The two hundred and thirteenth meeting of the Central Virginia Community College Board was held at 4:30 p.m. on April 23, 2014, in the Appomattox Hall Conference Room, Room 1114, dinner was held at CVCC’s Culinary Arts Building.

 

 

Mr. Al Brandt

Ms. Vivian Brown      

Dr. Steve Troxel

Mr. Nathaniel Marshall

Dr. Lloyd Tannenbaum 

Bedford County

City of Lynchburg

City of Lynchburg

City of Lynchburg

City of Lynchburg

 

Mr. Richard Carter, Sr.

Vacant

Mr. Keith Maxey

Mr. Ben Witt

Ms. Lou Tweedy 

Mr. Michel Zajur

Appomattox County

Amherst County

Campbell County

Bedford County

Campbell County

State Representative

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. John Capps, President

Dr. Ruth Hendrick, VP of Workforce Solutions and Community Education

Ms. Kris Ogden, Dean of Institutional Effectiveness

Mr. John Poole, VP for Finance and Administration

Mr. Will Sandidge, VP for Academic Affairs & Student Services

Ms. Dianne Sykes, Administrative Staff Assistant

 

 

Ms. Brown, Chair, called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m.

 

 

On a motion by Dr. Troxel, duly seconded, Minutes No. 212 from the regular meeting of January 15, 2014, were approved as written.

 

The motion carried unanimously.

Ms. Brown asked for any public notice and hearing none proceeded to the introduction of Mr. Brandt as a new member.

 

 

 

Ms. Brown introduced Mr. Al Brandt as a new member and stated he was born and raised in the Anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania. He served in the US Army for six years during the Vietnam era.

Mr. Brandt was employed with AT&T for over 20 years in various management capacities in several locations along the east coast including Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York. His primary responsibilities included Sales Management, Government Liaison, Human Resources, Salary Administration, and College Recruiting. Mr. Brandt attended the University of Maryland while residing in the Washington D.C. area.

Mr. Brandt owned and managed a recreational vehicle dealership in Lynchburg for over 20 years, and then was employed by Coachmen RV as a National/International Sales and Product manager for 5 years.

Mr. Brandt has been involved in several civic and volunteer functions which include: elected township supervisor in Pennsylvania, volunteer department fire chief, civic association president in Maryland, and Maryland league soccer commissioner. He presently volunteers at Lynchburg General Hospital and CASA.

Mr. Brandt and his spouse, Margaret, currently reside in Ivy Hill, Forest, and have two sons—one is a Virginia Tech Architecture graduate residing in the Chicago area, and the other son spent seven years in the US Navy and is currently a Federal law enforcement officer.   

 

The Local Fund Budgets were reviewed. On a motion by Mr. Marshall duly seconded, (as a quorum was not present during the Facilities and Finance Committee meeting) the proposed Local Fund Budget for 2014-2015 was approved as written. A copy of the Local Funds Budgets are attached and made a part of these minutes.

 

On a motion by Mr. Marshall, duly seconded, (as a quorum was not present in the Facilities and Finance Committee meeting) the request was made to approve the Parking Plan for 2015-2016 as written.

The motion carried unanimously.

 

On a motion by Dr. Troxel, duly seconded, (as a quorum was not present in the Facilities and Finance Committee meeting) a request was made for a $.50 increase to student fees. (The increase would provide funding for additional student activities such as the athletic team, intramurals sports, etc.)

The motion carried unanimously.

 

The Local Funds Quarterly Financial Statements were reviewed. On a motion by Dr. Tannenbaum, duly seconded, (as a quorum was not present in the Facilities and Finance Committee meeting) the Local Funds Quarterly Financial Statements were approved as written. A copy of the Local Funds Quarterly Financial Statements are attached and made a part of these minutes.

The motion carried unanimously.

 

Mr. Poole stated the VCCS Internal Audit Department reviewed the College’s Contract Management and Administration Department (Purchasing Department) and the following eight findings were discovered:

1.     Improve policies and procedures for procurement, contract management, and administration

2.     Select proper procurement method (i.e. invitation for bid or a request for proposal)

3.     Ensure contracts have appropriate terms and conditions

4.     Properly monitor contracts

5.     Maintain complete procurement files for all continuous and term contracts

6.     Develop a master contract list

7.     Improve segregation of duties

8.     Monitor system access to ensure it is appropriate for job duties

Dr. Capps stated the College is obligated to report audit findings to the Board and reported these findings are serious. He stated the College discovered some problems with internal controls and requested the VCCS conduct an internal audit. He stated the auditors have visited CVCC twice, once when the initial issues were discovered, and the second to check on the progress of resolving those issues. He stated three of those outstanding issues had not been resolved, and as a result, Dr. Capps stated he must now go before the State Board Audit Committee in May to explain why the College did not achieve full-compliance of those eight issues during the time-frame that the College had agreed upon.

Dr. Capps explained the VCCS had been considering shared services between colleges (such as accounting, purchasing, Human Resources, and student services) and had recently completed a bench marking process on certain functional areas. He stated during this bench marking process, enormous personnel costs for those areas were encountered. Dr. Capps stated some of these services will be automated and others will be bundled together in regional hubs. He stated it looks as if CVCC will be a “trailblazer” not by choice but as a result of this audit. Mr. Marshall stated several years ago, the VCCS assembled a group to determine new ways of saving the colleges money, and this was one of the ideas. Dr. Capps stated it is not cost effective to have payroll or a procurement department at each of the 23 colleges.

Dr. Troxel questioned how many of the eight findings had CVCC discovered prior to the audit. Mr. Poole stated all but monitoring the system’s (computer program/software) access to ensure it is appropriate for job duties.

Dr. Troxel stated he is concerned about remote purchasing. Mr. Poole agreed but stated procedures must be determined before passing judgment.

Mr. Poole stated it looks like CVCC will be aligning its purchasing department with VWCC as they are the college closest to CVCC and also have delegated authority to make decisions independently. He stated according to Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services, Donna Van Cleve, an analysis of combined services showed a cost savings for CVCC.

Dr. Capps stated that Paul D. Camp Community College found itself in a similar situation, and its entire finance and administrative department has been absorbed by another community college.

Mr. Poole stated he has a meeting scheduled tomorrow to alert the purchasing employees of the situation.

Mr. Brandt questioned if there were more operations that could face a similar fate, and Mr. Poole stated he believed so.

 

 

 

A copy of the State Spending Plan for 2013-2014 was provided for information. A copy of this document is attached and made a part of these minutes.

 

 

Mr. Sandidge reported the College is working to increase enrollment, and one area that can be expanded is having more high school dual enrollment offerings. He stated significant progress is being made in this area.

Mr. Sandidge reported last semester Campbell County had sent a large number of its seniors here to take career technical courses such as HVAC, welding, machine tool, and EMT. He stated 84 students will be attending in the fall with 55 students taking the new offering of pre-nursing. Mr. Sandidge stated the College is in hopes of expanding this program to the other counties but for now, Campbell County is paying for these courses which explains their enrollment.

Mr. Sandidge reported there are currently 39 students (two cohorts) enrolled for the fall in Early College at the Bedford Center. He stated one cohort will be taking calculus as many have had pre-calculus while at their high schools. He stated each of the Early College students will graduate with an Associate of Arts and Sciences Degree in General Studies.

Mr. Sandidge reported a second cohort of Early College students from Lynchburg City Schools will begin in fall and also a second cohort of STEM students. He reported fall enrollment began April 11.

Mr. Sandidge discussed a grant-funded On Ramp Program that is being offered which is designed to help dislocated workers take non-credit classes for certifications or credit classes to update their skills or acquire new ones.

Mr. Poole discussed and distributed a final copy of the College’s Master Plan for review which had been previously approved by the Local Board. He stated this plan will now proceed to the VCCS State Board for their approval.

 

Dr. Hendrick distributed the Workforce Solutions’ summer schedule and stated the classes will begin May 1 for the community education open enrollment programs.

Dr. Hendrick reported CVCC's Fast Track Training (FTT) program provides intensive, short-term (1-15 week) training opportunities in a variety of technical fields such as welding, phlebotomy, EKG, and a future class for soldering, to provide students with a means of securing a well-paying job quickly. She stated hopefully these students will return to CVCC and work towards a degree with credit classes.

Dr. Hendrick reported each student must take the Virginia Placement Test in order to enroll in a math or English course in a community college. She stated some students cannot score high enough to be eligible to even take developmental math or English courses. She stated these students can now participate in a free class to help them improve their skills enabling them to test into developmental level classes.

Dr. Hendrick discussed the Career Readiness Certificates (CRC) which is an assessment-based credential that gives employers and career seekers a uniform measure of key workplace skills and stated CVCC is one of the few colleges that met its goal for the year set by the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Dr. Hendrick reported the Region 2000 Small Business Development Center (SBDC) which is now housed at CVCC has served 25% above the average of clients required by the Commonwealth of Virginia. She stated the localities are considering funding this program for another year.

Dr. Hendrick reported on the College’s Career Center and stated the Department of Labor (DOL) grant that funds the program is ending in September 2014 but an additional year’s extension has been requested using the excess money from the past year’s grant. She stated no word has been received from the DOL yet.  

Dr. Hendrick reported the College now manages the Workforce Center housed in the Plaza for dislocated workers. She stated two audits/reviews have been conducted to look at the programming and the current location. She stated the program offerings are in process of being revamped to create a better fit for the community needs. She also stated a new location is being looked into as the current one has internet service that is sporadic, telephone problems, and mold which has been discovered on the walls.

Dr. Tannenbaum questioned how the programs were evaluated, and Dr. Hendrick replied with workforce training contact hours are used, Workforce Investment Board (WIB) uses how many people are getting jobs and at what rate,  and the Career Center employment factors are used.

Dr. Hendrick stated a new statewide initiative involves the developing of an enterprise system (similar to PeopleSoft) which will allow online registration for non-credit courses. She stated CVCC is slated to use this system next summer.

 

 

Dr. Capps reported in Mr. Bradford’s absence, the College exceeded its fund raising total of $239,000 raised in the fiscal year of 2013, and as of March 2014, the total was $269,000. He reported scholarships had increased as well with awards totaling $111,400 for 2013 and $156,000 so far for this year.

Dr. Capps stated he along with Mr. Bradford had been on the fund raising circuit to help meet its obligation of one-half of the $300,000 awarded by the Tobacco Indemnification Commission for the College’s machine tool program. Dr. Capps stated commitments were received in the amounts of $75,000 from B&W, $10,000 from Flowserve, and $15,000 from Wegmann.

Dr. Capps stated the Foundation Board is very engaged now as compared to the past and credits Mr. Bradford for all of his work.

 

 

Mr. Lightfoot began his report by stating the College’s employee email has been moved to Microsoft’s Office 365, a cloud service, at the beginning of January to reduce cost and increase availability—with plans to leverage additional Office 365 services for the same reasons in the future. He reported since January, faculty and staff have been introduced to Microsoft’s Instant Messaging client, Lync, which allows for increased employee efficiency, especially for employees that telecommute. 

Mr. Lightfoot reported the College will upgrade its operating systems to Windows 8.1 (which is more Cloud friendly) over the summer.  He stated the faculty and staff’s “my docs,” departmental documents, and internal web pages will be moved to the cloud same as email. He stated the move to Office 365 or any other cloud service doesn’t eliminate ITs need to manage the applications, just the infrastructure on which the applications operate.

Mr. Lightfoot stated since much of the College’s information is being moved to the cloud, instructional software providers are also moving their applications to the cloud, meaning the application is available via a web browser or an app without the need for software to be loaded onto a PC. He stated as this matures, dependence upon a college-owned PC (CVCC currently has about 1,000 PCs.) infrastructure for student-use will diminish. He stated the industry is not there yet, and CVCC will continue to support its PC infrastructure.

Mr. Lightfoot distributed a device called a thin client and stated the benefits include a cost savings of about half of a traditional PC, a longer, useful life, less susceptible to viruses, and require less power. He reported that the College is testing these with the idea of replacing traditional PCs where possible. He stated the initial tests have produced mixed results but if successful, infrastructure costs significantly through use of these thin clients can be reduced. Mr. Lightfoot stated as apps and browsers become the default method to access information, the need for thin clients will to give way to students using their own device(s) to access the information. He stated this is known as Bring Your Own Device or BYOD which will further reduce the need for a student-use PCs. He stated in working with Mr. Sandidge’s team, Fall 2015 has been identified as the target to have a BYOD in place.

Mr. Lightfoot reported the move from college-hosted applications to cloud applications and from college-owned PCs to BYOD will reduce CVCC’s infrastructure requirements and allow for more investment in applications that enhance student success, teaching, learning, administrative efficiency, and campus security. He stated this transition will require:

·       a more robust and reliable wireless network as students, faculty, and staff access applications over the Internet wirelessly

·       a more advanced helpdesk as the College’s support model changes from standardized PC models running standard applications to many different makes and models of personally owned devices with many apps

·       an application staffing to provide technical leadership to complement the departmental functional leadership in the implementation and use of the applications

Dr. Troxel stated he feels the College must limit which student devices its supports. Mr. Lightfoot agreed.

Dr. Capps introduced Ms. Ogden as the new interim Dean of Institutional Effectiveness and stated she played a pivotal role in the College’s quest for compliance in SACSCOC 3.2.1.1. 

Ms. Ogden reported the College is in the midst of its 10-year SACSCOC Reaffirmation process and stated the required materials were submitted in March for consideration and an offsite committee will review the document in May. She stated the committee will submit a report to CVCC on any recommendations they find. Ms. Ogden reported the College will then have an opportunity to respond to those findings along with the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). She stated a committee has been working on the QEP for two years and the College community has selected the topic of Building Better Writers.

Ms. Ogden stated an onsite committee of about seven members will visit CVCC in October 21-23 to witness first hand all of the activities going on here at the College.

Ms. Ogden stated in support of the Institutional Effectiveness, the College is engaged in a strategic budget planning process for available funds above and beyond the normal operating funds. She stated any member of the College community could bring forth requests or innovative ideas that support the programs and services of the College. She stated these requests are considered by a committee and prioritized so that when funds are available, the requests receiving top priority can be funded. She stated this budgeting process has a home in the College’s mission and goals.

 

 

Dr. Capps reported he considers it his honor to bring good news to the Board and his duty to bring bad news as well.

Dr. Capps stated at the January 2014 Board meeting, it was reported that the College was engaged in trying to secure funding for Amherst and Campbell Halls’ renovations. He stated the College had succeeded in getting two patrons (Senator Steve Newman and Delegate Matt Farris) to submit budget amendments in the House and the Senate. Dr. Capps stated the College was not successful in securing this funding. He reported the General Assembly did not approve any requests for capital projects. He stated at this time, the budget is in deadlock but stated Senator Newman hopes to secure a bond referendum for capital outlay projects.

Dr. Capps reported on CVCC’s baseball team and stated there were not enough players for a team because some of those players failed to meet academic requirements. He stated a new coach, Richard Morris, had been hired, and he is in the process of recruiting new members with hopes to have enough for a team next spring. He reported the College is still in the NJAAC league but just do not have a team to field.

Dr. Capps reported Senator Kaine visited CVCC on April 14 to visit the STEM programs. He stated Senator Kaine is the co-chair of the Senate Caucus of the Career and Technical Education.

Dr. Capps stated the College is looking to relocate (not close) its Altavista Center because of hefty rent ($90,000 a year) and low enrollment (87 FTEs in 2002-2003 but only 37 for this past year). He reported even though the Director of the Center retired and was not replaced, the College continues to lose $65,000 to $70,000 a year. He stated two options are being considered-Virginia Technical Institute (VTI) or the Altavista Combined School but no decision has been made.

Dr. Capps distributed a draft of the Chancellor Goals Supporting Achieve 2015 which will be presented to the State Board for final approval, and those approved goals will become the basis for all 23 community colleges’. He stated he wants each member to be involved early and to review the goals to see if there are any changes such as new goals or goals for CVCC based on the ones the Chancellor’s.

 

 

 

Mr. Zajur was absent.

 

None.

 

Ms. Brown thanked everyone for taking time to review and approve the College’s current Mission Statement this past February (2014).

 

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:57 p.m.