7100b

MINUTES
Committee of the Whole Meeting - Board of Trustees
June 21, 1999

In accordance with the terms and provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code, the Board of Trustees Committee of the Whole of the Austin Community College District convened in public session on Monday, June 21, 1999, at 6:20 p.m. in the Board Room (201) of the Highland Business Center of the Austin Community College located at 5930 Middle Fiskville Road, Austin, Texas, with the following members present: Beverly Watts Davis, Chair/Presiding Officer; Allen Kaplan, Vice Chair; Hunter Ellinger, Secretary; Lillian Davis; Della May Moore; Carol Nasworthy [arrived 6:22 p.m.]; Rafael Quintanilla; Beverly Silas; and John Worley.

It is further found and determined that in accordance with the policies and orders of this Board, the notice of this meeting has been posted and return thereof made pursuant to the terms and provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code, and there has been full compliance with the terms and provisions of said act, including the timely posting of the subjects of this meeting.

Recognitions
Ms. Davis recognized the service of the Citizens' Advisory Committee of Austin Community College. She and Board members presented tokens of appreciation to the following members of the Committee in attendance: Herman Lessard, Committee Chair and President/CEO of the Austin Urban League; Belinda Aleman, Vice President of the ACC Hispanic Student Association; Daron Butler, Vice President of Turner, Collie & Braden; Jerry Carlson, Retired--IBM and Austin Independent School District; Steven Dietz, Assistant Director, Texas Institutional Public Problems Solving, The University of Texas; Betty Edgemond, Retired--Austin Independent School District; Robert Gratz, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Southwest Texas State University; Jerry Hammerlun, Architect, O'Connell, Robertson and Associates; Crystal Ouzillou, President, ACC Student Government Association, and Bob Rutishauser, Chair-Elect, ACC Foundation. Ms. Davis also recognized the service of Committee members: Thais Austin, Vice President, Governmental Relations, Community Development and Education, Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce; Eloy Barrera, President-Elect, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Fred Butler, Executive Director, Community Action Network; Verlin Callahan, President, Callahan's General Store; David K. G. Chan, Advisory Board Chairman, Asian Chamber of Commerce; Douglas Mae Clack, Vice President, Frost National Bank; Dr. Jim Daniel, Mathematics Professor, The University of Texas; Bobbie Enriquez, Consultant, Enriquez Agency; Jimmy Ferguson, Owner, McDonald's Franchise, Elgin; Gus Garcia, Council Member, City of Austin; Joanne Hurley, Chair, Manor for ACC Campaign; Neal Kocurek, President and CEO, St. David's Healthcare System; Libby Malone, Director of Community Affairs, St. David's Healthcare Partnership; Roberto Martinez, Owner/President, Martinez, Wright and Mendez, Inc., Brig Mireles, Trustee, Round Rock Independent School District; Eva Munoz, Area Manager of External Affairs, Southwestern Bell; Jewell Parker, Owner and President, Norrell Staffing/The Meeting Place; Allyson Peerman, Community Affairs Manager, AMD; Neil Riemer, Vice President, Armstrong McCall; Venola Schmidt, Grey Panthers; Barry Silverberg, Former Executive Director, Jewish Federation of Austin; Roger Taylor, President, ACC African-American Student Association; and Larry Warshaw, Executive Assistant to the Mayor, City of Austin.

Ms. Davis stated that it is very important for all institutions to seek public trust and confidence and one of the vehicles for doing that is to ensure that the citizenry represented is painting the vision and providing guidance for the future. She expressed appreciation to the Citizens' Advisory Committee for the service provided and for setting the vision and new goals for Austin Community College to ensure that the College is truly meeting the needs of the diverse Austin community and surrounding area in the visionary plan.

Citizen's Communication

Herman Lessard, Chair of the Citizens' Advisory Committee, expressed appreciation to Austin Community College, on behalf of the Committee, for the task given. He stated that in January 1999, the Committee was given a charge to review the capacity of ACC in meeting the education and workforce needs of central Texas region for the 21^st Century and to recommend to the Austin Community College Board of Trustees strategies for the meeting these needs and to present a process including, among others, to review the draft of the ACC Strategic Plan; the assessment as to whether ACC will require additional funding; and, if ACC does require additional funding, the amount of additional funds required to meet the community needs. As Chair of the Citizens' Advisory Committee, he stated that the Charge has been met. The Committee diligently worked since January on this task and met for five three-hour meetings--a total of fifteen volunteer study hours. During that time the Committee met with colleges, individuals, professors, citizens, and business program advisors to hear the status of programs and needs relating to the service of the population and a wide range of areas and points of interest. The Committee also had input from six community-involved meetings with businesses and student leaders of ACC's six campuses. It was found that the process gave the Committee an open eye of ACC's needs. Twenty-five years ago, ACC had a group of individuals who felt that a community college system in central Texas was needed. They took a bold stand to ensure that the need was met. Because of the growing community and the infrastructure of this area, ACC is now in a very pivotal role of meeting the needs of the community. Workforce demands a quality training mechanism in place so that qualifications and stipulations of businesses and corporations are met. Because, as indicated by the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, there is a 2.1 percent unemployment rate, companies are looking for qualified and capable employees for their workforce. That means that a plan of action is needed. A training mechanism is needed to meet the needs of unemployed/underemployed disadvantaged individuals to get into a training mechanism such as ACC can provide and ensure that we have a well established workforce, not only for companies in the Austin area but for those coming into the Austin area because of the environment. The Greater Austin at Work Council Summit which took place on June 16, 1999, indicated a critical need that companies are looking for the type of training institutions, such as ACC, that can provide a well-established workforce. They put a pressure on ACC to make sure they meet those needs. He stated that one of the qualifications seen in the Committee's findings is that ACC has the foundation of making sure that the needs of these individuals are met, and that it also bridges the gap of companies and corporations throughout the Austin area to establish a well-trained mechanism--an avenue--for individuals coming into the workforce. With that ACC must play a very pivotal role in the community. The Committee urged the Austin Community College Board of Trustees to implement the following strategies:

Strategic Goal 1: Implement the strategic plan of carefully targeted program expansion and improvement to provide education and workforce training to meet the identified needs of Central Texas.

Strategic Goal 2: Expand Existing High Technology programs and develop new programs to address workforce training shortages and projected employment demands from Austin's Major employment sector.

Strategic Goal 3: Significantly expand healthcare education programs to relieve current workforce training shortages and to meet identified future needs. Additional facilities are needed to implement this strategy.

Strategic Goal 4: Gear up the size of the Adult Basic Education, English as a Second Language and high school equivalency (GED) programs to address the area's serious literacy deficiencies.

Strategic Goal 5: Implement systemic strategies to increase the recruitment and retention of minority students.

Strategic Goal 6: Improve the full-time faculty to student ratio. Faculty availability is crucial to encourage, assist, and retain students who are less prepared and for whom the College is the first higher education experience.

Strategic Goal 7: Provide increased financial aid through an ACC-sponsored and funded program for low-income students to remove a critical barrier to participation and retention in higher education.

Strategic Goal 8: Increase "virtual space learning" through distance learning courses and internet-based programs, and increase access to unserved populations and adults unable to attend at campus locations.

Strategic Goal 9: Expand available facilities for student use (computer laboratories, library and learning resource centers, and general classrooms) and for the targeted growth of selected programs.

The Committee recommended that the Board of Trustees implement the Strategic Plan by undertaking, as soon as practicable, a balanced strategy using multiple sources including:

maintaining a prudent fiscal policy of a balanced budget augmented by a strategy of seeking new revenues from grants, private sector donations and expanded contract training with employers;
welcoming and encouraging new territories within the service area to voluntarily annex to the taxing district to spread the cost of expanded and new programs to serve the broadened regional economy; and
focusing on the highest priorities in the strategic plan by seeking additional tax rate support of up to five (5) cents for only the College's most urgent needs, while funding some new initiatives through normal and expected budgetary growth.

He provided a charge and stated that during the meetings on the six ACC campuses, he was made aware that there are six viable campuses meeting the needs of the respective communities around those campuses. There are businesses, students, and faculty who are very proud of and dedicated to the services that ACC provides. He said the Board of Trustees has a unique opportunity to link these campuses into a finite system because there is an untapped resource of dedicated individuals who want ACC to succeed, who want to see the Board working along with them, and that they have creative ideas of how this College should move into the 21^st Century. As the community grows and as more individuals move into the Austin area, you will have more individuals who are used to a community college system meeting critical needs. Austin Community College plays a key role in meeting those needs--now and in the future. He asked that this untapped resource be used to the best of the College's ability. He stated his belief that there will be more people supporting ACC, not as an entity of the City of Austin, but as an entity of central Texas. He indicated that it is his belief that the business community is behind ACC one hundred percent because the College does bridge a gap in meeting the needs of employers for training the community workforce. Most importantly, ACC plays a very key role for disadvantaged individuals, no matter what their socio/economic level, their race, creed or color, in helping individuals to move to self-sufficiency and self-reliability. ACC can play a very humble role in all of this. He cautioned that the business community, individuals, citizenry, and students of all ages should not be let down. It is the responsibility of the Board and College. Twenty-five years ago, a group of individuals formed Austin Community College to make a difference. He stated that the Board is now at the forefront of making a difference for the 21^st Century. He expressed his hope that this recommendations would be adopted.

Ms. Davis expressed appreciation for the report and recognized and presented tokens of appreciation to two persons who were instrumental in working with the Committee: Cora Hilliard and Mary McKeown-Moak.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, President, staff and faculty, Ms. Davis expressed appreciation to the Citizens' Advisory Committee for the vision and guidance provided. She also thanked staff including Dr. Cha Guzman, Dr. Brian Donnelly, and Shaune Haas.

Dr. Guzman stated her appreciation to the Committee, Mary McMcKeown-Moak, Cora Hilliard, and Dr. Fonte and the Board for allowing her the opportunity to be involved with this activity.

Board members individually expressed appreciation to the Committee for their dedication and assistance in gathering the information and for presenting a high-valued report challenging the Board, College, and community.

Crystal Ouzillou, Committee member and President of the Student Government Association, expressed appreciation to the Board for including students on the Committee.

On behalf of the Austin Community College Board of Trustees, Ms. Davis accepted the report of the Citizens' Advisory Committee and disbanded the Committee. She stated that discussion of the report will be included on the agenda for the July 5 meeting of the Board of Trustees. She asked that questions and comments be provided to her prior to the July 5 meeting.

The Citizens' Advisory Committee received a standing ovation.

Citizens' Advisory Committee members Betty Edgemond, Steven Dietz, and Jerry Carlson, addressed the Board regarding the process and recommendations of the Committee

Reports from Employee Associations

Full-Time Faculty Senate - Dolores Segura, President, expressed appreciation to the Board for supporting the President's three-year compensation plan and the technology plan, and the need to focus on other issues. Joe Lostracco, President-Elect, stated the Senate will be meeting with Dr. Fonte and other staff to discuss schedule building. He stated his is looking forward to working with the Board during the coming year.

Adjunct Faculty Association - John Herndon, President, emphasized that adjuncts are meeting community needs; stated he met with President Fonte last week to discuss multiple semester appointments; feels optimistic that the Board will do right by adjuncts in the compensation policy; and commented regarding health insurance and social security for adjuncts.

Professional/Technical Employees Association - Milton Gatewood, President, expressed appreciation for the work of the Citizens' Advisory Committee; expressed appreciation for the compensation plan; called attention to the Association's transition meeting on July 14 with the location being moved to the Sheraton Hotel; and spoke regarding "untapped resources".

Classified Employees Association - Gloria Walker, President-Elect, expressed appreciation to the Board for adopting the budget and President Fonte's three-year compensation plan; advised that the Association will elect new officers in July; and said the Association is encouraging members to use tuition vouchers for staff development, employee training, and other staff development projects.

Student Leadership Association - Monica Loera, Vice President, stated the Student Government Association has worked to improve ACC's student government. She stated the Association will work this year: 1) to build a connection with the Board; 2) on procedures; and 3) the Association's constitution.

Reports to the Board

Student Services - Maggie Culp, Associate Vice President for Student Retention and Services, presented a summary of student services for FY 1999 and FY 2000 initiatives, including the use of the Datatel system. Dr. Culp responded to questions from the Board.

Internal Audit Report - Management Review Letter 1998 - Jerry North, Internal Auditor, presented the report and responded to questions regarding the report.

Executive Session
The Austin Community College Board of Trustees recessed in Executive Session at 7:45 p.m. regarding the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property pursuant to Government Code 551.072.

Reconvene
The Board reconvened in public session at 8:57 p.m. pursuant to Government Code 551.

ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/POSSIBLE ACTION

Agenda Item 7093
Proposed Revision to Fiscal Year 1999 Budget - Pinnacle LRS
Ms. Davis introduced the item and College President, Richard Fonte, stated this item seeks approval for $50,000 to renovate and improve the Learning Resource Services area at the Pinnacle Campus. It was not included in the budget for FY 1999; therefore, it will be included on the Consent Agenda of the July 5 meeting.

Agenda Item 7094
Proposed Board Policy on Employee Compensation
Ms. Davis introduced the item and stated this item will be placed on the agenda for discussion and possible action at the July 5 meeting. Trustee Hunter Ellinger asked that Board members provide, in writing prior to the July 5 meeting, comments and suggestions regarding opinions of the suggested alternatives. Mr. Ellinger stated his suggestion that there be a future step-by-step vote to allow a primary draft to be presented at the following meeting. Ms. Davis stated this item will be the first item for discussion and possible action at the July 5 meeting.

Agenda Item 7095
Proposed Board Policy on Student Goal Completion
Ms. Davis introduced the item and stated this item will be included on the July 5 Board meeting for discussion and possible action.

Agenda Item 7096
Real Estate - Central Warehouse Facility

Real Estate - Pinnacle Parking
Ms. Davis introduced the item and stated that this item will be on the agenda for the July 5 Board meeting.

Agenda Item 7097
Replacement Plan - Computers
Ms. Davis introduced the item and Dr. Cha Guzman, Executive Vice President for Administration, Institutional Advancement and Community Relations, provided information concerning leasing computers for ACC instructional labs from Dell Computer Corporation. She stated that the College would save approximately $135,000 through leasing. She responded to questions from Board members regarding the proposed lease and stated she will be meeting with the Dell Foundation next week for additional negotiations. This item will included on the agenda for the July 5 Board meeting.

Agenda Item 7098
Proposed Resolution to City of Austin on Reinvestment Zone
Ms. Davis introduced the item and Dr. Fonte said the proposed resolution will require Board action. Dr. Fonte and Dr. Steve Kinslow, Executive Vice President for Campus Operations, Student Affairs, and School Relations, responded to questions from Trustees. Dr. Fonte stated this item will be included on the Consent Agenda for the July 5 Board meeting.

Agenda Item 7099
Tuition and Fees for Fiscal Year 1999-2000
Ms. Davis introduced the item and Dr. Fonte provided information concerning the proposed student and tuition fees. Jerry Miller, Vice President for Business Services, provided information in response to questions from the Board. Dr. Fonte stated this item will be divided and placed on the July 5 agenda.

Information Items - There were no information items.

President’s Report

Administrative Salary Survey--Dr. Fonte distributed information concerning the Texas Association of Community College's administrative salary survey and discussed matching positions, market adjustments, and use of remaining funds.

Dr. Fonte provided information regarding course scheduling approaches and use of space.

Announcements - There were no announcements.

Adjournment
Having no motion before the Board, the June 21, 1999, meeting of the Committee of the Whole Meeting of the Austin Community College Board of Trustees was adjourned at 9:45 p.m.

Approved By
Hunter Ellinger, Secretary