The two hundred and twenty-eighth meeting of the Central Virginia Community College Board was held at 4:30 p.m. on January 24, 2018, in the Appomattox Hall Conference Room, Room 1114.

 

 

Dr. Robert Arnold

Dr. Mac Duis

Dr. Lloyd Tannenbaum 

Dr. Steve Troxel

Mr. Ben Witt

Campbell County

Bedford County

City of Lynchburg

City of Lynchburg

Bedford County

 

Ms. Julie Harris

Mr. Winfred Nash

Mr. Franklin Swann

Mr. Nathaniel Marshall

Dr. John Walker

Campbell County

Appomattox County

City of Lynchburg

City of Lynchburg

Amherst County

 

Mr.  Josh Moody

News and Advance

 

 

Dr. John Capps, President

Dr. Muriel Mickles, VP of Student and Academic Services

Mr. Lewis Bryant, III, VP for Finance and Administration

Ms. Kris Ogden, Dean of Institutional Effectiveness

Chief Russell Dove, Chief of Police

Mr. Will Sandidge, Director of Strategic Initiatives

Ms. Dianne Sykes, General Administration Coordinator

 

 

Dr. Lloyd Tannenbaum, Chair, called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m.

 

 

On a motion by Dr. Troxel, duly seconded, Minutes No. 227 from the regular meeting of October 25, 2017, were approved as written.

 

The motion carried unanimously.

None

 

 

The Local Fund Quarterly Financial Report and Financial Statements were reviewed. On a motion by Mr. Witt, duly seconded (as the Facilities and Finance Committee did not have a quorum), the Local Fund Quarterly Financial Report and Financial Statements were approved as written.

The motion carried unanimously.

 

Dr. Mickles began her report by distributing the Spring Edition Newsletter produced by her office. She stated this newsletter provides an update to the faculty and staff of ongoing initiatives. Dr. Mickles stated something she is very excited about is that CVCC will be hiring a registrar in the near future, a position that has been vacant for a while. She also reported the process of integrating the Workforce Division and the academic side continues with Dr. Lemons at the helm.

Dr. Mickles discussed Workforce’s new program Road to Success in Virginia (RSVP) and stated this is a VCCS initiative that provides students necessary training and skill development so they can earn credentials for employment and become financially stable. She reported eight students were enrolled and all eight were completers earning 56 credentials preparing them for a career in the Lynchburg hospitality industry. (VCCS states CVCC is leading with the number of credentials earned.) Dr. Mickles stated a new cohort of students will begin soon.

Dr. Mickles reported the Early College program is going well at Jefferson Forest with all 15 students being successful with their classes this past semester.

Dr. Mickles stated a Student Services’ initiative began this fall with faculty advising for the Career Technical Education (CTE) students. She stated this pilot was very successful.

Dr. Mickles stated a faculty taskforces has been implemented to develop advising for students that are transferring. She reported another retention taskforce has been created for retention strategies and initiatives.

Dr. Mickles stated the VCCS selected EAB Navigate to help implement onboarding and advising students. She stated this will be available by the fall semester of 2018.

Mr. Bryant reported on improvements made to CVCC’s heating and cooling systems which began with the installation of new cooling systems in Amherst, Appomattox, and Bedford Halls and now continues with the blower system for Merritt Hall. He stated work has also begun to change the control systems (costing several $100,000) for the entire College. Mr. Bryant reported all of this work is being done by CVCC’s Facilities Department and stated he is very proud of all their hard work. He distributed information that showed the savings of the new cooling systems—for 2014-2015, the cost was $396,199 and the projected cost for 2017-2018 is $340,000 resulting in a 14% savings or a $60,000 reduction.

Mr. Bryant reported some of the outside lights have been changed over to LED lights which will result in a savings of $2000 during the course of lights’ life, and a bonus is they produce a brighter light. He stated eventually all the lights on Campus will be changed to the new LED lights.

Dr. Capps reported on the compensation study and stated he is pleased to say the College will be able to fund the recipients of Phase II and hopefully can fund Phase III at the beginning of the fall semester. He stated after this, there will be a part-time staff study and compensation and then the process will begin again.

Ms. Ogden reported on the second biennium of CVCC’s Strategic Plan. She stated this plan reflects the culture that is here at CVCC and is a collaborative process. She stated the report that was previously distributed is the second biennium of CVCC’s Complete 2021. Ms. Ogden stated the structure is the same as the first biennium report but this has incorporated updated metrics on the Chancellor’s biennium goals. She stated the College is trying to align as much of its work as possible. Ms. Ogden stated for example, Navigate 2.1.4 under the entry objective will have as a result to remove barriers for student in the onboarding and entry process. She stated CVCC’s goal is to make this process for the students to achieve their goals seamlessly whatever it may be, and Navigate will be the tool to accomplish this.

Ms. Ogden asked the Board members to please take some time to review the strategies for the second biennium.   

The Board discussed CVCC and its online course offerings. Ms. Ogden reported CVCC has two programs that are offered online completely. Dr. Capps reported CVCC had 3,000 students who took an online course last year but not necessarily in a full-time capacity. He stated most students take a course or two out of necessity or convenience. Dr. Capps stated one of the dilemmas faced by CVCC is that students usually do not fare as well in online courses as traditional face-to-face courses.

Dr. Capps commended Ms. Ogden for all of her hard work on the second biennium plan.

Chief Dove reported on the successes that took place in 2017. He stated transitioning to the new radio system which included a digital upgrade took place, the College’s first active shooter full-scale exercise was conducted, and the first Summer Academy Police Camp was held. He stated, on campuses, the most reported crime is larceny and CVCC is no exception. Chief Dove stated that CVCC had solved approximately two-thirds of crime reported at CVCC but the national average for solving larcenies is only 30%.

Chief Dove reported that three students are in the process of attending the next police academy and plans are to restart the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Training program. He stated this training will be offered to faculty, staff, and maybe some students who can assist the police in a time of an emergency.

Dr. Arnold asked if Chief Dove was familiar with the crisis unification plan. Dr. Arnold reported for K12 students, in case of a crisis, the plan buses the students to where they can be reunited with their parents. He stated for college-age students, he was sure the plan would be different. Chief Dove reported CVCC has a draft plan as it was an item identified as a deficit after the active shooter exercise and discussions had included talking with the area schools to finalize the plan. 

Mr. Sandidge stated he has been reviewing CVCC’s class schedules to find ways of improving the offerings. He reported several issues were discovered, and Dr. Mickles is working to correct them. Mr. Sandidge stated he will schedule follow-up meetings prior to the fall 2018 schedule being released.

Mr. Sandidge stated his next project is working to have CVCC’s dual enrollment (or concurrent) classes taught in high schools by high school teachers accredited by the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP). He stated only 140 four-year colleges and community colleges in the United States are accredited. Mr. Sandidge stated he along with Ms. Ogden and Dr. Gary Randolph (faculty member) will be attending the 2018 Winter Accreditation Institute Workshop next week to learn more about the accreditation standards. He stated then work will begin internally with the school divisions on what needs to be done and the timeline. Mr. Sandidge stated earning this accreditation is important because some four-year colleges view dual enrollment courses in high schools as not having the same rigor as the same course taught in colleges.

Dr. Arnold questioned if the dual enrollment teachers will require additional credentials but Mr. Sandidge assured him that the teachers already meet the standards to teach college courses.

Dr. Capps stated the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) audited the VCCS last year and several recommendations were related to the quality and perceived quality by some four-year colleges/universities of dual enrollment classes taught in high schools. Dr. Capps stated by CVCC becoming externally accredited, it will only validate that CVCC’s courses already meet the standards. 

Dr. Capps reported on the credentials’ spreadsheet that had been distributed and stated the first one has information on both non-credit and credit credentials and for degrees and certificates. He stated the totals are measured against a baseline that the VCCS had established in academic year 2014-15. Dr. Capps reminded everyone that the VCCS’ six-year Strategic Plan is entitled Complete 2021 which was initiated in 2014-15. He stated CVCC’s baseline count is 988 for degrees and certificates, and the overarching goal for Complete 2021 is to triple the number of credentials offered by the VCCS by the year 2021. He stated in 2015-2016, CVCC awarded 1,355 degrees and certificates and 1,283 certificates and licensures for a total of 2,638. He stated in 2016-2017, CVCC awarded a total of 3,515 credentials. Dr. Capps stated CVCC has already met the goal of tripling its credentials. He stated the fact that CVCC has met its goal in less than three years is a tribute to the hard work by the college community. Dr. Capps also noted that CVCC continues to do well in 2017-2018. He stated these are preliminary figures as the VCCS allows credentials to be added for up to a year after the fact.

Dr. Capps stated the second spreadsheet reflects the number of credentials that the colleges have awarded for the FastForward program (originally known as the New Economy Workforce Credentials Grant). He stated the funding for this grant came from legislation passed by the General Assembly during the last five years to provide state support for non-credit instruction. Dr. Capps explained how this grant works-the student pays one-third of the cost of the training, the state pays one-third once the student completes the training, and when the student completes the recognized state credential, the state reimburses the college the remaining one-third for that training course. Dr. Capps stated this spreadsheet shows how much the state has reimbursed the colleges, and for CVCC in 2017, the amount was $177,358. He stated for 2018, CVCC has received $130,694 but expects that figure to rise.

Dr. Capps stated the “big ask” for the VCCS of the General Assembly this year is to increase the amount that is earmarked for the FastForward program. He stated last year the state appropriated $7.5 million, the governor’s introduced budget asks for $9.5 million for each year of the biennium, and the legislatures have asked it be raised to $15 million each year to support the funding of the FastForward. Dr. Capps reported the VCCS is working with the legislatures to garner support to pass those budget amendments. He stated this is important because the VCCS has no money left to fund the Workforce Credentials Grant for this year.

 

 

 

Dr. Tannenbaum encouraged everyone to email Ms. Sykes as soon as possible if they could not attend a Board meeting.

 

None

 

 

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 
5:50 p.m.