MINUTES
Board Work
Session - Board of Trustees
In
accordance with the terms and provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act,
Chapter 551 of Texas Government Code, the Board of Trustees of the Austin
Community College District convened in public session at a Board Work Session
on Monday, June 16, 2003, at 6:33 p.m.in the Board
Room (201) of the Highland Business Center of Austin Community College located
at 5930 Middle Fiskville Road, Austin, Texas, with
the following members present: Rafael Quintanilla, Chair/Presiding Officer;
Barbara Mink, Vice Chair; Allen Kaplan, Secretary; Lillian J. Davis; John
Hernandez; Nan McRaven; Barbara Mink; and John
Worley. Trustee Beverly Watts Davis was absent from the meeting.
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.
Chair
Rafael Quintanilla introduced the item and Executive Vice President Steve Kinslow discussed proposed revisions to Board Policy E-1,
and Trustees suggested additional changes.
This item will be included on the agenda for action at the
Chair Rafael Quintanilla introduced the item and Trustee
John Worley discussed proposed changes to the policy. Steve Kinslow
responded to questions from Trustees. This
item will be included on a future agenda.
Chair Rafael Quintanilla
introduced the item. Steve Kinslow discussed the proposed revisions and responded to
questions from Trustees. This item will
be included on the agenda for the
Chair Rafael Quintanilla
introduced the item and Ron Brey, Associate Vice
President for Instructional Resources and Technology, provided an update on
Technology including the Organizational Structure, Integration of Instructional
and Information Technologies, College-Wide Technology Committee, Instructional
Resources and Technology, and Instructional Technology. Bill Carter, Associate Vice President for
Information Technology, discussed areas of Information Technology. Dr. Brey and Mr.
Carter discussed integrated planning activities, and responded to questions
from Trustees.
Chair Rafael Quintanilla
introduced the item and Ben Ferrell, Vice President for Business Services,
called attention to the Draft Budget. He
reviewed the following goals of the draft budget: (1) absorbs $2.8 million in State appropriations
cut; (2) continues $2.1 million in permanent operating reductions; and (3) does
not fund the Master Plan. He called
attention to the summary of Goals and Assumptions of the budget and stated the
proposed budget would be balanced; would be in compliance with the Board
Reserves Action Plan, which includes a set-aside in Fiscal Year 2004; would be
in compliance with all Board policies, including all required set-asides and
proposes that all set-asides are fully funded; would reflect the priorities of
the Master Plan, although some objectives would be delayed due to a reduction
in estimates in available revenue from the original adopted estimates in the
Master Plan; and would expand the number of class sections offered and run in
Fiscal Year 2003 and maintain an average class size of at least 21.
Mr. Ferrell reviewed the
revenue assumptions of the draft budget including: (1) 2.5% growth in enrollments; (2) tax rate
would increase to $0.07 and incorporate a 4% decrease in appraised values; (3)
State appropriations would be reduced by 7.3%; (4) low interest rates would
continue and the interest from the bonds approved at this meeting would be
restricted to those projects and would not contribute to the operating budget;
(5) a proposed tuition and building fee increase of $2 per credit hour for
tuition to restore some of the service cuts created by State appropriations
reductions and $1 per credit hour on the building fee to fund the group
insurance the State passed to colleges to fund the insurance for the
maintenance employees, with the balance funding the health/safety office in
Fiscal Year 2004.
Mr. Ferrell called attention
to the Fiscal Year 2004 expenditures including:
set-asides for Board Policies F-10, Employee Compensation; G-4,
Facilities Improvement and Maintenance; G-5,
Capital Equipment Projects;
and G-6, Minimum Reserves Level (including Reserves Action Plan). Also included are: Board Policy F-10 used for cost-of-living
increases (+3.5%), market adjustments and stipends; facility improvement
projects would be funded by bond proceeds; continuation of current “general
staffing levels” (no across-the-board RIF plan); reduction in the Lapse Salary
Adjustment, thus eliminating the hiring freeze; continuation of over $2.1
million in operating cuts from FY02 and FY03; reductions based upon
implementation of Texas School Performance Review recommendations; and
consideration of all recommendations of the Internal Budget Committee,
including a charge for out-of-district, early college start students.
He commented on the draft
budget: revenue summary for FY04 versus
FY03 budget comparison; expenditure summary of FY04 versus FY03 budget
comparison; FY04 revenue scenarios (including historical actuals
since FY00); FY2004 revenues – Master Plan versus budget; schedule of tuition
rate increases for ACC’s peer colleges for academic years 2002-2003 and
2003-2004; FY2004 Budget Options/Budget Discussion Items for Trustees’ review;
FY2004 – FY2006 projected—revenues versus expenditures; proposed actions to
balance FY2004 budget; District-wide summary of line item budget; facilities;
technology; reserves; compensation; current Board policies.
Executive
Session
There
was no Executive Session.
Trustees
commented regarding the meeting:
What we did well: excellent meeting, discussion
on budget was good, discussion on policies was good too, enjoyed it; good
meeting; we were pretty efficient, we got through a lot quicker than I thought
we would; the budget part was good and I also like our dialogue on the
presidential search process, good meeting; thought the meeting was excellent,
think that we really have a good start on the budget, it will be a tough
budget; nothing more to add; good.
What we can do better:
Barbara
called attention to the recent copy of the Rio
Review provided by Donetta Goodall,
Associate Vice President. She expressed appreciation and stated that it is an
excellent compilation of student work--plays, poetry, short stories—and she is
proud to show this to colleagues.
Adjournment
Having
no motion before the Board, the June 16, 2003, Work Session of the Austin
Community College Board of Trustees was adjourned at
Approved By
Allen
H. Kaplan, Secretary