August 09, 2010 

Cabinet Members:

President Mike Richards – absent
Vartouhi Asherian, Chair, Administrative Faculty Assembly
John Bearce, Interim Director of Institutional Research
K.C. Brekken, Communications Manager
Thomas Brown, Chief Campus Administrator, Cheyenne – absent
Art Byrd, Vice President, Student Affairs – absent
Patty Charlton, Senior Vice President for Finance & Facilities
Chemene Crawford, Interim Vice President for Administration
J.T. Creedon, Student Government President – absent
Darren Divine, Vice President, Academic Affairs
Richard Hinckley, General Counsel
Bill Kerney, Faculty Senate Chair                                          
Cat Maihen, President, Classified Council
Larry Mason, Chief Diversity Officer
Jacque Matthews, Executive Director, Foundation – absent
Penny McCollum, Campus Site Administrator, Henderson Campus
Joan McGee, Chief Campus Administrator, Charleston Campus
Dan Morris, Executive Director, Business Operations
Tracy Sherman, Faculty Senate Chair-Elect 
Mugunth Vaithylingam, Chief Information Officer  
Anne Zemek de Dominguez, General Counsel – absent
Annette Lord, Executive Assistant

The meeting was called to order by Patty Charlton at 9 a.m.

The notes of the June 14, 2010 cabinet meeting were approved.

Patty told the group that Dr. Richards was meeting with the Chancellor and would not be attending the cabinet meeting. She reminded the cabinet members of some upcoming dates including the special Board of Regents Meeting on August 27 and the Fire Station Dedication on August 30.

Dan Morris shared a summary of the NSHE Strategic Plan for Information Technology. The SCS Advisory Group and the NSHE Campus Technology Officers formed the planning team, whose primary objectives represent the areas critical for an enduring base for IT among the NSHE institutions. The five areas of focus for the next 3-5 years are:

• Sustaining a Current Infrastructure
• Collaboration on Shared Services
• Awareness of the Value of Information Technology
• Services that Mirror Institution Priorities
• Information Security

SCS initiatives for the 2010-2012 Biennium:

1. Infrastructure Capacity Plan – Develop a capacity plan and funding document for the next biennium to support NSHE-wide services and infrastructure requirements to deliver SCS services.
2. Shared Services Costing Model – Develop a methodology and tools to examine cost and benefits of central IT services and to develop a cost/benefit model to analyze collaborative/shared versus independent approaches to delivering NSHE IT services.
3. IT Metrics – define and report on relevant IT service metrics for SCS services and complete service level agreements for each service area.
4. Collaboration Plan – Evaluate and modify SCS user and advisory committees to ensure all NSHE stakeholders are represented and to improve communication and information dissemination with NSHE institutions.
5. Continuous Planning Improvements – Strengthen IT and strategic planning between SCS and NSHE Institutions and continue to improve relationships and communication and feedback channels.
6. Information Security – Collaborative planning and implementation of NSHE-wide information security standards and practices.

John Bearce shared enrollment information current as of August 5. Compared to last year at the same time, the percentages are up and classes are 85% full. More sessions may be offered for some courses, but not very many. The midnight classes are again very popular and pre-purge had over 500 students enrolled. Head counts will be made available at the end of the first week of classes. The iNtegrate project is proceeding at close to projected timelines. There are a few concerns involving the data warehouse and reporting capability at the go-live date, but alternatives are being discussed. The consulting resources may be strained as well during some phases of implementation.

Patty Charlton reported a very busy summer season for the Finance & Facilities division. The fiscal year (2009-2010) was closed the end of June. The new fiscal year started July 1, 2010 with a general fund reduction of 6.9%. Patty is optimistic at this time that an additional general fund budget reduction will not be imposed.

CSN’s annual audit by external auditors, Grant Thornton LLP, begins in August and auditors will be on and off campuses through the end of September.

A number of employees have retired from the Financial Services area and as a result some operational changes are being implemented. Included in these changes is the discontinuation of account clerks assigned to academic departments. Training and assistance will be provided to department/divisional managers and support personnel through the transition. The receiving and delivery function at the Henderson Campus has been eliminated – and will be coordinated through departmental personnel on a weekly basis and as needed for critical items that may arise. Additional information will be provided to the College community during the week of Convocation.

Facilities Management is nearing completion of two major construction projects—the Engelstad Health Sciences addition and the Fire Station on the Charleston Campus. Both facilities will be open for the start of the Fall 2010 semester. In conjunction with the completion of the Fire Station/Instructional Center, we are completing ½ street improvements on Torrey Pines. The improvements include landscaping, street lighting, and sidewalks along the campus. Additional parking will be available also as the projects are completed.

Sherri Payne and Patty Charlton will be in Carson City on August 26 to present Capital Project Requests for CSN to the State Public Works Board. Included on CSN’s list are:

• Building A Mechanical Retrofit – Charleston campus
• Building A Mechanical Retrofit – Henderson campus
• HVAC Retrofit – Cheyenne campus
• Planning Request – Classroom/Student Services Building Charleston campus

A number of organizational changes have been implemented with the start of the new fiscal year. Among the changes are the Planetarium and Dental Faculty Practice transitioning to Academic Affairs. The change was effective July 1.

The Community College Task Force will meet on August 19 at CSN.

Serious cuts have been recommended to the PEBP; CSN will have representatives at the meeting on September 2. All public employees need to keep a close watch on the health care situation and contribute opinions, alternatives, and ideas.

Joan McGee commended the Strategic Planning Committee for their work over the past year. A presentation of CSN’s Strategic Plan will be given at the Board of Regents Meeting on September 9 & 10 by Dr. Richards and Dr. Crawford. Dr. McGee submitted the annual request for room usage to CCSD for the High Tech Centers. She updated the group on the centers as well:

• Green Valley HTC – Josh Ruter is out for a couple of weeks. He and his wife welcomed their first child to their family.
• Lincoln County – Rebecca Metty-Burns and Joan McGee are working with Workforce Connections on grant support for the center. They are visiting this site more often in order to reinforce the new focus and answer any questions motivated by the new funding source.
• Moapa Valley – visit scheduled for fall
• Nellis AFB – Joan is working with site coordinator Jim Johnson to continue support for students and families on the base
• Summerlin HTC – Floral Design program has moved here
• Western HTC – the parking lot serving both the high school and our college site has been paved and re-striped.
• Charleston Campus – new Fire Station/Classroom complex and Engelstad addition completed for fall.

Joan reported that the recent blood drives have been very successful and thanked students, faculty and staff who all stepped up efforts to help the blood bank. Circle K Student Club and Phi Theta Kappa helped with registrations and donated as well. Joan is also working with Leadership Las Vegas and Leadership Henderson toward a successful Education Day next year. Her goal is to be sure higher education as well as K-12 is appropriately represented and that CSN gets good “air time” at this next one.

Mugunth Vaithylingam reported that the amount of SPAM has increased worldwide and as a result we here at CSN may see an increase as well. The SPAM filters are blocking enormous amounts of it, but we can expect to see some in our email. The OTS Newsletter will address some ways to minimize it and ways to avoid making it worse. Mugunth reported the PC refresh project is continuing as planned. The Voice Over IP Project is a major undertaking, and infrastructure to support it should be in place by the end of October. VOIP will be phased in following that portion of the project. Another big project is the self-service help desk which is being tested currently. The pilot will be tested at the beginning of the semester. The print-management solution is currently in place in computer labs, libraries and classrooms.

Patty Charlton congratulated Larry Mason on his appointment as Chief Diversity Officer.

Meeting adjourned at 9:50 a.m.

Next meeting scheduled September 13, 2010.