Northern Essex Community College Board of Trustees
Minutes of Meeting (OFFICIAL) – December 7, 2022
A meeting of the Northern Essex Community College Board of Trustees was held in room TC103A&B in the Hartleb Technology Center at the Haverhill Campus on December 7, 2022 at 5:00 PM. A Zoom Teleconference option was also available.
PRESENT:
Ms. Borislow
Ms. Quiles (Joined at 5:36PM Via Zoom)
Mr. Gomez
Ms. Sanchez
Ms. Fernandez (Via Zoom)
Mr. Silverio
Ms. O’Rorke (Via Zoom)
Ms. Worden (Via Zoom)
Ms. Paley Nadel
UNABLE TO ATTEND: Mr. Hamm, Ms. Pachano
ALSO, PRESENT: President Glenn
CALL TO ORDER: Chairwoman Borislow called the meeting to order at 5:05 PM with a roll call of attendance and a quorum present.
Chairwoman Borislow welcomed NECC’s newest Trustee, Mr. Evan Silverio, President of Silverio Insurance Agency. Mr. Silverio provided a brief introduction of himself and noted that he is looking forward to serving as a trustee and giving back to the community with his time. The board welcomed Mr. Silverio.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Chairwoman Borislow asked for a motion to approve the November 2, 2022 meeting minutes.
On a Motion presented by Trustee Paley Nadel and seconded by Trustee Gomez, by roll call vote, the Board approved the November 2, 2022 minutes as presented with the seven (7) Trustees present approving and one (1) abstention.
CORRESPONDENCE:
There was none.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
a) Introduction of Newly Hired Employees (Verbal)
President Glenn introduced several new employees to the Board. They were:
– Brianna Cataldo, Recruitment Counselor, Enrollment Services;
– James DiGiuseppe, HR Talent Management Coordinator, Human Resources;
– Thomas “TJ” Karis, Administrative Assistant, Enrollment Services;
– Winfred “Winnie” Mbogo, Administrative Assistant, Student Affairs;
– Maxanne Stocks, Academic Advisor, Liberal Arts.
The board welcomed the new employees to NECC.
EDUCATION REPORT:
a) All College Assembly Annual Report with Sheila Muller (ADM-3763-120722)
President Glenn introduced Sheila Muller, Professor of Business and Accounting and Chair of the All College Assembly to provide a report on the annual activity of the ACA. Professor Muller thanked Dr. Glenn for the introduction and noted that the ACA is the college’s internal governance system on campus and consists of five (5) committees including an executive committee, academic affairs, finance, information technology, and student affairs. She reported the following highlights from the committees:
1) The Academic Affairs committee had a lighter schedule during the Covid pandemic, but this year reviewed and vetted 34 proposals for new or revised courses, programs, and certificates.
2) The Finance committee carefully reviewed detailed budget updates from the Administration and Finance departments. Over the last year, the committee worked closely with A&F on many projects and agreements and provided assistance and focus to the administration of the CARES/HEERF funds, assisting the A&F area in purposely planning the use of these funds.
3) The Information Technology committee continued their charge of ensuring effective software/hardware on campus by assessing new technologies as the need arises. In addition, the committee worked to implement 2-factor authentication and worked with college leadership to address equity issues for our students. While the implementation of Microsoft 365 did have some issues, the implementation was well received. In addition, MOAT was replaced with KnowBe4 security awareness training, and some reported Blackboard issues related to chrome were corrected.
4) The Student Affairs committee worked closely with the Student Government Association by fielding questions on the vaccination mandate and worked tirelessly to offer student and academic affairs staff support.
5) The Executive Committee is working with President Glenn to review the results of the climate study initiated by the last NECHE visit. The results of the survey will be shared with trustees when analysis is completed. In addition, the committee provided input to the Strategic Plan draft as well as providing Charter amendments which resulted in adding a student vote and assisting in the equity aspect.
In closing, Professor Muller noted that the committees are working hard to fill committee seats due to retirements and building an adequate succession plan by recruiting, orienting, and planning for new faculty and staff to lead committees.
6) An Update on the Center for Equity and Social Justice and the ELL (English Language Learners) Task Force with Dr. Noemi Custodia-Lora and Francellis Quinones (ADM-3764-120722)
President Glenn introduced NECC’s Chief JEDI Officer, Ms. Francellis Quinones who provided an update on progress on the Center for Equity and Social Justice.
Ms. Quinones noted that the mission of Center was to end racial disparities and other socio-economic inequities through education, social justice, and empowerment of the communities served. During her first few months, she shared what she has noticed so far including the use of a variety of strategies to address equity and transdisciplinary collaboration. What’s missing, she noted is a lack of coordinated effort, and her role as the Chief JEDI will be to help coordinate all the wonderful work that is already happening across campuses while building trust and a new narrative/stories of what’s happening while fostering a community of belonging.
Ms. Quinones went on to describe the mission of the ELL Task Force which is to build community and break down silos so that English Language Learners can do better at NECC. The ELL Taskforce, she noted, is led by ESL Professional Coach/Consultant Arlen Gargagliano who meets regularly with faculty, staff, and students to discuss projects and best practices. Some of those projects include:
An Encyclopedia of Digital Tools for English Language Learners;
A Module for New Hire Orientation;
Building a Knowledge Base for Equity and Justice; and
Tips for Writing Philosophy Papers.
In addition, she noted that the group has been working with NECC’s Director of Compliance on reviewing/updating policies, procedures, and forms. Moving forward, more collaboration between the Center, Professional Development and Human Resources will be done with an emphasis on building communities and offering manager training and support through this work. Investing in people, building trust and providing a sense of belonging are three pillars to this future work she noted. She thanked the Trustees for their time.
Trustee Paley Nadel thanked Ms. Quinones for her comprehensive report and noted that the Equity Committee shares in the excitement of the work that is happening so far with the Center. She noted that the framework for programming will be forthcoming and will allow for trustee engagement in this work as we move forward.
President Glenn thanked Ms. Quinones for her report.
7) Art Gallery Opening and Expansion of Liberal Arts in Lawrence with Amy Callahan (ADM-3765-120722)
President Glenn introduced Amy Callahan, Dean of Liberal Arts who provided a report on the recent opening of the Art Gallery in Lawrence as well as the expansion of Liberal Arts programming there as well. Ms. Callahan noted that last fall, she updated trustees on the performance arts revival and the college’s liberal arts vision. Tonight, she noted, that intentional expansion of Liberal Arts offerings can be easily seen at the Lawrence campus.
The strategy to expand from Haverhill to Lawrence included more space in Lawrence for Art and Music classes and an Art Gallery. A variety of Liberal Arts course offerings were added including Honors sections for history, English and Psychology. The center piece of this expansion was the grand opening of the new art gallery which included a reception and the showcasing of student work.
In addition to the new art gallery, humanities and music have a greater presence this semester than ever before, and these offering, she noted, are essential to our equity efforts and our duty as educators to access a broad, rich educational experience for all students which includes the arts and humanities.
In closing, Dean Callahan also noted the increase in the number of liberal art sections offered in Lawrence from Fall 2021 to Fall 2022 and noted the striking increase after the return to campus.
Trustee Gomez thanked Dean Callahan for the presentation and noted that he welcomed the investment in the Lawrence campus and community. Trustee Paley Nadel asked if the gallery space would be appropriate for hosting community events? Dean Callahan noted that it was not a huge space, but the lobby could certainly be used for community events. President Glenn thanked Dean Callahan for her report.
BOARD CHAIR UPDATE:
Chairwoman Borislow provided three brief updates:
1) She extended a big thank you to Mike McCarthy, NECC’s Chief Operating officer for serving as Acting President while President Glenn was on medical leave;
2) She noted that the college’s Performing Arts department would be showing A Christmas Carol and encourage all trustees to attend one of the shows; and
3) She reminded trustees that they do not meet in January, and also noted that the months of February and March have snow dates (the 2nd Wednesday of each month) in the event of snow.
REPORT OF BOARD COMMITTEES:
a) Audit and Finance Sub-Committee:
1) Motion to Accept NECC FY2022 Audited Financial Statements (AFC-23-02): Chairwoman Borislow noted that the Audit and Finance committee met just prior to the meeting to review the college’s audited financial statement which reported that the school is in excellent financial shape. She commended CFO Michael McCarthy and his team, and recommended that the full board accept the material.
On a Motion presented by Trustee Gomez and seconded by Trustee Paley Nadel, by roll call vote, the Board accepted the NECC FY2022 Audited Financial Statements (AFC-23-02) as presented with eight (8) trustees approved and one (1) abstention.
b) Alumni Advancement Sub-Committee: Trustee Fernandez provided the board with a brief announcement. She noted that it is her honor to share that the committee is looking forward to a huge celebration for NECCs first Impact Awards Breakfast event which is scheduled for March 14th and will be honoring former NECC Board Chair, Jeff Linehan, as the first recipient of the philanthropy award. She asked Trustees to save the date, and looked forward to seeing everyone there.
c) Equity Imperative Sub-Committee:
Sub-Committee Chair Paley-Nadel noted that the Chief JEDI Francellis Quinones provided the committee report as part of her earlier education report.
d) Nominating Sub-Committee:
Sub-Committee Chair Quiles noted that NECC now has a full slate of trustees as all appointments have been made. She thanked the Nominating Committee for all their work!
REPORT OF ADMINISTRATION:
Prior to providing his report, President Glenn noted that a tentative agreement between BHE and the MCCC was finalized last night. As trustee already know, there was deep frustration on several elements of the contract that ended up with faculty going onto Work to Rule status. President Glenn thanked the trustees for their continued support and noted that NECC faculty regularly go above and beyond their duties to help our students. NECC faculty and staff were very professional throughout this entire process. They are not adequately paid, he noted, and while this contract was ratified, the union still needs to vote on the agreement in January.
a) FY23 Budget Status Report (Verbal)
President Glenn noted that at the end of Q1, the college is nearly $800K in the black which was better than anticipated given credits/enrollments but lower than anticipated expenses.
b) NECC Strategic Plan (Verbal)
VP of Institutional Advancement Allison Dolan-Wilson provided a brief report on the Strategic Plan. She reminded trustees that the plan was developed with the Appreciative Inquiry process and we are in the final phase called “destiny, which describes what happens after the plan is written. She noted that plan execution and follow up will include data and measurement, and the college community will “live” the plan at every level in order to move the needle on the goals. The five goals with an overarching equity statement will be sheparded by the work of guiding coalitions. A strategic planner-tool will help managers keep organized as they develop and implement goals and initiatives while keeping cognizant of budget and resources.
The guiding coalitions will move the planning process for each goal, all while working on the rubrics across their areas. Division and department planning will include constant assessment that will help us to map out what we are doing all while providing an opportunity for improvising and flexibility as needed.
With no questions, President Glenn thanked Ms. Dolan-Wilson for her report.
c) BHE Public Higher Ed Financing Proposals (Verbal)
President Glenn noted that he would defer this report to the February meeting.
d) Haverhill Campus (Verbal)
President Glenn noted continued progress of the plans of the NECC Health and Wellness facility. The RFP will be developed after the first of the year. This is a $40M project.
He also noted that NECC will be hosting a Legislators breakfast in January. There are many new members of the Merrimack Valley delegation, and our office is working collaboratively with Senator Finegold’s office to offer this meeting and orientation to new members.
The NECC Basketball team (12-1) is ranked to 11th in the country. Athletics continues to be a great recruitment and retention tool, and he thanked the athletics staff for their great work.
e) Lawrence Campus (Verbal)
President Glenn noted that NECC was one of 10 colleges across the country to be selected for the recent Achieving the Dream Accelerating Diversified Nursing Pathways grant. The funding will allow NECC to staff up our nursing program, especially with more bilingual nurses.
In closing President Glenn noted that each trustee had a copy of the most recent Parnassus journal in front of them to take home. This journal has been written and offered for decades and this recent copy includes a poem from our Student Trustee Sarah Pachano.
NEW BUSINESS:
Chairwoman Borislow noted that the board had three (3) grants presented for approval and asked for a motion to approve all three grants collectively. They were:
a) Grants
1. Achieving the Dream/The Brave Heart Fund: The Accelerating and Diversifying Nursing Pathways at Community College Initiative
ADM-3766-120722
2. Massachusetts Department of Higher Education: Early College Allocation Funding
ADM-3767-120722
3. Massachusetts Department of Higher Education: Student Behavioral and Mental Health Allocation Grant
ADM-3768-120722
On a Motion presented by Trustee O’Rorke and seconded by Trustee Gomez, by roll call vote, the Board accepted the three grants (ADM-3766-120722, ADM-3767-120722, and ADM-3768-120722) totally $1,107,791 as presented with eight (8) trustees approved and one (1) abstention.
OTHER BUSINESS: There was none.
ADJOURNMENT: With no other business, Chairwoman Borislow adjourned the meeting at 6:02 PM, and wished all of the faculty/staff, leadership team, and fellow trustees a very happy and healthy holiday season.
