NORTHERN ESSEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MINUTES OF MEETING (OFFICIAL) – April 12, 2023
A meeting of the Northern Essex Community College Board of Trustees was held in LC301 at the Lawrence Campus at 5:00PM.
Ms. Borislow
Ms. Fernandez (Via Zoom)
Mr. Gomez
Ms. O’Rorke (Via Zoom)
Ms. Paley Nadel (arrived at 5:16PM)
Ms. Pachano
Mr. Silverio
Ms. Sanchez
Unable to attend: Mr. Hamm, Ms. Quiles, Ms. Worden
Also Present: President Glenn
CALL TO ORDER:
Chairwoman Borislow called the meeting to order at 5:03PM with a roll call of attendance and a quorum present.
Before the election of officers, President Glenn noted that past Trustee and Foundation Board member Byron Matthews had passed away on March 25th at the age of 94 years old. Byron was married to his wife Helen for 69 years. He served 5 terms as the mayor of Newburyport and served as Chair of the NECC Board of Trustees for a number of years. President Glenn noted that Mr. Matthews had left an indelible mark on NECC and asked for a moment of silence in his honor.
Dr. Glenn also noted that the Board has two items to celebrate: 1) Student Trustee Sarah Pachano has been chosen for NECC’s Civic Newman Scholarship Award, and 2) Trustee Jouel Gomez was recently selected to receive NECC’s Impact Award for his work in philanthropy and as an outstanding alumni member. Sarah will be celebrated at the May 9th Student Academic Awards Ceremony, and Jouel will be celebrated at the May 3rd NECC Impact Awards breakfast.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS:
Chairwoman Borislow opened up nominations for the election of Vice Chair. Trustee Gomez nominated Trustee Paley Nadel as Vice Chair. Trustee Silverio seconded this nomination, and there were no further nominations or discussion.
Chairwoman Borislow then opened nominations for the position of Secretary. Trustee Gomez nominated Trustee Shalimar Quiles as Secretary and it was seconded by Trustee Silverio. With no further nominations and discussion, the nominations were closed.
A roll call vote resulted in unanimous approval of these two nominations. Chair Borislow thanked both Trustee Paley Nadel and Trustee Quiles for their willingness to serve, their participation, and their leadership.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
On a Motion presented by Trustee Gomez and seconded by Trustee Pachano, it was voted unanimously by roll call vote to approve the March 1, 2023 minutes as presented.
CORRESPONDENCE:
There was no correspondence.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
a) Introduction of Newly Hired Employees (Verbal)
President Glenn welcomed three (3) new employees to NECC. They were:
David Buckley, Fulltime General Maintenance Worker for Buildings & Grounds;
Michelle Hall, Fulltime Administrative Assistant in Enrollment Services; and
James Henderson, Fulltime Executive Director of MassHire. The Board welcomed the three new employees.
EDUCATION REPORT:
a) New Initiatives in Academic and Student Affairs (ADM-3787-041223)
President Glenn introduced Dr. Paul Beaudin, Provost who would be providing tonight’s Education Report on new initiatives addressing both equity and excellence in Academic and Student Affairs. In summary, Dr. Beaudin noted that Spring enrollment is up by 3%, including Early College which is up by 7% this Spring. As of today, the college has filled 22 summer session classes, and we are opening additional sections as needed. 164 new students have already been accepted for the Summer 2023 term, and the work continues as we continue to convert applicants to matriculants over the next several weeks and month. Dr. Beaudin went on to say that our admissions team led by Donna Bertolino has been doing amazing work and eight additional advisors have been hired to assist students with Financial Aid form completion. On February 7th, the college signed an admissions agreement with UMass Lowell guaranteeing NECC graduates a seat there for the last two years of their educational journey. Since February, 106 students have applied to be part of this wonderful agreement which is a game changer for NECC as we hope to better inform future students of the quality of our degrees.
Trustee Paley Nadel arrived at 5:16PM.
The college continues to grow its Early College programming, and in the Fall 2023, there will be 11 classes running with goal of 165 students including some early college. Our Honors Program provides access to Commonwealth Honors program around the state.
This summer, Professor of Business, Sheila Muller will spend time in Paris as part of the international task force for French/American students for Summer 2024 and the planning phase of our ESL program will be fully underway with a redesign that will welcome students with a real mindset change that celebrates bilingualism. ESL will be offered in shortened, 8-week semesters and will be offered as both hybrid and shorter in-person classes.
We are also seeking NECHE approval for 8 more fully online programs made possible by our professors. NECC has model programming for those who are incarcerated and lack a HS diploma, and the college is welcoming more students with Neurodiversity than ever before. The college continues to provide incredible student support and academic coaching for all students including a strategic focus on our student athletes. The Center for Academic Adult Pathways has focused advisement for adults who seek and need academic help and closes barriers to students. Dr. Beaudin noted that he is truly grateful to be at NECC every day to observe the heart of our faculty who are committed to promoting equity.
With no questions, Dr. Glenn thanked Provost Beaudin for his summary of new academic and student initiatives at NECC.
BOARD CHAIR UPDATE:
Chair Borislow noted that her report this evening would be very brief. She reminded Trustees about Commencement on May 13th and noted that this year’s Commencement speaker will be Justin Aguirre of KISS108. During some of the public relations around Justin being chosen, Tom Bergeron, another NECC Alumni, was also interviewed and noted what a wonderful place NECC is to start an academic career.
REPORT OF BOARD COMMITTEES:
a) Audit and Finance Sub-Committee
In Trustee Hamm’s absence, Trustee Borislow reported that the sub-committee met earlier in the afternoon to review the numbers for the 3rd quarter of FY23 budget and the preliminary information and process for FY24. She thanked CFO Mike McCarthy and his team and noted that the overall fiscal health of the college is very good. With that said, the Audit and Finance Sub-Committee recommended the following motions:
1) FY24 College General Fee (AFC-23-05)
On a Motion by Trustee Gomez, seconded by Trustee Silverio, on a roll call vote, the board unanimously approved the motion noting that if the General Appropriations Act for FY24 contain appropriations for NECC at or above the levels recommended in the Governor’s House 1 budget filed on 3/1/23, and these appropriations are not otherwise reduced mid-year, the Board shall not implement the increases for per-credit mandatory (general support or college) fees through FY24 previously approved by the Board on 3/1/23. This Board action does not apply to increases in other fees that are specific to courses, programs, labs, technology or facilities.
2) Ellucian Software Renewal (AFC-23-06)
Chairwoman Borislow noted that this Ellucian renewal is for a 5-year contract for the college’s enterprise system and is over $1 million thereby requiring Board approval.
On a Motion by Trustee Paley Nadel, seconded by Trustee Fernandez, on a roll call vote, the board unanimously approved the Audit and Finance Sub-Committee’s recommendation to approve the renewal of the Ellucian Company’s software licenses and maintenance services contract for the college’s ERP system. The length of the contract term is 5 years: May 1, 2023 to April 30, 2028, and the contract amount for five years is $1,085,208.
3) FY23 Quarter 3 Budget Update (Verbal)
Chairwoman Borislow noted that at this point, the college is well on track to meet its FY23 budget plan. She thanked CFO Mike McCarthy and his team for doing an amazing job for the school. She noted that a full budget report will be distributed at the at the next meeting.
4) FY24 Budget Process Update (Verbal)
Chairwoman Borislow noted that that the Administration and Finance team is on top of this year’s budget process and has completed a preliminary review with Committee members. Departments are in the process of getting their budgets together, maximizing every grant, donation, and is accounting for FY24 planned spending. She noted that the preliminary review was very productive, and the full board would review in May when the approval vote is taken.
b) Alumni Advancement Sub-Committee – Trustee Fernandez, Chair of the Sub-Committee, reported on a few action items. She thanked everyone for their participation in last week’s NECC Giving Day which raised $12K in one day and also raises the level of awareness about NECC. Trustee Fernandez also noted her excitement about the upcoming NECC Impact Awards Breakfast slated for May 3rd where fellow Trustee Jouel Gomez and former Trustee Jeff Linehan will be honored. In closing, Ms. Fernandez noted that trustees should continue to think about how they can support these initiatives in the future. The Institutional Advancement Team is actively working on fundraising for the endowment, and will send Trustees additional information on how they can participate.
c) Equity Imperative Sub-Committee – Trustee Paley Nadel, Chair of the Sub-Committee, reported that the committee met and had an interesting conversation regarding DEI programs around the country and how some of that dialog and ideas could help move our equity agenda forward.
d) Nominating Sub-Committee – Shalimar Quiles, Chair of the Sub-Committee, reported that the committee has not met, but she is in process of scheduling a meeting with a prospective trustee.
e) Presidential Evaluation Sub-Committee – Jennifer Borislow noted that the Presidential Evaluation Sub-Committee has received the DHE Guidelines for Presidential Evaluation. As part of the evaluation process, the Sub-Committee recently scheduled a series of interviews with local business, educational, and political partners. Similar to years past, the interviews will provide a deeper look into the work of the President and how impactful that work is to the communities. The full evaluation will be finalized for the June 14th Board meeting.
REPORT OF ADMINISTRATION: President Glenn provided brief updates on the following topics:
a) Dominican Republic Cultural Immersion Tour (Verbal)
President Glenn applauded Dr. Noemi Custodia-Lora on leading a successful 6th trip to the Dominican Republic. Dr. Custodia-Lora has guided over 60 people over the years with a purpose of helping our faculty/staff to better understand Dominican culture and to assist Dominican students and their families. Community partners from Lawrence General Hospital, AgeSpan, Essex County Sheriff’s Department and the Lawrence Partnership join NECC staff and met with colleges and universities, a Senator, the Dominican National Police force and others and we are now in the process of conducting follow-up with those entities and trying to seek out scholarship funding for potential future students.
b) Cybersecurity Incident (Verbal)
President Glenn introduced Danny Rivera, NECC’s chief technology officer who shared a report on what steps the college is taking after the recent cybersecurity attack. Mr. Rivera briefly provided an overview of the incident noting that a notification from CEFA/Homeland Security was received that an entity had control over some of our systems. In a very short period of time, the college contracted with an incident response company and a plan was developed within a number of hours on next steps and how to remedy the situation. Mr. Rivera also went through the corrective action procedures that were put into place to ensure security and to help prevent future attacks. At the conclusion of his report, Dr. Glenn thanked Danny, the entire IT staff, and our faculty/staff of the college for managing this situation as well as they did. Due to the quick action of the IT team and the cooperation from faculty and staff, the college was able to reopen in just 5 days which is a relatively short time compared to other colleges who have experienced a cyberattack.
Trustee Gomez asked if any future cybersecurity training has been planned for faculty and staff. Mr. Rivera noted that new training is already under development and will be very relevant to this subject. NECC already has a Phishing Report system that allows staff to send suspect email right to IT Services. A lot of the focus will remain on education and training, as the human element is always going to be the weakest link in a large organization, so the college will continue to concentrate on training its users.
President Glenn thanked Danny again and noted that if it feels like there’s a vagueness, it is intentional. Deciding how and what to communicate was a challenge, and it certainly didn’t feel good, but some things could not be shared while the system was compromised. Colleges are unique in that faculty and staff have a lot of freedom and are exchanging communication across the world, but that freedom also makes us particularly vulnerable compared to a private firm or business.
Trustee Fernandes departed at 5:53PM.
Trustee Paley Nadel asked if students would receive additional training as well, perhaps for new students as they participate in orientation. Mr. Rivera noted that it was a very good idea to put that plan into place as soon as possible.
c) Paving Project (Verbal)
Mike McCarthy, VP of Administration and Finance and CFO, said he was happy to announce that the paving of the Spurk parking lot with all new curbing will begin immediately following Commencement. Three electric vehicle charging stations will be added with as well and 35 new trees, and all new LED lighting will be installed. A new ADA-compliant ramp will also be installed going into the Spurk building. The work will commence on May 14th and continue through June 30th. President Glenn thanked Mr. McCarthy for his report.
d) Fall Transportation Options (Verbal)
Trustee Sarah Pachano noted that she had worked closely with Mr. McCarthy and was excited to share a new free shuttle for students beginning in the Fall 2024 semester. The shuttle will provide reliable, safe transportation between campuses and will greatly reduce travel time for students. In addition, she hoped that the shuttle services would help with a sense of community belonging and help improve the academic success of student who will now have more flexible options to stay on campus. Mr. McCarthy also thanked Sarah for her continued advocacy, and noted that she was involved in selecting/hiring the person who will be coordinating and driving the shuttle next year.
e) Upcoming Graduation Event Reminders (Verbal)
President Glenn provided reminders regarding:
Tuesday, May 9th, Student Academic Awards Ceremony, 6:30PM,
Sport & Fitness Center, Haverhill Campus
Thursday, May 11th, Early College Recognition Ceremony, 5:30PM,
Haverhill Campus Quad – grown quite large and significant.
Saturday, May 13th, NECC 61st Commencement Exercises, 11AM,
Haverhill Campus Quad.
f) Haverhill Campus (Verbal)
President Glenn notes that the Health & Wellness project continues to move forward with the college and DCAMM taking public comment right now. A Request for Information is out there right now, and so far, a large number of organizations have demonstrated interest in the project. Also, our B&E building project continues to move along. In addition, our police academy is now the most diverse academy in the state with largest number of female cadets. And lastly, President Glenn congratulated NECC’s Director of Compliance for Student Affairs Heather Mores for publishing her new book entitled: Institutional Compliance: It’s a Team Sport – Navigating the Intricacies and Intersects of Regulatory Compliance in Higher Education which is now available at bookstores and Amazon. He noted that Heather and Cheryl Goodwin co-chair the college’s Compliance Committee.
g) Lawrence Campus (Verbal)
President Glenn congratulated Dr. Noemi Custodia-Lora on being selected as a finalist for the Presidency at Holyoke Community College,
NEW BUSINESS:
a) Personnel Actions
Chairwoman Borislow noted that there was one personnel action to approve. On an annual basis, provisions within the MCCC contract allow for Tenure to be approved for those MCCC members that meet the criteria and are eligible. There were five personnel put forth for approval.
1) Motion to approve MCCC/MTA Tenure Recommendations (ADM-3788-041223)
On a Motion by Trustee Paley Nadel, seconded by Trustee Pachano, by roll call vote, the Board unanimously approved the five personnel actions for Tenure as listed in Attachment A.
b) Grants
Chairwoman Borislow noted that there were three grants slated for approval. They are:
1) Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education-Adult Basic Education Supplemental Funds (ADM-3789-041223) for $21,934;
2) Massachusetts Department of Higher Education: Early College Allocation Funding (ADM-3790-041223) for $127,700; and
3) Massachusetts Department of Higher Education/Holyoke Community College: HEIF Equity Agenda Consortium Grant (ADM-3791-041223) for $4,000.
On a Motion by Trustee Sanchez, seconded by Trustee O’Rorke, on a roll call vote, it was voted unanimously to approve the three (3) grants as listed.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Chairwoman Borislow recognized Student Trustee Sarah Pachano who asked to speak regarding a concern on the retrenchment of a position at NECC. Ms. Pachano noted that NECC students are diverse students, many with under- privileged backgrounds who have issues around secure housing, food security, transportation and other issues. She stated concern around the continuation of basic needs for students if the said position is retrenched. On behalf of the students, Ms. Pachano asked the President to reverse the decision, and urged fellow trustees to support this reversal. She noted that she believed that NECC students are more likely to drop out of college without these services and the programming reflects our values as an institution.
President Glenn thanked Ms. Pachano for her remarks. He noted that the retrenchment is a contractual process, and therefore, he was unable to comment at this time. However, he ensured trustees that no service to students will be harmed in any way, and our newly formed Center for Social Justice will adequately and fully respond to all of these needs in the future. He also noted that the services will actually be expanded, and he will provide additional information at a future board meeting when appropriate.
In closing, he thanked members of the audience who were there in support of the position, and noted that per the trustee by-laws, public comment requires 24-hours’ notice. Any member of the public that wishes to speak to the board at its May meeting should reach out to Cheryl Goodwin prior to that date.
ADJOURNMENT: With no other business, Chairwoman Borislow adjourned the meeting at 6:15PM.
