Northern Essex Community College Board of Trustees
Minutes of Meeting (OFFICIAL) – March 2, 2022
A meeting of the Northern Essex Community College Board of Trustees was held in TC103A&B in the Hartleb Technology Center at the Haverhill Campus on March 2, 2022 at 5PM. A Zoom Teleconference option was also available.
Present
Ms. Borislow
Ms. O’Rorke
Mr. Cox (Via Zoom)
Ms. Paley Nadel
Mr. Guilmette
Ms. Glennys Sanchez (Via Zoom)
Mr. Linehan (arrived @5:08PM)
Ms. Anita Worden (Via Zoom)
Unable to attend: Ms. Fernandez, Ms. Modeen, Ms. Quiles
Also Present
President Glenn
CALL TO ORDER:
Chairwoman Borislow called the meeting to order at 5:05 PM with a quorum present.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
On a Motion presented by Trustee O’Rorke and seconded by Trustee Guilmette, it was voted unanimously, by roll call vote, to approve the February 2, 2022 minutes as presented.
CORRESPONDENCE:
President Glenn noted that a letter was mailed to some, but not all Trustees. A copy of the letter will be distributed to all Trustees and a meeting date and time to discuss will be forwarded to the Board soon.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
President Glenn introduced the following new employees to NECC:
Maxanne Holman – SOAR Program Academic Coach (Special Programs Coordinator), SOAR Program Success Grant
Latashia White – Full-time Veteran Services and Special Populations Coordinator (Special Programs Coordinator), Veterans Services
Tammy Leavitt – Full-time Early College Coordinator (Special Programs Coordinator),PK12 Partnerships
The board welcomed the new employees.
BOARD CHAIRWOMAN UPDATE:
Chairwoman Borislow expressed her continued gratitude to Bill Cox and Jeff Linehan for their continued service to the board.
Ms. Borislow noted that Trustee Fernandez could not attend tonight’s meeting, but she emailed Trustees this afternoon, noting that she continues to work with Allison Dolan-Wilson on NECC’s Giving Day scheduled for April 7th. Ms. Borislow noted that the donation period is a 24-hour period of time to support the NECC fund. The April 7th date aligns with the first day that NECC registered students when it opened 60 years ago. She thanked Trustee Fernandez, Ms. Dolan-Wilson and the committee for creating donor opportunities for all including Trustees.
President Glenn also extended his thanks to the committee and noted that just over a year ago, VP Dolan-Wilson was instrumental in launching the NECC Klueber Planned Giving Society, and the college recently received another intended gift as part of that programming.
EDUCATION REPORT:
a) Experiential Learning in the Liberal Arts (ADM-3710-030222)
Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Paul Beaudin introduced Dean Amy Callahan for the Education Report. Dr. Beaudin noted that Dean Callahan has served in a variety of roles in her 22 years at NECC including as a faculty member, a faculty advisor (for the student newspaper, the Observer), and now as Dean of Liberal Arts.
Dean Callahan thanked Dr. Beaudin for the introduction and noted that her presentation will provide information on experiential learning as a new opportunity for students. Ms. Callahan noted that the college is pursuing new and expanded ways for students to gain knowledge including internships for an even stronger curriculum.
Dean Callahan provided a brief history of her personal experience with experiential learning (EL) through a cooperative education program while attending Northeastern University. As a first-generation college student, the Coop program made college affordable and provided invaluable experience to get started in her career. She noted that it was one of the most formative and important parts of her college education, and a first-hand experience on the benefits of experiential learning.
She noted that the benefits of this type of programming are supported by extensive research. Our students remain more engaged, attain job-ready skills, and are better prepared for the workforce when participating in EL. For all of these reasons, she noted, it is the college’s goal to offer more EL experiences. Our Liberal Arts programming already has a strong track record of EL experiences for students including internships in Art & Design, Journalism/Communication, as well as Community Service projects (in Psychology and Writing), and class projects such as Speechapalooza. The college also offers embedded and co-curricular opportunities like our student newspaper (The Observer), theater, an art gallery, and Parnassus.
Moving forward, she noted, the plan is to redesign discipline-specific 3-credit Internship courses to offer to students as part of their program pathways. In addition, a pilot study continues in NECC’s Psychology degree program, and the Liberal Arts department is eager to move forward after more interest has evolved.
Trustee Paley Nadel asked if the internships are paid/non-paid, and if faculty receive any professional development. Dean Callahan noted that when the internship course was redesigned, the priorities of a paid internship was already in place. “Most of our students can’t afford not to receive a pay,” she said. She also noted that our employers do typically want an official relationship with the college with someone to watch out for students and to build those important relationships moving forward.
Lastly, Dean Callahan noted that the college still needs to develop some kind of professional development in this arena. Having more of the 3-credit classes embedded into programming will help faculty feel more comfortable in the future with developing and engaging with employers regarding internships for students.
Both President Glenn and Chairwoman Borislow thanked Dean Callahan for her report and noted they were grateful for the work that she is doing for our students.
REPORT OF BOARD COMMITTEES:
a) Alumni & Advancement: Chairwoman Borislow noted that she covered he Alumni/Advancement report under her Chair report.
b) Equity Imperative: Trustee Paley Nadel noted that the committee had a terrific meeting with all members present and robust conversation. Highlights of meeting conversation included:
1) an update and discussion on the Chief JEDI position. The posting is in process and the committee discussed how they can use members of the community to get the position description out to a wide audience.
2) an update on ESL work across the campus, and how the committee can assist in providing an equity lens around all the HR work. What’s the right place for Trustees input, and how can they help with a positive impact with HR on these initiatives? How can Trustees be helpful and impactful on how the job descriptions, qualifications, and level of professional development come together? How does the college look at hiring, retention, and professional development through the DEI lens?
Ms. Paley Nadel noted that the challenge of this work is to not put it “into a box,” but to provide a lens on all work. She noted that the college is in a good position to keep moving forward particularly since Equity is a key thread throughout all of the new strategic planning work going forward.
c) Nominating Committee: President Glenn noted that since Governor Baker announced that he will not seek reelection, many things have slowed and, in this case, no appointments have been made. The community college presidents have reached out to Secretary Peyser who has offered his assistance. NECC will have three (3) reappointments and two (2) pending new appointments from last year to fill. The Nominating Committee and President Glenn will be transmitting these recommendations this week along with the other community colleges, and we will try to get these across the finish line as soon as possible.
d) Presidential Evaluation: Chairwoman Borislow noted that she had appointed Ms. Paley Nadel as the new chair of the Presidential Evaluation committee. She thanked Trustee Cox for his years of service in that role. She noted that the first meeting of the committee will be held soon. She looks forward to the good conversation between the committee and the President on his performance.
REPORT OF ADMINISTRATION:
a) COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement Update (Verbal)
President Glenn noted that there was not much to update at this time. As he noted last month, there was a relatively small number of students who opted not to return, and we are thankful that the number was modest. For the next round of registrations to begin on April 4th, new students will know well in advance that they need to provide their vaccine documentation. While the requirement may still provide a few challenges, he noted that he is thankful to our Human Resources and Student Services staff for all of their work on this.
President Glenn also noted that in terms of masks, K-12 schools have been dropping that mandate as well as some colleges, retail stores, restaurants, etc. The community college Presidents and General Counsel will talk about the mandate at tomorrow’s President’s Council meeting. The colleges don’t have to move in lock step, he noted, and will monitor statistics for their geographical area. In closing, he noted that while we can anticipate some relaxation of the mask guidance soon, our conditions can change at any time and our Covid Task Force keeps abreast of those changes to assist in the decision-making for NECC.
b) NECC Strategic Plan (Verbal)
President Glenn noted that there are no real updates from last month when Trustees approved a draft set of goals and initiatives. In the next step, the college will begin asking divisions/department to provide more detailed plans/objectives/initiatives as part of the annual planning and budgeting process. Meanwhile, he said, senior staff are looking at measurable outcomes and will be wrestling with all of this which will result in a manageable and publishable format shared with our partners at EAB and the Department of Higher Education for review and input. The college hopes to have full approval of the plan at the same time as the Trustees approval of the next annual budget.
c) Enrollment Update (Verbal)
President Glenn noted that registration for summer session begins on April 4th. He extended many thanks to Dr. Paul Beaudin and Dr. Jennifer Mezquita for their work on building additional 8-week spring courses for students. When faced with an enrollment drop this spring, they quickly assembled some 8-week courses for students who may not have been ready to attend in January. This was an excellent demonstration of how NECC was flexible to best meet student needs. In addition, the Office of Institutional Effectiveness is working on course-level tools which will allow faculty/staff to easily monitor that information.
d) Budget Update (Verbal)
President Glenn said there is no new information to provide on the budget at this time, other than that the new (FY23) budget process has begun.
e) Haverhill Campus (Verbal)
President Glenn noted that the NECC Men’s Basketball Team went 20-9 this season, and went on to the Region 21 Championship where they won over the Community College of Rhode Island and gave them their only loss of this year. The team is still eligible to attend the national championship later this month.
The Knight’s Men’s Baseball Team is currently ranked #5 (up from #10 last year). These statistics are a great recruitment and retention tool for both our men and woman athletes. President Glenn noted many thanks to VP Mike McCarthy, Director of Athletics Dan Blair, as well as our student athletics for their work and dedication to the programs and teams.
Lastly, President Glenn congratulated student Gwynnethe Glickman (Liberal Arts Major) who recently made it to the finals of The Region I Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.
f) Lawrence Campus (Verbal)
There was no update for the Lawrence Campus.
g) Save-the-Dates (Verbal)
President Glenn noted that Trustees have two save-the-dates for the end of the semester including the May 12, Early College Recognition Ceremony which will take place at 5:30PM at the Haverhill Campus, and NECC’s 60th Annual Commencement which will take place at 11AM in Haverhill Campus Quad on May 14th. The college is looking forward to hosting a regular commencement again.
NEW BUSINESS:
President Glenn noted that he was presenting five grants for Trustee approval totaling $412,758.50. They are:
1) Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care/NorthShore Community College: Career Pathways Supplemental Funds ADM -3711-030222
2) Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: Adult and Community Learning Services MassSTEP Planning Grant – ADM-3712-030222
3) Massachusetts Department of Higher Education: Early College Allocation Funding – ADM-3713-030222
4) Massachusetts Department of Higher Education: Massachusetts Inclusive Concurrent Enrollment Initiative (MAICEI) for Students with Disabilities Quality Enhancement Project (QEP) – ADM-3714-030222
5) Massachusetts Department of Higher Education/Holyoke Community College: HEIF Equity Agenda Consortium Grant – ADM-3715-030222
Chairwoman Borislow asked if all five grants could be approved via one collective vote. The Trustees agreed.
On a Motion presented by Trustee Guilmette, seconded by Trustee O’Rorke, by roll call vote, the Board unanimously approved the five grants, agenda items 9a, 1-5 as presented and totaling $412,758.50.
OTHER BUSINESS: There was none.
ADJOURNMENT: With no other business, Chairwoman Borislow adjourned the meeting at 5:51 PM.
