Northern Essex Community College Board of Trustees
Minutes of Meeting (Official) – March 3, 2021
A meeting of the Northern Essex Community College Board of Trustees was held via a Zoom Teleconference at 5:00 PM.
Present
Ms. Borislow
Mr. Cox
Mr. Guilmette
Mr. Linehan
Ms. O’Rorke
Ms. Paley Nadel
Ms. Quiles
Ms. Glennys Sanchez
Ms. Worden
Also Present
President Glenn
Call to Order
Chairwoman Borislow called the meeting to order at 5:02 PM.
Approval of Minutes
On a Motion presented by Trustee Linehan and seconded by Trustee Cox, it was voted unanimously by roll call vote to approve the February 3, 2021 minutes as presented.
Correspondence
There was none.
Unfinished Business
President Glenn welcomed Linda Schildkraut to her role as the new Program Manager in the Center for Corporate and Community Education.
Board Chairwoman Update
Chairwoman Borislow expressed gratitude for the trustees who have finished their state-required training. Kelly Saretsky was asked to update the Board on the very successful four-hour retreat held in January.
After the completion of a self-assessment, the trustees met in small groups to review the strengths and challenges of the Board. The strengths were found to be Leadership, Involvement in the Community, the Board’s commitment to Innovation, and improving Professional Development.
Financial matters, opportunities to understand NECC operations, and development were thought to be areas the Board could develop further. After the Board members were polled to determine which areas used the most energy and that the board should focus on in the next couple of years, the following results were noted:
Supporting NECC Student Success – 36%
Supporting the Equity Imperative – 27%
Support of Strategic Solutions for long-term sustainability – 27%
Financial knowledge and involvement – 9%
Board Professional Development – 0%
Education Report
Division of Health Professions (ADM-3668-030321)
Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. William Heineman introduced Scott Lancaster, Interim Dean: Division of Health Professions, and noted the stellar service he has provided to the college with the Return to Campus Taskforce, amidst the remote learning challenges due to the pandemic. In addition, Scott serves the community as a paramedic most weekends, true to his original calling. Scott gave an update on the Division of Health Professions. He noted that the Center for Health Professions has moved from a borrowed classroom space in the El Hefni building to the old “CPAC” space at 414 Common Street. This move will more than double the size of the center, allowing more space for confidential advising, a quiet study area for students/peer tutoring, and increased student capacity for events and guest speakers. Also, during this semester the Health division staff has taken over the PLATO TEAS program, in which faculty and advisors will facilitating registration and preparing the students with individual consultation.
A new dental assisting program has been approved starting with a night version in the second session of Spring 2021. With significant funding from a Mass. Capital Skills Grant last summer, this lab space has been renovated with State-of-the-Art x-ray equipment and procedure chairs. An upgraded renovation of the vacuum system for the dental chairs is being planned with DCAMM funding. At the present time five students have enrolled in the program, which will run through the fall, with completion in December.
The Nursing division, including both practical and nursing degree programs, has completed their accreditation self-study report in FA20, led by Dean of Students, Kelly Fisher. A successful site visit by ACEN took place last month., resulting in continued accreditation without provisional reporting requirements for the next ten years, which is the best outcome one can receive from the accreditors.
The Public Health/community Health Worker program hosted with two physicians from the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center in a webinar about COVID, which our community health care students led. Pushed out over social media and advertised by MARCOM, this was well attended by over 60 participants. One of the students involved was translating the questions from English to Spanish, in order for the Spanish-speaking participants to hear the program in real time. Many thanks to the students and coordinator, Jackie Dick, for making this so successful.
The Medical Assisting and Nursing program worked with the City of Lawrence and the mayor’s Public Health Task Force, in establishing the Mass. COVID Vaccination site as a Clinical site for students. As part of their clinical rotation, medical assisting and nursing associate degree students will be administering vaccinations to the community, along with the documentation work involved in tracking of the appointments.
Currently, there are 1034 students with a health major in the college currently enrolled in classes in the Spring of 2021. Thanks to faculty who have worked remotely with students and have come to campus throughout the fall and spring semester in order to hold the lab and simulation work. Many thanks to our simulation coordinator, Erin Colstad, for keeping our students healthy and allowing the program to continue for the students to obtain their licensure.
President Glenn thanked Dr. Lancaster for all his work in creating this successful learning environment in the midst of the pandemic.
Trustee Paley Nadel noted this stunning report and appreciated the opportunities to provide incredible services throughout the community. She asked what opportunities are there for students who may need retraining and recertification who may have certifications from their home country.
The college does not have a direct path, since this is provided by a state public health licensure body. President Glenn noted that we refer nurses to the Bunker Hill Community College where they have the Welcome Back center, to handle all the state regulations through Bunker Hill.
Trustee Worden was so impressed with this program which leads students into the health care profession and asked how many students may enroll in the dental program when you have full capacity. The enrollment was able to increase from 25 to 30, based on the renovation to the lab space. The night program is targeted with 25 additional spots with the expectation that it may take a year or two to get to that figure, since it is a new program.
President Glenn said there is often conversation among policy makers and elected officials that community colleges should do more regarding technical training with hands-on experience. We would do a lot more of this, but we are not funded for it. For every student enrolled in the dental program, the college loses money. The $400K dental grant was a one-time occurrence, unlike the high schools that are funded for their technical programs on an annual basis.
Report of Board Committees
Nominating Committee
Trustee Quiles reported that the Nominating committee is in the final stages of reviewing four nominations that will be submitted for the two Board member openings. An update will be provided at the April meeting. The upcoming committee meetings will focus on the Committee Charter so that their goals over the next few months will be known.
Report of Administration
President Glenn noted that those in our leadership roles wear many hats – noting that Scott Lancaster is not only the Interim Dean of Health professions but is also co-chairing the NECHE self-study with Dr. Kim Burns, and Dr. William Heineman. All will be available to join the visiting accreditation team during their virtual visit on April 11 – 14. President Glenn praised the leadership members for their exemplary work in preparation for this accreditation visit.
a) Update on NECHE Accreditation & Virtual Site Visit
The NECHE site visit is scheduled for April 11 to 14, beginning with an event on Sunday evening, April 11, when our leadership team will meet with Dr. Sonya Christian and the rest of the accreditation team. On April 14 at 11:30, all are welcomed to join the accreditation team to hear an exit report by the Team Chair. It will consist of comments about the strengths and potential challenges which they will report to NECHE and the commissioners.
President Glenn encouraged the Board to read the Self-Study introduction and Governance Standard, as it aligns most closely to the Board’s work for the college.
b) NECC 2020: Strategic Plan (Verbal)
President Glenn reported a positive result from the Career portion of our Strategic plan, with the implementation of the new “Handshake” software program for internships and job searches for our present and former students. By the fall semester, nearly 1,000 students and alumni have registered, along with the participation of 500 employers. Three networking events have been held. President Glenn will be speaking at the Amesbury Chamber of Commerce to make known this valuable resource. Ashley Moore, the Director of Career Services, has led this effort with sponsorship by the Boston Foundation in order that this program could be made available to all the community colleges in the state.
c) Haverhill Campus (Verbal)
At a recent President’s General Staff meeting, a few important initiatives were updated.
The good news is that an NECC alumnae, Helen Ubinas, was named as one of the top three community college graduates in the country to receive the American Association of Community College’s outstanding Alumni Award.
Out of 1100 community colleges in the country, and six million students, many million alumni, Helen was selected as one of three outstanding alumni. The college is very proud of this achievement. Many thanks to Ernie Greenslade for her help with that selection process.
Our fall enrollment is ahead of our projection. It is down 7%, an improvement from
-10% that had been projected in our head count. However, our challenge is that our students are taking fewer credits. We are still striving to do better in that area.
There has been savings in expenses due to remote teaching with the reduction of operations and utilities, cleaning, and travel expenses. The support from the CARES act, along with a slight increase of state support, and the SUCCESS Fund have been a great benefit. We expect to benefit from the $7M SUCCESS Fund, given to 15 community college, specifically for student support services, modeled on our PACE program at Northern Essex. We will likely receive funding in the range of $460K with which we can add student support services staff to help with services that will lead to greater student success and support the Equity Imperative. President Glenn is chairing this state-funded SUCCESS fund of $ 7 M in total and hopefully the 15 community colleges can build the $7M to $14 if evidence of our students’ achievement can be demonstrated.
The next few years will be challenging with increases in expenses, in bad debt, and with federal dollars being one-time sources of support. The Governor’s budget is about $20 M lower for campuses across the Commonwealth. Thanks to savings, we are expecting a $2m operating net for this year and our goal is to preserve what we can to eliminate the need for staff reductions next year. Our long-term goal is to bring our reserves up to 4 months to $20M. We are currently at $11M, hoping to build that up to $13M at the end of this year and add to it in future years.
We have made a modest improvement in diversity over the last three years. We are making a concerted effort to diversify our faculty and staff. In the last two years, the college has hired 62 benefitted employees, half are of color and half are white. Our HR staff is 50/50 bilingual. We still have to make more progress but we are working on it diligently.
d) Lawrence Campus (Verbal)
The dental lab was renovated with the funding of $400K from a Massachusetts Skills Capital grant.
Scott Lancaster has involved his students in the COVID vaccine program. The college, together with Regis College, will collaborate in this effort.
e) Improvements to Both Campuses
Mike McCarthy reported on the following improvement projects, the majority of which were funded by the CARES funding grant.
· The ADA entrance to the Behrakis Student Center is to be completed in the spring.
· As of January, the YMCA of the North Shore’s Haverhill location will provide child care on the Haverhill campus, providing learning and practicum opportunities for students in the Early childhood Education program.
· The fire alarm system on the Haverhill campus is being upgraded.
· DCAMM has granted us $1.5 M for a new pump house with all new underground electrical work, generators, and battery backups for the Student Center.
· A $1M paving project is ongoing in Haverhill with new curbing and paving.
· We also have come to an agreement with the Lawrence Partnership to revamp the RTK concept in Lawrence, adding space in the basement of 420 Common for food prep and more options for successful business partners.
· Access control to at least one door of every building has been added in Lawrence, with Haverhill being planned next.
· Parking lot phones in Lawrence and Haverhill have been upgraded, as well as adding emergency lighting and cameras.
· The heating and cooling units inside the Dimitri building are being replaced, along with soundproofing of larger areas to accommodate classroom space, if needed.
· At 78 Amesbury Street, the tanks in the basement have been replaced, along with upgrading of the HVAC units in that building.
· For COVID-related improvements, we have provided duct cleaning on campus, putting HEPA air filters to help with the airflow, and Merv filters have been placed in the HPAC systems throughout the buildings to purify the air. N-95 masks have been ordered along with home close contact testing kits.
President Glenn noted that 11 facility personnel are responsible for 800,000 sq. ft. of indoor space on 120 acres, across two campuses. The Lawrence campus was built forty years ago, with grants, fundraising, and partnerships. The State’s base budget provides for one campus for each community college; however, we are maintaining two. DCAMM provides assistance with funding and technical expertise, but most of the work is done by Mike McCarthy’s staff. Many thanks to Mike and his team for completion of this impressive list.
New Business
There was none.
Grants
President Glenn noted that the grant listed below (ADM-3669-030321) for consideration and approval totals $23,000.
1) Massachusetts Department of Higher Education: Massachusetts Inclusive Concurrent Enrollment Initiative (MAICEI) for Students with Disabilities Quality Enhancement Project (QEP)
On a Motion presented by Trustee Linehan, and seconded by Trustee Cox, it was voted unanimously by roll call vote to approve the grant, agenda item 9a, number 1 as presented.
On a motion presented by Trustee Linehan, and seconded by Trustee Cox, it was voted unanimously by roll call vote to approve the grant, agenda item 9a, number 1 as presented.
Other Business
There was none.
Adjournment
6:12PM
