Southeastern Illinois College Board of Trustees met Feb. 19.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
The Southeastern Illinois College Board of Trustees held its regular meeting on Tuesday, February 19, 2019 in the Rodney J. Brenner Board Room. On roll call, the following members were present: Debbie Hughes, Dr. Pat York, Dr. Frank Barbre, Jim Ellis, Richard Morgan, and Alex McRoy. Also present: Sara DeNeal, Gina Sirach, Chad Flannery, Dr. Karen Weiss, Lisa Hite, Allan Kimball, Dr. Jonah Rice, and Lisa Dye.
Dr. York welcomed guests and allowed a time for comment.
ICCTA Report – Dr. Barbre
We had an excellent trip to Washington DC for the Community College National Legislative Summit. Dr. Rice, Chris Barr, and Dr. Barbre attended. Beneficial visits and contacts with Congressman Shimkus, Senator Duckworth, and Senator Durbin were made. The Summit was held in conjunction with ICCTA’s regular meeting. Three federal legislative priorities (strengthening Pell Grants, investing in education and workforce development, and reauthorizing the Higher Education Act) were discussed and all sessions were built around these priorities. Dr. Barbre met with the Department of Agriculture and discovered they had the same priorities as did the Summit. Four Community Colleges had alumni join them for a social evening during the summit and SIC was one of them. Dr. Barbre said the highlight of the trip was dinner with Mr. Hise, who is a huge supporter of SIC, our administrators, our Board, and especially of Dr. Rice. Mr. Hise considers us family and we had a very positive time with him. Dr. Barbre said that in his opinion, Mr. Hise is very happy with the Art Museum building. Dr. Rice thanked the Board for supporting the trip.
SIC Employees – Sara DeNeal
Loving Life: Senior Adult Art Exhibit reception is Sunday, February 24th at 2pm in the VPAC Art Gallery. SIC Art Major, JeanLu Peak , has had a piece accepted into the Cedarhurst Fine Art and Crafts Competition at Shrode Art Center in Mt. Vernon at Mitchell Museum. 199 works of art were submitted by 81 artists living in the southern Illinois region. A total of 59 works were accepted into this year’s exhibition. The top award winners will be announced during the Opening Reception on Saturday, February 23, 6:00 p.m. SIC Art Department has partnered with Little Egypt’s Arts Association (LEAA) in Marion to host the Intercollegiate Art show after Shawnee Community College was unable to host this year’s event. The show will be March 12 through March 31.
Dr. Rice’s Report
Gina Sirach reported that the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation have posted the 2018 national and state pass rates for candidates who have completed the NCLEX-RN & LPN examination. The data is based on candidates completing the licensure examination for the first time upon graduation. Both the PN and ADN programs at SIC received 100% pass rates for 2018. Only 4 out of 42 programs received 100% pass rates for Associate Degree Programs. Dr. Rice said that is very impressive! Dr. Rice said that White County schools may be sending students to SIC in the afternoons for CTE dual credit classes and that SIC will possibly provide CNA classes in White County for high school students. Dr. Rice commented on the SIC/Ferrell Hospital Fundraiser (Dueling Pianos) saying that the event was sold out with 350 attendees which included Senator Fowler, the State’s Attorney, and the Sheriff. SIC staff did a great job with the event. Dr. Rice said enrollment is solid, essentially flat which is good. He said we are shrinking, but hopefully 2 years from now depending on state funding we will be ok. Chad Flannery reported that 21 high school students from Union County Kentucky have applied at SIC for Fall 2019. On April 16th, their high school will bus them to us for orientation. Dr. Rice reported on the minimum wage hike impact. He said Lisa Hite ran numbers on student workers and part-time employees (not vendors or contractual) and found that the cost to SIC would be approximately $1.2 million by 2026. The tiered system that we lobbied for fell on deaf ears. Cabinet will be discussing, studying, and reacting to this bill that was signed today by the Governor. Dr. Rice said this is a bad situation for Southern Illinois. Dr. Rice said thanks to Bruce Tolley and the Saline County Board, the pink building eyesore on Highway 13 will be torn down soon. Dr. Rice said SIC is educating employees on phishing issues. Gina Sirach reported that we now have a BNS 3+1 agreement with SIUE and that Illinois Eastern is in a final review to do the same. Additionally, in late March we will be meeting with a private school for the same purpose. Lisa Hite reported that the Police MOU revision on language is complete and Sheriff Whipper Johnson will be signing it. Lisa Hite also reported that officials from the state have been to SIC to approve our gun range for police training. Lisa Hite said she has received an estimate to repair the east road erosion. Dr. Chad Flannery reported that the student survey regarding HLC has been sent to students. Dr. Karen Weiss said that Holly Healy is working with the police department in Carmi for workforce development training and that we picked up a new mine for training. Dr. Weiss also said we have an open position for a career evaluator that will help with student with placement and job searches. Gina Sirach reported that in the past month 300 high school students have been on campus and thanked faculty for doing a good job in recruiting.
Student Trustee Report
Student Government will take a trip to Holiday World soon and they will be promoting the civility pledge kickoff and signup all next week outside the cafeteria. Art club has changed their trip from Chicago to Nashville and they helped with Drama Con. Circle K will work at Heaven’s Kitchen next month and they have a Pay it Forward event later this semester. Math and Science will host a game tournament with Student Government. PBL is preparing for their national competition. Theta Sigma Phi just finished the Boys Next Door, and auditions for Aida are next week. Drama Con had 150 students from a local high school and two local middle schools attend.
Consent Agenda
A motion was made by Trustee Ellis seconded by Trustee Hughes to approve the Consent Agenda which included the January 15, 2019 minutes, destroying tapes of the March 2017 closed session, the Treasurer’s Report and the approval of bills for January 2019 which totaled $1,354,194.86 which included $465,800.43 in payroll. On roll call all members voted aye. Motion carried.
On roll call all members voted to approve the Reimbursement of Travel, Meal, and Lodging Expenses.
Action Items
A. Approval to Name the Theatre Stage in the George T. Dennis Visual and Performing Arts Complex.
A motion was made by Trustee Ellis seconded by Trustee Barbre to approve to name the Theatre Stage in the George T. Dennis Visual and Performing Arts Complex the “Allan G. Kimball Stage.”
All members voted aye. Motion carried.
Allan Kimball thanked the Board for this honor. He said 21 years ago, Dr. Oldham told him that SIC was a family and he truly believes it is. He has loved his job for all these years and the people that he’s worked with too.
Allan Kimball left the meeting at 6:25 pm.
B. Approval of New Board Policy #9023.1 State Seal of Biliteracy.
A motion was made by Trustee Barbre seconded by Trustee Hughes to approve new Board Policy #9023.1 State Seal of Biliteracy.
All members voted aye. Motion carried.
C. Approval of Request to Serve Alcohol at Donor Appreciation Event.
A motion was made by Trustee Hughes seconded by Trustee Morgan to approve request to serve alcohol at donor appreciation event.
All members voted aye. Motion carried.
D. Approval of CPR Instructor Pay.
A motion was made by Trustee Ellis seconded by Trustee Hughes to approve CPR Instructor Pay. All members voted aye. Motion carried.
E. Approval of Budget Transfers.
A motion was made by Trustee Morgan seconded by Trustee Barbre to approve budget transfers. All members voted aye. Motion carried.
F. Approval of Curriculum Report.
A motion was made by Trustee Barbre seconded by Trustee Hughes to approve the Curriculum Report.
All members voted aye. Motion carried.
G. Approval to Award Bid for Learning Commons Renovation.
A motion was made by Trustee Hughes seconded by Trustee Ellis to approve Bid for Learning Commons Renovation.
All members voted aye. Motion carried.
Dr. Rice said he was pleased with the numbers submitted and that Thad Heckman’s (Architect for Design Works) recommendation and approval provided assurance for the project. Ed Fitzgerald and Lisa Hite are comfortable with the awarded bid going to Evrard Company Inc. which was the lowest base bid + alternate bid #1 of $497,000 and alternate bid #2 of $59,000.
Non-Action Items
A. Diversity Update.
Dr. Rice said it is good to show the Commission that we take diversity seriously and that we have it documented. Dr. Rice said this is a mandate from the state. We are at 54% and the target is 26%, so we are double the target.
B. Community Colleges Business Enterprise Program Annual Report.
C. Revise Board Policy #4023 Social Media.
Dr. Rice said this is covered in another policy and we are cleaning up our policies. D. Retire Board Policy #4022 Online Networking.
Dr. Rice said Greg McCulloch and legal have advised us on this policy.
E. Civility Proposal.
Alex McRoy and Dr. Rice said this proposal was to promote better attitudes towards each other in conversations and on social media too. Students will sign the proposal and a poster of it will hang in the cafeteria. Civil discourse with debates not fights will be promoted.
F. Dual Credit Report.
Dr. Rice said this is a good report that shows who is taking advantage of dual credit. He said he is pleased with this and hopes it continues and that it would benefit us to find even more venues. Congressman Shimkus and Senator Duckworth are positive about JRROTC, but this is a minimum 2 year process to get it.
G. Tuition and Fee Report.
This non-action item was mistakenly printed and should say “Retention and Resistance Report.” H. Correspondence.
Nice letter from Shirley Oshell.
Personnel
A motion was made by Trustee Hughes seconded by Trustee Barbre to approve all items listed under personnel:
All members voted aye. Motion carried.
The Board approved tenure status for Aaron Aul and Brenda Knight. The Board approved re- employment for the 2019-2020 academic year for non-tenured faculty members – Sessaly Davis, Sylvia Moore, and Jessica Wright. The Board approved resolution regarding grant-funded employees. The Board approved to hire Bethany Mathis, as the Assistant Director of Financial Aid. The Board approved to hire Jessica Wright full-time as Biology/Chemistry Instructor. The Board approved to hire Sessaly Davis full-time as Nursing Instructor. The Board approved to hire Amanda Payne as Assistant to the Executive Dean of Academic Services. The Board approved 403(b) request from employee Amanda Payne. The Board approved to accept the resignation of Biology Instructor, Mila-Maring Sims. The Board approved the Theater Job Description. The Board approved the Biology Job Description. The Board approved the employment of Adjunct Faculty.
Adjournment
There being no further business to discuss, Trustee Morgan made the motion to adjourn the meeting seconded by Trustee Barbre. All members voted aye. The meeting adjourned at 7:30 pm.
http://www.sic.edu/files/uploads/global/Minutes_February_19_2019.pdf
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