The Central Virginia Community College Educational Foundation Board of Directors met at 8:00 AM on Tuesday, August 19, 2014.

 

The meeting was called to order by President Winfred Nash.

 

On a motion from Clyde Clark and seconded by Lorenza Davis, the minutes of the May 14, 2014 meeting were unanimously approved by the Board.

 

Larry Jackson introduced Mickey Paige, the Great Expectations coordinator for CVCC.  Mr. Paige stated his program is focused on coaching and counseling former foster children to get them to complete high school, establish independence and enroll in community college. He stated that he is working with over 60 kids with 25 of them students at CVCC.  Mr. Paige informed the board that when foster children age out of foster care, 58% will have graduated high school, 2% will attend college, 35% will be homeless and 40% will be incarcerated.

 

Mr. Jackson presented items that the Resource Development Committee discussed at their meeting on July 24, 2014.

 

Mr. Jackson asked Mr. Bradford to review the FY14 year-end Fundraising Report.  Mr. Bradford referred the members to the preliminary June 30, 2013 column and noted that the total contributions were $325,126 which represented a 49% increase from the prior year, and which exceeded the $297,500 budget by 9%.  He further noted that the unrestricted funds raised were 9% above last year, but were slightly less than budgeted, while the restricted funds raised of $173,885 were substantially above both last year as well as support from new and renewed donors.

 

Mr. Bradford then reviewed his annual plan for fundraising for FY15 which has a goal of $353,000.  He explained that imbedded in several of the line items are expectations of new support from individuals total $75,000.  A calling campaign focused on developing new relationships with individual donors will be one of his primary efforts during the year; addressing what he sees as a weakness in the existing donor base of the foundation which is composed of local companies, existing and former board members as well as college employees.

 

Mr. Bradford explained that the FY14 grant income was only a fraction of that budgeted due primarily to the unexpectedly long cycle of raising the money, ordering the equipment, getting it, then requesting reimbursement from the Tobacco Commission and receiving it.  Another factor on the scholarship grants was the lack of success in using the tobacco scholarships, and the delay in getting billed for the spring tuition by the college.  However, for FY15 that means that a great deal of equipment will be bought and grant reimbursement obtained for the Machine Tool, STEM, and Radiology grants.  The scholarship awards are running four or more times ahead of last year, so the reimbursements for those will be substantially higher as well, leading to a budget for tobacco grant revenues of $586,000 versus a FY14 actual of $36,494.

 

John Poole presented the corporation’s FY14 Fourth Quarter Financial Statements. 

 

The cash and cash equivalent balances reported are $654,017.  This amount is broken down between $372,154 in checking and $281,859 in the money market account, both with SunTrust.  Interest year-to-date was $801.

 

The market value of the long-term investments at the end of the fourth quarter was $2,777,951.  Dividends and interest year-to-date were $84,429 and investment fees were $29,110. 

 

The total Foundation revenue from July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014 was $725,046.  This amount includes $227,997 which represents private donations made to the college during the fiscal year and $86,127 represents donations to the Annual Fund.  The total Foundation expenses from July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014 were $397,030, including $348,303 for Program Services.

 

On a motion by John Watts and seconded by Larry Jackson, the board approved the Treasurer’s Report.

 

In Mr. McEntire’s absence, Mr. Bradford presented items that had come before the Finance Committee at their meeting on July 21, 2014.

 

Mr. Bradford presented the SunTrust Quarterly Report to the committee.  He noted that the portfolio equity allocation (65.58%) meets the policy requirement (65% to 75%), especially when increased by the two equity-like alternative strategy funds.  He informed the board that Oscarlynn Elder of SunTrust said the duration of the fixed income portfolio was approximately 3.49 years compared to an approximate Barclays U.S. Aggregate during of 5.88 years.  He pointed out that the CVCC fixed income portfolio during was more than 25% off from the Barclays index. 

 

On a motion by John Watts, seconded by Larry Jackson, the board approved the exception in advance for the September 30 and December 31, 2014 quarters since keeping the bond portfolio short is the SunTrust recommended strategy in view of potentially rising interest rates.

 

Mr. Bradford presented the Fourth Quarter FY14 YTD Foundation Budget report.  Contributions of $325,126 were up 26% over FY13 and exceeded the annual budgeted amount of $297,500.  Grant income from the Tobacco Commission was significantly below budget; however, and the equipment reimbursement cycle was quite a bit longer than anticipated.  This Tobacco Commission grant income for equipment purchases will move into FY15.  The Tobacco Commission scholarships used did not meet projections, so those reimbursements were low.  Investment gains were above budget in all areas.  Total revenue of $976,926 exceeded the budgeted figure of $850,312.

 

Mr. Bradford proceeded to present the expenses.  He pointed out that he had broken out a new category of expenses called Program Services into which are grouped programs for the benefit of the college or community which are non-equipment and non-scholarship expenditures.  These include faculty and staff development, web course development, the new faculty and staff grant program, the Science Fair, the Summer Academies and graduation events.  This clarifies which expenses are true overhead the foundation spends on its own operations, which he pointed out are approximately 7%.

 

Expenses were significantly under-budget.  Scholarship expenditures were at record levels, but fell short of the aggressive budget; primarily due to lower Tobacco awards.  And equipment expenditures were far less than budgeted due to the unanticipated time period needed to raise the matching funds, order and install the equipment, pay for it and then get billed for it by the college.  Overhead expenses of $51,501 were lower than the budgeted amount of $54,434.

 

Mr. Bradford then turned to the FY15 budget.  He pointed out that contribution revenues are expected to increase, but at a slower pace, while Tobacco Commission grant income will be significantly larger at $586,000 due primarily to $310,000 of scholarship reimbursements and also due to the timing of the Radiology, Machine Tool and STEM Academy equipment grant reimbursements.

 

On the expense side, there are corresponding increases in scholarships used and in equipment purchased.  In Program Services expenses he noted a new large item for Marketing Staff of $25,000 to be given to the college for partial support of a new PR/Marketing position.  Mr. Bradford feels that filling this position at CVCC is critical to improving the college’s enrollment changes relative to the other community colleges, and in broadening local awareness of the opportunities and activities at the college.  This will also benefit the foundation by freeing him up to spend more time in fundraising activities since in the absence of a marketing person he has had to pick up those duties. 

 

Mr. Bradford next pointed out that the overhead section of the expenses was increasing, due primarily to the purchase and installation of a scholarship software system called Academic Works.  Currently he and Catherine are handling the tripling in scholarship activity with an all-manual, all-paper system that is taking a large percentage of their time.  The software system will automate this activity and significantly reduce the hours spent on scholarships.  Smaller increases are shown in investment fees, fundraising events and in training, while the budgeted G&A would still be very low as a percentage of revenues.

 

On a motion by Mitch Reaves and seconded by Mr. Jackson, the board approved the Fourth Quarter FY14 Foundation Budget Report and the Foundation Budget for FY15.

 

Mr. Bradford presented the annual Memorandum of Understanding between the CVCC Educational Foundation and the College.  He informed the committee that the Memorandum of Understanding has been two pages, while the one presented for approval is six pages.  He explained that the VCCS legal advisor had presented several of the 23 community college MOUs during the winter and found them to be insufficient in detail and lacking conformity.  In response, a working group was selected of foundation representatives from several colleges plus VCCS staff, and a template was developed.  The new MOU before the board is this template with no changes made.  Mr. Bradford and Mr. Poole indicated they had both reviewed the template and think it is acceptable.  The new MOU is a continuing document and is not for the specific year.

 

On a motion by Mr. Clark, seconded by Karen Kinnier, the board approved the Memorandum of Understanding between the CVCC Educational Foundation and the college.

 

Mr. Bradford informed the board that the FY15 foundation insurance invoice was included in their packet showing the standard coverage being purchases for the protection of the foundation, its staff and volunteers.

 

Clyde Clark presented items that had come before the Scholarship Committee at their meetings on June 12, 2014 and July 15, 2014.

 

Mr. Clark stated that the Scholarship Committee had awarded over 100 scholarships totaling over $500,000.   He informed the committee that in addition to awarding scholarships, the committee had approved a new faculty and staff grant for the QEP titled “Building Better Writers”.  This grant will be used for the marketing of the QEP so that the college is prepared for its SACSCOC visit in October.

 

In Ms. Myers’ absence, Mr. Bradford presented items that the Governance Committee discussed at their meeting on July 22, 2014.

 

Mr. Bradford reported that the committee is reviewing the bylaws best practice recommendations that came from a VCCS employed consulting firm, the Clement Group, in late 2011 and see where those differ from our current Bylaws. It was suggested that the committee go through the recommendations article by article and consider whether our current bylaws needed to be changed to accommodate the recommendations.

 

Mr. Bradford asked the board to complete the Board Member Feedback form.  The purpose would be to give board members an opportunity to provide comments on foundation operations, to express a preference on committee assignments for 2015 and to suggest names for new board members. 

 

Mr. Davis informed the board that he would be retiring at the end of the year, as his one-year term will expire.

 

No report.

 

Dr. Capps reported on the state of the college.  He presented the board with goals set for last year and goals for the upcoming year.  As far as last year’s numbers, the college met 46 out of 52 goals.  The main goal unmet was a decrease in financial aid awarded.  Due to the decrease in enrollment, the college is now reorganizing departments to become more efficient and effective.

As for this year’s goals, Dr. Capps gave the board the goals to be read at their leisure and if there are any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact him.

 

The college is in the process of completing compliance for the upcoming SACSOS certification.  In a review by an off-site committee of SACSCOC, the college was noncompliant in 11 areas.  Most colleges average around 18.

 

Dr. Capps stated that the new goal for the VCCS in 2021 is to triple credentials awarded through the VCCS.  He is confident that CVCC will have no problem meeting this new goal.

 

He closed his remarks by thanking the board for their service. 

 

 

There was no new business to report.

 

 

There was no new business to report.

 

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:47 AM.  The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 12, 2014.