Merced Community College District Board of Trustees meeting held May 12, 2015 1. Public Session Call to Order The Board President (Dennis Jordan) called the meeting to order at 5:01 p.m. The meeting was held in the Margaret M. Randolph Board Room on the Merced College Campus in Merced. 2. Hearing of the Public An opportunity was provided for members of the public to address the Board on matters of general district business. No one addressed the Board. 3. Closed Session Items The Board President referenced the items to be presented during closed session then closed the meeting to the public. The closed session items are listed below. a. PUBLIC EMPLOYEE DISCIPLINE/DISMISSAL/RELEASE (Government Code Section 54957) b. PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION Child Development/Early Childhood Professor c. CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATORS Agency designated representative: Ronald C. Taylor Employee organization: CSEA Chapter 274 d. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL ANTICIPATED LITIGATION 1 potential case e. LIABILITY CLAIM Claimant: Everett Lovelace Agency claimed against: Merced Community College District 4. Resume Public Session The public session reconvened at 6:20 p.m. in the Margaret M. Randolph Board Room on the Merced College Campus in Merced. Members Present: Dennis Jordan, Joe Gutierrez, Gary Arzamendi, Cindy Lashbrook, Wayne Hicks, Jean Upton, Leonel Villarreal, Katie Morrill Others Present: Ronald C. Taylor, Mary Gilliland, Chris Vitelli, Patrick Mitchell (MCFA), Dee Sigismond (Academic Senate), Christine Grimaldi-Clarkson (CSEA), Chuck Hergenraeder (Management Association), Cody Camacho (ASMC), Mark Pintor, Patti Pratt, Melissa Kelly-Ortega, Karen Fritz, Ronnie Evanson, Manuel Baez, Jr., Cherie Davis, Stacey Martinez (Recording Secretary) Trustee Morrill led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Board President Jordan reported that in closed session the Board voted unanimously to deny the claim listed in item 3e. 5. Hearing of the Public An opportunity was provided for members of the public to address the Board on matters of general district business. No one addressed the Board. 6. Additions and/or Changes to the Agenda None. 7. Presentations a. Mural Design for Student Union/Cafeteria Dr. Schultz, Mark Pintor, Patti Pratt, Cody Camacho, and Melissa Kelly-Ortega gave a presentation on behalf of the Leadership Merced Class 30 on the mural being painted in the Student Union building in the Cafeteria as their class project, Paint the Town. b. March Student of the Month Professor Karen Fritz introduced Ronnie Evanson as the March student of the month. She provided background information on Ronnie. Mr. Evanson thanked Professors Yanagi and Fritz for their support. He hopes to transfer to Cal Poly after next semester. c. Student of the Year Professor Karen Fritz introduced Manuel Baez, Jr. Professor Patrick Mitchell gave some updated information on Manuel. Mr. Baez expressed his appreciation for being acknowledged as Student of the Year. d. Part Time Faculty Appreciation Month Patrick Mitchell provided a power point presentation which recognized part-time faculty appreciation month. e. Part Time Faculty of the Year Dee Sigismond presented the part-time faculty of the year who were all nominated by their fellow professors. f. ASMC Campus Life Survey Summary Results MS (Hicks/Villarreal) to table the item until the June meeting. Trustees Lashbrook, Upton, Gutierrez, and Jordan voted no.
Cherie Davis and Katie Morrill provided information on the results from the ASMC campus life survey. g. Part Time Faculty Assessment of Administration Survey Results Patrick Mitchell gave the Part-Time Faculty Assessment of Administration Survey results for the 2014-15 year. This was the first year this survey was taken by parttime faculty. h. Full Time Faculty Assessment of Administration Survey Results Dee Sigismond said she will be emailing the full results to the Board and administration. She presented a summary of the results from the full time faculty assessment of administration. 8. Constituent Reports a. From Academic Senate Dee Sigismond stated this is her last Board meeting as Academic Senate President as her elected term has come to an end. She thanked faculty for their support and trust, and especially Julie Clark, Curriculum Chair. She provided a summary of the work Academic Senate has done this past year. She thanked the administrators for their support as well. b. From Faculty Association Patrick Mitchell thanked Dee for her work as Academic Senate President. There was a faculty dinner with two trustees last week. The Chorale will be performing this Friday and Saturday. He shared success stories from faculty. c. From Classified Senate There was no one present to report. d. From CSEA Christine Grimaldi-Clarkson said there are two CSEA members who will attend a national conference soon. CSEA plans to implement dinners with trustees next year. Voting on Article 24, a job description, and a new Chief Job Steward will take place next week. CSEA week is next week with a lunch on Thursday in Aggie Park. They are looking for volunteers to serve food. e. From Police Officers Association Officer Tim Martin thanked the Board for their support in the process of developing the association and the contract. This is National Police Officer Week. He asked for everyone to observe a moment of silence on Friday to remember officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. f. From Management Association Chuck Hergenraeder shared that the next meeting is this Thursday where two new officers will be elected to replace Autumn Gardia and Stacey Martinez. Purchasing
processes and laws will be reviewed at the meeting as well. Management will continue to work through the summer to prepare for the new academic year. g. From ASMC Cody Camacho said this week is the last ASMC meeting for the year. He shared some upcoming events for the week. He announced the new officers for the 2015-16 academic year. 9. Consideration of Consent Agenda Trustee Hicks pulled item c. from the consent agenda. MSC (Hicks/Arzamendi) to approve the consent agenda items as summarized below. The student advisory vote was aye. a. Minutes for meeting held April 14, 2015 b. Minutes for workshop held April 28, 2015 d. Warrants, Payroll Registers and Trip Requests as Summarized on Schedule 15-58 e. Resolutions 15-86 through 15-88, Intrabudget Transfers f. Resolutions 15-89 through 15-91, Use of Unbudgeted Funds g. Personnel Schedule 15-59 h. Blanket Purchase Orders as Summarized on Schedule 15-60 i. Purchase Orders as Summarized on Schedule 15-61 j. Authorization to Declare Unusable Furniture and Equipment Surplus Property as Summarized on Schedule 15-62 k. Curriculum Revisions as listed on Schedule 15-63 l. Donation MSC (Hicks/Villarreal) to remove contract MC2610 from the contract list and the contract will come back at a future meeting. The student advisory vote was aye. MSC (Hicks/Upton) to remove contract MC2262B from the contract list and the contract will come back at a future meeting. The student advisory vote was to abstain. MSC (Hicks/Arzamendi) to approve the remaining contracts on Schedule 15-58. The student advisory vote was aye. 10. To the Board for Discussions and/or Action a. Granting of Tenure for Martina Marquez Dr. Taylor recommended approval of early tenure for Professor Martina Marquez at the completion of her second year. She has met the criteria for tenure at this time.
MS (Lashbrook/Gutierrez) to grant tenure to Professor Martina Marquez. The student advisory vote was aye. Trustees Arzamendi, Hicks, Jordan, Upton, and Villarreal voted no. b. Acceptance of ASMC Sustainability Challenge Cody Camacho stated the incorrect version of the challenge was submitted to the Board and offered new wording for item 4. MS (Lashbrook/Gutierrez) to accept ASMC s sustainability challenge with the new wording for item 4. MSC (Hicks/Arzamendi) to amend the motion by removing item 4. The student advisory vote was aye. Trustees Upton and Lashbrook voted no. MSC to accept ASMC s sustainability challenge with item 4 removed. The student advisory vote was aye. Trustee Upton voted no. c. Board s Summer Meeting Schedule Dr. Taylor reminded the Board of the tradition of adjusting the meeting schedule during the summer, as outlined in the back up materials. The Board stated they wish to schedule a special meeting the day prior to a regular meeting in June. MSC (Vilarreal/Hicks) for the Board to meet on June 8, 2015 for a special meeting, and meet June 9, 2015 for a regular meeting as scheduled, with no meeting in July. The student advisory vote was to abstain. Trustees Lashbrook and Upton abstained. d. Resolutions for Song-Brown Health Care Workforce Training Act Dr. Taylor said we have received Song-Brown Grants for our nursing program and these resolutions are necessary in order to receive the funds. MSC (Hicks/Arzamendi) to adopt Resolution 15-92 and Resolution 15-93 authorizing entering into agreement with the State of California, Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development to accept Song-Brown Health Care Workforce Training Act special programs grant awards. The student advisory vote was aye. e. Review of BP/AP 2015 Student Member Dr. Taylor stated it is the time of year to set the privileges of the student trustee as outlined in BP/AP2015. MSC (Hicks/Arzamendi) to grant the Student Trustee all of the privileges listed in BP/AP 2015 Student Member. The student advisory vote was aye.
f. Tilde on Los Banos Campus Name Dr. Taylor recommended the Board discuss how they would like to proceed on the decision making of the use of the tilde in the spelling of Los Banos. He also recommends one of the scheduled times be at the October meeting in Los Banos. MSC (Villarreal/Hicks) to not allow the use of the tilde in the spelling of Los Banos in any way for District use. The student advisory vote was no. Trustees Lashbrook, Gutierrez, and Upton voted no. g. District-wide Water Conservation Planning Dr. Schultz said for the past two years the District has been putting water conservation plans into place but we have been short of the goal. Professor Bryan Tassey reviewed his drought plan for watering the landscaping at Merced College. MSC (Hicks/Villarreal) to accept the water conservation plan. The student advisory vote was aye. h. TouchNet and Ellucian Contracts Dr. Schultz explained the TouchNet product and the proposed contracts. MSC (Villarreal/Arzamendi) to accept the TouchNet and Ellucian contracts. The student advisory vote was aye. 11. To the Board for Information a. Update from Vice President of Instruction Dr. Gilliland reported that there is ongoing accreditation training and we hosted the most recent training. We had a general education assessment workshop last Friday that was conducted by Dr. Robert Pacheco which is hoped to help streamline the assessment review process at Merced College. Faculty interviews and hires have been taking place in the past few weeks and finalizing those hires should be completed shortly after commencement. b. Update from Vice President of Student Services Vice President Vitelli congratulated the Student Services Master Planning Committee for their work this past academic year. He also praised the staff in the Student Services area for going above and beyond to assist students. There are two dean positions being recruited in Student Services. There is an area wide retreat being held this Friday at Lake Yosemite. He honored two students who recently lost their lives in a tragic car accident. 13. Reports a. From Board Members Trustee Gutierrez congratulated the Student of the Month and Student of the Year. He congratulated the Part Time Faculty of the Year. He thanked Dee Sigismond for
her work as Academic Senate President. He expressed his opinion regarding the vote of the Board on the use of the tilde. Trustee Upton attended the CalWORKs awards ceremony last week and truly enjoyed it. She attended the Board Foundation meeting and the Los Banos merit award ceremony and enjoyed them both. She highlighted the events coming up this week and next. Trustee Lashbrook attended the plant sale and hopes to attend most of the upcoming events. She expressed her opinion regarding the vote of the Board on the use of the tilde. She enjoyed the visit to Delhi High School today. Trustee Morrill thanked everyone for a good semester. She thanked the Board for accepting the sustainability challenge. Scholarship Sunday occurs this Sunday. Trustee Villarreal congratulated the students and faculty honored tonight. He thanked the Vice Presidents for the information provided tonight. He enjoyed the CalWORKs lunch last week and looks forward to the upcoming events. Trustee Arzamendi said it is an honor to serve on this Board. He thanked the Student Trustee and ASMC President for their hard work this year. Trustee Hicks thanked Cody Camacho for his work this last year. He thanked Officer Martin for his report. He gained good information from the recent VIPJPA meeting regarding health benefits. He acknowledged a son and father from Los Banos who were in education who were killed in a car accident. He hopes to have the college recognize when our community loses people tied to education. He thanked Dean Andersen for the invitation to the Ag dinner this week. Trustee Jordan reported that Trustees Upton and Villarreal will present the diplomas at commencement this year. He is looking forwarding to the upcoming events. He encouraged everyone to attend the Chorale events this weekend. He appreciated those who stayed for tonight s meeting. He thanked the Student Trustee for her hard work and dedication during her time on the Board. b. Superintendent s Report Dr. Taylor brought attention to events not listed on the upcoming events. He provided a copy of an email update to the District to wrap up the year. A healthcare workgroup made up of representatives from all employee groups began meeting yesterday. The PRT members will be here on Thursday to meet with various staff and faculty. The Governor s May revise to the budget is due out this week. A couple political items will be coming before the Board next month. 14. Future Discussion Items from Board Members
Trustee Jordan expressed concern regarding classes being enrolled as full and then students quitting the class after receiving their financial aid money and would like to hear possible solutions to this issue. 15. Second Closed Session A second closed session was not needed. 16. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 10:38 p.m. Approved Secretary to the Board of Trustees