly meet with the auditor the week of September 28^th and discuss the draft FY2009 audit report.  Other items to be discussed include the annual budget transfers for athletics and childcare and the status of determining an equalized assessed valuation of the Exelon Generating Plant.   A representative of the IV leader student newspaper asked Dr. Corcoran a few questions recently about the state’s financial situation and how it affects IVCC. He shared a few points that he made to the students:  

1. IVCC funding for the new fiscal year from the State of Illinois ended up being cut by approximately $300,000, significantly more than what was planned when preparing the budget.  The college will deal with the situation the best it can and continue offering high quality programs and services at a very affordable price. The downswing of the economy has affected everyone, yet now is when people really need what the college has to offer most, so the goal will be to get the job done and meet the needs of the local community given the resources available.

2. An area of State support that Dr. Corcoran finds most troublesome deals with the Monetary Award Program (MAP). The Illinois Student Assistance Commission’s (ISAC) appropriation for college scholarships and grants statewide went from approximately $440 million to $220 million. The impact to IVCC students in FY2010 will be significant: last fall term 736 students received MAP grants and in the spring there were 600 for a total dollar value of $838,937.  As of today, the college must plan on students receiving no awards in the spring term. With MAP-eligible applications being up 30 percent across the state, many students will be missing out on need-based financial aid. Dr. Corcoran is really concerned with this shortfall and how it will affect IVCC students and he hopes to present a plan for dealing with this unfortunate situation next month. 

3. Also, Illinois Veterans Grant claims may not be paid by the State in the fall or spring terms so that automatically shifts the financial responsibility to the College. In IVCC’s case, last year’s Veterans Grant was over $125,000.  In FY2008, there were over 160 awards.

Dr. Corcoran reported the second annual New Student Convocation and Spirit Day activities were held on Tuesday of this week.  He commended Tracy Morris, Juletta Patrick, and Dr. Rick Pearce for a job very well done.  Dr. Corcoran recognized Rosemary McGinnis, the Ottawa Regional EMS Coordinator and adjunct faculty for the Emergency Medical Technician program, on receiving the National Association of Emergency Medical Services Educators Award in August in recognition of her hard work, diligence and meticulous efforts in the Emergency Medical Services education.

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

Mr. Thompson appointed Dr. Larry Huffman to serve on the Planning Committee and Mr. Thomas Setchell to serve on the Closed Session Minutes Committee.

Dr. Driscoll would like the Planning Committee to meet soon to discuss the KPIs and CCSSE report.  Dr. Huffman asked the administration to prepare an executive summary of the Program Review Report.  Dr. Driscoll suggested that the Program Review Report could also be discussed at the Planning Committee.  It was suggested to identify or address programs that IVCC does not have, but could potentially offer.  Mr. Thompson suggested the regional meetings or the ICCTA seminars would be a good time to pursue this idea and highlight new and different programs.

The Audit/Finance Committee will meet the last week in September followed by a Closed Session Minutes Committee meeting.  A date will be secured soon.

Mr. Thompson reported the Facilities Committee met and directed the architect to proceed with the design process of the Community Technology Center (CTC) with approximately 76,000 square feet and within our internal budget of $7.7 million.  The student space that was originally planned in the CTC was taken out and will be located in the counseling center.   Research has been done on the past history of soil stabilization on campus and a new study will be available soon.  An executive summary will be prepared.    The Facilities Committee also discussed the proposed PHS projects with the biology lab as the first priority. 

Ms. Smith reported classes started August 17 and she sees a difference in the amount of students on campus.  The parking lots are full and she appreciates the new parking lot being so close.  The student convocation and spirit day were a success.  She would like to see another spirit day planned in the spring with fundraising activities.  Petitions will be available for three new freshman representatives to the Student Government Association and a sophomore position needs to be replaced. 

Pursuant to the board retreat, Dr. Huffman and Mr. Thompson met with Dr. Corcoran, Dr. Pearce, and Mr. Tommy Canale to discuss issues and ideas regarding intercollegiate athletics.  Discussion centered around the pros and cons of having an athletic program, the alternative of paying for programs that cannot possibly generate sufficient revenues to cover the costs, team fundraising, building of additional facilities through cooperative endeavors or bond sales, and additional athletic programs, especially for women.  The purpose of the meeting was to throw out some ideas and have the administration come back with some ideas that can be pursued in the future.   Intercollegiate athletics is more of a policy decision than a budgetary decision because the programs cannot possibly raise the money to support them.  The IVCC track is being repaired by LaSalle-Peru Township High School per an agreement.  They ran out of material, but will finish the job in two weeks, weather permitting.  Mr. Mallery suggested charging fees for the sports to all students and put it to a student vote instead of using bookstore profits.  This would be an increase to the student activity fee and the board or administration would decide what percentage would go to the athletic programs.  Mr. Mallery would then like to see the bookstore go to the gross profit strategy and lower the cost of the bookstore prices.  Dr. Driscoll looked at the financial perspective – if the board decides to go ahead with the sports, the college would be obligated to fix the facilities and this could have a major price tag.  He believes the board needs to clearly understand all the pros and cons.   

FY2010 BUDGET – RESOLUTION TO ADOPT THE BUDGET

It was moved by Mr. Setchell and seconded by Ms. Smith to adopt the FY2010 Budget, as presented.

Student Advisory Vote:  “Aye” – Ms. Smith.  Roll Call Vote: “Ayes” – Ms. Englehaupt, Mr. Mallery, Mr. Setchell, Dr. Driscoll, Dr. Huffman, Ms. Olivero and Mr. Thompson. “Nays” – None, motion carried.

TRANSFER OF FUNDS TO SUPPORT ATHLETICS AND CHILDCARE (FY2009)

It was moved by Dr. Huffman and seconded by Ms. Englehaupt to approve an FY09 transfer of $156,000 from Auxiliary Enterprises Fund – Bookstore to Auxiliary Enterprises Fund – Athletics and an FY09 transfer of $43,000 from the Auxiliary Enterprises Fund – Food Service to Auxiliary Enterprises Fund – Childcare. 

Student Advisory Vote:  “Aye” – Ms. Smith.  Roll Call Vote: “Ayes” – Ms. Englehaupt, Dr. Driscoll, Dr. Huffman, Ms. Olivero and Mr. Thompson. “Nays” – Mr. Mallery and Mr. Setchell.  Motion carried.

STAFF APPOINTMENT – PATRICIA A. WILLIAMSON, DIRECTOR OF FINANCIAL AID

It was moved Dr. Huffman and seconded by Mr. Mallery to approve the appointment of Ms. Patricia A. Williamson as Director of Financial Aid at an annualized salary of $62,000.  Motion passed by voice vote.

IDENTITY THEFT PREVENTION POLICY

It was moved by Ms. Englehaupt and seconded by Ms. Olivero to approve the Identity Theft Prevention Policy, as presented.  Motion passed by voice vote.

PUBLIC COMMENT

None.

TRUSTEE COMMENT

None.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved by Ms. Olivero, seconded by Ms. Englehaupt, and carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:02 p.m.  Motion passed by voice vote.