NORTHERN ESSEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MINUTES OF MEETING (OFFICIAL) – September 4, 2024
A meeting of the Northern Essex Community College Board of Trustees was held in the
Hartleb Technology Building, Room TC103A, on the Haverhill Campus and via Zoom on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.
Ms. Borislow (via Zoom)
Mr. Cousins
Ms. Fernandez
Mr. Gomez
Mr. Hamm
Ms. Hatem-Roy
Ms. Mohammed
Ms. O’Rourke (via Zoom)
Mr. Silverio
Also Present: President Glenn
CALL TO ORDER: With a quorum present, Chairwoman Borislow called the meeting to order at 5:03 PM and welcomed our new Student Trustee, Hikma Mohammed, to her first Board meeting. Trustee Mohammed shared a few words about her background, including her undertaking of the Health Specialization Program with the hope to complete a full nursing degree upon completion of NECC studies, with the target of attending UMass Boston for the BSN Program in Spring of 2025 (next semester). While her stay may end up being a relatively short time, Trustee Mohammed shared her extreme pleasure and delight to be part of the Board of Trustees and aims to improve and maintain a better NECC where all students succeed and excel.
Special Note from President Glenn: Announcement that former NECC President John Dimitry passed away at the age of 95 being a giant for the community college landscape. The campus will be hosting a special memorial event on September 11th, 2024, 1:30pm in TC103, with a request that we have a brief moment of silence in the late president’s honor.
MOMENT OF SILENCE at approximately 5:10 PM
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Chairwoman Borislow asked for a motion to approve the
June 5, 2024 minutes.
On a Motion presented by Trustee Hamm and seconded by Trustee Gomez, by roll call vote, the Board unanimously approved the June 5, 2024, minutes as presented.
CORRESPONDENCE: There was none.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
a) Introduction of Newly Hired Employees (Verbal)
President Glenn introduced and welcomed the following new employees:
Grace Spaulding, Instruction and Research Librarian
Barry Newcomb, Campus Police Officer
Christopher Wilson, Associate Professor, English
Seth Ridinger, Associate Professor, Political Science
Amanda Prophett, Assistant Professor and Coordinator for Public Health Programs
Alex Bordino, Associate Professor, Digital Media
Elsie Jean Michel, Assistant Professor, Nursing
Marcellus Koster, Director of Infrastructure and Client Services
The Board welcomed our newest employees to NECC.
EDUCATION REPORT: MassEducate and Enrollment
Dr. Beaudin presented his enrollment summary for the previous summer and the coming 2024-2025 year, sharing the following remarks:
The summer enrollment by credits was up 22% over last year. This is a result of a very intentional approach of inviting our students and attracting more visiting students. We start summer registration in early November and will do so again this November 2024 as well. This summer, we had visiting students from over 75 different colleges including Loyola, Bentley, Mount Holyoke, Salve Regina, University of Alabama, Boston University, Bucknell, University of Tampa, RPI, Bowdoin, Penn State, and WPI. Students meet with advisors in November or December and plan a schedule for both the spring and summer, so course selection is done under the watchful eye of an advisor.
We have seven (7) start times per year and, as of today, we still are six (6) days away from the end of our first drop/add date. Our Fall II new registration begins on September 11, and, last year, that is where we saw a large bump as a result of MassReconnect. As of this morning, these numbers are fluid with the rough estimate of approximately 8.5% students returning over last year, and new students up by 33.6%. Our stop-out returning number is up 19.1% and our transfer-in student number is up 24.2%. Our Early College number is down about 10% but we are expecting about 80 additional registrations for Fall II in that area. With those numbers, we believe NECC is doing very well.
As a reminder, there were changes to the FAFSA process this past spring that created technical difficulties for many, with FAFSA completion being down statewide and nationally, by approximately 10%, depending on the source.
With MassEducate only being thirty-seven (37) days old, we see much excitement, too. MassEducate is a last dollar-in program for Massachusetts residents who do not hold more than one associate degree or a bachelor’s degree. It requires the completion of the FAFSA or MAFSA form; requires that the recipient has not previously defaulted on a federal or state college loan; is enrolled in at least six (6) credits per semester; and continues to make satisfactory academic progress at an approved eligible institution.
In the past month, in order to meet the additional student demand, Loreen Tirrell, Recruitment Director, has held seven (7) info sessions on this new program with another schedule this evening, and with four scheduled every month moving forward. The staff in enrollment management, under Donna Bertolino’s leadership, has worked nearly 450 additional hours during August to meet with new students, process them, and enroll them into classes during the evening and on Saturdays. I am grateful to President Glenn, CFO/COO McCarthy, and VP Dolan-Wilson for helping to fund this extra work. It’s my understanding we have a few hundred students who are already waiting to register for Fall II. While some schools are opening spring registration early to meet the needs of our new MassEducate scholars, our foresight in expanding our seven (7) week sessions allows us to enroll them in our second fall session in late October.
Yesterday, after Convocation, I asked Chair Borislow if I could speak more on my professional background with a favor to conclude, to which she graciously agreed. I spent sixteen (16) years teaching and administering schools in the South Bronx and East Harlem. For most of those years, I also lived in the neighborhood where I worked. This was during the AIDS crisis and crack cocaine epidemic in New York City. The neighborhoods were tough, the children were wonderful, the parents were supportive, but the neighborhoods were difficult places to raise children. For a few years, I lived around the corner from the South Bronx’s Lincoln Hospital. Our neighborhood’s claim-to-fame, as Trustee Gomez may have heard from his own Bronx days, was “Lincoln Hospital was a great place for those with gunshot wounds.”
I moved to Spanish Harlem in the early 90’s to become an elementary school principal. There I found more wonderful children and supportive parents from the East River Projects who valued what we provided at my school. One day in 1993, I received a call from an attorney. This attorney represented a man who was on death row in Texas. He said that his client had been a student at my school thirty or forty years previously and was hoping that I could find his school records and offer him some morsel about this man’s troubled childhood that might save his life. My secretary and I tore files apart looking for something, anything, because, regardless of one’s view of capital punishment, we had a sense that perhaps his life was in our hands. And we found nothing, not even being sure if he went to our school, and never finding out if he lived or if he died. That experience changed my life because I realized that the value of education has the power to save people’s lives. Education has value because of how it transforms its graduates, their children, their grandchildren and their communities.
We have heard it said many times recently that it’s great that community college is now free and is now really valuable because of that. The education that our faculty provide and how our student affairs folks support that learning is valuable. It is not valuable because it’s free. It’s valuable because we change lives, and it is so valuable that we want everyone to have access to it.
Chairwoman Borislow and Board of Trustee members, the favor that I ask of you is this: please remind those with whom you interact what you already know: an NECC education is now a gift of the taxpayers of the Commonwealth because it is so valuable that we want everyone to have to it, and it has been that valuable for decades regardless if we charge tuition or provide it freely.
Thank you for listening to my report and special request.
BOARD CHAIR REPORT:
Chairwoman Borislow reported that it was a busy and fun summer, especially due to the news of the newly established Mass Educate legislation.
Of special note was the 2024 Fall Convocation, where Provost Beaudin and President Lane Glenn provided an inspiring event showcasing leaders across many departments, as well as students who were seated up-front for the ceremonies. Chairwoman Borislow shared her privilege to speak, attend, and witness the excitement and enthusiasm to help start the Autumn season.
Chair Borislow discussed the return to regular meetings, noting that there were changes to various sub-committees including chairs, members, and pausing of one sub-committee. As a reminder, each member can be on up to two (2) sub-committees but no more than five (5) on each committee can serve due to Open Meeting Law considerations. Chairwoman Borislow thanked all who are serving within these roles again, especially the new chairs.
REPORT OF BOARD COMMITTEES:
a) Audit and Finance Sub-Committee (Verbal)
The A&F Sub-Committee did not meet; therefore, there was no report.
b) Alumni Advancement Sub-Committee (Verbal)
The Alumni Advancement Sub-Committee did not meet; therefore, there was no report.
c) Equity Imperative Sub-Committee (Verbal)
Chairwoman Borislow shared that this sub-committee would be paused temporarily, with updates coming later regarding membership.
d) Nominating Sub-Committee (Verbal)
The Alumni Advancement Sub-Committee did not meet; therefore, there was no report.
REPORT OF ADMINISTRATION:
a) Whitter Tech / NECC Shared Campus Project (Verbal)
President Glenn shared that a successful kickoff meeting occurred on August 27, 2024, on the Haverhill campus with members of the newly formed Planning Group convening featuring big picture thinkers, national and statewide leaders, established subject matter experts, and other high educational institutions to generate ideas for how the shared campus might be different while reducing costs, expanding capacity, and expanding credentials for high school and adult learners. Some of the format was designed to feel like a “TED talk” for parts of the presentation, but was a true introduction for the UMass Donahue Institute (UMDI) partners. We want this effort to be a success for short and long term, with the Planning Group meeting through December. Focus groups and interviews will also be ongoing with this effort, as well. Goal is to better provide a vision using economic and political considerations, such that this project is palatable for all the communities involved.
Additionally, President Glenn shared that the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) has arranged an on campus visit on Sept 19th – something that was not necessarily expected to occur this year. NECC did help share information to Whittier Tech regarding a letter of intent (LOI), with the MSBA intending consideration for an upcoming board meeting, but probably a good sign that they are coming along with leaders from Whitter Tech and NECC. The tour will include a first-hand look at potential shared space and our hundred plus acreage to potentially develop. President Glenn welcomed any questions;
Trustee Fernandez asked timeline for decision making on this. President Glenn explained there is no set date per se, but for context shared that any building project in his career took at least five (5) years but less than ten (10) years to complete from start to finish. The longer any project goes on, the higher the building costs will be, but we expect this to be at minimum a five (5) year project;
Trustee Cousins shared support and agreement that this was a reasonable timeframe to expect having worked on several large-scale projects;
Trustee Hatem-Roy shared her disappointment in the special election held in the winter regarding this project, but she believes that this project ultimately is worthy due to the potential to find cost savings.
b) NECHE 5-Year Interim Report Kick-Off (Verbal)
President Glenn reminded members that every decade the NECHE reporting process occurs, with every five (5) years requiring an interim report be issued to address areas of concerns from the ten (10) year report. This includes items around culture of assessment, effectiveness of the programming we offer, longer range planning, and other items. It is difficult when delays occur for financial budgeting from state leaders, with this year being especially difficult to predict because of state budget process. Also of note will be the diversity of staff, faculty and Board of Trustees, with some work to do on demographics for the October Board of Trustee meeting. Thankfully, we see enrollment climbing, but we must see how trends change across time, too. Student success programs like SOAR must continue to get support, and we must see satisfactory graduation rates which saw a dip during COVID, but our reporting will share more on how some of our policies have been positively impacting graduation. The Board will be informed across our efforts, thanks to leadership from Kirsten Kortz, and the scores of people on various sub teams. There will be lots of pages published even for this interim report, which represent a big undertaking. President Glenn welcomed any questions;
Trustee Fernandez asked if students are required to be involved, like the ten-year plan, or if there were any other unique needs. President Glenn invited Provost Paul Beaudin to share that SGA members typically offer selective feedback for responses but typically students are not as involved for this interim report.
c) Adapting CBE Modality to Healthcare Technician Certificate (Verbal)
President Glenn shared background on program, with an explanation of hours in a concentration, credit, hours in a seat being necessary review for credentialing. Context of how organizations like SNHU credits students with online enrollments, validating prior learning assessment and trying to give students lots of flexibility. NECC is not quite that flexible, as we still offer courses within semester time frames, but we do have acceleration classes for efficiency. For example, Early Childhood salaries are not typically high, so time back to the student as a professional is valuable. To that, we petition to NECHE for health care technicians and business management associates programs for these CBE programs. We are hoping we don’t have to go back every time, but this group wants to make sure our Board of Trustees are aware of these efforts, with the following language necessary to be heard and reflected within our minutes. Thank you to Marcy Yeager who helped prepared the following statement:
Northern Essex has sent the Healthcare Technician Certificate and Business Management Associates programs to NECHE for approval to offer them as Competency Based Education (CBE) programs. NECHE requires that NECC submit a Substantive Change application whenever the college converts a program to a new modality. CBE is a model of learning that focuses on ensuring students are assessed on overall mastery of the course outcomes rather than time in course or time on task. In a traditional college course due dates are set in advance for all students. Thus, at set points every student must move forward, whether or not they fully understand the material or have mastered the required skills. Students are given the support they need individually to move forward and master the content and inherent skills. Instead of moving forward based on deadlines students move forward once they achieve outcome mastery.
CBE is the ideal modality for adult learners, learners with some previous workplace experience, and any student who is interested in a self-paced college experience. NECC currently has one CBE degree program, Early Childhood Education, and like that degree program the Healthcare Technician Certificate and Business Management programs are career programs where students often have worked in the field and are seeking an opportunity for advancement. CBE programs at NECC are run dominantly online with some face-to-face laboratory sections.
d) Other Campus Updates – MassEducate (Verbal)
President Glenn echoed remarks from Provost Paul Beaudin and Chairwoman Borislow about the excitement of MassEducate, with the commitment to share any notable updates to the Board of Trustees in the coming months.
e) The Communique– (ADM-3890-090424)
President Glenn noted that this month’s Communique has been distributed along with the Board Packets.
f) Updated List of Board Meeting Dates for AY2024-25 (ADM-3891-090424)
President Glenn noted the inclusion of all upcoming meeting dates for upcoming meetings included in the Board Packet.
g) Potential Greater Lawrence Tech / Regis College EC (Verbal)
Greater Lawrence Technical School (GLTS) recently held a meeting with NECC alongside Regis College to better discuss opportunities for Early College allowing high school certificates to BA/BS degrees. GLTS is currently looking at Elks lodge for purchase for potential project like this. This effort has exciting potential all around, with a special thanks to Lawrence Hospital President Dr. Abha Agrawal who helped to navigate both the Steward Hospital crisis and helped pen letters of support. This is all part of a bigger conversation to create a Merrimack Valley led healthcare system to create education and training needed for the region.
NEW BUSINESS:
a) Grants and Proposal (ADM-3892-090424 thru ADM-3896-090424)
President Glenn noted that the five (5) grants, totaling $640,519 listed below are slated for approval:
1. Gallaudet University Regional Center – East $276,769
2. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: Early College Capacity Grant $60,000
3. Massachusetts Department of Higher Education: Commonwealth Dual Enrollment Program (CDEP) *$40,000
4. Massachusetts Department of Higher Education: Stem Starter Academy *$225,000
5. United States Department of Health and Human Services/University of Massachusetts Lowell: Public Health Informatics & Technology Workforce Development Program $38,750
Total $640,519
*Pending Sponsor Approval
On a Motion presented by Trustee Cousins, and seconded by Trustee Gomez, it was voted unanimously to approve Grant Items and Pending Proposals for External Funding as listed in Agenda Items #9a1 – #9a5 totaling $640,519
OTHER BUSINESS: Trustee Mohammed asked for more information about students enrolling in the school system and helping to ensure they stay engaged within the system. With the new free college programs now rolled out, we as a board must always ask how we can enable student success. Are there considerations for adjustment of class registrations? How many classes ore credits is the minimum?
President Glenn clarified the question and referred to Provost Paul Beaudin’s earlier remarks regarding the infancy of MassEducate and the additional support designed to accommodate. Also, there are six (6) credits across classes to be eligible for this program, does not require (12) twelve credits.
Chairwoman Borislow thanked Cheryl Goodwin again for her many years of stewardship to the Board of Trustees as designated clerk, with a special applause given to Cheryl thereafter.
With no further business, President Glenn wished the best for the students, faculty, and staff beginning the start of the new school year.
ADJOURNMENT: Chairwoman Borislow adjourned the meeting at 6:19 PM.
