Information was shared November 18th on North Central Missouri College’s projects involving facilities. Information on the Savannah Campus and a future student center was provided during the NCMC Board of Trustees meeting.
President Doctor Lenny Klaver reported 98% of the planning is complete on the Savannah project. He met with Architect Jeremy Proctor November 17th.
Klaver said NCMC is waiting on environmental scan results. Vice President of Academic Affairs Doctor Tristan Londre reported the college found out the lab that was to deal with the environmental scan lost NCMC’s samples. Klaver noted that sets bids back by about one month.
Student focus groups have met with Vice President of Student Affairs Doctor Kristen Alley about a future student center. Alley reported things students would like to see in a student center include a place to watch movies and sporting events, multifunctional rooms, a gaming area, charging stations, a convenience store, and a radio or broadcast area to possibly start a radio station at NCMC. Other ideas included an eSports room for the eSports team and other students and a row of computers with design programs for 3D printing.
Alley said she has a meeting with a representative of Great Western Dining to see what the dining service might want.
She added that the possibilities would be for current and future students.
Klaver reported he had a good meeting with the President’s Community Council, a group of young professionals he meets with twice a year. He said discussion focused on NCMC moving forward with initiatives and how that affects the community and business relationships.
There was also a recent meeting with the North Central Missouri Development Alliance, Grundy County Industrial Corporation, Trenton City Council, and Grundy County Commission at the Barton Farm Campus. Klaver said there was discussion at the meeting on the community housing situation and looking into affordable housing. He noted the college is aware of the situation.
At the Missouri Community College Association Annual Conference, there were several award ceremonies. Klaver reported State Senator Dan Hegeman and State Representative Rusty Black won legislative awards. Financial Aid Director Kimberly Meeker received the Administrative Professional of the Year award. Practical Nursing to Associate’s in Nursing Program Director Kelly Claycomb received the Governor’s Award for Teaching Excellence. Jeanie Griffin received the Senior Service Award. Klaver said the NCMC team of Trustee Don Dalrymple and Chief Information Officer Jennifer Triplett won the Annual Carpet Bowling Tournament.
Klaver said NCMC had a presentation on diversity and inclusion at the MCCA conference, and it was well received.
At a special meeting, the Coordinating Board for Higher Education approved all MoExcels III projects to move forward to the governor’s office. Klaver commented NCMC has one stand alone MoExcels III project and one joint project with Missouri Western State University of Saint Joseph.
Vice President of Academic Affairs Doctor Tristan Londre reported NCMC has launched its new program review process. The Accounts Payable and Tutoring Center administrative departments completed reviews in the last couple of weeks.
He said NCMC is now a certified nursing assistant testing site. Nursing Instructor Vel Westbrook went through the process to get the college approved. Londre expects the certification to bring potential nursing and health students to campus.
Five NCMC students attended the Professional Agricultural Student Conference at the Ozark Technical Community College of Springfield. Every NCMC student who attended qualified to compete in at least one national contest, and some students qualified to compete in multiple areas.
For Career Planning, Rylee Johnson was the state winner in Agribusiness Management and Marketing, Gabryelle Hapes was the winner in Retail Agribusiness, and Tanner Tipton received third in Agriculture Education. For Career Progress, Abigail Neill was the winner in Ruminant Animal Systems, and Abby Dobbins was the winner in Agriculture Education. For Employment Interview, Hapes was the winner in Agribusiness Sales, Johnson got second in Agribusiness Administration, and Tipton received second in Agriculture Education. For Career Specialists, Johnson received fourth and Tipton placed fifth in Dairy Specialists and Tipton received fourth place in Vet Tech Specialists.
Vice President of Student Affairs Doctor Kristen Alley reported she considered the NCMC Veterans Day program a success.
A recent blood drive on the campus in Trenton had a goal of 20 students giving blood. She said the college beat the goal and had almost double that.
A tree lighting ceremony will be on the campus in Trenton December 1st.
Chief Information Officer Jennifer Triplett reported Information Technology Services has been troubleshooting and improving NCMC’s existing multifactor authentication on student accounts. She noted the department is also evaluating more robust enterprise-level solutions.
IT Services and Academic Affairs have been evaluating classroom technology to better facilitate for NCMC and improve the college’s ability to provide remote learning.
Triplett said support demand has been high due to multiple problems. That included increased help desk activity for MFA and account problems, remediation of system vulnerabilities, and recurring printer disruptions related to Microsoft security patches.
She commented IT Services is working to cover the increased workload with a reduced number of employees. Two positions are open, and recruiting efforts are underway. Some applications are being reviewed.
Green Hills Head Start Director Janet Gott reported there are two prekindergarten spots and one Early Head Start spot open. She said there are plans to fill them.
Green Hills Head Start is still advertising for some employee positions at its centers.
The North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees approved multiple personnel items November 18th.
One was the resignation of Technical Support Engineer Rickiann Hoskins effective November 19th.
A transfer was approved for Sarah Bonnett of Trenton from Custodian to Lead Custodian starting November 4th with placement on the classified salary scale group 3B-18. A transfer was also approved for Chris Mengel of Trenton from Student Services Coordinator to Admissions Recruiter beginning December 13th with placement on the administrative professional salary schedule group 5.
Lorinda Ross of Troy, Kansas was hired as Radiologic Technology Instructor and Clinical Coordinator for the Savannah Campus starting January 11th on an 11-month contract with salary placement on the allied health faculty scale B-10. Jeremy Wilson of Savannah was hired as Surgical Technology Instructor and Program Director for the Savannah Campus beginning January 3rd on an 11-month contract with salary placement on the allied health faculty scale B-4. Liza Duncan of Carrollton was hired as Marketing and Interlibrary Loan Librarian starting November 29th on the classified staff salary schedule at 3B-5. Cindy Wells of Guilford was hired as Talent Search Director starting November 29th on the AMP salary scale group 3.
Two Green Hills Head Start employments were approved. They were for Margaret Groves as a teacher aide at Bethany beginning October 29th and Kourtney Nelson as a part-time teacher aide at Chillicothe A starting November 18th.
The board approved a request from Information Technology Services to update a job description. Technical Support Engineer will now be PC Tech II. Chief Information Officer Jennifer Triplett said the change would provide for better coverage of frontline support needs and better prospect of backfill for IT’s open positions.
The board approved payment of an invoice from Ellison-Auxier Architects, Incorporated of Saint Joseph for $119,528. Vice President of Business and Finance Tyson Otto reported the cost was based on the architects’ overall seven percent fee on an estimated $6,670,200 project budget for the Savannah Campus construction and about 25% completion of their services. It also included a “pass-through” amount of $2,800 for surveying work completed by Midland Surveying.
The board set the dates for filing for the General Municipal Election April 5th. The candidate filing period for the NCMC Board of Trustees is December 7th through 28th, which Chief of Staff and Board Clerk Kristi Harris noted is shorter than usual. Filings will take place in the Frey Administrative Center on the NCMC campus in Trenton during the college’s regular business hours of 8 o’clock to 4:30 Monday through Friday. The offices will be closed for the holiday break December 23rd through January 1st.
The election will be to fill two terms of six years on the board. Positions currently held by Diane Lowrey and Chris Hoffman will expire.
The board went into an executive session for personnel matters.