The Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College Board of Trustees convened their quarterly meeting on Monday, June 3, 2013, at 3:30 p.m. in Magnolia Dining Room. Richard Hurley, Chair, presided.
The following members of the Board were present: Tom Alexander, Troy Ball, Wayne Brigman, Joe Brumit, Mary Ruth Fowler, Bill Hart, Chair Richard Hurley, Don Locke, John Parham, Carol Peterson, Vice Chair Ray Spells, Mandy Stone, David Wyatt, and Jayne English, SGA President.
Others present for the meeting included: Hank Dunn, President; Brian Willis, Vice President for Information Technology/CIO; Kaye Waugh, Vice President for Human Resources and Organizational Development; Scott McKinney, Vice President Business & Finance/CFO; Dennis King, Special Assistant to the President for Accreditation; Shelley White, Senior Executive Director for Economic and Workforce Development/Continuing Education; Melissa Quinley, Vice President for Instructional Services; Terry Brasier, Vice President for Student Services; Martha Shanks, Secretary to the Board; and Chris Campbell, College attorney.
Dr. Wanda Greene was present for a presentation to the Board.
Call To Order
Mr. Hurley read the ethics statement; no conflicts of interest were reported. Ms. Shanks called roll. A quorum was present.
Ms. Jayne English was duly sworn in as SGA representative to the Board of Trustees.
Consent Agenda
The Board received the Consent Agenda one week prior to the meeting. Ms. Peterson moved to accept the Consent Agenda items to include: (A) Minutes of the May 6, 2013, Quarterly Board meeting. Ms. Stone seconded the motion, which was unanimously approved by the Board.
Presentation By Dr. Wanda Greene, Buncombe County Manager
Dr. Greene addressed the Board regarding the building program at the College, giving a brief history from the time of the 2011 Sales Tax Referendum on the Buncombe County ballot to today. She showed slides of the current plans for the new Allied Health and Workforce Development building, developed over a year in consultation with College staff, architects, and County construction personnel. Construction activities of the new building were halted by the County during the first week of April 2013.
Dr. Greene’s recommendations to the Board are as follows:
- Add 70,000 square feet of classroom space to Rhododendron (in new construction);
- Renovate 47,000 square feet of classroom space in Rhododendron;
- Build a 650-space parking deck; and
- Preserve the current Allied Health Building space for strictly classroom space to be built in the next phase of construction (undetermined at this time).
Trustees expressed appreciation for the presentation and asked questions resulting from the discussion:
- In response to a question from Dr. Locke regarding whether elements of a Master Plan are binding in the specifics, it was explained that it is not binding, but rather a vision of what new and revised facilities are needed, and serves as a planning document only.
- Ms. Stone asked a question regarding the significance of the pending NC House Bill 501 to construction on the A-B Tech Asheville Campus. The bill makes March 20, 2012, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the County and A-B Tech Board of Trustees null and void and authorizes Buncombe County to construct and renovate buildings on the College campuses when such construction is funded entirely by county funds between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2018. It allows for the possibility of future collaborative construction projects under an MOU between the County and the Board if deemed appropriate and such MOU would result in timely and cost-efficient construction. Mr. Hurley asked Dr. Greene if she knew whether Representative Nathan Ramsey initiated HB 501 on his own or did others request it. She responded she did not know.
- Dr. Dunn and Ms. Quinley expressed concerns regarding the urgent need for classroom space for Allied Health programs in order to increase enrollment, provide students with the most current training experience, and be able to offer new programs being asked for by local health organizations. The new space is needed in order to provide continuity of instruction without interruption to students. Renovation of Rhododendron would preclude continuity of instruction due to the disruption of renovation. Dr. Green replied that the 70,000 square foot new space would be built first, allowing the programs to move into that space. Subsequently, the 47,000 square feet of space in the current Rhododendron would be renovated.
- Mr. Hurley stated that he understood the political implications of not relocating the president’s office to the new Allied Health Building, but he felt it would have been a logical move given the Simpson Building is an old structure and not handicap accessible since it has no elevator.
- In response to questions by Trustees regarding the specific recommendations in Dr. Greene’s presentation, she said that the Board of Trustees and County need to come to an agreement, or future building would be restricted to a “pay as you go” endeavor, with approximately $8 million per year.
Mr. Hart moved to take Dr. Greene’s plan under advisement, allowing the Board more time to study it closely, and then continue the conversation with the County. Mr. Alexander seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Dr. Greene expressed her willingness to continue dialogue with the Board.
Resolutions/Action Items
3. A. On a motion by Mr. Brumit, seconded by Ms. Fowler, the Board unanimously approved a Resolution of Appreciation for Jack and Carolyn Ferguson. This resolution will be framed for presentation to the Fergusons.
3. B. On a motion by Dr. Locke, seconded by Ms. Fowler, the Board unanimously approved the distribution of a sum of $150,000 to full-time staff and faculty in recognition of the College having achieved five out of eight Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from the 2012-2013 Strategic Plan. Trustees expressed concern about setting a precedent that rewards less than 100 percent achievement of the approved KPIs. Funds will not necessarily be available in subsequent years for KPI awards. The motion passed unanimously.
Trustees recommended that criteria be set up front spelling out percentages of KPI completion to award amount, so if there is a pool of resources available, formulas for partial achievement have already been established. On a motion by Mr. Brumit, seconded by Dr. Locke, the Board unanimously approved establishing KPI completion to award criteria at the August Board meeting for the respective Strategic Plan year.
Trustee Business
4. A. Dr. Locke presented the Board Retreat agenda developed by him and Mr. Hart scheduled for June 11 at the Governor's Western Residence. He encouraged all Trustees to attend and requested that they plan to stay for lunch.
4. B. Three Trustees’ terms are due to expire at the end of June 2013: Mr. Alexander, Dr. Parham, and Ms. Peterson. All three have confirmed their interest in being reappointed to serve on the Board for another four-year term.
4. C. Mr. Hurley appointed a nominating committee to appoint Board officers for 2013-2014: Ms. Fowler, Mr. Spells, and Mr. Alexander. The Board will vote on the appointments at the August Board meeting.
President’s Report
4. Dr. Dunn shared the following news:
- The College is watching the state budget, which is not yet finalized. If it is finalized in time, the
- The college budget will be brought to the Board at the August 2013 meeting.
- Dr. King updated the Board on the SACSCOC reaccreditation efforts. The College received only five responses of non-compliance from the SACSCOC off-site review panel out of 87 standards responded to in the reaccreditation submittal. Staff is preparing responses to the issues. Dr. Beth Stewart is leading
- the QEP Project on distance learning, which will be finalized for submittal to the on-site SACSCOC
- review committee in mid-September.
- The College is watching enrollment numbers for fall and will amp up activities to spur enrollment as needed.
- Marlene Roden has been appointed Faculty Representative and will be joining the weekly Executive
- Leadership Team.
- The College is creating a testing facility by converting the Simpson auditorium from a temporary (two to three-year) fix to a much-needed consolidated testing location. The space is being converted in such a manner that it can be returned to use as an auditorium when additional space on campus is available.
- The College has received a grant of $100,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
- Student Services has a new Vice President, Terry Brasier, who was introduced to the Board and shared some personal background and work experience.
- Summer dinners are continuing this year.
SGA Report
Ms. English, the new SGA President, shared that SGA is meeting over the summer with the previous team for transitioning. SGA is on a solid foundation with a reworked handbook and constitution from the summer of 2012. SGA will hold its first meeting the first week of school, then once a week for three weeks in a row. Trustees suggested conducting a “customer survey” of students and discussed various options of ways to accomplish this. Ms. English will discuss this with SGA and bring ideas to the August 5 Board meeting.
Closed Session
At 5:15 p.m. Ms. Peterson moved to go into closed session pursuant to G.S. 143-318.11(a)(3) in order to discuss matters protected by the attorney-client privilege, to review Closed Session Minutes from March 21 and April 3, 2013, Special Called meetings and pursuant to subsection (a)(1) in order t o discuss confidential personnel issues in accordance with G.S. 115D-27-29. Dr. Locke seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously. The Board took a brief break and went into a closed session at 5:20 p.m.
On a motion properly made to recess the closed session until June 11 at noon at the annual Board Retreat, the
Board moved into an open session at 6:56 p.m.
Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned without proper motion at 7:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha L. Shanks
Board Secretary