LANSING COMMUNITY COLLEGE

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

November 20, 2006

Regular Meeting

Adopted Meeting Minutes

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 6:04 p.m.

Roll Call

Present: Brannan, Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith, Laverty

Absent: Canady

pledge of allegiance

Trustee Brannan led the pledge of allegiance.

ADDITIONS/DELETIONS TO THE AGENDA

The following changes were made to the agenda:

• Add letter from Ms. Bev Baligad.
• Add letter of engagement to conduct a review of a complaint and an investigation of the specific charges filed by a Board member against another. Item will be added under Board members reports.

Limited Public Comment Regarding Agenda Items

There was a brief Ghana presentation by Kevin Brown and Leslie Hoover. Mr. Brown and Ms. Hoover presented the President and Chair with a plaque.

Cindy Storie, faculty member and Lansing Community College MAHE President, "Speaking on behalf of the faculty and the LCC MAHE, we would like to make a communication to the Board as well as the community and students. We have a contract now that we are in the process of implementing. We see this as a new vision and direction for the College. We see that the Board is looking to make these changes as well. We know that LCC has been and will continue to be serving the community with quality education. We feel that the message has been lost due to the news media and the activities that have been going on. Lansing Community College needs to shift back to what education is about. At Lansing Community College it is about our students and the service to those students that faculty give on a daily basis. We appreciate the leadership of President Cardenas and appreciate how the Board has placed their trust in her as we move forward with the change at the College. We request that the Board continue to move us positively forward in the Presidential search. The faculty is here to support in any way that they can. In the process of the search we asked that the Board come forth with one voice that is harmonious for the community, to the students and us as faculty."

interviews for the board liaison

Trustee Pelleran read an open letter from Ms. Bev Baligad, Attorney at Law, withdrawing her application from the position of Board Liaison/Associate General Counsel. This letter is on file with the official Board meeting materials.

Trustee Pelleran made a motion to declare the search process to hire a Board Liaison/Associate General Counsel a failed search and that the Board reopens the process immediately. The motion was supported by Trustee Rasmusson.

The floor was opened for discussion.

The following main points were made in favor of the motion:

• The fact that there are only two top candidates and they are tied makes it a failed search.
• There was not a quorum in the room when the interviews began and this may present a legal problem for the Board.
• Because of the importance of the position there should be an opportunity to seek more applicants.
• The initiation of the search process has been put into question during the past two months and there is an outstanding complaint filed by Trustee Pelleran that relates directly to that process.
• Trustees were not informed of the meeting and the correct process. The individuals that were to be a part of that meeting were not informed.
• As an initial member of the Personnel and Compensation Committee, Trustee Pelleran stated that she was not notified of the Committee meetings nor did she receive notices of subsequent meetings of this Committee. She stated that because her complaint is still outstanding, she is still a member of the Personnel and Compensation Committee.

The following main points were made against the motion:

• Although there was no quorum during the first interview, a meeting can continue forward for information purposes only.
• No decision was made on the candidates until the following Board meeting, so there was no violation.
• There were qualified candidates in the pool.
• The Board made a decision to interview the first top two candidates as well as the second choice candidates.
• The fact that one of the top three candidates withdrew their name does not make it a failed search.
• Two of the three candidates are here today to be interviewed.
• The deficiencies that were raised about the search process were cured when the Board voted at the last meeting to bring back three candidates to be interviewed before the full Board.
• Every member of the Board was notified of every meeting. There was not full attendance by every member of the Board at those meetings. This was not due to lack of notification.
• The meeting was posted and opened to the public.
• Complaints and charges were not discussed at the last meeting.

Chairman Laverty clarified that the first candidate was asked to leave and come back to allow time for another member of the Board to arrive. The meeting was posted. When the second candidate arrived there still was no quorum. The meeting was called to order under the urging of Trustee Rasmusson and Trustee Smith due to the fact that some of the candidates travel from afar. There was no quorum for the first interview but the other interviews were interviewed by a full quorum of the Board.

MOVED by Trustee Proctor and supported by Trustee Smith to move the previous question.

Roll call vote:

Ayes: Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith, Laverty

Nays: None

Absent: Canady

Brannan abstained from voting.

Motion carried

A vote for the main motion on the floor was made.

MOVED by Trustee Pelleran and supported by Trustee Rasmusson to declare the search process to hire a Board Liaison/Associate General Counsel a failed search and that the Board reopens the process immediately.

Roll call vote:

Ayes: Pelleran, Rasmusson

Nays: Brannan, Proctor, Smith, Laverty

Absent: Canady

Motion failed.

Trustee Pelleran made a motion to rescind the motion relating to interviewing the top two candidates and second candidate of choice adopted on November 1, 2006. The motion was supported by Trustee Rasmusson.

The floor was open for discussion.

MOVED by Trustee Smith and supported by Trustee Proctor to call the question.

Roll call vote:

Ayes: Brannan, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith, Laverty

Nays: Pelleran

Absent: Canady

Motion carried.

A vote for the main motion on the floor was made.

MOVED by Trustee Pelleran and supported by Trustee Rasmusson to rescind the motion relating to interviewing the top two candidates and second candidate of choice adopted on November 1, 2006.

Roll call vote:

Ayes: Pelleran, Rasmusson

Nays: Proctor, Smith, Laverty

Absent: Canady

Trustee Brannan abstained from voting.

Motion failed.

The interview process for the Board Liaison/Associate General Counsel commenced.

Anita Evans opened the interviews by giving the candidates a brief introduction on how the interviews would be conducted.

Trustee Smith asked each candidate the same set of eleven questions.

Candidate #1 - James Humphries

The interview began at 6:52 p.m. and ended at 7:15 p.m.

Candidate #2 - Robert Norwood

The interview began at 7:23 p.m. and ended at 7:46 p.m.

CHAIrman, committee AND BOARD MEMBER REPORTS

Chairman's Report

Presidential Car Lease

Chairman Laverty announced that the current car lease on the 2005 STS Cadillac was ending. Chairman Laverty asked the Board for approval of the purchase of a Saturn Outlook.

The following concerns were raised:

• Would the College suffer any penalty for turning the car lease in early?

• The Board decided a while back that the President would drive a Cadillac, built here in Lansing.
• Had anyone checked the consumer guide on safety?

The following key points were made:

• This is the vehicle that the President wants.
• The College would be getting close to $3,500 back.
• The Saturn is one of the new cars being promoted by the new Delta Plant here in Lansing.

MOVED by Trustee Smith and supported by Trustee Pelleran to enter into the agreement for the purchase of a new Saturn Outlook.

Roll call vote:

Ayes: Brannan, Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith, Laverty

Nays: None

Absent: Canady

Motion carried.

Presidential Evaluation

President Cardenas stated that during the last nine months of her tenure at Lansing Community College much has been accomplished as it relates to institutional performance issues. She presented the Board with a document that highlighted her accomplishments.

The following comments were made during the evaluation:

• Trustee Pelleran:

Asked the President how she was with her support staff and if she needed to hire additional people?

Asked how she is handling functions that were done in positions that are now vacant?

Stated that LCC has a unique High School graduate program.

Asked if there has been an analysis done on Virtual College and wanted to know where the College was and where the President thinks the College should be going?

• Trustee Smith:

Asked the President to add an item addressing how the College will handle diversity in light of Proposal 2 and would like to see what the College is doing currently.

Stated that during the President's tenure she has been very responsive and built great relationships within the College in trying to move this College forward.

Stated that President Cardenas has been an individual that is approachable and has the heart of the College.

She looks forward to seeing the strives the President will make in this next semester.

Proposal 2 Discussion

Chairman Laverty presented the Board with copies of the Resolution on the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative Ballot Proposal. This proposal was passed by the Board on May 17, 2004. Chairman Laverty asked that the Board review and look at this resolution for a future date.

The President provided the Board members with an executive directive from the State of Michigan Office of the Governor, regarding promoting diversity in Michigan. Within 90 days the Michigan Civil Rights Commission shall issue a report detailing its finding and offering recommendations on how this proposal affects public institutions. This report will also show how they can help the College to continue to promote diversity and equal protection in the operations of public employment, public education and public contracting within any constraints proposed by the Proposal 2.

The following discussion followed:

• Proposal 2 does not change the College's position of providing equal opportunity or continuing to support and believe in diversity.
• It should not have any implications in the areas of athletics or sports programs, but there will be implications in other areas.

• A question was raised on how the Foundation scholarships, that are given by donors that are either race or gender specific, might be affected?
• A request was made for the words gender and age to be added to any resolution that is brought forth for Board approval.
• Suggestion made to have the Boards attorney look at any resolution brought forward to make sure the Board is doing the right thing legally.

General Discussion

There was discussion on the allegations brought against Chairman Laverty by Trustee Pelleran.

Trustee Rasmusson felt that the College should be doing more to support the athletic programs.

Information and Announcements

The Chairman announced the following:

• CQI breakfast event, sponsoring President Lou Anna K. Simon and David Hollister (President & CEO of Prima Civitas Foundation). "A Conversation on Prima Civitas, Economic Development and Quality of Life".

Wednesday, December 13, 2006.

• RED Team event, sponsoring speaker Michael Gallis on "Regional Development Strategies". Thursday, November 30, 2006.
• Trustee Smith received a certificate from ACCT for appreciation of service on the diversity committee.

Other

Chairman Laverty stated that although the Board just recently updated their Governance Policies and Bylaws, the Board will need to go back and review some of the Colleges old policies.

Committee Reports

Trustee Brannan - Audit Committee

Audit Report

Mr. Bruce Dunn, CPA, President of Maner, Costerisan and Ellis, presented the November 2006 Audit Report. He presented the Board with some highlights of the report.

The Audit Committee report is on file with the official Audit Committee meeting materials.

Trustee Pelleran stated the importance of the Audit Committee. She thanked Trustee Rasmusson and Brannan for their work on the committees.

Trustee Rasmusson thanked Catherine Fisher, Beckie Beard, Rebekah Wood, the Accounting Office, Business Office and the staff in Student and Financial Aid.

MOVE by Trustee Brannan and supported by Trustee Smith to accept the 2006 Audit Report from Maner, Costerisan and Ellis.

Roll call vote:

Ayes: Brannan, Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith, Laverty

Nays: None

Absent: Canady

Motion carried

Office of Internal Auditing Charter

The Charter from the Office of Internal Auditing was presented to the Board.

MOVED by Trustee Brannan and supported by Trustee Pelleran to adopt the Office of Internal Auditing Charter.

Roll call vote:

Ayes: Brannan, Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith, Laverty

Nays: None

Absent: Canady

Motion carried

Trustee Rasmusson - Finance Committee

Trustee Rasmusson asked if anyone had any thoughts or issues on Finance to please speak to someone on the Finance Committee. He also commended Catherine Fisher and Bev Baligad for the implementation of the new finance policies.

Trustee Smith - Personnel and Compensation Committee

Discussion on Board Liaison Interviews

It was stated that if the first candidate does not accept the offer the offer will go to the second candidate.

MOVED by Trustee Smith and supported by Trustee Proctor to move into the discussion regarding the Board Liaison position and choose a candidate.

Discussion followed.

Roll call vote:

Brannan: James Humphries

Canady: Absent

Pelleran: Neither

Proctor: James Humphries

Rasmusson: James Humphries

Smith: James Humphries

Laverty: James Humphries

Motion carried for Mr. James Humphries.

Board Member REPORTS - Trustee PRoctor

Presidential Search Update

Trustee Proctor mentioned two important deadlines that the Board will not be able to meet.

- December 19, 2006 the search consultant would submit a list of names for the Presidential Search committee to consider.

- January 2007 the Committee would begin interviewing.

Trustee Proctor stated that the reputation of the Board is not good at this time. The Board is now looking at dates in February and March.

Trustee Proctor asked the Board to respond to the staff who will be asking for their availability in February and March for a 2-day teambuilding workshop. Greenwood and Associates is proposing to bring in someone from the Association of the Governing Boards and someone from the Association of Community College Trustees.

Workforce Development Board

Trustee Proctor stated that the College received some additional money for the Workfirst program in the amount of $29,000. This amount brings the new College contract to $416,000.

Association of Community College Trustees

Trustee Proctor mentioned a workshop he attended entitled "Good Boards/CEO's behaving badly." From this workshop Trustee Proctor mentioned a few elements that he wanted to share with the Board:

- The Board and President need to be guided by trust, honesty and integrity.

- The Board should adopt an institutional code of ethics.

- The Board should abide by a rule of no surprises.

- The Board needs to begin to evaluate themselves.

- The Board needs to establish friendships and develop some protocol on how the Board is going to interact with each other.

- The Board needs to communicate more effectively, clearly, and honestly.

Engagement Letter

Trustee Proctor presented a letter of engagement to conduct an investigation of the allegation filed by Trustee Pelleran.

Mr. Lyn Beekman is being asked to conduct an investigation of the allegations not to exceed $5,000. Mr. Beekman is to report his findings back to Trustee Proctor. Trustee Proctor is looking for this investigation to be completed within 10 to 14 days.

MOVED by Trustee Proctor and supported by Trustee Brannan to accept the engagement letter to hire Mr. Lynwood E. Beekman of Special Education Solutions, L.L.C., to conduct an investigation of the allegations filed by Trustee Pelleran.

Roll call vote:

Ayes: Brannan, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith, Laverty

Nays: None

Absent: Canady

Trustee Pelleran abstained from voting.

Motion carried.

Board Member REPORTS - Trustee smith

Association of Community College Trustees

Trustee Smith passed out information that she received from the ACCT conference and gave the Board a summary on the Diversity Committee meetings she attended.

Board Member REPORTS - Trustee rasmusson

Discussion of termination and a systemic problem within the Board's purview.

Trustee Rasmusson stated that some faculty members have raised questions about another faculty member that was terminated. Trustee Rasmusson questioned if maybe there was a breakdown in the process on this termination. He also encouraged the President to feel free to consult legal counsel when she has a legal issue.

BOARD MEMBERS REPORTS - TRUSTEE PELLERAN

Trustee Pelleran stated that she attended the Leslie Local Development Finance Authority meeting. She also complemented Melissa Kaplan and staff on the series of plays that have recently taken place.

Trustee Pelleran reported she has heard good reports from the staff at the East Campus about Brian Jackson and a good report on the GVT renovations.

President's REPORT

Informational Items

International Programs - Sister College Agreement

President Cardenas stated that this item came from the College's visit with Myongji College in Korea. There are two tuition proposals that are being presented. This proposal was put together by Dr. Stephen Appiah-Padi and Dr. Tai Kim. The College is forwarding this proposal as an action item at the December meeting.

The Board asked the following questions:

• How active are each of the Sister College programs?
• How would this Sister College proposal affect our relationship with the Gregg International University of Technology students?
• Do we have programs at the University of Shiga Prefecture?
• A request was made for a description of each program, how active is the program, when the program was created, the level of participation from the College's standpoint, internship opportunities, Sister City relationships with any of these communities and any agreement the College already has.
• How would the projects and programs be influenced by the decision that the Board would make?
• How many students does the College have that are involved with these programs?
• What does the College do to promote these programs and to increase the interest of these programs?
• A request was made for information on the contracts that the College has relationships with.
• What is the subsidy on the program?

Academic Dishonesty Policy

This policy has been updated to add technological advancements.

Brannan suggested the College look into turnitin.com. This would be a good tool for monitoring academic dishonesty.

Sole Source Purchase Report

Reported per the Purchasing Policy.

Human Resources - Administrative Appointments

Ms. Jan Stuart presented the following Administrative Appointments and Leaves:

Benita A. Duncan, B.B.A., Board Administrative Assistant, Board of Trustees

Catherine A. Fisher, B.A., Chief Financial Officer, Administrative Services Division

Michael A. Nealon, PhD., Chairperson, Humanities and Performing Arts, Liberal Studies Division

Human Resources - Professional Development Leave

Lucian Leone, Director of Livingston County Center, Extension and Community Education

Action Items

Approval of Minutes:

September 18, 2006 Special Meeting

September 18, 2006 Regular Meeting

October 9, 2006 Special Meeting
October 16, 2006 Special Meeting

October 16, 2006 Regular Meeting

November 1, 2006 Special Meeting

Trustee Pelleran brought comments that were removed from the minutes on November 1, 2006. She has asked that the minutes in the draft be entered back into the minutes. She cited Robert's Rule of Order page 299.

Laverty agreed to put the comments back into the minutes.

Corrections were made to the following minutes.

September 18, 2006 Special

Page 2: exam to examine

October 9, 2006 Special

Page 5: Replace public comment with discussion.

October 16, 2006 Special

Page 1: Move Proctor under Roll Call to absent.

October 16, 2006 Regular

Page 1: Replace College's mission to Foundation's mission.

November 1, 2006 Special

Page 7: The following comments where added back into meeting minutes.

"Chairman Laverty responded that her speech was wonderful and questioned if that was why at the last meeting the media had been notified well in advance to blindside the Board and sabotage the Presidential Search."

"Trustee Pelleran stated that the Chairman was out of order."

"Trustee Pelleran responded to Chairman Laverty that her actions did not sabotage the Presidential Search process."

Trustee Smith made a recommendation to move to anecdotal minutes and that the Board move away from verbatim minutes.

MOVE by Trustee Smith and support by Trustee Rasmusson to move away from verbatim minutes with the friendly amendment of recording public comments.

Roll call vote:

Ayes: Brannan, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith, Laverty

Nays: None

Absent: Canady

Trustee Pelleran abstained from voting.

Motion carried.

Finance - Bank Resolutions

Dr. Cardenas announced two bank resolutions that would re-designate the authorization from Beckie Beard to Catherine Fisher, the new Chief Information Officer.

Trustee Pelleran made the motion to vote separately on the November 1, 2006 Regular meeting minutes. The motion was supported by Trustee Rasmusson.

Discussion followed.

MOVED by Trustee Proctor and supported by Trustee Smith to call for the question.

Ayes: Brannan, Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith, Laverty

Nays: None

Absent: Canady

Motion carried.

A vote for the main motion on the floor was made.

MOVED by Trustee Pelleran and supported by Trustee Rasmusson to vote separately on the November 1, 2006 Regular meeting minutes.

Roll call vote:

Ayes: Pelleran

Nays: Brannan, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith, Laverty

Absent: Canady

Motion failed.

MOVED by Trustee Brannan and supported by Trustee Proctor to approve all of the action items.

Roll call vote:

Ayes: Brannan, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith, Laverty

Nays: Pelleran

Absent: Canady

Motion carried

CLOSED SESSION

MOVED by Trustee Smith and supported by Trustee Rasmusson that the Board enters into closed session for the purpose of discussing the purchase of real property and to consider a legal written opinion.

Roll call vote:

Ayes: Brannan, Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith, Laverty

Nays: None

Absent: Canady

Motion carried.

The Board entered into closed session at 10:12 p.m.

MOVED by Trustee Proctor and supported by Trustee Smith to enter into open session.

Ayes: Brannan, Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith, Laverty

Nays: None

Absent: Canady

The Board returned to open session at 10:59 p.m.

PUBLIC COMMENT

None

BOARD EVALUATION

It was evaluated that there were too many disagreements during the meeting.

ADJOURNMENT

MOVED by Trustee Proctor and supported by Trustee Brannan for the meeting to adjourn.

Ayes: Brannan, Pelleran, Proctor, Rasmusson, Smith, Laverty

Nays: None

Absent: Canady

Motion carried.

The meeting adjourned at 11:03 p.m.