MINUTES
Regular
Meeting – 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 on Monday, November 1, 2004, at 6:00 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: Dr. Barbara P. Mink, Chair/Presiding Officer; Mr.
John F. Hernandez, Board Vice Chair; Mr. Jeffrey Richard, Secretary; Dr.
Lillian J. Davis; Mr. Allen H. Kaplan; Ms. Nan McRaven
[arrived at 6:45 p.m.]; Mr. Rafael Quintanilla; Ms. Veronica Rivera; and Dr.
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
§
Report on Achievements and Recognitions – Dr. Donetta Goodall, Associate Vice
President, presented the Kudos Report and called attention to recent
awards/recognitions received by faculty/programs, staff, students, and
Citizens Communication
·
Dr. Terry Thomas, President, ACC/AFT Local 6249, introduced newly
elected officers: Mike Merkel, Vice
President; Diane Kramer, Secretary; Dan Dewberry, Treasurer; and provided
information concerning the employees union.
·
Dr. Roland Hayes, ACC Instructor, spoke regarding the success of the
Friends of ACC Golf Tournament held on Saturday, October 30.
·
Mr. Gregory Garlow, ACC Instructor, spoke
regarding African-American opportunities at
·
Ms. Cloteal Haynes, former ACC Instructor,
spoke regarding African-American opportunities at ACC.
·
Mr. Nelson Linder, NAACP, spoke regarding African-American
opportunities at ACC.
Reports from
Associations
·
Adjunct Faculty Association – Mr. John Herndon, President, spoke
regarding preferential hiring; expressed appreciation for work of Board on
behalf of College, and for making health benefits for adjunct faculty a
priority; urged the Board to pay one-half of the cost of health benefits for
coming year; and compensation. He
invited Trustees to attend the Association’s meeting on
·
Classified Employees Association – Ms. Sue Bloodsworth,
President, was unable to attend but provided written information regarding the
success of the recent
·
Full-Time Faculty Senate – Dr. Larry Willoughby, President, spoke
regarding Senate activities and provided a high rating for the
·
Professional-Technical Employees Association – Ms. Linda
Morrison, President, advised of the recent death of Association member Burt Burton, and stated
an ACC Foundation scholarship fund would be established in his memory; spoke regarding
creation of an emergency fund; and provided information concerning a December
Association meeting with Toby Futrell, City Manager.
·
Student Government Association – Mr. James “Levi”
Barnes, President, spoke regarding Association activities; stated newly-elected
officers would be introduced at the December meeting; advised that the
Association’s web site and billboards were being updated; invited participation
in the annual community event “Project Bear” on November 13, 2004, 9:00 a.m. –
1:00 p.m., at the Roy Guerro Park on Grove Street
adjacent to the Riverside Campus; and expressed appreciation for the
Association’s opportunity to serve on College committees and councils and to be
a part of the College’s shared governance process.
President’s Administrative Report
Dr. Robert Aguero,
College President, stated the Executive Team would meet on
·
Health Sciences Building, Phase II, Eastview Campus – The building is in completion;
furniture and equipment were being purchased; and have received a temporary
Certificate of Occupancy because of the parking issue. The building will be open for January 2005
classes. Once the buildings are open,
there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony with community groups invited.
·
·
Cypress Creek Campus Expansion – Architects were preparing
preliminary designs for the Campus expansion; current estimation was for
construction to begin in July 2005; and classes would begin in Spring 2007.
·
Northridge Campus Parking Lot – Project would be bid in
November 2004; vendor selection by the Board should occur in January 2005;
construction would begin in February 2005 and be completed in April 2005. He stated the parking lot would improve the
parking at the Northridge Campus and advised that the College was continuing to
investigate the possibility of a location for shuttle services for
students.
·
Dr. Aguero advised that this was an update and that formal
reports would be made to the Board in the future.
Trustees asked
for the timeframe for the Rio Grande Campus.
Dr. Aguero responded that a timeframe would be
provided following presentation of the scenarios and input from the community.
Trustees
requested information on the difference in the completion dates for the South
Austin Campus and the Cypress Creek Campus Expansion. Dr. Stephen B. Kinslow
responded that the program planning was farther along for the South Austin
Campus, and the program planning was in the early stages for the Cypress Creek
Campus Expansion.
Financial
Report – September 2004
Mr. Ben Ferrell,
Vice President for Business Services, called attention to the September 2004
financial report including: Fall
enrollment growth was about 1% , exceeding the budget’s projection of 0%;
property taxes would fall below the original budget projections since Del
Valle’s taxes would not be received until Fiscal Year 2006, and the budget was
adjusted by lowering the projections for facilities improvement expenses; and
based on current information, the College’s budget was on track and projecting
approximately $400,000 revenue over expenses.
He noted that the College would have a positive balance of revenues
versus expenditures for the Fiscal Year 2005 and would meet the expectations of
the Cash Reserves Board Policy G-6 or the corrective action plan requirements.
CONSENT
AGENDA
Chair Mink
introduced the Consent Agenda:
Agenda
Item 7989
Minutes
of the October 4, 2004, Regular Meeting and October 18, 2004, Work Session of
the Austin Community College Board of Trustees
Dr. Mink pulled the minutes for additional refinement and
stated the minutes would be presented for action at the November 15, 2004,
meeting.
Agenda
Item 7990
Proposed
Approval of Property Insurance Contract for Fiscal Year 2005
Trustees Rafael
Quintanilla moved and
MOTION: The Board of Trustees approve the staff
recommendation for awarding the property insurance contract to Travelers
Insurance, through USI Holdings Corporation, in the amount of $134, 834.
The Motion passed
on a unanimous vote of 9-0.
FOR: Dr. Lillian J. Davis; Mr. John F. Hernandez;
Mr. Allen H. Kaplan; Ms. Nan McRaven; Dr. Barbara P.
Mink; Mr. Rafael Quintanilla; Mr. Jeffrey K. Richard, Ms. Veronica Rivera; and
Dr. John B. Worley.
AGAINST: None.
ABSENT: None.
Agenda
Item 7991
Proposed
Approval of Legislative Priorities for 79th
Board Chair Barbara Mink introduced the item. Dr. Aguero
distributed legislative priorities of the
1.
Appropriations of the
79th Texas Legislature must restore funding for community
colleges. This would request funding be
increased to sixty-two percent of formula which would be an increase of almost
$358 million.
2.
Employee
Benefits: The 79th Legislature
must fully fund employee benefits for community and technical college faculty
and staff.
Dr. Aguero noted the legislative
priorities discussed by Trustees at the
·
Broaden the current annexation laws for community
college districts
1) Add language to allow for immediate effect for tax
base annexation elections, so that no delay in revenue collection occurs
2) Broaden §130.063(a)(1)
Background and rationale: Reduced
funding from state appropriations by percentage, along with significant student
enrollment growth and expanded costs require additional funding in order for
the college to continue its mission and scope of services. The additional language above would expand
the types of political subdivisions eligible to pursue annexation, and will
provide additional avenues for achieving the goal.
·
Request adjustment of the community college service area currently included
under the Alamo Community College District on the western border of
Background and rationale: Legislated
service areas for Alamo Community College District and Austin Community College
District share a boundary to the south, and the recent effort by the community served
by
service district during the 77th legislative
session. This would not negatively
impact the Alamo Community College District, since the San Marcos CISD would
not be joining that tax base under the state plan.
·
offered. Specific needs are detailed below.
1)
Allow for tuition
and fees to be waived for college courses
taken by
dual credit enrolled high school students for which students receive college
credit only. The current code seems to
state that tuition and fees may be waived only if the high school student
receives both high school and college credit.
2) Set the age at which home school students are eligible
to co-enroll in a college. The current
wording is confusing to home school parents and students who are challenging
whether the age of 16 referred to in §130.008(e) applies to home school
students. Successful challenges increasingly
will bring underage students to college campuses.
3) State that students who have completed all high school course credits needed for graduation, but are not yet graduated from high school are eligible to enroll in college as a high school student until high school graduation.
4) State that students enrolled in alternate high school diploma programs, but not yet graduated from high school, are eligible to enroll in college as a high school student.
Background and rationale: The Early College Start program has had significant interest and participation, growing in many areas of our service area. Research also indicates that Early College Start assists the State in transitioning high school students into higher education, and supports the Closing the Gaps goal. Participation in Early College Start has been shown to predict student success of continuing into college, with seventy percent of all Early College Start participants entering college. However, existing language in the Education Code does not address either the dual credit nature sufficiently, nor of the circumstances in which tuition waivers may be utilized. The areas of explanation and addition to the Education Code will allow students, parents, schools and other interested parties to understand the program better, and grow the number of students who choose to participate.
·
Expand options
for adjunct faculty health care benefits funding, and
redefine the eligibility criteria to better reflect current
trends in
community colleges.
Background and rationale: Legislation has been passed to allow
community college adjunct faculty to access health care benefits, providing
that they have been proven to be in continued employment in community college
teaching for a period of years and that they are teaching numerous courses per
semester. However, funding has not been
addressed for this large segment of the faculty, and reduced state funding to
colleges in general significantly restricts the ability of individual colleges
to provide funding from their own budgets.
The criteria changes are necessary because existing ones require
teaching the maximum number of courses per semester, and as colleges move to
hire more full time faculty, adjunct loads decrease. Changes the criteria for number of courses
will help to include more adjunct faculty, and will impact the general health
and welfare of these faculty members. This is an important need for thousands
of
·
Explore ways in
which funding for two years of operating costs for the South Austin Campus can
be included as a line item in the Appropriations budget
Background
and rationale: All members of the
Texas Association of Community Colleges have agreed not to ask for item
exceptions as a rule, so that community colleges do not compete with sister
institutions for scarce budget dollars.
However, last session
Trustee John
Worley requested the following addition to the ACC Legislative Priorities to
broaden Texas Education Code §130.0032.
He stated the proposed amendment would enable ACC to reduce tuition for all out-of-district students who live
in the service area and can demonstrate financial need. He stated this would enable ACC to reduce
tuition for needy students in all of the ACC service area, including Round
Rock.
§ 130.0032. TUITION FOR STUDENTS RESIDING OUTSIDE OF DISTRICT.
(a) The governing board of a public junior college district may allow a person who resides outside the district and who owns property subject to ad valorem taxation by the district, or a
dependent of the person, to pay tuition at the rate applicable to a student who resides in the district. (b) The governing board of a public junior college district may allow a person who resides outside the district and in the taxing district of a contiguous public junior college district to pay tuition and fees at the rate applicable to a student who resides in the district. (c) The governing board of a public junior college district may allow a person who resides outside the district to pay tuition and fees at a rate less than the rate applicable to other persons residing outside the district, but not less than the rate applicable to a student who resides in the district, if the person: (1) resides within the service area of the district; (2) does not reside in an independent school district
thatmeets the criteria of the coordinating board for the
establishmentof a junior college district under Section 130.013;
and(32) demonstrates financial need in accordance with
rules adopted by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Trustees
inquired regarding execution these priorities and what the plan might be to
ensure that the ACC Legislative Priorities are passed. Dr. Aguero stated
discussions would occur with the
Mr. Ferrell
responded to Trustees regarding
Dr. Aguero provided information in response to inquiries from
Trustees regarding whether the Alamo Community College District was contacted their
response concerning adjustment of the community college service area currently
included under the Alamo Community College District. He said that he spoke with Alamo Community College
District Chancellor Kelly and they would need to look at a map and discuss the
proposed movement. Dr. Aguero stated that Chancellor Kelly was aware that the area
was part of the
Trustees
MOTION: The Board of Trustees approve
the eight legislative priorities proposed by
Trustee John
Worley requested a Friendly Amendment to add the proposed amendment to
Trustees McRaven and Kaplan accepted the Friendly Amendment.
Trustees inquired regarding the option not to adjust the
out-of-district tuition for needy students in a given year because of the
financial needs of the College; the need to know how many districts this would
affect, if there were any opposition, about how many students this might
affect, and the approximate cost; and the definition of “needy”.
The Motion, as
amended, passed on a vote of 6-3.
FOR: Mr. John F. Hernandez; Mr. Allen H. Kaplan;
Ms. Nan McRaven; Mr. Rafael Quintanilla; Ms. Veronica
Rivera; and Dr. John B. Worley.
AGAINST: Dr. Lillian J. Davis, Mr. Jeffrey K. Richard,
and Dr. Barbara P. Mink.
ABSENT: None.
Agenda Item
7992
Student Goal
Achievement: Discussion of Closing the Gaps Report
Dr. Mink introduced the item and Dr. Kathleen Christensen, Associate Vice President for Retention and Student Services. provided Dr. Christensen introduced staff: George Reyes, Dean and Counselor at the Pinnacle Campus; Dr. Maggie de la Tejas, Dean at the Riverside Campus; Dr. Richard Armenta, Dean at the Rio Grande Campus; Steve Christopher, Manager of Special Populations and Supervisor of the Interpreters for the Deaf; Terry Bazan, Director of Financial Aid; Linda Kluck, Director of Admissions and Records; Linda Caplin, Chair of the Counseling Committee; and Amber Kelly, Dean and Counselor at the Cypress Creek Campus. Dr. Christensen provided information regarding the status of data and goals as measured by Closing the Gaps; effectiveness measures; enrollment, retention, and transfer reports, and ACC departmental and divisional data on recruitment, admissions, assessment, and financial aid. She provided information regarding targeted schools and student needs assistance.
Dr. Christensen, Dr. Kinslow, and Dr. Aguero responded to questions from Trustees regarding minority student clarification, establishment of the 2005 targets; the increase in success rates; impact of growth on targets; demographics of students who inquired and enrolled; the transfer graduation percentage rate; goal and success rate for part-time students; recruitment and outreach efforts with high schools in the service area, including San Marcos and Austin; orientation for transfer students; the retention rate and what ACC was doing to meet the statewide goals; student access and student outcomes; student completion focus and accountability; the need for current planning for future increases in enrollment including additional programs, staff and facilities; students who were unable to continue their education due to financial issues; and the availability of scholarships.
Dr. Mink expressed appreciation to Dr. Christensen and staff for the report and excellent work. Dr. Mink asked that the Board be utilized as a resource within the community for increasing College awareness.
There was no Executive
Session.
Announcements
·
Dr. Mink stated that a Board Retreat would be held on
Adjournment
Having no motion before the Board, the
November 1, 2004, Regular Meeting of the Austin Community College Board of
Trustees was adjourned at
Approved By
Jeffrey Richard, Secretary