Cabinet Members:
President Mike Richards
John Bearce, Interim Director of Institutional Research
K.C. Brekken, Communications Manager – absent
Thomas Brown, Chief Campus Administrator, Cheyenne – absent
Art Byrd, Vice President, Student Affairs
Patty Charlton, Senior Vice President for Finance & Facilities – absent
Chemene Crawford, Interim Vice President for Administration
Darren Divine, Vice President, Academic Affairs
Richard Hinckley, General Counsel
Bill Kerney, Faculty Senate Chair
Penny McCollum, Campus Site Administrator, Henderson Campus
Joan McGee, Chief Campus Administrator, Charleston Campus – absent
Larry Mason, Interim Vice President, Diversity & Cultural Affairs
Jacque Matthews, Executive Director, Foundation
Dave Morgan, Chair, Administrative Faculty Assembly
Tracy Sherman, Faculty Senate Chair-Elect
Cat Maihen, President, Classified Council
Mugunth Vaithylingam, Chief Information Officer – absent
J.T. Creedon, Student Government President
Anne Zemek de Dominguez, General Counsel
Guests: Dan Morris, Mary Thomas
The meeting was called to order by Dr. Richards at 9 a.m.
The notes of the May 10, 2010 cabinet meeting were approved.
Dr. Richards pointed out some important dates including Convocation at the Texas Station on August 23 and a special Board of Regents meeting on August 27 to approve a budget to submit to the Legislature for NSHE and the next biennium. Dr. Richards told the group that Patty Charlton is attending a Legislative Hearing regarding the budget and would miss cabinet today.
Tracy Sherman and Chemene Crawford were introduced and welcomed to their first cabinet meeting.
Dr. Richards asked the cabinet members for recommendations to replace CAPE advisory board members Shawn Claxton and Dick McGee whose terms are completed. Jacque Matthews and Anne Zemek de Dominguez volunteered to fill the posts, and Cat Maihen asked that Deborah Johnson be allowed to continue for another term to represent Classified employees. Dr. Richards approved of the suggestions.
Jacque Matthews introduced Mary Thomas, Program Manager for CSN Foundation. The Foundation is working on a new fundraiser called the CSN Fall Fun Fest. The event is planned to take place on Nevada Day weekend, Friday – Sunday, October 29-31, 2010. It will be similar to the Harvest Festival, with craft booths and items for sale. Also planned for the festival are carnival-type rides, food, wine and beer tasting, and live music each evening. Faculty and staff are encouraged to volunteer, and a discount price on a booth is available to faculty and staff who are interested in one. During the event, all entrances to the CSN property will be blocked except for one, where event parking will be available for a fee. The Foundation is working with Facilities, Security and O & M to sort out the particulars for the 3-day festival. The event is projected to cost about $60,000 and is projected to bring more than $200,000 to the college. If it goes well, the long term goal is for the Fun Fest to be an annual event and for it to grow and be held on the other campuses as well. The Foundation will present a workshop at convocation this year to give maps and details, as issues should be fairly well-vetted out by then. It will be well-communicated to all regarding any parking issues or inconveniences.
Dr. Richards told the group that there are new parking spaces open – about 200 of them – by the Engelstad Building.
The Board of Regents meeting on June 3 & 4 was mainly centered on UNLV and UNR and the planned budget cuts from each institution. Most notably, UNLV announced they will drop their Clinical Laboratory Science bachelor degree program. CSN offers a 2-year CLS degree, and there may be a proposal to offer the bachelor degree here at CSN.
Chancellor Klaich introduced at the Board of Regents meeting, an entrepreneurial model for NSHE that emphasizes partnerships with Legislative and business leaders in Nevada and efficiencies and effectiveness initiatives.
Other topics discussed at the Board of Regents meeting included NSHE possibly adopting some of the diversity initiatives that USC uses (scorecard system), a code change to faculty tenure requirements, and the budget request for the next biennium which includes COLA and merit increases. This last item will be finalized at the special Board meeting on August 27 then sent to the legislature. Dr. Richards said that CSN will have several items on the regular meeting agenda in September.
Dr. Byrd gave an update for the Student Affairs areas. Financial Aid is up, with CSN ranked 12th of all colleges, and 7th out of all community colleges nationwide. Twenty outstanding students were awarded $500 – $1000 scholarships, and Dr. Byrd thanked the Foundation for $6000 in donations.
Link to the 2010 Outstanding Students awardees: http://www.csn.edu/pages/2451.asp?item=13907
Counseling is testing a prescreening process to mitigate the wait time for people with quick questions. The prescreening process should improve the efficiency in the counseling/advising area significantly. In May, approximately 700 graduates participated in the commencement ceremony. Dr. Byrd commended the CSN Baseball team for not only their great season, but also for the high percentage of the athletes who earned the academic achievement award with a 3.0 GPA or higher. Two players had a 4.0 GPA. Some changes to Student Affairs areas will be taking place. June 30 will be Cip Chavez’s last day before retiring. Dr. Chemene Crawford will move from the Dean’s position at the Charleston Campus to Interim VP for Administration; Tim Chambers accepted a coaching position at UNLV.
Darren Divine reported that summer enrollment is up 4%, FTE up 7% so far. It is expected that enrollment will be up for the fall semester as well. Late night classes have proved to be popular and another time slot was added. The media has given the night classes a lot of attention, and the press has been good. The Fire Station and Engelstad Buildings are progressing quickly.
Larry Mason said Asian Pacific Islander month raised $6000 for scholarships. The heritage months have in total raised approximately $16,000 so far this year. The college matched $10,000 in scholarships to the various chambers, also. Larry said the Advisory Boards will meet this summer, and have met with Recruitment to assess under-represented students. CSN is close to being a Hispanic-Serving college. The requirements include having a Hispanic student population of 25% for two years in a row to be considered. The designation would give CSN access to more grants and funding for students.
Jacque Matthews reported on CSN Foundation activities. In addition to the Fall Fun Fest planned for October, the Foundation is planning a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Engelstad Building, working on a partnership with the Nevada Cancer Institute, 30 scholarships, and a planned giving committee to improve consistent availability of funds. The Foundation is also working to identify some best practices in some successful fundraising campaigns at other institutions in the expectation of improving CSN’s results.
Dan Morris told the cabinet members a bit about the new food service provider, Sodexo. The company will take over on July 1 at the Charleston and Cheyenne campuses, and September 1 at the Henderson campus. Sodexo brings much food service experience to CSN. Some noticeable changes will include standard hours across the campuses, more variety including vegetarian and vegan options, and a wide range of price points. Sodexo also offers catering on campus.
Penny McCollum informed the cabinet members that due to reorganization and budget issues, receiving services will be reduced to 1-2 days per week beginning July 1. She will work with departments to prevent delays. A new lead Administrative Assistant lll is on board at the Henderson campus and will support campus administration and the Boulder City Center. Her name is Jenny Cowan and she comes to NSHE from the Welfare Division. Penny completed the Leadership Henderson program, and the class project raised money to benefit C.T. Sewell Elementary school and various charities in Henderson. All three campus managers are working toward developing better processes related to the use of college space. Specifically, the tasks planned include:
All campus managers participated in CSN’s High School graduation ceremony at the Orleans Hotel.
Penny will work with Business services and the new food service provider, Sodexo, to request upgrading the café area to hot food services with a grill and hood. There will be a contest to name the new Henderson café in fall, with a prize awarded to the winner by Sodexo. In April TODAS (Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day) was hosted on the Henderson campus and 30 kids and parents participated in the activities. Many other recent events and activities on the Henderson campus include:
Dr. Richards reported that Chancellor Klaich organized a Community College Task Force to empower Nevada Community Colleges. The task force will be chaired by Bruce James, formerly with Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities and the Governor’s Sage Commission. All members of the task force are Nevada citizens. Bruce James will be at CSN on June 22 for a look at CSN’s management. Chancellor Klaich has initiated a study of the Nevada funding formula, with the help of consultants, to take place this summer. Chancellor Klaich is also a co-chair with Elaine Wynn on the Governor’s task force. The task force will develop some higher education initiatives over the summer as well. Nevada has joined the national initiative, Complete College America, to improve degree completion. Another national focus has been on developmental education, and CSN is looking into the developmental programs we offer and their effectiveness. The administrative team attended an IT retreat with SunGard to discuss 30-, 60-, and 90-day priorities. Among the priorities are password policies, security, and working with faculty senate on an Angel management team. There will be a follow-up retreat in November.
Anne Zemek said there is a state employee on lay-off that may step into Lisa Sly-Martinovic’s position now that she is retired. The person is a legal assistant, but has not decided whether or not to come to NSHE.
Meeting adjourned at 10 a.m.
Next meeting scheduled July 12, 2010.