The North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees approved information technology purchases at its meeting Tuesday night.
One of the IT purchases was cybersecurity protection through Network Technology Partners of Saint Louis for $54,000 annually and a one-time setup fee of $12,500. It was the lowest of two bids for the services.
The services included in the bid included external and internal vulnerability assessments and virtual chief information security officer monthly; penetration testing, data breach risk, and active directory assessments, security solution review, evaluate IT security policies, and firewall rule review semi-annually; and managed detection and response continually (24/7).
The other IT purchase approved was the renewal of Veeam backup software from Zones of Auburn, Washington for $13,182.14 which was the only bid for the purchase. The software is used to back up data stored locally. The purchases will be funded through the IT Services budget.
The board approved the Green Hills Head Start fiscal year 2019 budget and a continuation grant application.
Head Start Director Doctor Beverly Hooker reported the grant application reflects federal funds totaling $2,213,315 and non-federal resources totaling $553,329. The application and budget period goes from February 1st, 2019 to January 31st, 2020.
The application includes requests to convert Head Start Prekindergarten center-based slots to Early Head Start center-based slots, reduce total funded enrollment slots, and sell five NCMC/Head Start-owned vehicles.
Hooker noted the proposed timelines for conversion and enrollment reduction are August 2019 to eliminate disruption of the current school year. She said the cost per child next year for Early Head Start would be $13,000, and the year after that would be $14,000 per child.
The board approved several employments.
Kelsey Cordray was approved as the Green Hills Head Start Brookfield B teacher assistant. Jeffrey Jackson of Trenton was approved as a full-time custodian on the classified staff salary schedule at $10.32 per hour. He began his position October 15th. Margaret “Maggie” Bowman of Trenton was hired as a full-time campus store associate—business operations at $11.24 an hour. She will begin the position on Thursday, November 1st. Nevada Fields of Laredo and Michelle Pegelow (Peg-eh-lo) of Chillicothe were approved as part-time clinical adjunct instructors with a daily salary of $250. Chief of Staff Kristi Harris said all full-time positions at NCMC were now filled.
The board approved an updated job description for the marketing director position. The academic calendar for 2019-2021 was approved as well as a date change for the December board meeting. The regular board meeting date fell on Christmas, so the board voted to move the meeting to the evening of December 20th at 5:30.
Student Senate President Jamee Scearce of Stewartsville and several other Student Senate officers gave a report. They talked about the Student Senate Retreat, leadership opportunities, and student activities. Scearce said the Student Senate approves new clubs, and two clubs awaiting approval are a pep band and the Nerd Guild.
Student Senate officer Pharon Pilgrim of Willemstad, Curacao answered a question about where international students stay during college breaks. He said international students go to the homes of other students during that time while the residence halls are closed.
Vice President of Academic Affairs Tristan Londre reported the college is submitting an expansion request for its online Associate Degree in Nursing. President Doctor Lenny Klaver reported eight NCMC employees are working on a MO Excels Grant Proposal for agriculture and industry technology called “Leading Edge: Hands-on, brains-on, convergent technology training for the Northern Missouri agriculture and industry sectors.
The proposal makes requests for faculty, program development, and equipment, including simulators for crop and livestock production as well as simulators and equipment for industry training. He said it would be a matching grant for $350,000 and “would take ag to a new level”.
Klaver reported on several meetings he attended recently. He said a new memorandum of understanding is in progress with Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences of Kansas City to benefit the transition of registered nurse to bachelor’s in nursing and other Allied Health programs.
An informational technology assessment was done by John Dunning during a three-day campus visit where Klaver noted 28 separate interviews were held with individuals and groups.
An executive summary is to be presented to the board in the future.
Klaver heard Governor Mike Parson’s address at the Missouri Chamber of Commerce State Economic Development Conference in Saint Louis. He said Parson specifically talked about state infrastructure and workforce development. It surprised Klaver to hear that seven school districts in Missouri do not yet have internet capabilities.
Klaver attended a Ruffalo Noel Levitz Presidents Roundtable in Washington, D. C. He explained that the national consultants are well-known, and only 32 presidents were allowed to attend. The main takeaway from the roundtable was that NCMC is comparatively doing well with enrollment growth and management, teamwork, and finances.
Klaver reported that at a Shared Governance Council meeting, the Student Senate suggested a tutorial on how to print documents on campus be added to NCMC’s website. A tutorial has since been uploaded to the site.
Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Doctor Kristen Alley reported National Government instructor Sterling Recker received a grant and will be able to drive students to polling places November 6th. She said NCMC provided information to students about how to vote absentee.
Alley announced that student Mariah Fox has been selected as a Journey to College representative. Registration for next semester begins Friday for returning students and November 16th for new students. Alley invited the NCMC family to wear blue at Friday’s basketball game for colon cancer awareness.
The board moved into a closed session.
