Adopted Minutes
July 30, 2001
Organizational Meeting

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 4:37 p.m.

Roll Call

Present: Canady, Heywood, Holden, Jeffries, Patterson, Pelleran
Absent: Rasmusson

Trustee Rasmusson arrived at 4:38 p.m.

Additions/Deletions to the Agenda

None.

Limited Public Comment Regarding Agenda Items

Gary VanKempen - My name is Gary VanKempen, I am addressing the agenda item under President's Report, Part B, Michigan Education Association of Higher Education, Tentative Agreement. I would like to begin with a thank you to the Board for your support and encouragement through the negotiations process. Last year you committed one million dollars to be used to improve faculty salaries at the college. You have stood by that commitment even with the concerns of next year's state funding. I thank you for that. I also want to thank Chair Jeffries for your extra effort as the Board chair and helping us meet the time lines that we needed to meet to bring this process to a successful conclusion. But mostly I would like to encourage Board members to continue your commitment to this process by approving the tentative agreement that has been ratified by the faculty. And it is not because I would like to spend the rest of the summer at the negotiating table, although that is part of it. This tentative agreement represents a second phase of a process that is designed to help us compete in the current faculty labor market. The first phase was reducing the contract length from 3 semesters to 2. The second phase is to establish for the first time in the history of a college a salary schedule for faculty that is competitive with other community colleges in Michigan and throughout the nation. When you ask students what they like about LCC one of the first things you hear is that they appreciate the quality of our faculty, the knowledge and expertise they bring to the class along with the concern for student learning. I believe this salary system will help us retain our current faculty and maintain this excellent faculty reputation. In the next 5 to 10 years we will be hiring a lot of new faculty. We will need this salary structure in order to continue to bring the best and brightest faculty to LCC. Finally, I would like to encourage each of you and all of you here to lend your full support to the millage campaign. Putting a salary schedule in place is a start, but to stay competitive we need to assure that the structure moves in a manner that is comparable with the market. In order to do this we need the millage revenue. It is a pretty exciting time at the college. We have six ratified and improved employee contracts in place, and I hope we are about to have all seven. We have the opportunity to position the college to move into this decade as a dynamic leader in education and training in this community. Let's go for it.

Joe Warren - I am Joe Warren, on behalf of MAHE, just to report to the Board that the union did vote last week, there was a quorum and it did pass. So that is the official notice from the union and we would like to thank the Board for their support in getting it through and getting it done. Again, I didn't want to spend the rest of the summer negotiating but if we had to we would. Just in response to Mr. VanKempen's comments. This contract does give internal equity to the bottom part of the faculty that are woefully under paid, but it does not give external equity. We are still incredibly low on the community colleges statewide. That will hurt us in the long run as he pointed out in being competitive and getting people or retaining people since people are looking at other options. Given the fact when they look at their incoming salary and what options they do have. So, again, I thank the Board and request the Board in the next four years to look very carefully at the other salary schedules and how not competitive LCC is and work in the direction of taking us where we should be, number 3 in the state in comparable with our size. Thank you again for your support.

Stanley Chase - Good evening Board of Trustee members and those in attendance. I rise to speak to the negotiations, as well. As a bargaining unit member I wanted to share with you something about the process. I have been negotiating for some 15 years in K 12 and some other business contracts and this time this is one of the best negotiations I have ever experienced because we embark here at LCC on a new day, a new day that talked about interface bargaining. Looking at those things that are important to both sides and working to get them completed. I saw in the bargaining rooms cooperation. Cooperation among labor and management. I saw respect. Respect between each member; respect of each member's skills, and more importantly, a respect for the process. A process that focused upon the task at hand to get it completed within a time frame, which we were successful. The pay off for that was cooperation. We received cooperation from MAHE, from the President, from the chair of the trustees that made themselves available. And that is the second watchword, is access. We had access, MAHE had access, and communications were open. And lastly, I say it is a new day. A new day that promotes trust because through these negotiations the seed of trust was planted so it behooves all of us, the management, MAHE, the community, to water that seed so it grows, and I urge you to ratify that contract today and the rest of you to vote on the millage so we can blossom into the flower that LCC is.

Gary Knippenberg - Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I, too, would like to speak as a member of the Board's bargaining team, and particularly address the sub team that Jan Stewart and I worked with on the faculty sub team with Sally Pierce, Ed Thomas and Barry Stearns. One of the goals of the institution was to find ways to further promote our student access to our services through technology. And our sub team worked on that, and I believe you probably know some of the outcomes but I want to highlight a couple of them. One of them is the Michigan Virtual University Certification that is encouraged for people teaching virtually, and I believe next fall of 2002 it will be required for teaching virtually. And that we believe will assure a level of quality for our virtual courses. We have also built in incentives for teaching virtually or hybrid classes and we maintain the incentives that were in the previous contract but added to them, as well. And I think that will serve us well. The seat limit for virtual classes has moved from 20 to 25. The 20 was set several years ago as just part of an experiment because we weren't sure how many students faculty could effectively deal with, but now we believe it can be set to 25. Apart from the virtual development we experimented with learning communities in the last few years on campus and in terms of compensating faculty we sort of scrambled to find ways that are equitable for that, but now we have contract language that deals with learning communities so both faculty and administration will know what the expectations are. I hope, too, hope you support the contract.

Trustee Rasmusson - Mr. Chair, I would like to say how happy I was to see Joe Warren and a number of the other people from the faculty participate in this process. They have been active in bringing up ideas in the past and it was good to see their input.

Oath of Office

Kathy Pelleran and Mark Canady took the oath of office and were sworn in by the Honorable Beverley Nettles-Nickerson from the Lansing 54-A District Court.

Nominating Committee - Election of Officers

Trustee Holden presented the slate of officers for two-year terms.

Chairperson - Jeffries
Vice Chairperson - Patterson
Secretary/Treasurer - Canady

IT WAS MOVED by Trustee Holden and supported by Trustee Pelleran to accept the slate of officers as presented.

Roll call vote:
Ayes: Canady, Heywood, Holden, Jeffries, Patterson, Pelleran, Rasmusson
Nays: None
Absent: None

Motion carried.

Chairperson Jeffries thanked everyone for their support. He thanked the Board and the past Board for all the hard work that was put in last year with issues that were critical such as the implementation of the strategic plan, labor issues, and selecting a president. He stated that the results are a product of hard work from this Board and hopes the Board can continue along these lines. Chairperson Jeffries stated that he looks forward to working with them this year.

Chairperson and Board Member Reports

Chairperson's Report

Recognition of Athletic Teams and Vocational Industrial Clubs of America

Chairperson Jeffries asked President Cunningham to recognize and introduce the students that were involved with the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America competition.

President Cunningham recognized the students that participated in the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA) competition in Kansas City, Missouri. Ryan Phillips won a gold medal in the Electronics Technology competition. Matt Hanks won a gold medal in the Technical Drafting competition. Keith Ross won a silver medal in the Residential Wiring competition and Chad Belbeck won a bronze medal in the Technical Drafting competition. President Cunningham stated that the other top ten finishers were Aaron Dempsey in Automotive Service Master competition and Jason VanAken in the Welding competition.

President Cunningham asked Ms. Annette Parker to introduce the faculty responsible for training the students.

Ms. Parker stated that Dean Jim Predko had been very supportive in providing funds for the students to attend. She introduced Cathy Lindquist, Patty Hanley, Bill Eggleston, and Marvin Argersinger who are faculty members. Ms. Parker stated that everything that is done follows national skill standards and it helps the faculty see where the programs are doing well and where improvement is needed.

Chairperson Jeffries recognized the Men?s Cross-country, Men?s Track, Men?s Golf, and the Women?s Softball teams for their achievements this year. The Men?s Cross-country team finished as state champions and 7^th in the nation. The Men?s Track team finished as Super Regional Champions and qualified as a team for the National Championship meet. The Men?s Golf team finished as State Champions, Region XII Champions, and 13^th in the nation. The Women?s Softball team finished as State Champions, Region XII Champions and second in the nation. He asked Mr. Bill Turowski, Athletic Director at the College, to introduce the coaches.

Mr. Turowski introduced the coaches. Mr. Chuck Block, Men?s Cross-country and Men?s Track coach; Mr. John Nagel, Men?s Golf coach; and Bob Every, Women?s Softball coach were present. Each coach introduced his or her players that were present.

Board Committee Appointments

Chairperson Jeffries made the following Board committee appointments that will be for two-year terms:

Regional Economic Developing Team - Trustee Pelleran
LCC Foundation Board of Directors - Trustee Holden and Trustee Canady
Ingham County School Officers Association - Trustee Rasmusson
Michigan Community College Association Board of Directors - Trustee Patterson, alternate - Trustee Holden.

Trustee Patterson will continue his affiliation with the Association of Community College Trustees on the national level which will be consistent with Board policies.

Mason Local Development Finance Authority - Trustee Pelleran
Leslie Local Development Finance Authority - Trustee Heywood

Policy Committee Appointment

Chairperson Jeffries stated that it was recommended very strongly by the college attorneys that all of the College's existing policies and procedures be put together, whether they are operational procedures that pertain to the President or policies established by the Board. A Policy Committee will be charged to work with the attorneys in putting together list of all of college policies. This will be brought back to the Board for final review and consideration. Chairperson Jeffries appointed himself, Trustees Holden and Rasmusson to serve on this committee. The President has appointed herself, Barbara Larson, Jennifer Wimbish, Dave Davidson and Rich Howard to serve on the Policy Committee.

Calendar of Meetings for 2001-2002 and 2002-2003

Chairperson Jeffries presented the calendar of meetings for 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 (the calendar is on file with the official Board minutes.) He stated that the meetings scheduled for December and January have been changed due to the holidays and are reflected on the calendar.

Chairperson Jeffries stated that Foundation Executive Committee and Board meeting was rescheduled from July 26 to August 9.

Board Member Reports

Trustee Patterson - He reported on the MCCA Summer Workshop held in Traverse City, Michigan. He stated that it was great to see the 28 community colleges coming together and working together on issues. Trustee Patterson stated that there was a lot of discussion regarding State funding. This year community colleges and universities received an increase, and there were a lot of departments in the state that did not receive increases, but received decreases. The emphasis on higher education in the state has been established and is a priority, and that is encouraging. He said that the issues of how to authenticate credentials in terms of the virtual college and the new gun permitting statute in the state were discussed at the MCCA workshop.

President's Report

Informational

Millage Update

President Cunningham stated that the MAHE (Michigan Association of Higher Education) contract was ratified; therefore, the college will proceed with the millage proposal. She stated that the committee has been formed. Tom Ferris is the treasurer of the committee, citizens for Lansing Community College. President Cunningham stated that one of the co-chairs has been confirmed, Alton Granger, and are waiting to confirm with the other co-chair.

Human Resources

Appointments

Administrative:

Ruth Hohl Borger, Director of Public Relations and Government Affairs,Executive Office

Faculty:

Onai N. Chityo, Faculty Member, Geography, Liberal Studies Division

Resignations

Administrative:

Barbara L. Lytle, Coordinator of Student Employment, Career and Employment Services, Careers Division

Action Items

Approval of Minutes - June 28, 2001 Regular Meeting - President Cunningham presented the June 28, 2001 meeting minutes.

Human Resources

The renewal of contracts for Barbara Larson, Jennifer Wimbish, and Dave Davidson were presented for the Board's approval.

Michigan Association of Higher Education - Tentative Agreement

President Cunningham presented the Michigan Association of Higher Education tentative agreement to the Board for ratification.

IT WAS MOVED by Trustee Canady and supported by Trustee Holden to accept the President's report as presented.

Ayes: Canady, Heywood, Holden, Jeffries, Patterson, Pelleran, Rasmusson
Nays: None
Absent: None

Motion carried.

Public Comment

Trustee Pelleran - I would like to recognize a few other people. My cousin Randy Carmen, thank you for being here today. And I would like to recognize dear friends, Claudia and Joel Solomon and their family. Merrit and Miss Emily, two future community college students here. And my dear friends, Elizabeth and David Nistell, and their daughters, Katie and Amy, they are from Eaton Rapids. We have to hook them in here. Sharon Darr, who I used to work with many, many years ago. And I would like to say to everyone here, the folks at, my stage workers, it has been a pleasure working with you, Michael David and William Minihan. To all of you here, thank you for allowing me to serve you as your public servant, I hold this in the public's trust and for the next 6 years you have the permission to give me the benefit of your thinking, good, bad or ugly, and I appreciate being here to serve you, so thank you so much for that honor.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 5:28 p.m.