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Published on 9/4/2024.

Regular Board Meeting on September 3, 2024

I want to thank our colleagues on our Klamath-Trinity site for hosting the Board of Trustees meeting. The trustees and I always enjoy going to Hoopa and interacting with the faculty, staff, and students at KT.

Comments/Board Business

Land Acknowledgement:  President of the Board Dr. Robertson read the District's land acknowledgement recognizing our area's Indigenous Peoples as the original stewards of the land that College of the Redwoods occupies. 

We acknowledge that the land on which we are gathered today is unceded territory of the Wiyot, Hupa, Karuk, Mattole, Tolowa, Wailaki, and Yurok. We honor them and all neighboring tribes by our ongoing commitment to developing trusting, reciprocal, and long-lasting partnerships.
Comments/Board Business

Member Comments: Trustees Pedrotti, Biggin, Kelley, and Robertson shared that they attended the fall convocation. Trustees Pedrotti, Biggin, Mullery also attended the Athletic fundraiser. Trustee Kelley noted that he attended the RRDEC board meeting.

Board Committee Reports: Trustee Pedrotti noted that she attended the Measure I bond executive meeting on April 21, 2024.

Approve Trustee Travel to CCLC Annual Convention and to the Futures Summit 2024: The Board approved trustee travel to CCLC annual convention in Burlingame on November 21-23 and to the Futures Summit 2024: Powering Tomorrow's Workforce on September 9-10.

Consent Calendar Action Items

Approve/Ratify Personnel Actions: Four staff colleagues have been added to our classified service: Andrew Aiello (Athletics Program Coordinator), Lance Britton (Student Services Specialist II), Winnifred Carpenter (Student Services Specialist II), and Christie Knox (Payroll Technician). We also welcome Elizabeth Hermosillo to our Human Resources department. Elizabeth will begin service as our Human Resources Analyst on September 10, 2024. By Board action we are adding eighteen associate faculty to our faculty cadre for fall 2024: Barry Chin (Mathematics), Blasé Bonpane (Political Science), John Downey (Coaching), Evan Goetz (Forestry), Matthew Gregory (Agriculture), Michael Keener (Library Science), Breanna Lien (Nursing), Matthew McKindley (Basic Skills), Kelly Mottershead (DSPS), Breesia Northern (Coaching), Richard Page (Construction Technology), Juan Perez (Coaching), Kimberly Peterson (Math), Benn Rieder (Coaching), Eleanor Rose (Art), Aletta Sauer (Computer Information Science), Megan Siaosi (Ethnic Studies), and Maryruth Stubbs (Nursing Clinical & HCA).

Del Norte Center Building Repair Request for Proposal: The Board approved my request to award the contract for repairs to our Del Norte Campus to S&B James Construction. Since the bid came in higher than the funds we originally allocated, we are going to scale back the repair work to fit the available funds.

Approve Resolution 817 Recognizing the Third Week of October as "Undocumented Student Action Week": I included the resolution in this blog summary. If you do not want to read the entire document, Resolution 817 that calls on CR to:

• declare the third week of October as "Undocumented Student Action Week" to work in partnership with other organizations and encourage the California Community Colleges to engage in activities supporting undocumented students;
• support efforts to identify and share best practices for assisting undocumented students, disseminate information to students about how to access funding for immigration defense proceedings and referral to legal service providers, and reinforce state policies that protect student rights and privacy;
• follow the California Community College's (CCC) guidance and not release any student information related to immigration status without a judicial warrant, subpoena, or court order, unless authorized by the student or required by law;
• have a physical location for undocumented students, their families, staff, and faculty to receive resources and services they are entitled under the law along with designating one or more district employees as UndocuLiaisons to be a resource to the district's undocumented student population;
• commit to serving and protecting vulnerable populations by ensuring that students, staff, faculty, and community members are informed about their rights and responsibilities;
• remain open, safe, and welcoming to all students who meet the minimum requirements for admission, regardless of immigration status, and that financial aid remains available to certain undocumented students in alignment with State regulations and local policy;
• urge the current administration to continue the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which grants "Dreamers" – people brought to this country as children by their parents - be excluded from deportation if they follow all regulations of the program;
• continue to ensure that all students have an opportunity to receive an education on our campus, regardless of immigration status or any other protected status; and
• join the California Community Colleges Board of Governors and the Chancellor's Office in vigorously advocating to protect our students and our college's values.

Action/Discussion Items

Approve Monthly Financial Status Report: This month's report covered the period of July 1, 2024 to July 31, 2024 and showed that Unrestricted General Fund (UGF) financial status report matched the proposed final budget also included in this month's Board agenda. I want to emphasize that:

• The 2024-25 Beginning Fund balance is still an estimate since we are currently working through the 2023-24 fiscal year closing process.
• Our transfers out are comprised of $90,000 to the Child Development Center, $74,720 to the Shively Farm, $750,000 to the OPEB fund (May be diverted to Capital Outlay), and $500,000 to our Debt Service fund for a total of $1,414,720. 
• The monthly financial status report shows a projected 2024-25 Unrestricted General Fund ending fund balance of $5,049,169, or 11.1% of Unrestricted General Fund expenditures. 

Approve 2024-25 Final Budget: The Board approved our final 2024-25 Budget. In addition to the 2024-25 budget details, we included a multi-year budget forecast as information in the final budget document. The forecast shows that we will have a structural budget problem if we do not find ways to increase our revenue and/or do not take action to reduce expenditures. The Board expressed concern about the reduction of the fund reserve and the long-term consequences for the District if we do not increase the fund reserve. Here is a summary of the 2024-25 final budget:

• We updated the 2024-25 Beginning Fund Balance to reflect the adjusted 2023-24 ending fund balance as approved in the monthly financial report at the August Board meeting.
• The SCFF calculator was updated with final 2022-23 Student Success metric counts. The update resulted in a slight decrease in our State Apportionment. Before the SCFF was made law, determining our apportionment was straightforward. We simply had to offer as many course sections as possible to maximize FTES. However, now, determining our apportionment is more complicated because we not only have to capture FTES we also must maximize FTES by type. This is why I say that course scheduling and FTES generation is an art and not a science.
• We increased our Other State revenue because the Chancellor's Office increased the estimated per FTES Lottery rate.
• The salaries budget was increased because we "trued up" our Position Inventory by including all new faculty. I also increased the summer faculty budget to reflect an increase in the number of sections we offered to better position us to meet our enrollment target. I also moved salaries for several permanent employees from categorical funds to the general fund. The state's inability to adequately fund several of our categorical programs required me to either absorb some salaries or lay people off. I decided to absorb the salaries because these are the people we rely on to make sure the District meets its enrollment targets.
• The benefits budget was decreased slightly due to the adjustment downward of the STRS rate that was assumed in the Tentative Budget and a decrease in the SUI rate.
• The Fixed Expense budget was increased because our electricity and water rates increased.
• The Other Operting budget was increased to reflect mission critical supplemental budget adjustments I approved. Some of those adjustments included $10,000 for the equipment for our new sworn police officer and a Police Department UAV; $7,600 for IT equipment, and several thousand for critical technology upgrades for our Nursing classrooms.

			Tentative Budget	Final Budget	Change (+/(-))
BEGINNING FUND BALANCE (1)			7,675,608	7,223,268	(452,340)
REVENUES
	STATE APPORTIONMENT (2)		40,606,517	40,592,026	(14,491)
	FEDERAL		50,000	50,000	-
	OTHER STATE (3)		1,805,215	1,846,806	41,591
	OTHER LOCAL		950,000	950,000	-
	OTHER FINANCING SOURCES
		TOTAL REVENUE	43,411,732	43,438,832	27,100
USE OF FUNDS
	SALARIES (4)		26,572,360	26,912,302	339,942
	BENEFITS (5)		11,360,770	11,251,321	(109,449)
		TOTAL SALARIES & BENEFITS	37,933,130	38,163,623	230,493
	FIXED EXPENSES (6)		3,181,086	3,468,484	287,398
	OTHER OPERATING (7)		2,413,140	2,442,934	29,794
	CAPITAL OUTLAY		100,000	100,000	-
	OTHER OUTGO		20,000	20,000	-
		TOTAL OTHER EXPENSES	5,714,226	6,031,418	317,192
		TOTAL EXPENSES	43,647,356	44,195,041	547,685
SOURCES OVER (UNDER) USES			7,439,983	6,467,059	(972,925)
TRANSFER OUT			(1,418,151)	(1,418,151)	-
ENDING FUND BALANCE			6,021,832	5,048,908	(972,925)
ENDING FUND PERCENT			13.4%	11.1%	-2.3%

Approve Amended President/Superintendent Employment Agreement: We are required by government code to include the employment contract (or amendments to employment contracts) for the presidents and vice presidents in regular meetings of the Board and reflected in the minutes. The Board of Trustees approved my amended contract at this meeting. In keeping with the code, I want to share that my amended contract includes a revision of the contract's end date from September 30, 2026 to December 31, 2026 and provides me a performance increase determined by the Board plus the COLA included in the Governor's State Budget. The Board of Trustees agreed to give me a performance increase of 2.4% - which is equal to what other administrators received as of July 1, 2024. The amended agreement also continues with the maximum number of accrued vacation days of forty-five (45) days, the same health benefit package provided to management personnel under plans currently in effect for District administrators or as subsequently modified, adopted, or implemented in the future, a $417 per month for automobile expenses, and an annual doctoral stipend of $1,500.

Second Read of Board Policies and Administrative Procedures: The Board executed a second read (approval) of several BP/AP 2000s. I want to call your attention to a revision of BP 2800 General Fund Reserve. The revised BP 2800 calls on us to "maintain unrestricted, uncommitted general fund reserve at no less than 8% of unrestricted general fund expenses including transfers" and" target to maintain an unrestricted, uncommitted general fund reserve balance that equals, at a minimum, greater than or equal to two months of total General Fund operating expenditures."

Informational Reports

Encouraging Civil Engagement and Community Conversations: Dr. Kintay Johnson updated the Board on how the College is collaborating with community partners to register and educate voters on the issues we need to think about before the November 2024 election. The trustees requested that we include a session related to political misinformation in the election education program. Kintay also summarized the collaboration between Temple Beth El and Cal Poly Humboldt to organize a three-evening Community Conversation event in September to discuss the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as viewed through multiple lenses. The Community Conversation will encourage intergenerational dialogue and foster compassionate discourse to increase understanding of international events and their impacts in our community. The conversation will cover related issues of history and context, trauma and care, activism, and civic engagement. The event organizers hope that the Community Conversation will serve as a national model for appropriate responses to campus unrest and student concerns about urgent matters of life and death, war, and peace. I attached the press release about the Community Conversation, the agenda, and the scan code to sign up for the event. Please note the dates and locations of the sessions.

Update on Repatriation of Native American Regalia, Baskets, and Caps: Dr. Cintra Agee provided a summary of the work she is doing to repatriate Native American cultural items to lineal descendants and Indian Tribes. Dr. Agee is working deliberately and extremely respectfully with local Tribes and Indigenous communities in the repatriation process. I want to thank Dr. Agee for doing this important work and strengthening our relationship with local Tribes.
Recognitions: In this agenda item, I recognized Irene Gonzalez-Herrera and Dr. Kintay Johnson for organizing several events during convocation week that supported student access and success. I also congratulated Heather Payne for receiving her Doctorate in Nursing Practice (DNP) from Aspen University this summer. Dr. Payne's dissertation topic was intercepting CHF patients at a primary care level to decrease CHF exacerbations and Emergency room visits. Dr. Payne set up a quality improvement process by creating standardized instructions and patient education and then had the staff send it through the Patients My Chart in the electronic health record system (EPIC). The instructions gave the patients three main options with specific instructions based on the symptoms. If the symptoms in the list met the criteria for severe they were instructed to go to the emergency room, if they were moderate symptoms on the list they called the nurse triage, and of they were mild and just starting they called the care team for the provider or sent an email through the my chart system and the staff got back to them by the end of each day. 

Accreditation Update: Although we were not required to submit a formal accreditation follow-up report, we sent a report to the Peer Review Team highlighting the work we have done to implement some of the changes noted in our ISER. The attached report was sent to Dr. Vincent Rodriguez, Chair of the Peer Review Team, and Nickawanna Shaw, Vice President of the ACCJC.

Additionally, Dr. Peter Blakemore worked with Dr. Rodrequez and Ms. Shaw to finalize the September 17 site visit schedule. Here is the schedule. Dr. Blakemore will send reminders to the district this week.

8:30-9:00 am—Meet and greet with Accreditation Oversight Committee and College leadership
9:00-9:45 am—Tour of campus 
10:00-11:00 am—Open Forum
11:00-11:30 am—Peer Review Team work 
11:30-11:45 am—Peer Review Team meets with President Flamer
12:00-12:15 pm—Exit Report
12:15 pm—Peer Review Team to Arcata/McKinleyville Airport

Organizational Reports

Academic Senate: President Erin Wall's written report noted that Senate communications are now going through the Academic-Senate@redwoods.edu email. This is to ensure Senate business does not get lost in our regular work emails and to support succession planning both in Senate leadership but also in terms of support staff. Her report also mentioned that the Senate sponsored several Convocation sessions:

• Associate Faculty Orientation – organized and led by Stuart Altschular, Laurel Jean, and Shannon Mondor. 
• Two sessions on Curriculum with one being mandatory training for those directly involved in our local approval process – organized and led by George Potamianos, Tatiana Robinson, and Cameron Papp
• AI Experiences Sharing Session – organized and led by the Senate's Ad Hoc AI Committee (Deanna Herrera, Karyn-Lynn Fisette, Trevor Hartman, Kendra Guimaraes, and Ashley Neisen)
• Academic Senate and Faculty's Role in Shared Governance – organized and led by Bernadette and Erin Wall with assistance from Rachel Warze.

CRFO: President Haggerty discussed the work she did over the summer.

Classified: President Engman made a brief comment to the Board.

Management Council (MC): In her written report to the Board, President Morgan Solem recognized the exceptional achievements of Andrew Nichols and Irene Gonzalez-Herrera.

Andrew Nichols was honored as the 2024 recipient of the Kathryn G. Smith Leadership Award. This prestigious award highlights Andrew's outstanding qualities in collaboration, commitment, innovation, leadership, and lifelong learning. Andrew truly exemplifies the essence of leadership excellence within the CR community, embodying both the spirit and the practice of what it means to be a leader. 

Irene Gonzalez Herrera has been awarded the 2024 Multicultural and Diversity Award. Irene's dedicated work with our undocumented students reflects her deep commitment to fostering an inclusive campus community. Her tireless efforts to educate, advocate, and support our students and staff are truly commendable and have had a significant impact on our institution.

She also wrote that the Management Council generated a list of priorities for the academic year, which included a desire for more team-building activities, informational presentations from fellow Council members, and training in Program Review processes with the goal of producing meaningful, high-quality Program Reviews.

Student Trustee Aerielle Alaniz: Student Trustee Aerielle Alaniz commented that the student government held a retreat and participated in Welcome Week activities.

Administrative Reports

President/Superintendent Report: Included in my written report, was a list of September Equality/Diversity Celebrations and Religious Holidays:

• September 15 to October 15: September marks National Hispanic Heritage Month celebrated to honor all Latino and Hispanic Americans and their contributions to American culture.
• September 4 – Richard Wright's Birthday: The popular Black American writer wrote some of the most powerful 20th-century novels which exposed the realities of racism in the Deep South where Mr. Wright was born in 1908. Much of Wright's literature concerns racial themes, especially related to the plight of African Americans during the late 19th to mid-20th centuries suffering discrimination and violence. His best-known works include the novella collection Uncle Tom's Children (1938), the novel Native Son (1940), and the memoir Black Boy (1945). Literary critics believe his work helped change race relations in the United States in the mid-20th century.
• September 11 – Patriot Day: On the morning of September 11, 2001, the worst terrorist attack in American history occurred when four commercial airliners were hijacked by al-Qaeda members. Two crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon, and another into a field in Pennsylvania.
• September 15 – Mawlid al-Nabi: Muslims celebrate Prophet Muhammad's birthday on this day. They honor this day as they believe he is a messenger of God.
• September 20 – HeForShe: This solidarity movement was first created by the UN to help promote gender equality worldwide.
• September 21 – International Day of Peace: This UN day encourages all nations to observe a ceasefire. Each year the UN bell is rung in New York City to inaugurate this nonviolence day.
• September 21-29 – Mabon: Both Wiccans and Pagans use this day to celebrate the autumnal equinox, a day when the amount of sunlight and darkness is the same. This represents both balance and harmony.

In my verbal comments, I thanked the Foundation for their additional $25,000 donation to the Measure I bond campaign.
Vice President of Administrative Services Report: In Julia's written report, she provided an update on our 2024-25 enrollment. Our 2024-25 Student Centered Funding Formula target is 3,781 FTES. Below is summary of FTES as of August 26, 2024.

Target 2024-25	3781
Summer 2024 X	260
Fall 2024 FTES	1890
Spring 2025 FTES NEEDED TO MAKE TARGET	1631

She also noted the fiscal Year 2024-25 Final Budget Open Forums we have scheduled. The open forums will be held via zoom on:

Wednesday, September 11, 2024 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Https://redwoods-edu.zoom.us/j/81899577671  
Dial: (669) 900 6833
Meeting ID: 818 9957 7671

Friday, September 13, 2024 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Https://redwoods-edu.zoom.us/j/82633480583  
Dial: (669) 900 6833
Meeting ID: 826 3348 0583

Vice President of Instruction and Student Development (VPISD) Report: In her written report Crystal noted that:

• Under the leadership of Dr. Kintay Johnson (MEC/Student Equity) and sponsorship of ASCR, CR hosted a Fall Welcome Back event on the Eureka Campus. Over two days during the first week of the term, hundreds of students were able to connect face-to-face with student services staff, special programs, student organizations, and support resources.
• The College offered twenty different professional development sessions in a variety of modalities targeted to diverse audiences during fall convocation (August 21-23). Pre-convocation special sessions began with tech-focused sessions about helping students use Generative AI (GenAI), updates on digital tools, Library Services for faculty, and Cybersecurity Training. These were followed by in-depth orientation sessions for faculty and associate faculty teaching at Pelican Bay, associate faculty from across the District, and new full-time tenure-track faculty. The general session on Thursday featured two keynote speakers. Rex Bohn, Humboldt County Supervisor and CR President's Advisory Council Member shared his address entitled, "It's Been a Minute," followed by Nickawanna Shaw, ACCJC Vice President, who shared a keynote entitled "Parallel Histories:  How the Past Can Spark Future Engagement."  Breakout sessions on Thursday afternoon and Friday focused on a range of topics including decolonizing, consensus building, and assessment in western classrooms, fostering equity and creating cultures of inclusivity, statewide legislation impacting curriculum and articulation, local curriculum approval training, supporting students through timely referrals, student accessibility support services, undocu-advocacy, and program outcome assessment working sessions. It was truly a wonderful week of reconnecting with colleagues and recommitting to our shared mission. The Office of Instruction and Student Development appreciates the faculty, staff, managers, and administrators who served as session presenters or moderators as well as all those who helped plan and prepare our convocation activities.
• CR and the Career Education Division partnered with Humboldt County Office of Education's Career and College Resource Department to offer two summer institutes for local high school students at no cost to the students.
• 2024 marked the first year of the Trades Academy Summer Institute (TASI) program at College of the Redwoods and was a resounding success. Eleven students participated in this two-week wood and metal technologies course, spending 35 hours dedicated to classroom instruction and 11 hours participating in industry field trips. Field trip location partners for TASI included Redwoods Coast Energy Authority, JLF, Almquist Lumber, O&M, North Fork Lumber, The Mill Yard, Hooven, GRS, and Cal Poly Craftsman Mall Dorms. There were many CR employees who made these programs come together this summer including Clay McLaughlin (CIS-TESI), Bert Hafar (Construction/Woodworking - TASI), Jerry Goodrow (Welding - TASI), Sara Klobucar and Gussie Solem (CE Division Office), Alex Wright (Advisor), and Montel VanderHorck (Career Center Manager). The Administration wants to extend thanks to Mike Haley and Rory Johnson for working with HCOE to bring the TESI/TASI programs to CR.

Executive Director of College Advancement and the Foundation Report: In his written report, Marty mentioned that:

• The College's twentieth Dinner & Auction was held on August 15, 2024. Four hundred and fifty community members attended, and more than 125 CR student-athletes welcomed the attendees and assisted in the running of the event. It is estimated that the event raised $245,000.
• The CR Foundation received its Finish Line $125,000 grant for 2024-25, of which $25,000 will be used for CR's new student emergency grants program.
• The CR Foundation received $10,000 for scholarships for 2023-24 (in June) and $10,000 for 2024-25 (in July).
• The Foundation received $30,000 to finish Kevin & Tammy Wilcox's five-year commitment to support CR's football program. This commitment was paid over three years, instead of the original five.
• The Native American Youth Running Camp partnership developed by CR conducted the inaugural Running Camp, June 24 to 28, throughout sites in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. Core partners included Two Feathers Native American Family Services and United Indian Health Services along with tribal representatives from the Wiyot, Yurok, Hoopa, Karuk and Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation. Ten local Native American youth were able to participate. Primary objectives of the camp were threefold: to discuss the cultural significance and tradition of running for Native Americans; to better understand the connections of modern environmental science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK); and to explore pathways for Native American youth to pursue academic and athletic opportunities at College of the Redwoods. Youth participants did daily trail runs to train and explore the local environment of ancestral lands including the South Spit of Humboldt Bay, Bull Creek along Avenue of the Giants, Tall Trees trail In Redwood National Park, Lacks Creek in Redwood Valley, and Sue-meg State Park in Trinidad.
• Ten Native American students participated in the Native American Trails Building Class program. The course was offered through CR's Workforce and Community Education Program.

Future Agenda Items, Reports, Requests for Information: The Board directed me to provide a report related to student food insecurity/security.