The Southeastern Illinois College Board of Trustees met Sept. 20 to adopt the 2017 budget.
Here are the meeting's minutes, as provided by the board:
"The Southeastern Illinois College Board of Trustees holds its regularly scheduled meetings on the third Tuesday of each month (unless otherwise posted) at 6:00 p.m. in the Rodney J. Brenner Board Room located in the Harry W. Abell Administration Building. A meeting schedule is provided to local media per the guidelines of the Open Meetings Act and the Illinois Public Community College Act."
MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETING SOUTHEASTERN ILLINOIS COLLEGE 3575 COLLEGE ROAD; HARRISBURG, IL 62946 SEPTEMBER 20, 2016
The Southeastern Illinois College Board of Trustees held its regular meeting on Tuesday, September 20, 2016 at 6:00 pm in the Rodney J. Brenner Board Room. On roll call, the following members were present: Debbie Hughes, Jim Ellis, Dr. Frank Barbre, Dr. Pat York, and Bridget Fitzpatrick, student trustee. Mr. Bradley entered the meeting after the roll had been called and left the meeting before consent agenda. Absent: David Dennison and Richard Morgan. Also present were: Dr. Jonah Rice, Dr. Karen Weiss, Chad Flannery, David Wright, Gina Sirach, Karla Lewis, Dr. Diane King, and Barbara Potter.
Dr. York welcomed guests and allowed a time for comment. There were no comments from the audience.
Reports
Dr. Frank Barbre, ICCTA Representative reported on the following items: The ICCTA Board of Representatives took the following actions at its September 9-10, 2016 meetings at the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel in Springfield, Illinois: Discussed new state laws affecting community colleges; Learned that the Illinois Senate may hold subject matter hearings this fall on the issue of BSN (bachelor of science in nursing) degrees and community colleges. ICCTA’s Baccalaureate Degree Study Committee will reach out to legislators and provide an update at ICCTA’s November meeting; Were informed of efforts by the Illinois Community College Board to assist students impacted by the recent closure of ITT Technical Institute; Were updated on the association’s plans to provide mandatory trustee training as required by Public Act 99-0692; Welcomed State Sen. Chapin Rose, who urged trustees to invite local lawmakers on campus this fall; Paid tribute to ICCTA’s immediate past president Andrew Bollman (Sauk Valley), who passed away July 9 during a family vacation in Belize. The board unanimously adopted a resolution honoring his contributions to the Trustees Association and the Illinois community college system; Learned that the nomination deadlines for ICCTA’s 2017 awards have been determined; Received positive feedback on ICCTA’ s September 9 seminars on sustainability and student success; Heard that ICCTA’s November 11 Legal and Legislative Update will feature discussion of new laws affecting college foundations; Presented awards to four trustees: Richard Roehrkasse from Southwestern, 25-Year Trustee Award, 4th Trustee Education Award, Certificate of Appreciation for service as 2015-2016 ICCTA Southwest Region chair; Dr. Joan DiLeonardi, Oakton: 4th Trustee Education Award; Dick Frey, Kankakee: Certificate of Appreciation as 2015-2016 ICCTA South Suburban Region chair; Angela Holmes, Elgin: Certificate of Appreciation as 2015-2016 ICCTA Diversity Committee chair; Received the association’s Fiscal Year 2016 audit. No findings or adjusted entries were required; Previewed the October 5-8 Association of Community College Trustees’ Leadership Congress in New Orleans. Diane Gallagher (Highland) will receive ACCT’s Central Region Trustee Leadership Award, and the College of Lake County has won the Central Region Equity Award; Congratulated ICCTA director of finance Stephanie Spann for earning her MBA from Benedictine University; and acknowledged the passing of trustee William “Bill” Alstat (John A. Logan) and sent get-well wishes to board chair Gregg Chadwick (Heartland), former ICCTA president Reggie Coleman (John Wood), and ICCTA executive director Mike Monaghan.
Dr. Rice reported on the following items: We received notice of our grant funding extension for the SBDC from the DCEO through December 31, 2016. The MJOCCS 40th anniversary celebration will be held October 12, 2016 at 12:30 in the PDR at SIC. The program will include guest speakers, a children’s choir, and a tour of the MJOCCS facility. We will also launch our MJOCCS Endowment drive on the same day. The Fountain Bricks have been delivered and construction will commence thereafter. The key issues discussed at the last Presidents’ Council were budget projections included a lot of guesses and predictions, and some who said we simply don’t know (but it won’t be good). The predictions were there would be no more money for FY 17, about the same amount for FY 18, and about the same amount for FY 19. We will need to be ready to receive only half of our State funding as the new normal. That is just over $2 million for SIC. As for a timeline and general approximations based on that input: FY 16 (lost reserve of $1.9m); FY 17 (lost reserve of $2.25m) (plan for 36 months); FY 18 (lost reserve and use of borrowed funds - working cash) ($1 million GAP); FY 19 (borrowed - working cash) ($1 million GAP); FY 20 (adapt to 50% funding). Predicted stop gap budgets only during Governor’s term. SIC is like most in the State and has seen a dip in enrollment. We were lucky to be up last year but are down overall this year. We have about 20 more high school students than last year, but dual credit is down. Of course, dual credit does not translate to cash paying students, so the bottom line should not be harmed as much otherwise. We are down in returning students as well. We are exploring marketing possibilities with the new interstate rules on educational cooperation across borders. Kentucky is lagging behind but poised to sign on. Indiana is already a partner. I have charged Dean Flannery and his staff to engage a pilot program with HHS regarding registration and dual credit. After we discussed the idea with Principal Dewar, we have decided to pursue. Dr. Weiss has explored the possibility of working with the Alternative School in Norris City on dual credit possibilities. She and I will meet with relevant staff and tour the facility soon to discuss options. We are working on tuition proposals to bring to the Board soon for discussion. This will be a part of our overall GAP strategy. We are striving for about a $1 million GAP closure with revenue, reductions, and cost-saving measures. This GAP plan will not come close to filling the hole from our State appropriation that is unrealized. However, we do need to work on closing the GAP of funding from Springfield. We have been invited to complete a survey for the Lt. Governor regarding our partnerships with other units of government or the private sector to do more with less. This covers any Intergovernmental Agreements, Memorandums of Understanding, or shared service partnerships that elected officials could learn from and replicate. Our input will lead to a publication, Illinois Local Government Shared Service Best Practices Guide, which will highlight a variety of creative approaches along with tried-and-true methods so that officials of all levels have the resources to implement more effective, efficient governance in their communities.
The administrative cabinet presented brief reports.
Student trustee Bridget Fitzpatrick reported on the following student initiatives: the Archery USIAC 3D North Regional tournament will be held on September 17; the BASIC Club will host See You at the Pole on September 28; the Math & Science club will have recycling carts throughout the campus for plastic and aluminum and STEM Day will be held on September 28; Phi Theta Kappa will be co-sponsoring Get Out and Vote Campaign with Student Government on September 28; Student Ambassadors will be participating in Back to School Bash on September 14, the Eldorado Parade September 17, Get Out & Vote Campaign on September 28, Student Government Elections on September 28; and the Cultural Art Series will be hosting Jamie Ford (Author) on September 21.
Consent Agenda
A motion was made by Trustee Ellis and seconded by Trustee Barbre to approve the consent agenda which included the August 9, 2016 regular and closed session minutes, destroying tapes of the March 2015 closed session, the Treasurer’s report and the July bills which totaled $1,268,428.28 that included $413,571.49 in payroll and the August bills which totaled $1,521,623.90 that included $293,953.58.
On roll call the following members voted:
Aye Nay Ms. Hughes Mr. Ellis Dr. Barbre Dr. York Ms. Fitzpatrick, Advisory Vote
All members voted aye. Motion carried.
Action Items
A motion was made by Trustee Barbre seconded by Trustee Hughes that the Board of Trustees approve the Resolution to adopt the FY17 budget.
All members voted aye. Motion carried.
A motion was made by Trustee Hughes seconded by Trustee Ellis that the Board of Trustees approve the bid received from Trikote, LLC in the amount of $152,000 for the Protection, Health, and Safety project that included the water tower tank repair and upgrade.
All members voted aye. Motion carried.
A motion was made by Trustee Hughes seconded by Trustee Barbre that the Board of Trustees approve the Student Government Logo to use in their marketing initiatives. This logo will be added to the Board of Trustees manual.
All members voted aye. Motion carried.
A motion was made by Trustee Ellis seconded by Trustee Barbre that the Board of Trustees approve Sky Fowler as the Local Election Official for the 2017 election cycle.
All members voted aye. Motion carried.
A motion was made by Trustee Barbre seconded by Trustee Hughes that the Board of Trustees approve the recommendations of the curriculum committee.
All members voted aye. Motion carried.
Non-Action Items
In non-action items, the Board received a report generated from the Illinois Community College Council of Presidents’ that stated the time has come to have the very important dialog about the state of our future workforce in Illinois. In order for Illinois to continue to be competitive and meet the needs of its local workforces throughout the state, we recommend the community college system be allowed to offer the BSN. Twenty-three states across our nation already have approved community colleges to be providers of baccalaureate programs. The ICCCP specifically recommends allowing for the approval of the BSN to be offered through Illinois’ community colleges.
The Board also received information from Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s ratings, the Illinois FY17 community college tuition report and information regarding new legislation for state mandated leadership training for community college trustees. There were several board policy revisions presented for a first reading that included: Closed Meetings 2012; Recordings of Closed Meetings 2012.1; MJOCCS Employee Benefits 5024.4; Purchasing Guide 8003; and Purchasing Guide – Minorities 8003.1; and, a news release from the Herald News.
Closed Session
A motion was made by Trustee Barbre seconded by Trustee Ellis to convene into closed session as allowed by the Open Meetings Act 5 ILCS 120/2, Section C, Sub-Section (1) appointment, employment, and compensation of specific employees, (2) negotiations, (5) acquisitions of property, (9) student discipline, and (11) litigation. The board went into closed session at 7:29 pm.
On roll call, the following members voted:
Aye Nay Ms. Hughes Mr. Ellis Dr. Barbre Dr. York Ms. Fitzpatrick, Advisory Vote
A motion was made by Trustee Barbre seconded by Trustee Hughes to reconvene into open session at 9:53 pm.
Personnel
A motion was made by Trustee Ellis and seconded by Trustee Hughes to approve all items under personnel.
Approved an Institutional Post-Retirement proposal and approved a number of adjunct faculty positions.
All members voted aye. Motion carried.
Adjournment
There being no further business to discuss, Trustee Ellis made the motion to adjourn the meeting seconded by Trustee Barbre. All members voted aye. The meeting adjourned at 9:54 pm.
Alerts Sign-up