North Central Missouri College President Doctor Lenny Klaver provided a COVID-19 update to the Board of Trustees the evening of Tuesday, June 23rd. He said the college is working on back to campus plans. He wants to incorporate best practices and be quick to react to changes.
The National Junior College Athletic Association has made recommendations for sports for 2020-2021. Klaver noted many of the recommendations would not affect NCMC in the fall because the college does not have any fall sports.
Men’s and women’s basketball are scheduled to start practicing September 14th. The first competitions are scheduled for October 16th. Safety protocols are to be implemented.
A video was shown in which staff talked about how NCMC reacted and is handling the pandemic.
Klaver reported fall enrollment improved this week. Enrollment is down by 6.5% in headcount and 5.2% in credit hours. Klaver said summer enrollment continues to be down from last year. It’s down by 8% in headcount and 2% in credit hours. Klaver noted enrollment is still tracking as an increase from 2018 and 2017. He mentioned NCMC has had its largest two graduating classes in a row.
Klaver reported 2,267 bills were filed in the Second Regular Session of the 100th Missouri General Assembly. Forty-seven of those bills were truly agreed to and finally passed, including budget bills, which amounts to two percent of the total bills filed. Three bills “affecting” higher education were truly agreed to and finally passed, which was one-tenth of a percent of the total bills filed.
He said NCMC was one of three Missouri community colleges that provided a letter of intent to submit a proposal for a bachelor’s degree in Respiratory Care for a comprehensive review.
Vice President for Student Affairs Doctor Kristen Alley reported $134,000 of CARES Act funding has been awarded to students so far, and there is more to award. NCMC has more than $450,000 to distribute to students.
She said the college received a $5,000 financial aid grant regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
NCMC is close to full occupancy in its residence halls for the fall.
Chief of Staff Kristi Harris noted face masks will be provided to all students in the fall.
Alley reported diplomas are being sent this week with covers. Federal work-study awards are also going out.
Vice President for Academic Affairs Doctor Tristan Londre reported the library and tutoring are open on campus. Testing is being done by appointment. There is no Pearson or High School Equivalency Test at this time.
Londre said reduced class sizes are planned for in-person classes this fall.
An Overdrive license was purchased for online access to books and magazines.
Green Hills Head Start Directors Sue Ewigman and Janet Gott shared its once a year self-assessment with the board. The assessment is used to measure a Head Start or Early Head Start program’s effectiveness in meeting program goals and objectives. It helps identify program strengths and opportunities for improvement.
In August, September, and October, Policy Council representatives, NCMC trustees, and staff reviewed program goals and objectives, discussed supportive data and results, evaluated progress, determined goal appropriateness, and offered recommendations for improvement. Goals include completion of construction of the Trenton Building, supporting parents and encouraging active engagement within program activities, preparing to gradually and systematically convert Head Start enrollment slots to Early Head Start slots to best serve area children and families, and improving child outcomes in all developmental areas.
Ewigman noted one strength is the staff. There is only one position currently open in Green Hills Head Start, and last year at this time, there were six or seven.
Gott reported the Trenton Building is close to completion. Some siding had to be replaced because it buckled. She said the fire marshal found a few problems that have to be fixed. She has concerns about water pooling in front of the building. Someone is to come and look at the situation and seed. Floors are scheduled to be waxed.
The directors are working on a grant for the playground. Their goal is to have a class in the Trenton Building in August. They also hope to have an open house in August.
Ewigman noted she and Gott are following and watching guidelines regarding the pandemic. She said Head Start is waiting on CARES Act funding. It is allowed to use grant funding for expenses now until CARES Act funding arrives.
Gott mentioned Head Start began offering a virtual summer school, which started Monday. Head Start is also preparing meals. They plan to contact county health departments on July 8th or 9th about in-person summer school.
Ewigman noted there are 31 children in the home-based program, and staff is not allowed to enter those homes at this time.
NCMC Director of Development Alicia Endicott submitted a report to the board. It said the Traveling Pirates Royals trip is still planned for July 26th. Nineteen of 20 tickets are taken.
The fence between the Alexander Student Center and Frey Administration Center was cleaned and stained. Endicott noted a feature will be added by August to create a selfie fence for students and visitors can take pictures in front of.
Donations to the Knowledge Scholarship Fund are being made in memory of Betty Sager, who died May 27th. The annual giving campaign for unrestricted gifts, called the Voyage Fund, has raised $8,805 so far this year.
The North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees approved balanced budgets for 2020-2021 for Unrestricted Accounts and Auxiliary Service Accounts the evening of Tuesday, June 23rd.
The Unrestricted Accounts budget is the operational budget. Its projected revenues and expenses both total $10,406,321. The Auxiliary Service Accounts budget has projected total revenues and expenses of $2,061,550. NCMC projects combined revenues and expenses of $12,467,871.
Vice President of Business and Finance Tyson Otto reported there is some uncertainty with the budgets in the next year. They are based on several assumptions. For revenues, tuition and fees are based on slightly lower enrollment. However, they are projected at $88,621 more than the previous year due to increases in tuition rates and fees as well as the addition of credit hours required for the Practical Nursing program. Revenues also assume state appropriations of $2,295,000, which is about 12.5% lower, and that local tax revenue will remain stable.
Otto anticipates energy savings at some college buildings. He noted the Ketcham Community Center has seen a “significant” difference in energy usage since installing new lighting.
Assumptions for expenses include no across-the-board salary increases due to projected state withholds and budgeted increases in employee health insurance premiums of $36,184. Otto said the college was opting to wait a while to hire some positions that have openings.
Directors were asked what 10% of expenses could be eliminated. He noted cutting costs will not affect the quality of education at NCMC.
Payments for the Barton Farm Campus note are coming from the college reserves due to previously raised money. The obligations total $61,608. This is the last year of payments on the zero-interest note, and it is the only debt service NCMC currently has. Otto noted the college has a strong fund balance.
Board President Diane Lowrey said Otto was “very conservative” on revenues and expenditures. NCMC President Lenny Klaver said Otto was doing things in the best interest of the college and commented everything could change.
The trustees also approved the Workforce Development Board Program Year 2020 Administrative Budget. Anticipated revenues total $241,711, which is down more than $111,217 from the actual revenues from Program Year 2019. Anticipated expenses total $287,478, which is down $65,450 from Program Year 2019. The Workforce Development Board Program Year 2020 Administrative Budget has a projected deficit of $45,767.
The board of trustees approved a five-year agreement with SoftDocs for document imaging and online forms services. The cost for the first year of the agreement is $84,100, which includes the annual cloud subscription fee and professional services fee for migration and implementation. The annual cloud subscription fee is subject to a three percent annual increase. Chief Information Officer Jennifer Triplett anticipates the purchase will be partially covered by CARES Act funding and the existing Computer Operations budget.
She reported a request for proposals was conducted, and two bids were received. The Online Forms Selection Committee reviewed the bids and interviewed reference clients. The committee of representatives from in-scope departments from the college believed SoftDoc’s suite of services and tools was the “right fit” for the college. Triplett noted the purchase will eventually lead to the de-installation of NCMC’s existing document imaging solution, Hyland’s Perceptive Content. She noted implementation would take about six months.
She mentioned the college’s inability to collect information digitally and manage workflows and approvals efficiently is a weakness made more apparent by NCMC’s transition to 100% online classes and work from home procedures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She anticipates SoftDocs will improve existing business processes and make the college “more resilient” to continued COVID-19 concerns.
The board voted to allow Triplett to go out for a request for proposals for vendors to partner with NCMC on information technology for financing programs. The vote came after she gave a special board report.
Triplett reported the college’s information technology faces multiple problems. Those include lengthy downtimes for systems, difficulty maintaining systems, poor experience with wifi in residence halls, video surveillance coverage, and operational spend with money goes to systems that were not doing well. Some equipment is aging out. Some already expired or is past its end of support life. Triplett noted 44% of the data center components are obsolete.
She said 30 or 40 meetings had been held with architects to determine how to do better. It was determined improvements could be made to the firewalls, core and edge switching, data center, infrastructure, and video surveillance.
Triplett reported NCMC recently spent $21,000 on support contracts and $4,500 on infrastructure. She noted the cost to uplift the system could be one million to one and a half million dollars. She anticipates CARES Act money could be used.
Klaver said he did not want the college to become “stymied.” He added that something needed to be done.
The board adopted the 2020-2021 college catalog. New programs added include certificates in Agriculture Operations Technology, Corrections, and Law Enforcement.
Several degree programs were removed from the catalog due to the discontinuance of adult programs at the Hillyard Technical Center of Saint Joseph. Those include the Associate of Applied Science degrees in Dental Hygiene and Diagnostic Medical Sonography.
The certificate in Business Technology Essentials was also removed. The certificate in Accounting/Business Technology was changed to Accounting Essentials.
Revised job titles and descriptions were approved. They included the Director of Admissions being changed to the Director of Admissions and Marketing and the Informational Technology Help Desk Specialist to Technical Support Engineer. Chief of Staff Kristi Harris said changes will take effect July 1st.
An updated organizational chart was approved. The updates included changing a few positions as to who they are to report.
The board approved the resignation of NCMC Campus Store employee Kadi Gamble. Her last day was June 11th.