Adopted
Meeting Minutes
March 21, 2005
Regular Meeting
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was
called to order at 6:17 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Present: Brannan,
Laverty, Murray, Pelleran, Rasmusson
Absent: Canady, Proctor
ADDITIONS/DELETIONS
TO THE AGENDA
There were no
additions or deletions to the agenda.
LIMITED PUBLIC
COMMENT REGARDING AGENDA ITEMS
Steven Bennett -
Good evening my name is Steven Bennett I am the president of the Lansing
Community College part-time
clerical technical union. Tonight I represent the 200 or so employees
on this campus that have been working without a contract for 263 days
now. The (inaudible) from the public relations committee, headed by our
own (inaudible) are here in the audience tonight. The committee has
been charged with creating a campaign to educate its membership, our
colleagues, the College leadership and the community about the various
inequities that we face in our latest contracts. The LCC PTCTU campaign
was launched last Wednesday and the brochure you have before you is a
product of that campaign. The information in this brochure is nothing
new but the PTCTU wants to be sure that its opinion about the facts is
clearly heard by the appropriate decision makers. My comments are brief
tonight but my message remains steadfast. We are committed to reaching
a contract as soon as possible. But more importantly we are committed
to reaching an agreement that will for once recognize the very
significant impact that these employees have on this campus. I remain
convinced that your commitment to this institution includes your
commitment to the employees. I look favorably in the future that we
will be able to come to a consensus for the betterment of all. Thank
you for your time.
Lynn Savage - Good
evening. My name is Lynn Savage and I am here to address you as chair
of the LCC Labor Coalition on the subject of the budget for the coming
year. It is apparent that there is great demand for funding, yet a
limited supply of money for the remainder of this year and next. Simply
put, priorities will need to be set. We know that your priority list
includes quality programs and services and state of the art facilities
and technology. As you consider and deliberate priorities for the
remainder of this year and next, you must include in that list, at the
highest priority, the human capital needs of this institution. The
Board has focused intensively in recent years on the improvement of our
physical facilities and our technology infrastructure, both of which
were badly needed. We have also made some progress in employee
compensation. More progress is needed, badly needed, to maintain and
improve our programs and services for the community and to stay
competitive with other education providers. At some point, resources
for human capital must be found. While we must maintain our commitment
to the infrastructure, it cannot be at the expense of our human capital.
Individual programs and overall LCC quality depends on our ability to
attract and keep the best faculty and staff in each area. This will
enable us to continue to deliver the superior educational opportunities
our students and the community expect. Without quality programs and
services which depend on quality faculty and staff, there will be no
need for great facilities or the finest technology. We doubt that
anyone in this room wants to increase tuition substantially. However it
may be the only way to address all four areas of priority need: quality
programs and services, state of the art facilities, superior technology,
and the highest quality faculty and staff. Our students enjoy one of
the best community colleges in the state at nearly the lowest cost; it
may be a luxury we can no longer afford. The Labor Coalition strongly
recommends that you consider a substantial increase in tuition for the
coming budget year. We are not arriving at this decision lightly. We
invite both you and the administration to meet with us to discuss our
specific concerns. Thank you for your attention.
Sally Pierce - Good
evening, I'm Sally Pierce, President of MAHE, the faculty association
here at LCC, which proudly represents 1,260 faculty on campus. You?ve
already heard Lynn Savage?s statement from the LCC Labor Coalition,
which I have signed, and I know you can see that MEA is on the agenda to
speak to you tonight about the budget. Cheryll Conklin, our Uniserve
director will be speaking to you about the LCC budget analysis that MEA
has done. So why am I here during public comment? I am here because I
want to pledge publicly to you and the community that MAHE stands ready
to work cooperatively with you and the College's managers. If our
shared goal is to increase the revenue streams of the College, we
believe tuition must be studied. I told Paula today at lunch that MAHE
would be willing to consider alternative calendar structures such as
sixteen, sixteen, eight and eight - two traditional long semesters
followed by two shorter terms that take place between winter and fall.
Some Michigan community colleges have set their terms at fifteen,
fifteen, seven and a half and seven and a half. She told me Glenn had
already proposed such a system. I was glad to hear that. We must do
something and probably several things to generate more income for the
College. This week we are working to schedule the first session of our
negotiations with management to discuss rules. We are ready to begin
negotiations, but we do not believe the solution for this College's
financial woes is rollbacks for faculty. In order to remain competitive
we need great healthcare and competitive salaries. Some time ago, Paula
and I set a goal for a contract by June. I stand here hopeful that she
and I will be back in June asking you to endorse an agreement between
MAHE and the LCC Board of Trustees. Thank you and I hope you?ll enjoy
our budget presentation.
MAHE Budget
Presentation
Cheryll Conklin - I
am Cheryll Conklin and I am the Uniserve director for the Michigan
Education Association and I represent the faculty, the part-time CTU,
and the ESP and as you all know we are currently attempting to reach an
agreement with the part-time CTU and we will be going into negotiations
with MAHE and the ESP. I know you have implemented (inaudible). The
Michigan Education Association performed an analysis of LCC's financial
situation and Sally and I met with Barbara Larson and Jan Stewart last
week and luckily there are no surprises. We took our data to Barbara
Larson who said it was just fine. I am not going to waste a lot of your
time going through the actual figures.
Ms. Conklin gave a
presentation to the Board. (A copy of the presentation is on file with
the official Board materials.)
CHAIRPERSON AND
BOARD MEMBER REPORTS
Information and
Announcements
Trustee Rasmusson
stated that the Board received an e-mail from the Association of
Governing Boards and they have a packet available on assessment and
compensation policy. He thought it might be something the College may
want to check into.
President
Cunningham stated that she would do so.
Chairperson Laverty
attended the student art exhibit at the Lansing
Art Gallery. The second floor
featured all LCC student art pieces. He really enjoyed it and thought
it was a great exhibit.
President
Cunningham and Trustee Brannan reported that there is a new teacher
preparation partnership between LCC and Central
Michigan University. The
articulation agreement will allow students who are in LCC's teacher
preparation program to do three years of teacher preparation courses at
LCC's campus and the fourth year they will transfer to Central
Michigan University.
Chairperson Laverty
informed the Board of many upcoming events that they may want to
attend. The events are listed on the Board's planning calendar.
Chairperson Laverty
announced that Board Secretary
Norma Mendez had her baby on
Saturday, March 19th. Rich Howard announced that Norma,
Sophia Emma and Andy, Norma?s husband, are all doing well.
President's
REPORT
Informational
Items
College
Spotlight - Teacher Education
Dr. Gary VanKempen
introduced the College Spotlight. He stated that there is a need for
teaching professionals. It is estimated that there will be 300 openings
per year in this area. K-12 teaching professionals are now listed on
the critical occupation list. Dr. VanKempen introduced Dr. Sophie
Jeffries, coordinator of LCC's teacher preparation program.
Dr. Jeffries stated
that education is a national priority and quality teachers are key to a
quality education. In Michigan there will be an ongoing need for
teachers particularly in underrepresented populations: males,
African-Americans, Hispanics. There is also a need in certain subject
matter: mathematics, science, special education, early childhood
language arts. LCC has an education program which is housed in the
Social Science Department. Teacher preparation is an umbrella term for
all of the activities, courses, programs and services in the College
that serve teacher preparation. Dr. Jeffries introduced Dr. Geoff
Quick, lead faculty in the Social Science Department and Dr. Quick
presented a PowerPoint presentation (a copy of the presentation is on
file with the official Board materials).
Dr. Quick
introduced a couple students from LCC's teacher preparation program.
Ricardo Tiller, a current LCC teacher preparation student, stated that
he was working towards becoming a social studies teacher at the
secondary education level.
Chet Dawson, a
former LCC student and currently a student teacher of high school
physics. He stated that Dr. Quick provided him with great guidance and
the LCC program prepared him well.
President
Cunningham stated that the people at LCC have provided 27 years of
quality delivery of education. It is because of people like Dr.
Jeffries and Dr. Quick that LCC attracts and retains students. She
thanked them.
Human Resources
Faculty
Appointments
Kevin Brown, Faculty History, Humanities
and Performing Arts Department
Susan
Anderson, Professor, Science Department
Alex
Azima, Professor, Science Department
Andy
Callis, Professor, Humanities and Performing Arts Department
Monica
Del Castillo, Professor, Counseling Services Department
Jo
Ellen Downey-Greer, Professor, Language Skills Department
Pat
Hays, Professor, Nursing Careers Department
Sharon
Hughes, Professor, Social Science Department
Sandra
Kidder, Professor, Counseling Services Department
Addie
Morrow, Professor, Counseling Services Department
Michael
Nealon, Professor, Humanities and Performing Arts Department
Doug
Sjoquist, Professor, Humanities and Performing Arts Department
Geoff
Quick, Professor, Social Science Department
Budget Update
Vice President
Barbara Larson presented a FY 2005 budget update. The College faces a
shortfall of $4.8 million for the FY 2006. They have asked College
departments and divisions to identify reductions to help address the
problem. (A copy of the budget update presentation is on file with the
official Board materials.)
Same-Sex
Domestic Partner Benefits
President
Cunningham asked Tim Zeller to give the Board the legal status as he
knows it.
Mr. Zeller stated
that Attorney General Mike Cox issued his opinion on Proposal Two on
March 16th that stated Proposal Two approval by the voters
would in fact prohibit state and local government entities from
providing benefits to their employees of the basis of domestic
partnership agreements. The Attorney General has ruled that he feels it
would be illegal for LCC to continue under the current contracts to
provide health benefits to domestic partners. For employees covered by
a contract it means that after June 30, 2005, LCC would no longer be
able to provide those benefits. There are pending court cases and he
will keep the College advised of any changes.
President
Cunningham asked about non-bargaining employees.
Mr. Zeller stated
that non-bargaining employees are not covered by a contract so
effectively at the end of the month the benefits would end.
Trustee Rasmusson
asked how many employees this will effect.
Mr. Zeller stated
that it is very few, less than five.
Trustee Rasmusson
stated that federal constitution prohibits interfering with the rights
of contract employees and the College may end up paying for the affected
employees to obtain COBRA and that would cost the College more.
Learning Center
- Cesar E. Chavez
President
Cunningham stated that approximately two years ago the College talked
about the Learning Center being a dedicated place for all students, not just Hispanic or Latino
students, to have a place on campus where they can come and work with
their peers, study, mentor, and tutor. The
Learning
Center named in memory of Cesar E. Chavez will be dedicated on March 31st
at 4:15 p.m.
Trustee Pelleran
stated that she is delighted that this is taking place. She offered
kudos to all who worked on this.
Community
College Futures Assembly
President
Cunningham stated that LCC was one of ten finalists in the Bell Ringer
award. It is awarded to community colleges who have illustrated bell
ringer service in a few different areas. It is judged by a group of
peers and colleagues throughout the country. She stated she was proud
to state that LCC's Lucero program was one of the ten finalists.
President Cunningham introduced Raul Martinez and Dean Cardenas. They
oversee the program.
The Lucero program
was started years ago to attract and retain people of color by offering
a place where they would feel welcome and obtain support they might
need. Jean Morciglio chaired the original discussions. President
Cunningham thanked them and congratulated them.
Raul Martinez
stated that there are approximately 40 students involved after only one
semester and it is growing.
Action Items
Approval of
Minutes - February 21, 2005 Budget Workshop and February 21, 2005
Regular Board of Trustees Meeting minutes.
President
Cunningham presented the February 21, 2005 Budget Workshop and Regular
meeting minutes.
There were no
changes from the Board.
Carolyn
Kronenburg Resolution
President
Cunningham stated that the College has commited to providing two
scholarships to Carolyn Kronenburg?s grandchildren to LCC. When the
Board adopts the action items it will approve of this action. She also
stated there are still counseling and grieving services available for
anyone on campus who may still be in need.
West Campus
Property
Vice President
Larson stated that an agreement has been reached with David Chapman, the
owner of the land that was originally purchased in Delta Township for the West Campus.
In February, Vice President Larson informed the Board that the sellers
would donate four acres and LCC would be able to purchase the remaining
three acres up to Mt. Hope for the sum of $200,000
payable over two fiscal years. The environmental study has been
completed and there are no issues with the land.
Fee
Consolidation
Vice President
Larson stated that this would be the consolidation of the registration
and activity fees. LCC has fewer and lower fees charged to all students
than most community colleges. The College is recommending the
consolidation of the activity fee which has been on a sliding scale
depending on the number of credits, and the registration fee.
Finance -
Approval of Bids
Ms. Beckie Beard
presented the following bids for the Board's approval.
1.
Landscape Architect
Consultant Services - Campus Beautification Plan in the amount of
$100,000. The bid was awarded to Landscape Architects & Planners of
Lansing, MI.
2.
A&S Lower Level Renovation
in the amount of $1,156,900.00. The bid was awarded to Nielsen
Construction of Holt, MI.
3.
General Trades - GVT
Release II in the amount of $199,000.00. The bid was awarded to Moore
Trosper of Holt, MI.
4.
Carpentry - GVT Release II
in the amount of $727,000.00. The bid was awarded to Irish Construction
of Howell, MI.
5.
Masonry - GVT Release II
in the amount of $424,400.00. The bid was awarded to Schiffer Mason
Contractors of Holt, MI.
6.
Structural & Misc. Steel -
GVT Release II in the amount of $131,916.00. The bid was awarded to
Douglas Steel of Lansing, MI.
7.
Drywall & Acoustical - GVT
Release II in the amount of $815,300.00. The bid was awarded to
Integrity Interiors of Okemos, MI.
8.
Painting - GVT Release II
in the amount of $198,686.00. The bid was awarded to Valley Painting of
Flint, MI.
9.
Fire Protection - GVT
Release II in the amount of $193,700.00. The bid was awarded to John E.
Green Company of Saginaw, MI.
10.
Mechanical - GVT Release
II in the amount of $2,341,000.00. The bid was awarded to Kebler
Plumbing of Grand Ledge, MI.
11.
Electrical - GVT Release
II in the amount of $2,422,000.00. The bid was awarded to Delta
Electric of Lansing, MI.
12.
Air Conditioning,
Mechanical, Plumbing and Sheet Metal Services - these are time and
materials contracts for the Physical Plant Department. The bid was
awarded to Gunthorpe Plumbing & Heating of East Lansing, MI, Madar Metal
Fab of Lansing, MI, and National Piping of Haslett, MI.
Trustee Pelleran
wanted to know on the Landscaping bid if there was a component in the
contract for integration with LCC's horticultural effort and our
landscaping effort.
President
Cunningham stated that in terms of students maintaining and keeping it
up, yes. In terms of the actual construction and excavation of the
site, the students will not be involved because of contract labor
agreements and some other issues.
Trustee Pelleran
wanted to know if all of the bids mentioned had contract labor
agreements.
President
Cunningham stated yes, all of the bids being presented for approval that
dealt with renovations have contract labor agreements.
President
Cunningham suggested the Board go on a tour of all of the renovations
that are going on in GVT. It is hard to appreciate all that is going on
and she feels that the Board will be very proud of all the progress that
is happening.
Trustee Murray
wanted clarification on the landscaping bid regarding the bid being for
professional and design services versus construction.
President
Cunningham clarified that the bid was for the design of the landscaping
project.
IT WAS MOVED by
Trustee Pelleran and supported by Trustee Rasmusson to approve the
action items of the President's Report.
Roll call vote:
Ayes: Brannan,
Laverty, Murray, Pelleran, Rasmusson
Nays: None
Absent: Canady, Proctor
Motion carried.
CLOSED SESSION
IT WAS MOVED by
Trustee Brannan and supported by Trustee Pelleran to go into closed
session for the purpose of discussing negotiations.
Roll call vote:
Ayes: Brannan,
Laverty, Murray, Pelleran, Rasmusson
Nays: None
Absent: Canady, Proctor
Motion carried.
The Board entered
into closed session at 8:03 p.m.
IT WAS MOVED by
Trustee Pelleran and supported by Trustee Rasmusson that the Board
return to open session.
Roll call vote:
Ayes: Brannan,
Laverty, Murray, Pelleran, Rasmusson
Nays: None
Absent: Canady,
Proctor
Motion carried.
The Board returned
from closed session at 8:41 p.m.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There were no
comments from the public.
ADJOURNMENT
IT WAS MOVED by
Trustee Brannan and supported by Trustee Murray for the meeting to
adjourn.
Roll call vote:
Ayes: Brannan,
Laverty, Murray, Pelleran, Rasmusson
Nays: None
Absent: Canady,
Proctor
Motion carried.
The meeting
adjourned at 8:43 p.m.
