The Central Virginia Community College Educational Foundation Board of Directors met at 8:00 AM on Tuesday, February 14, 2017.

 

 

The meeting was called to order by Fred Armstrong, president of the Foundation. Mr. Armstrong introduced the new members to the board:

 

·       Anthony Andrews – Master Firefighter for the City of Lynchburg and business owner

·       Jim Mercadante – General Manager for Cintas Corporation

·       Robert O’Brian – Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Lynchburg Ready Mix

·       Kim Payne – Former Lynchburg City Manager and an Adjunct Professor at Virginia Tech

·       Cathy Woody – Manager of Installed Based Planning at AREVA

 

On a motion from John Watts and seconded by Greg Graham, the minutes of the November 9, 2016, were approved by the Board.

 

Dr. Capps stated that he is very concerned about the state budget revenue shortfall and how that will affect CVCC. The governor has proposed a 7.5% cut for higher education, while the House and Senate have varying proposals that each deal with salary increases and higher education reductions in different amounts. We will see what the ultimate decision is and make budget adjustments for next year’s college budget as necessary.

 

Also creating budget concerns, enrollment for the spring semester has decreased; however, CVCC’s enrollment is down 3.37% while the VCCS’s is down 5.5%.  Other area community colleges have decreases ranging between 12-14%.  To improve productivity, the college has a continuing process of reviewing existing programs of study, with those not meeting standards receiving fewer resources which allows the college to add new programs of study in emerging areas of employment growth such as manufacturing technology, cyber security and medical technician.   

 

Dr. Capps introduced a new plan that will blend financial aid, student support and admissions into one seamless pallet of possibilities of both credit and non-credit programs and classes to all students.  There will be no emphasis on credit or non-credit but on credentials.  CVCC will be the first college to integrate this convenience for students.  Dr. Capps presented the board with a handout that shows the Certifications and Licensures by college for FY16, and shows CVCC in first place for the year a total of 1,223 certifications and licenses. These include both credit and non-credit class activity. Likewise, the FY17 year-to-date report shows CVCC has a total of 590 certifications and licenses for the first six months which is also a first place showing.

 

Ms. Snead asked if enrollment was related to employment.  Dr. Capps informed the board that when the employment rate is up enrollment with be down and vice versa.  He stated that tuition has doubled at four-year universities so a two-year community college is the most cost effective.  The college is promoting rapid training programs to try to bolster enrollment.  Two-year degrees and certificates may not suit everyone so a variety has been offered.  The college is developing a new website and newsletter to be more competitive. Mr. Bradford informed the board that the new website will launch on March 15, 2017.

 

 TREASURER’S REPORT

Lewis Bryant introduced Kingsley Chukwu, the new Foundation and Grant Accountant, to the board.

 

Mr. Bryant presented the board with the second quarter foundation financial statements.  He stated that dividends were $31,888 and investment fees were $8,721.  Total revenues were $451,462, while total expenses were $492,058.  Of that amount, program services, which includes scholarships awarded to students, equipment purchased for the college and various grants totaled $348,962. Fund Balance at the end of the second quarter was $3,214,931.  Ryan McEntire requested that a new investment chart be created with the change of investment advisor to Wells Fargo.

 

A motion to approve the quarterly report was made by Georgeann Snead, seconded by Ryan McEntire, was approved by the board.

 

In Amy Gallagher’s absence, Mr. Bradford presented items that came before the Finance Committee at their meeting on January 27, 2017. 

 

Mr. Bradford reported that the second quarter FY17 budget showed $139,496 in contributions, which is 39% of budget.  Grants showed $253,877, which is 46% of budget.  He informed the board that normally the revenues in the first half of the year are lower than the second, so in spite of the YTD being less than 50% he feels confident that the annual revenue budget will be reached by year-end.

 

In looking at expenses, scholarship awards are on track to break $700,000.  He did note that next year the money from the Virginia Tobacco Commission money will be reduced from $450,000 to $350,000.  He stated that program services were on point for the second quarter as several large expenses were paid to the college, such as Great Expectations and Marketing Staff support staff.  In addition, the accounting fees were paid to the auditors.  Overhead expenses are tracking at or below budget.

 

Next, Mr. Bradford reported on the investment portfolio. He noted that at December 31^st part of the investment assets were still at SunTrust, while others had already been moved to Wells Fargo. The remainder of the transfers were completed during January, and Wells Fargo is the process of finalizing the new investments.

 

John Watts presented items that the Resource Development Committee discussed at their meeting on January 24, 2017 and asked Mr. Bradford to present information from the meeting.

 

Mr. Bradford reported on the FY17 YTD Fundraising Report.  There are several large grants and gifts that are not received until the second half of the year, such as Centra Foundation, Easley, and AREVA.  These all should be received before year’s end.  The foundation will be sending out corporate letters in February and he will contact the board members regarding adding notes and/or email follow-ups.  Also, if there is someone not on the list, give the name to him. 

 

Mr. Bradford stated that the VCCS hosts a Philanthropist of the Year luncheon and this year BWX Technologies will be CVCC’s honoree.

 

Next, Mr. Bradford reported on the Donor Event coming up on April 6, 2017 at Poplar Forest. At the request of the Resource Development committee, prospective donors will also be invited. He will contact the directors by email to get their prospective donor recommendations, and will notify them when the invitations have been mailed so that they can follow-up to inform the invitee why they are receiving the invitation and to encourage attendance.

 

Mr. Bradford informed the board of the Donor list included in the packet that shows contributors for 2015-2016 so they can see who is not listed that might make a good new donor for the foundation.

 

Greg Graham presented items that the Scholarship Committee discussed at their meeting on January 24, 2017.

 

Mr. Graham reported that scholarships awarded totaled $798,318.  He stated that this is more than budgeted, but that history has shown that students tend not to use all of their award, so that over-awarding is needed to make full use of available funds.  The committee will meet again in May/June to start reviewing scholarship for 2017-2018.

 

The committee discussed and approved three requests under the Faculty & Staff Grant Program

 

·       Elizabeth Narehood, Workforce Services – AREVA Summer Apprentice Program - $2,000. Nine high school students intern with AREVA over a five-week period from June-August, working to gain a better understanding of nuclear energy and working in a nuclear power plant.  This program occurs every other year and the foundation contributed $2,000 in 2016.  This amount covers a portion of the overall budget.

·       Patti Saffioti, Dean of Student Success – Appreciative Advising Seminar for Area Guidance Counselors - $1,100. Provides a professional development opportunity to area middle and high school guidance counselors focused on a new program being instituted at CVCC.  This amount will pay for the lunches.

·       Jewel Newman, Welding Program – Testing Fees for Welding Certification - $2,000.  This will partially fund the department’s need to help welding students with testing fees for an industry recognized credential, which is a new initiative for the welding program which came up too late to be included in CVCC’s budget.

 

Ryan McEntire presented items that the Governance Committee discussed at their meeting on January 26, 2017.

 

The committee welcomed the new board members.  This makes 25 diverse and qualified members on the board. 

 

Mr. McEntire stated that with creating this new relationship with Wells Fargo, we are able to use their expertise in creating and reviewing policies and best practices for the board.

 

 

Mr. Bradford asked the board members to review the Fast Facts sheet from the AACC included in their packet as it has an excellent overview of the demographics of the student bodies at community colleges nationwide. 

 

Mr. Bradford also included two articles in the packet and briefly reviewed these. The first was from Wells Fargo and BoardSource and contained survey information from non-profit board members on their experience and satisfaction with their board service. The second was an editorial from the Roanoke Times on Governor McAuliffe’s initiative to increase Virginia’s higher education achievement. Currently only 51% of Virginia’s high school graduates go on to further study in college to develop skills needed by employers. While that may seem low, he noted that the figure for Region 2000 is 52%. So there is much work to be done to improve that progression from high school to college.

 

He reminded the board members that the Donor Recognition Reception was April 6, 2017 and the next board meeting was May 10, 2017.

 

There was no new business to report.

 

There was no new business to report.

 

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:14 AM.  The next meeting is scheduled for May 10, 2017.