North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees address lengthy agenda at Tuesday meeting

NCMC - North Central Missouri College
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Various reports were given at the North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees meeting the evening of Tuesday, August 25th. Several included information about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vice President of Student Affairs Doctor Kristen Alley reported student move-in went well, and precautions were taken. Seventeen students were tested for COVID-19, and all results were negative. Nine international students attending NCMC were quarantined for 14 days.

NCMC President Doctor Lenny Klaver reported the college had no on-campus cases reported through its first week of classes. He noted the college is working with Wright Memorial Hospital on testing measures in case there is a surge. Quarantine and isolation plans are in place. Reminders are being given about social distancing, wearing masks, and self-monitoring. An email was sent to faculty, staff, and students on the third day of classes addressing safety concerns and reminders of measures NCMC is taking regarding safety.

Klaver reported the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development Commissioner Zora Mulligan holds weekly COVID-19 updates via Zoom. There has also been a series of Zoom meetings about managing the response to the virus. Klaver said the weekly updates and series are both helpful to keep up with what is happening in the state and its relationship to education and workforce.

Enrollments are down at nearly all Missouri community colleges. Missouri Community College Association schools have taken safety measures, and many have increased online offerings. Klaver noted NCMC’s enrollment excluding high school students is down by eight point four percent in headcount and four-point seven percent in credit hours.

The college is moving forward with its next strategic plan, which establishes task forces to further work in several areas. Plan 2025 task force teams were developed during the fall in-service with board members being liaisons. Those include Don Dalrymple and NiCole Neal for Academic Excellence, John Holcomb for Student Success, Chris Hoffman for Enrollment Management, Diane Lowrey for Campus and Community, and Rob Maloney for Culture of Responsibility.

Chief of Staff Kristi Harris presented the Annual Employee Retention Report. It indicated eight employees were not retained in 2019-2020. That is the same number of non-retained employees from 2018-2019. This year involved three retirements and five resignations. For the resignations, three were administrative management professionals, one was a classified employee, and one was a faculty member. Three of the resignations were female and two were male. Two had one year of service or less, three had two to four years, and one had five to nine years of service.

Vice President of Academic Affairs Doctor Tristan Londre reported NCMC was awarded another five years for the Student Support Services grant from the federal Trio Program. Vice President of Business and Finance Tyson Otto noted the grant is for about $1 million over a five-year cycle. Londre said the college has to reapply for the grant every five years.

The Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation is to hold a virtual visit in October for the Associate’s Degree in Nursing Program’s initial accreditation. Londre said the accreditation is not required, but it is a good thing to do for the program.

Director of Development Alicia Endicott submitted a report, which said the NCMC Foundation Ausmus Faculty/Staff Mini Grant application for fall is due October 1st. The spring 2020 award recipients were Director of Library Services Beth Caldarello, Speech Faculty Tammie Wiebers, and Psychology Faculty Lindsay Oram for their Voyage of Service application to create opportunities for students enrolled in College Seminar.

The North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees set the tax levy and approved Information Technology matters the evening of Tuesday, August 25th.

The levy was set at 40 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, which is .93 cents higher than last year’s rate. The levy would generate $366,385.18 in local tax revenue at 100% collection rate.

The adjusted assessed valuation for NCMC for 2020 is $91,596,295, which is a decrease of $2,891,132 from last year. The total adjusted assessed valuation includes $65,458,502 for real estate and $26,137,793 for personal property.

Property tax revenues budgeted for 2020 total $353,500. Those funds include general at $275,000, delinquent taxes at $19,000, surtax at $6,700, financial institution tax at $800, and railroad and utilities tax at $52,000.

One IT matter approved by the board was a request to renew a service contract with Ellucian for support and maintenance of the PowerCampus as the student information system and PowerFaids as the financial aid application. The cost for continued service from September 1st to August 31st, 2021 is almost $64,000 ($63,990). The cost will be funded from the Computer Operations Budget.

Another IT matter the board approved was declaring two 94-inch SMART Board 690 devices as surplus property. The items are to be disposed of or auctioned in accordance with NCMC Board policy.

Chief Information Officer Jennifer Triplett presented information on an infrastructure refresh proposal, which involves an upgrade of the data hardware center, wired and wireless networks, firewalls, and a video surveillance system. Four bids were received from a request for proposals. Two of the bids involved the cloud with outsourcing and two involved on-premise. Triplett said the most complete bid was from CDWG for $1,340,033. The system would take about 12 months to implement.

Triplett is working on how the cost would be paid and anticipates having a plan next month when she will ask for board approval for the project. Once the cost and payment recommendation is fully finalized, a special board meeting is to be scheduled in accordance with NCMC policy.

The purchase is anticipated to be covered partially by state and federal COVID-19 funding, partially by redirected Computer Operations funds, and the remainder by NCMC capital expenditure. Vice President of Business and Finance Tyson Otto noted the college is looking to make a payment up front and then finance the rest over five years.

The board took action on several personnel matters.

The retirements of Admissions Representative Cindy Peterie and Northwest Workforce Development Board Director Lisa Hostetler were approved. Both plan to retire December 31st.

Approved hirings included Angela Heins of Chillicothe as a Trio Administrative Assistant at $13.23 per hour and Bailey Weese of Maryville as a Nursing and Health Sciences Administrative Specialist at the Maryville location at $12.79 per hour plus 25 cents per hour for a master’s degree. Heins began her position Monday, and Weese began hers August 10th.

A contract change was approved for Student Support Services Academic Advisor Stacey Russell from 30 hours per week to 37 and a half hours per week beginning September 1st. She will remain on a 10-month contract, and her pay will go from $27,000 to more than $33,600 ($33,642). Chief of Staff Kristi Harris reported the change is due to new Student Support Services federal grant specifications and requirements. It will be funded through the Student Support Services grant.

The board approved the resignation of Amber Burkhiser as a Teacher Aide in the Unionville Head Start Center. Her last day of employment was August 17th.

Head Start employments were also approved. They included Kelsey Davis as a Harrison/Mercer Home Visitor and Marsha Phillips as a Teacher Aide at the Chillicothe B Head Start Center. Davis and Phillips started their positions on August 10th.

The board approved the Green Hills Head Start Annual Program Report. The report showed there were 141 children involved in the preschool center base for the 2019-2020 school year, 59 children in the preschool home base, and 27 children for Early Head Start home base.

An executive session was held to discuss real estate and personnel. No action was taken.


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Jennifer Thies

https://www.kttn.com/

Jennifer’s interest in radio began at a young age. She started as a news reporter at KTTN in January 2017, but previously worked almost a year and a half as an on-air announcer and with news at the NPR affiliate KXCV/KRNW, which serves Northwest Missouri. Jennifer was born and raised in St. Joseph, Missouri. She received a Bachelor of Science in Mass Media: Broadcast Production with an Emphasis in Audio Production from Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville.

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