NCMC Board of Trustees accepts resignations, fills open positions

NCMC - North Central Missouri College
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Multiple topics were reported on during the North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday evening.

NCMC President Doctor Lenny Klaver gave reports on behalf of Vice President for Academic Affairs Doctor Tristan Londre and Vice President for Student Affairs Doctor Kristen Alley. Londre and Alley were absent from the meeting due to other obligations for the college.

Klaver said NCMC’s library testing center added the High School Equivalency Test and Missouri General Education Assessment testing. It is also a Pearson Vue Test Center with tests open to non-students and students needing to test. Ten individuals have already taken the HiSET and MoGEA since the library added them.

Klaver reported NCMC is utilizing data to enhance student affairs efforts by pulling reports of students with financial aid problems prior to Orientation, Advising, and Registration. Red notes are placed in those students OAR folder, and they are encouraged to follow up while on campus. Letters and emails are also sent.

A report also identified students who completed or accepted applications but do not have Free Applications for Federal Student Aid. NCMC reached out to those students, and the majority have already responded. Klaver noted there is an 18% increase in summer OAR attendance from last year. There are still two OAR dates left for the fall, and NCMC is on track to have an increase for those as well.

OAR is scheduled at the North Belt Center of Country Club Thursday, July 25 with the withdrawal deadline Friday, July 26, 2019.

Opening day for residence halls will be August 17th. Student Affairs offices will be open from 9 o’clock to noon to assist students and families. The Business Office and IT will also be able to provide support and assistance. The bookstore will be open from 8 to 1 o’clock.

NCMC Counselor Grace Carder will participate in in-service and begin on-campus counseling sessions with students August 26th from 10 o’clock to noon.

Klaver reported NCMC had 22 National Junior College Athletic Association All-Americans for the 2018-2019 school year. They were from men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, and men’s golf. In order to be named an NJCAA All-American, students must have a 3.6 cumulative grade point average. The men’s golf team had the highest GPA in the nation across all three divisions with 3.71.

Fall enrollment for year to date is up by about nine percent in headcount and seven percent in credit hours. Klaver noted three Missouri community colleges are reporting slight upticks, but most are continuing with a downward trend. Three colleges are reporting more than a nine percent decrease in enrollment for the fall, and two are reporting a decline of more than six percent.

NCMC spent about $100 to post a picture on the college’s Twitter page with a caption saying it was not too late to enroll, and it “went viral.” The post had more than 22,000 hits as of Tuesday evening July 16th.

Ruffalo-Noel-Levitz completed an Assessment Visit late last month regarding recruiting and retention strategies. A letter from the RNL Senior Vice President Craig Engel commended NCMC “for bucking the odds to experience year-over-year growth since [Klaver] arrived on campus,” with increases in new student applications, enrollment, and dual credit enrollment.

Engel said NCMC needs “to consider new approaches and strategies to ensure the college’s continued success and future stability,” and 80% of the college’s population is younger than 24 years old. Klaver added that RNL noted NCMC needs to know what social media is working and why, have better content management for its website, and modify the website’s search engine to get to what visitors need or want faster. He will see if the college can afford some of what was suggested.

Green Hills Head Start Director Janet Gott reported the supplement and carryover were approved for the new building in Trenton. Klaver said he hopes construction on the building can begin soon.

The North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees approved athletic insurance and two information technology purchases. The athletic insurance is through Dissinger Reed of Overland Park, Kansas for the 2019-2020 sports year for $31,467. Secondary/accident insurance makes up $26,980 of that amount. Close to $4,500 is catastrophic/accident insurance, which includes an additional catastrophic cash benefit option.

Vice President for Business and Finance Tyson Otto said the premium is the same as last year for the same coverage. Dissinger Reed obtained quotes from five companies, and the approved option is the lowest cost option for a $500 deductible plan, which is recommended by the athletic director. Funds to pay the athletic insurance were set aside in the athletic teams’ budgets. The insurance will renew August 1st.

One of the information technology purchases was the annual renewal of Blackboard Learn Software as a Service (SaaS), the college’s online course system, for $34,032.50 from Blackboard Incorporated of Indianapolis, Indiana. The renewal will extend NCMC’s license through August 2020.

The other information technology purchase was the annual renewal of the college’s internet connection and related support from the Missouri Research and Education Network, the state service provider, for $58,957.12. The cost includes additional bandwidth for isolated use in the eSports and Digital Media programs. Senior Database Administrator Tami Campbell noted the bandwidth would be 500 megabits per second. The Blackboard and MOREnet purchases will be funded by the IT Services budget.

Campbell reported internet servers lost power Saturday night during the storms, and some of the equipment received lightning damage.

Eric Penrod resigned as Resident Hall Coordinator and Assistant Coach, effective August 9th. Brooke Allnut resigned as the Green Hills Head Start Brookfield A Teacher, effective July 31st. Tracy Simpson resigned as Head Start Health Specialist, effective September 9th.

Vanessa Moore was hired as Head Start Health Specialist and started the position Monday. Head Start Directors Sue Ewigman and Janet Gott said Moore already started, so she could be trained. Melissa Newman was hired as a Head Start Teacher at Bethany and began the position on June 20th.

Others employed by the board included Jennifer Triplett of Kansas City as the Chief Information Officer at an annual salary of $85,000. She will begin the position next Monday, July 29th. Rick Cole of Kingston and Kimberly Slaughter of Cameron were hired as adjunct instructors for courses beginning this fall. Cole will teach Digital Communication classes, and Slaughter will instruct Nursing courses. Jessica Bowman of Fillmore was employed as a part-time clinical adjunct instructor at the current clinical rate.

The board approved two and a half additional work hours per workweek for PC Technician 2 Christopher Flowers at his current hourly rate of pay to assume head coaching duties for NCMC eSports athletics, effective immediately.

The Code of Ethics/Conflict of Interest ordinance was readopted. Board Clerk Vicki Weaver reported the Missouri Ethics Commission requires NCMC to readopt and file its Code of Ethics/Conflict of Interest on a biannual basis.

The board set its annual levy hearing for the evening of August 27th at 5:25 immediately before the regular board meeting.


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