1 -------------------------------------------x 2 BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING 3 SUFFOLK COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE 4 Michael J. Grant Campus Room 114, Captree Commons 5 Brentwood, New York 6 September 16, 2010 7 9:00 a.m. 8 -------------------------------------------x 9 10 BEFORE: 11 ERNESTO MATTACE, JR., Trustee/Chair 12 13 14 REPORTED BY: 15 THERESA PAPE, Court Reporter/Notary Public 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 ******************************************* FIVE STAR REPORTING, INC. 24 90 JOHN STREET, SUITE 411 NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10038 25 631.224.5054 1 2 2 P R E S E N T: 3 WALTER C. HAZLITT, Trustee/Vice Chair 4 PAUL V. PONTIERI, JR., Trustee 5 DAFNY J. IRIZARRY, Trustee 6 BRYAN LILLY, Trustee 7 THERESA SANDERS, Trustee 8 PATRICIA MCMAHON, Trustee 9 ANGELIKA FIESELER, Student Trustee 10 11 A L S O P R E S E N T: 12 13 DR. SHAUN L. MCKAY, President 14 CHARLES STEIN, Vice President for Business and Financial Affairs 15 MARVIN L. BRIGHT, Associate Vice President 16 of Student Affairs 17 MARY LOU ARANEO, Vice President Institutional Advancement and 18 Executive Director of the Foundation 19 JON DIMAIO, Administrative Director of Educational Facilities 20 ILENE KREITZER, College General Counsel 22 SANDRA O'HARA, Secretary to the President 23 *** All other interested parties 24 25 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 3 2 (WHEREUPON, this proceeding 3 convened at 9:00 a.m. Off-the-record 4 discussions ensued, after which the 5 following transpired:) 6 (Time noted: 9:05 a.m.) 7 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Can I have 8 everybody's attention, please. 9 Good morning, everybody. We'd like 10 to call the meeting to order and start 11 off with the Pledge. 12 Walter -- 13 VICE CHAIRMAN HAZLITT: What? 14 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: -- I need you. 15 (Pledge of Allegiance) 16 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: I'd like to 17 begin this morning by welcoming our two 18 new trustees, Bryan Lilly and Theresa 19 Sanders. And our swearing-in ceremony 20 will commence. 21 I'd like to introduce Deputy County 22 Clerk Christopher Cuomo. 23 DEPUTY COUNTY CLERK CUOMO: Good 24 morning. 25 ALL: Good morning. 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 4 2 DEPUTY COUNTY CLERK CUOMO: If the 3 new trustees will just come forward, 4 please. 5 (Photographs and swearing in 6 commences of Theresa Sanders and Bryan 7 Lilly.) 8 (Applause) 9 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Now, after 10 taking that pledge again, welcome. And 11 part of it is to keep a smile on your 12 face all the time. 13 (Laughter) 14 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: All right. I'm 15 requesting a motion to enter Executive 16 Session to discuss employment of a 17 person and litigation. 18 VICE CHAIRMAN HAZLITT: So moved. 19 TRUSTEE IRIZARRY: Second. 20 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: All those in 21 favor? 22 ALL: Aye. 23 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Opposed? 24 (WHEREUPON, there was no response.) 25 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Abstentions? 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 5 2 (WHEREUPON, there was no response.) 3 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Thank you. 4 (WHEREUPON, Executive Session 5 commenced, after which the following 6 transpired:) 7 (Time noted: 10:06 a.m.) 8 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: We need a motion 9 to resume public session. 10 STUDENT TRUSTEE FIESELER: Motion. 11 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Second? 12 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: Second. 13 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Okay. I need 14 now a motion to approve the minutes of 15 the August 10th meeting of the Board of 16 Directors meeting. 17 VICE CHAIRMAN HAZLITT: So moved. 18 TRUSTEE IRIZARRY: Second. 19 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: All those in 20 favor? 21 (WHEREUPON, the trustee voted.) 22 TRUSTEE PONTIERI: I'm abstaining. 23 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Opposed? 24 (WHEREUPON, there was no response.) 25 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Paul? 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 6 2 TRUSTEE PONTIERI: I'm abstaining. 3 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Okay. 4 Abstentions? 5 TRUSTEE PONTIERI: (Indicating) 6 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: All right. 7 We're requesting a motion for the 8 approval of the Association Resolutions, 9 Number 2010.A22 through 2010.A25, Item 10 Numbers 1 through 4. 11 VICE CHAIRMAN HAZLITT: So moved. 12 TRUSTEE IRIZARRY: Second. 13 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: All those in 14 favor? 15 ALL: Aye. 16 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Opposed? 17 (WHEREUPON, there was no response.) 18 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Abstentions? 19 (WHEREUPON, there was no response.) 20 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: I'd liked to 21 introduce AVP Bright to present the 22 Association Finance Report. 23 AVP BRIGHT: Thank you very much. 24 Good morning, everyone. 25 This morning I bring you the 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 7 2 College Association Report as of 3 August 31st, 2010, which is actually the 4 pre-audit end of the year report. As of 5 date, all of the -- every ending account 6 was in the black with positive results. 7 Those acts include the Baker's Workshop, 8 Culinary Catering, Peconic Cafe, and the 9 two childcare centers. 10 At the end of the August report, 11 we're estimating 135,000 to $150,000 12 returned into the fund balance. The 13 actual final audit report will be 14 completed by December. 15 Any questions? 16 (WHEREUPON, there was no response.) 17 AVP BRIGHT: That's my report. 18 Thank you very much. 19 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Thank you. 20 Request a motion to adjourn the 21 Board of Directors meeting and convene 22 the Board of Trustees meeting. 23 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: So moved. 24 VICE CHAIRMAN HAZLITT: Second. 25 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: All those in 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 8 2 favor? 3 ALL: Aye. 4 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Opposed? 5 (WHEREUPON, there was no response.) 6 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Abstentions? 7 (WHEREUPON, there was no response.) 8 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: So passed. 9 Request a motion to -- the approval 10 of the minutes for the August 10th Board 11 of Trustees meeting. 12 VICE CHAIRMAN HAZLITT: So moved. 13 STUDENT TRUSTEE FIESELER: Second. 14 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: All those in 15 favor? 16 ALL: Aye. 17 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Opposed? 18 (WHEREUPON, there was no response.) 19 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Abstentions? 20 (WHEREUPON, there was no response.) 21 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Now we're going 22 to request a motion, the approval of 23 College Resolutions Number 2010.57 24 through 2010.59, Items Number 1 through 25 3. 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 9 2 TRUSTEE IRIZARRY: So moved. 3 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: Second. 4 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: All those in 5 favor? 6 ALL: Aye. 7 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Opposed? 8 (WHEREUPON, there was no response.) 9 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Abstentions? 10 (WHEREUPON, there was no response.) 11 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Thank you very 12 much. 13 I'd like to introduce Chuck Stein. 14 VP STEIN: Good morning. My name 15 is Charles Stein. I was the Vice 16 President for Business and Financial 17 Affairs at the college up until a 18 year -- July of '09; and I retired. The 19 President asked me to help out the 20 college and come back briefly, so I'm 21 serving as an acting vice president at 22 the moment, until the search is 23 completed for the new person. 24 So please forgive me if I'm a 25 little rusty with this, but in your 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 10 2 packets you'll find a finance report for 3 the college as of August 31, 2010. This 4 is an unaudited year-end report. The 5 auditors will be in -- coming in in 6 October, probably towards the middle of 7 October to start their annual audit. 8 For the year ended August 31, 2010, 9 the college is estimating revenues over 10 the adopted budget of $2.3 million, and 11 expenditures below the budget of 12 $2.3 million. The net effect, however, 13 on our year-end reserved balance is 14 estimated at 2.9 million, because when 15 the budget was adopted for 2009-2010, 16 there was a carryover from the prior 17 year, and that affects your fund balance 18 reserve. 19 Now, that's an important aspect. 20 It was 1 million 726 thousand dollars 21 that we've used. The new budget for the 22 year that just began starts out with a 23 negative 1 million 726 thousand, plus 24 the budget that was adopted -- approved 25 by the county also included a -- a 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 11 2 carryover at the same amount. 3 It's important to point out some 4 aspects of things that have occurred 5 and why the college chose this positive 6 result. The college chose this positive 7 result for the year just ending because 8 it had to. 9 The State of New York cut the per 10 FTE aid midyear by $130 per FTE. And 11 for the new year that just began, there 12 was an additional cut of $285 per FTE. 13 When you add those two together, that -- 14 that constitutes a 15.5 percent 15 reduction in FTE aid. It used to be 16 26.75 per FTE, and now it's 22.60 per 17 FTE. Had there not been any growth in 18 enrollment, that would equate to 19 $7.6 million lost state money, which is 20 a tremendous hit to the college. 21 Because the additional FTEs were funded 22 because of the growth -- the 23 unprecedented growth during the year 24 that just completed, the net lose is 25 actually 5.5 million. That's still a 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 12 2 tremendous hit for the college. So the 3 reserve funds are very important, and 4 the college has to continue to watch its 5 operations extremely carefully in terms 6 of expenditures and its revenue 7 production. 8 The estimated fund balance, 9 just for your information, at August 31, 10 is $11.9 million. However, on 11 September 1, that was immediately 12 reduced because of the use of the 13 carryover. So you're talking about a 14 10- -- approximately a $10 million 15 reserve balance that we're looking at at 16 the moment. And that's going to be 17 extremely important going forward, 18 because, let me just say, it's been my 19 experience, when the state starts 20 reducing aid, it's like sharks sensing 21 blood in the water. And I am fearful 22 that come February, the college is going 23 to start hearing that the state is 24 looking for another reduction. 25 So if someone says, Well, why don't 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 13 2 we use the reserves? My suggestion is, 3 take a deep breath. It's vitally 4 important to recognize that there are 5 still stormy seas ahead. And I won't be 6 here, my successor will, but I just try 7 to point that out. 8 DR. MCKAY: Just a point of record 9 as well, when Middle States visited the 10 college, one of the items that was 11 discussed was the fact that our fund 12 balance was not relative to the size of 13 the institution's current fund balance 14 at that time. 15 We have made a significant attempt 16 to make sure that we do have that 17 requisite fund balance appropriate to 18 the level of the budget of the 19 institution. 20 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: What is the 21 balance? 22 VP STEIN: May I? 23 DR. MCKAY: Yes. Sure. 24 VP STEIN: I was one of the people 25 that drafted it nationally. 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 14 2 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: Okay. 3 VP STEIN: It came out of the 4 Government Finance Officers Association 5 in the United States and Canada, and I 6 was an officer at the time. 7 The recommended reserve fund 8 balance, depending on the size of the 9 institution, ranges anywhere from 10 5 percent of your budget to 15 percent. 11 And the reason why I say depending upon 12 the size of the institution is a small 13 institution has very few places to go, 14 so the recommendation is that you have a 15 larger reserve fund balance. 16 We're not a bad size here, but 17 you're probably looking anywhere from 18 5 to 7 percent, or 8 percent, where you 19 should be equipped to cover any 20 foreseeable difficulties. So, you know, 21 we're -- we're -- the college has made 22 great strides to address that issue, but 23 it's important to recognize that you 24 have to maintain that. 25 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: What percentage 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 15 2 are we at now? 3 VP STEIN: Probably at -- right 4 around the 5 percent, give or take. 5 Unfortunately, if we keep taking, you 6 know what happens. 7 Originally, the concept of 8 community colleges was that the funding 9 would come one-third from students, 10 one-third from the local sponsor, and 11 one-third from the state. That was 12 changed when the community colleges 13 became full-opportunity institutions. 14 At that point, students were 15 supposed to contribute a third, the 16 state was supposed to contribute 17 40 percent, and the balance coming from 18 the local sponsor. Every year the state 19 legislature exempts itself in a vote 20 maintaining that level of funding. 21 Because of the cut in state aid 22 right now, and using the net -- there's 23 a net cost approach that the state uses, 24 you have to take all of your other types 25 of revenues out of the formula -- we are 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 16 2 currently at approximately 49 percent 3 funding from students. And when you 4 look at the mix of community 5 colleges -- of this community college, 6 that's outlandish. 7 I find that in your dealings as 8 board members, if I might get on a 9 soapbox for a minute, when you speak to 10 your state representatives, you might 11 want to mention that number because it 12 is way high in terms of the impact on 13 students. And given the fact that the 14 college is not getting additional 15 support from the local sponsor, state 16 cuts, no traditional support from the 17 other sponsor, the college has only one 18 place to go. So I think that's 19 something that should be part of a 20 discussion going forward. 21 TRUSTEE SANDERS: Question. 22 VP STEIN: Yes. 23 TRUSTEE SANDERS: In your 24 experience, is it relevant for this type 25 of an economy for the consumer to be 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 17 2 bearing such a burden? And I know we're 3 talking about an educational 4 institution, but in the context of where 5 we are now globally. 6 VP STEIN: I think what you find is 7 the economy has a major impact on a 8 community college. They go in opposite 9 directions. When the economy goes down, 10 the pressures on a community college 11 goes way up. And students who are out 12 of work or looking to change a career, 13 they come to a community college, and 14 that -- that places tremendous 15 stressors; I don't know if anybody's 16 tried to park at Selden, but it's a 17 difficult situation. And the 18 unprecedented growth last year in 19 enrollment was phenomenal -- 20 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: Partly because of 21 the economy. 22 VP STEIN: -- and -- because of the 23 economy. So there is a direct 24 correlation. 25 DR. MCKAY: On the flip side of 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 18 2 that, though, there are estimates 3 projecting that high school graduates by 4 2012, around that area, will decline. 5 And then so, on the one side, if the 6 economy recovers and then -- it's a -- 7 it's a double whammy. On the other 8 side, you have that potential decline of 9 high school graduates that would be 10 incoming students first time, full time. 11 So we have to also take that into 12 consideration as well. If the labor 13 market improves, that plus the also 14 declining -- in high school graduates, 15 would also be something that we have to 16 look at as well. 17 TRUSTEE IRIZARRY: You spoke 18 that contribution of the students is 19 49 percent. 20 What about the state? What -- my 21 understanding is that the state concede 22 40 percent or less. 23 VP STEIN: They're supposed to 24 be -- 25 TRUSTEE IRIZARRY: 40 percent or 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 19 2 less, so actually -- 3 VP STEIN: We're at 20- -- 4 DR. MCKAY: 26? 5 VP STEIN: Somewhere around 6 26 percent, I believe. Maybe a little 7 bit less than 26 percent because of this 8 reduction. 9 Sorry. I had some notes, and like 10 I said, I'm out of practice. 11 TRUSTEE IRIZARRY: That's okay. 12 VP STEIN: Here we go. 13 The state is at 27 percent; the 14 county at 24 percent. 15 TRUSTEE IRIZARRY: 27 and 24? 16 VP STEIN: Yes. 17 TRUSTEE IRIZARRY: Okay. 18 VP STEIN: For the current year. 19 And that's on a net cost basis that the 20 state uses. 21 Any other questions? 22 (WHEREUPON, there was no response.) 23 VP STEIN: Thank you. 24 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Thank you. Your 25 commentary was missed. 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 20 2 DR. MCKAY: And, by the way, just 3 for the record, we want to thank 4 Vice President Stein for coming back and 5 representing us at the institution. You 6 know, he's a proud grandparent, and he's 7 made it very clear to me that that's one 8 of his first priorities, which is in 9 retirement. But I think we needed some 10 stability at the institution with his 11 knowledge and experience, and -- and we 12 thank you, Chuck, for coming back. 13 (Applause) 14 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Just as a point 15 of information, I'd like to tie into 16 your report in reference to -- we had 17 spent three days up in -- in Albany, 18 and -- with all the community colleges 19 around the state. 20 We're not unique. They have the 21 same problems, and their biggest concern 22 is something that, you know, I -- I 23 stood up and said, you know, my concern 24 is that a $200 increase for a single 25 parent today, it's either cut back on 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 21 2 food or drop out of school. And it's 3 sad, but it's true. And, again, their 4 increases around the state are large, 5 and it's helping them, but, as it was 6 said, as it starts to decrease, we're 7 going to have a problem. 8 So just to make you aware. And, 9 again, I urge all the trustees, if they 10 can, to attend any future conferences. 11 All right. In our packet, you're 12 going to find a Conflict of Interest 13 form in the folder. I really need you 14 to complete it today. Okay. Read 15 through it -- this way we know it gets 16 turned it. All right. And if you could 17 please give it to Ilene, she'll be 18 standing at the door -- 19 (Laughter) 20 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: -- because if 21 she don't get all of yours, then she 22 comes after me. 23 (Laughter) 24 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Okay. The Board 25 of Trustees calendar. We need to make a 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 22 2 change in October. I had mentioned it 3 over the summer. It conflicts with the 4 National Community College Conference, 5 and I will be there, and Angel will be 6 there as well. So I need a preference 7 on behalf of everybody; October 28th or 8 November 4th? 9 TRUSTEE IRIZARRY: I think I'd like 10 to do October 28th, but let me check -- 11 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Okay. How is 12 everybody else with October 28th? 13 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: The 28th. 14 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Okay. Getting 15 closer to a quorum. 16 STUDENT TRUSTEE FIESELER: The 17 28th -- 18 TRUSTEE LILLY: That's fine. 19 TRUSTEE SANDERS: Okay. 20 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Okay. We're 21 good. October 28th. Look at this, a 22 decision. 23 TRUSTEE PONTIERI: Today it works. 24 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Yeah, today. 25 To make you aware while we're 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 23 2 talking about the calendar, next 3 August -- okay -- I just want to make 4 sure everybody understands -- there's 5 going to be a problem with the 6 scheduling as far as what the date is 7 now, that's why there's an asterisk on 8 it on your calendar. 9 All right. There's a couple of 10 issues. The one issue that I'm 11 concerned about is the legislature -- 12 all right -- and it could change from 13 day to day. So it could be the week 14 before; could be the week after. You 15 know, you start playing juggling 16 matches, you know, because that's when 17 the budget comes through and they 18 approve it or -- so just to be aware of 19 it. 20 More than likely, it would be a 21 week later. So if you could leave those 22 two weeks before and after, you know, as 23 open, it would make life so much easier. 24 Again, here is your -- 25 We don't need the envelop. Okay. 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 24 2 You could put it in the envelop, but you 3 don't have to send it through the mail. 4 So, please, before you leave, I'd 5 like you to read it and sign it so we 6 can get this part of our work done. 7 As I explained, we had gone to the 8 conference, and listening to, again, 9 the same problems that we have all over 10 the state. And now, you know, 11 individuals, trustees, and colleges, you 12 know, are dealing with this. It's a 13 day-to-day struggle. 14 The other part is every time we go 15 to these conferences, you kind of get 16 hopped up on laws and regulations, what 17 you're supposed to be doing, what you're 18 not supposed to be doing. And I'm happy 19 to say that we are following the 20 guidelines by the state, by the 21 education law. And like everything 22 else, things have to be tweaked, but 23 very easily done. 24 So, again, I urge -- 25 And that was part of the request 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 25 2 made by Middle States. Besides our 3 retreat today, by Ward going out and 4 going through future training, we 5 received our Trustee Institute 6 Certificate. Well, Dafny did. And then 7 all of a sudden, they woke up and said, 8 Wait a minute, we got Walter. We got 9 Ernie -- okay. We were choppy, but it 10 was okay. Then they made a special 11 announcement, they moved us out of the 12 room. But it was nice seeing people 13 that we work with from all over the 14 state and moving forward. 15 One of the things that was brought 16 up was that the student trustees that 17 are attending would like to set up a 18 committee, where they could work, you 19 know, with the executive board, with 20 New York State Community College 21 trustees. 22 It was kind of split. There were a 23 couple of individuals who put together a 24 PowerPoint and said, We want a 25 president. And -- and we said, at this 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 26 2 point, We don't believe it's time to set 3 up a whole separate organization. But I 4 spoke to Mary from Nassau, and she asked 5 me to help and to be in touch with me to 6 help with the trustees. 7 Their concern is that they want to 8 stay involved, and we're looking at, 9 hopefully, where they could be there for 10 a year or two and help the student 11 trustees that are coming on board -- 12 all right -- understand what's 13 happening. 14 The problem is, as a student 15 trustee, you come on board, then all of 16 a sudden, I know what I'm doing. 17 Good-bye. You know, and it's -- in some 18 cases, there are a couple of student 19 trustees who are there for their second 20 year, which is great. You know, but, 21 again, at that point, they're in and out 22 so fast. 23 So I think it would be worthwhile 24 to look into to strengthen the state 25 organization, and to help the student 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 27 2 trustees to get a better understanding 3 of what their role is. 4 We're kind of concerned about the 5 idea of student trustees in the sense 6 that, you know, it connotates this 7 temporary position. You know, we told 8 them all -- okay -- you're trustees. 9 That's the bottom line. So there's a 10 little -- there's another name in front 11 of it. It doesn't make a difference. 12 You know, you have the same rights as 13 everybody else in this room, and the 14 same opportunity to voice your opinion. 15 So, again, it was a good time. 16 Now, to go back to our work. I've 17 asked individual -- our two new 18 trustees, and I will give you copies of 19 our committee lists. 20 TRUSTEE SANDERS: Oh, good. 21 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: (Handing) 22 TRUSTEE LILLY: Thank you. 23 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Okay. We have 24 one -- currently, one full committee, 25 which is Personnel. 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 28 2 TRUSTEE SANDERS: Okay. 3 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: And that is Paul 4 as the chair, Walter, and Dafny. 5 I have a volunteer for a second 6 committee, who's now the chair -- 7 TRUSTEE IRIZARRY: I have been 8 appointed a chair? 9 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Yes, you are. 10 (Laughter) 11 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: If you come 12 forward and say, Yes, I will do it -- 13 you're entitled to be the chair. We're 14 going to have people with you, I 15 guarantee it. 16 So Dafny will be doing the Academic 17 Affairs and Student Services. 18 Quickly, you have that as one 19 committee -- as of right now, Personnel 20 is -- is gone. 21 All right. Academic Affairs and 22 Student Services is one committee; we 23 have Facilities and Technology as 24 another; we have Advocacy Committee as 25 another; and Budget and Audit as the 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 29 2 last. 3 STUDENT TRUSTEE FIESELER: Can I go 4 with her (indicating)? 5 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Sure. 6 TRUSTEE IRIZARRY: Welcome. 7 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: What is the 8 Facilities and Technology? 9 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: We act as a 10 liaison with the college's facility and 11 technology leadership so as to advise 12 the board about policies pertaining to 13 their certain capitol, technology 14 initiatives, and development of the 15 master plan. 16 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: I'll do that one. 17 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Oh, good. 18 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: That was easy. 19 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Moving right 20 along. 21 Just to make everyone aware, 22 Advocacy -- 23 TRUSTEE LILLY: Ernie, I'll go on 24 the Facilities and Technology. 25 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: Bryan, what do 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 30 2 you do? 3 TRUSTEE LILLY: I worked on one of 4 the building here, so -- 5 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: Oh. 6 TRUSTEE LILLY: But that was when I 7 was young. 8 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: Oh, okay. 9 TRUSTEE LILLY: A long time ago. 10 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: I would like 11 everybody to keep in mind the Advocacy 12 Committee and Budget and Audit. 13 I believe that Saul had been on it 14 last year. So, hopefully, Saul will 15 take the Budget and Audit. 16 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: That sounds like 17 the right thing. 18 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Yeah. 19 All I need is a volunteer for 20 Advocacy. 21 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: What is Advocacy? 22 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Okay. Acts as a 23 liaison with the college and public 24 relation's leadership so as to advise 25 the board of policies pertaining to 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 31 2 external communications with media, 3 government representatives, community 4 groups, business organizations, 5 educational -- 6 (Laughter) 7 TRUSTEE PONTIERI: Where are the 8 two new members that are supposed to 9 come on? 10 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: They're right 11 there. 12 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: We have two more 13 coming up, but we'll get them in there. 14 Don't worry about it. You're not going 15 to stand alone. 16 TRUSTEE PONTIERI: Whatever you 17 tell me, Ernie. 18 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: What? 19 TRUSTEE PONTIERI: Whatever you 20 tell me. 21 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Whatever I tell 22 you? 23 TRUSTEE PONTIERI: Yeah. 24 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Okay. 25 (Laughter) 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 32 2 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: At least we'll 3 have at least one individual, and we'll 4 build from there. 5 Okay. We'll be discussing what 6 opportunities are going to be as far as 7 our meetings go. I understand -- 8 okay -- what your responsibilities -- 9 everybody on this board is. All right. 10 And they have an outside life, and we 11 put a lot of pressure on you to, you 12 know, attend meetings, to attend, you 13 know, committee meetings. So with our 14 technology today, you know, to get an 15 issue looked at or discussed before the 16 trustees, I don't think there's a 17 problem with us -- you know, the 18 committee discussing it, you know, over 19 a conference call. 20 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: I agree, with the 21 technology. 22 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: You have to 23 remember, as far as a committee goes, 24 you're in both. 25 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: That's right. 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 33 2 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Okay. And -- 3 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: It's a 4 recommendation. 5 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: -- I am going to 6 be working on the bylaws over the next 7 six months, and if anybody would like to 8 participate with me, you're welcome to 9 it. Okay. Right now we have to get 10 work squared away with our retreat and 11 move forward, but we want to make some 12 changes. Okay. I think it's important, 13 though, that when they can, the 14 committee meeting in person. 15 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: I agree. 16 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Okay. But 17 there's going to be times when issues 18 are going to come up and say -- just 19 like I explained before. You know, as 20 an executive board member, something 21 comes up at the college, it has to be 22 done right then and there. Whether it 23 be air-conditioning or equipment has to 24 be bought -- all right -- and this board 25 has given us the authority to expend the 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 34 2 money to get that equipment or get it 3 fixed. So that's important. It's 4 important for us to not only have 5 continuity, but to move forward. 6 And that's my report. Now, it's 7 your turn. We're going to go around the 8 room for our roundtable. 9 Our roundtable, basically, is to 10 put issues or discuss -- all right -- 11 issues that we like with other board 12 members, or, basically, tell everybody 13 else what you did that month, you know, 14 with the college so we all know what's 15 happening. 16 Dafny, want to start? Anything? 17 TRUSTEE IRIZARRY: Um -- 18 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Well, let me put 19 it this way: Nobody's forced to say 20 anything. I just go -- she happened to 21 be right here (indicating). So I -- 22 TRUSTEE IRIZARRY: I want to say 23 something. 24 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Yes. 25 TRUSTEE IRIZARRY: I just want to 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 35 2 first thank the institution for 3 endorsing our participation in the 4 conference that we attended and for 5 sponsoring it. It was well worth it. I 6 learned a lot as a new trustee there. 7 One of the things that I learned 8 was that Suffolk Community College -- 9 98 percent of our students come from 10 Suffolk County. So we are number one in 11 the state in terms of serving our 12 community. We are really a true 13 community college. So now when -- I 14 was -- I knew that a lot of our students 15 came from Suffolk, but I didn't know we 16 were number one in serving our students. 17 So that was a proud moment. 18 And all the facts and presentations 19 were very good; about open meetings, 20 about how to conduct executive session. 21 We had Assemblywoman Glick about -- 22 talking about TAP, and many issues 23 that -- that, you know, Chuck also 24 referred to, that we'll see a decline in 25 high school graduates, and that will 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 36 2 affect us; that maybe when the economy 3 recovers, then we will see a decline in 4 enrollment because then people can't 5 afford four-year institutions, and so on 6 and so forth. 7 Thank you. 8 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Welcome. 9 TRUSTEE LILLY: Thank you, sir. 10 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Anybody else? 11 TRUSTEE PONTIERI: Just a point of 12 information. 13 I spoke to Steven Schrier from the 14 Holocaust & Diversity. You know they 15 have the banners that go up every year 16 about this time. And they'll be going 17 up the end of October, I guess, but 18 we're also going to be putting them back 19 in Patchogue; back on the junior high 20 school again. We'll be working with 21 them. It'll be that first week in 22 November, which was the week that 23 Marcelo Lucero passed. So those will be 24 going up in the junior -- we'll probably 25 do a program there, I'll let you all 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 37 2 know when it is. 3 It was pretty neat last year when 4 we put it up. It was during the whole 5 course of that whole tragedy. It was 6 one of the neater things that we did. 7 So just to let you know. 8 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: All right. 9 TRUSTEE PONTIERI: Walter, wake up. 10 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Walter has 11 nothing to say, do you, Walter? 12 VICE CHAIRMAN HAZLITT: I just -- 13 one observation. 14 In listening to the projections 15 about the decline in college -- high 16 school graduates, how it will affect 17 community colleges; I think with the 18 disparity between what it costs to go to 19 a community college as against a private 20 institution. I don't care if the 21 economy booms by 2012. It's still a 22 very, very difficult burden for a person 23 to spend $200,000 for four years of a 24 private institution, and more and more 25 people are realizing the value of this 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 38 2 organization. 3 Years ago, the guidance counselors 4 were steering people away from the 5 college, but today, they advocate that 6 you take advantage, we're probably the 7 best bargain in the County of Suffolk 8 and the State of New York. 9 DR. MCKAY: If I could just add 10 something. I believe the -- and I said 11 this more than once. If you take a 12 catalog and you look at the back of the 13 book, and you look at the faculty and 14 their credentials and where they've 15 gotten their degrees from, we have 16 faculty here at this college that are 17 right there with -- at the top of the 18 best. 19 Our students are getting the best 20 education. And it's simply not a matter 21 of pricing, but our faculty provides, in 22 a classroom environment, the best 23 teaching/learning -- you know, that I've 24 experienced in higher education in 25 24 years. So that is also an attribute 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 39 2 to what we do well as an institution, 3 and I think that's the point that we 4 have to stress more than once. I 5 believe students that are coming to us 6 for the first time are realizing that. 7 Our retention rate for students 8 this year was higher than any prior 9 years, and I believe the economy is one 10 of those factors, but I do believe that 11 the quality of education is the other. 12 All students that are coming in require 13 more work -- some of them, more work and 14 support at the very beginning, and we're 15 providing those resources. 16 I'll speak to more of that in my 17 report, but, Walter, you're right on, 18 and I think we have to do more of this. 19 Dafny mentioned that we've filled 20 99 percent of Suffolk County -- 21 TRUSTEE IRIZARRY: 98 percent. 22 DR. MCKAY: 98 percent. 23 So, again, you know, those are the 24 messages that we will have to continue 25 to save for our elected officials as we 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 40 2 visit with them. 3 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: Well, what 4 becomes even more important -- and, you 5 know, obviously, as we hire, we hire 6 four-year students, but what becomes 7 even more important is, we talked before 8 about the cost of living on Long Island, 9 you can't attract people to move here -- 10 DR. MCKAY: Right. 11 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: -- for more jobs. 12 Especially the higher paid jobs. So if 13 we don't blow our own college graduates 14 that want to stay on Long Island, if we 15 don't have the education system that 16 does that and the companies here that 17 supports the taxpayers -- 18 DR. MCKAY: Right. 19 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: -- we're going to 20 have to make other decisions. So it's 21 more and more important that our 22 colleges and universities support our 23 economy -- 24 DR. MCKAY: Absolutely. 25 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: -- for the 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 41 2 students -- for the students that we 3 have to hire. 4 STUDENT TRUSTEE FIESELER: As the 5 person who sits in these classrooms, I 6 have to totally agree. I sit in these 7 classrooms; I get taught here. It's the 8 most wonderful experience I've ever had. 9 As far as one-on-one, you can't ask for 10 better. 11 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: All right. 12 Just again, this way it's put on 13 the record, going down the list: 14 Academic Affairs, we have Dafny as 15 the chair, we have Angel and Theresa on 16 that committee. 17 Facilities and Technology, as the 18 senior member, we have Patricia as the 19 chair. 20 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: I don't have a 21 problem with that. 22 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Okay. 23 Advocacy, Paul, you can talk to 24 yourself. 25 TRUSTEE PONTIERI: And Walter. 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 42 2 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: And Walter? 3 TRUSTEE PONTIERI: Yeah. 4 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: All right. 5 We'll make Walter the chair. 6 Personnel Committee, Dafny as 7 chair -- Paul as chair, Dafny and Walter 8 sitting on the committee. 9 And Saul, as a member of one, he's 10 going to chair his own committee. He's 11 going to oversee our money and the legal 12 issues. 13 I thank you very much. 14 President McKay will now give you 15 his report. 16 DR. MCKAY: First, I want to 17 welcome Theresa Sanders and Bryan Lilly; 18 we welcome you to the college. 19 Certainly, you're coming at a point 20 where the institution -- we are serving 21 over 25,000-plus students for the first 22 time in the history of the college. 23 Twenty-five thousand, one hundred and 24 eighty-six to be exact. We are excited 25 to have you and your expertise. 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 43 2 Certainly, our board members welcome you 3 as well, but from the faculty, staff, 4 and administration, we appreciate you -- 5 you know, publically giving your 6 service, your time, your skills, and 7 your ability to this fine institution. 8 So welcome. 9 TRUSTEE SANDERS: Thank you. 10 DR. MCKAY: Next, I want to 11 publically thank the Faculty 12 Association, and I want to thank the 13 faculty of this institution. 14 At the last meeting, you voted on a 15 contract that -- for the next five 16 years. We've discussed the difficulty 17 we'll be facing with the budget at this 18 institution, and the Faculty 19 Association, myself -- including the 20 President of the Faculty Association, 21 Ellen Shuler Mauk; and Vice President, 22 Kevin Peterman; Ilene Kreitzer, College 23 General Counsel; and Jeff Tempera, and 24 myself, personally sat through 25 negotiations. And we did it in earnest. 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 44 2 We understood the difficulties we 3 faced. We understood the challenges 4 before us. We knew what the numbers 5 were, and by no means was it, you know, 6 a walk through the path on negotiations. 7 It was difficult, but it was earnest and 8 we did it with integrity. And I believe 9 that we have a faculty contract that 10 would guide us through the next four to 11 five years, that would help this 12 institution to become stronger in what 13 we do, which is focus on teaching and 14 learning. 15 So I want to publically thank Ellen 16 and Kevin -- they're back there 17 somewhere -- and Ilene for their work. 18 It took a lot of work to arrive at a 19 contract where 89 percent of the faculty 20 voted in favor of this contract. 21 This is a difficult time in the 22 history of this college where we ask the 23 faculty to give back and to reinvest 24 into this institution over and beyond 25 what they do regularly, which is 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 45 2 teaching and spending time advising our 3 students. They have now reinvested back 4 into this institution. This is the 5 first time in the history of this 6 institution, over 50 years, that a 7 contract has been reopened. This has 8 never happened before. 9 So that is a momentous occasion for 10 this institution. I commend the 11 faculty. I commend the Faculty 12 Association, and Ellen and myself and 13 also Jeff Tempera for working with -- 14 with us to help guide us through. 15 Along with that, we have what we 16 call the plus 2, which is, again, adding 17 two students to classes that are not at 18 limit, that are not developmental, that 19 are not in labs. That is a phenomenal, 20 phenomenal achievement and partnership 21 with the faculty. We are asking the 22 faculty to add two extra students to 23 every class. 24 The cost avoidance with that, when 25 you compute and calculate what that 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 46 2 would mean for the institution, is 3 significant. And that is another, 4 again, partnership with the faculty, 5 because we know when you have a class, 6 psychology or history, of 35 students, 7 and now you have 37, and you have five 8 sections of 37, that's -- that's what 9 you're teaching, and you have your 10 office hours, that requires a lot of 11 commitment on the part of the faculty. 12 So that is a major -- to me, a major 13 commitment, again, to this institution, 14 and, again, I want to thank the FA for 15 that as well. 16 Enrollment, I mentioned we were 17 25,186; that's where we are for the 18 fall. Vice President Stein mentioned 19 about the budget. We've projected a 20 2 percent increase in enrollment in the 21 budget. We were told that was modest. 22 I think we're around 2.56 or 2.76 at 23 this point. 24 Student persistence and student 25 retention is important for us to stay 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 47 2 there. Every spring or every winter 3 session we see a decline in enrollment 4 at that point, because either students 5 transfer or didn't persist. 6 That 2 percent is a 2 percent for 7 the entire year. Which means that we 8 have to maintain that 2 percent through 9 the entire year to meet the budget. 10 We've heard of the reductions in 11 the state in regard to what transpired 12 this past year. It took a lot of work 13 for us to maintain this operation and 14 not impact the academic integrity of 15 what we do. We spent a lot of time 16 making sure that, you know, staffing 17 levels were appropriate. 18 Should we have more full-time 19 faculty members? Absolutely. The 20 county is in a -- very terrible 21 shape right now. We've asked for 22 $1.5 million, 4 percent over the budget. 23 That was not approved, because they're 24 still trying to close that gap of 25 $200 million. 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 48 2 On the other side, for the next 3 three years, and I'm very proud of this, 4 in the first time in the history of the 5 college, we have over $129 million in 6 capital infrastructure, which we've 7 never had at this institution. 8 And, Chuck, I think that's because 9 you came back. 10 (Laughter) 11 DR. MCKAY: But if you study the 12 history of community colleges, the 13 history of the fruit maintains is one 14 that is -- is sorely lacking in regard 15 to oversight in regard to priority. 16 This past year, our legislature voted 17 unanimously to approve $30 million, in 18 which 15 will be from the state, 15 from 19 the county, for this institution to 20 start taking a look at its 21 infrastructure. 22 The teaching and learning 23 environment is very pivotal. Over the 24 past few months, I had several calls to 25 the executive. 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 49 2 We had in the library at Ammerman 3 where a major water main got broke in 4 the library that flooded three floors 5 and was quite significant in regard to 6 what we do. 7 I've called over the summer in 8 regard to two major buildings that went 9 down with no heating -- no 10 air-conditioning, and the boilers went 11 out. 12 So those are noted problems we have 13 with infrastructure, but now we have an 14 opportunity, for the next three years, 15 to focus on that. And that's 16 significant. And I think we have to at 17 least thank the legislators. I know we 18 didn't get the 1.5 million on the 19 operating side of the budget -- we'll 20 tighten our belt, and it's going to be 21 difficult, but on the capital side, they 22 have certainly delivered. And that, to 23 me, is a significant achievement by the 24 board, by the faculty, all those who 25 have visited, the students who went with 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 50 2 us to the legislature who spoke on our 3 behalf, and we've accomplished, I think, 4 a major goal for the next three years. 5 That will require a lot of work. 6 On this campus, it's the -- the learning 7 resource center; Ammerman it's the 8 science building; at East, right now 9 that library will be opened, hopefully, 10 in the spring. In the budget, we have 11 put aside $150,000 in this year's budget 12 to help with supplies and staffing to 13 start up in that location. And we also 14 have the health and wellness center at 15 East. 16 All those were advanced and funded, 17 but for the 15 million we're going to 18 look for from the state, which Jon 19 DiMaio, who I think just stepped out -- 20 oh, he's right here. 21 I'll ask Jon, if you can just give 22 us an update quickly on where we are 23 with all the projects. 24 MR. DIMAIO: Sure. 25 Jon DiMaio, Capital Projects. 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 51 2 As President McKay was mentioning, 3 it's a pretty exciting time in capital 4 projects. We have a lot going on on all 5 three campuses, which we're very proud 6 of, and all are moving along very well. 7 The library at the Eastern Campus 8 gets more beautiful every day. It 9 really is taking shape, brightened with 10 the vision that we saw from the design 11 team a year and a half ago. It's going 12 to be a beautiful building. We have a 13 great contractor, a great clerk out 14 there monitoring the construction. 15 We're very happy with its progress, and 16 we do hope to be able to occupy that 17 building in the spring. 18 Insofar as the science building on 19 the Ammerman Campus, that's in design. 20 Tentative floor plans have already been 21 drafted. It's moving along very well. 22 Prior to the summer, we were able to 23 receive a lot of input from all the 24 stakeholders in that building for every 25 laboratory, every space that would keep 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 52 2 the architect and the engineers moving. 3 That's certainly something that we hope 4 to bid and break ground on in 2011. 5 Insofar as the learning resource 6 center here at Grant, an RFP -- 7 actually, an RFQ to receive 8 qualification packages from design firms 9 has been drafted. We want to get that 10 out this semester, have teams come in, 11 and start that design competition so we 12 can award that design for the building 13 towards the end of this year. 14 We were able to, over the summer, 15 in a very short window, do a lot of 16 repairs to our roads and parking lots. 17 I don't know if anyone has driven around 18 the campus today, but prior to this 19 summer, you couldn't go a couple of 20 hundred feet without hitting a pretty 21 big pothole. So we're very happy that, 22 from a safety perspective, this campus, 23 East, and Ammerman have seen a marked 24 improvement. And with the amount of 25 student traffic that we're seeing, that 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 53 2 was a very high priority. It was done 3 very quickly and efficiently. We're 4 very happy with the way that went. 5 And insofar as the infrastructure 6 project that Dr. McKay referenced, 7 tremendous project that we have, 8 far-reaching implications. Thirty 9 million dollars over three years to fix 10 what we have to maintain our facilities 11 is enormous. Nothing we've had before. 12 This isn't only to fix things we know 13 are broken, but things we know are going 14 to fail that haven't broken yet that 15 have -- they've simply met their useful 16 life, and at any time, you could have a 17 major heating system in a building go 18 done in an academic year, and where are 19 you then? 20 We will be pursuing the $15 million 21 match from the state within the next 22 month and a half. A call letter went 23 out from the SUNY Chancellor's office 24 asking for all community colleges to 25 submit projects where you have local 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 54 2 sponsor support, but have yet to secure 3 state aid. And that will certainly be 4 our primary focus. 5 Since it's $10 million over three 6 years, we will take anything we can get. 7 If we can just get 10 million for the 8 first year, we'll get it and we'll spend 9 it. There's plenty of work out there to 10 be done. 11 So you will, as you walk around the 12 campuses, see a lot of construction 13 activity. There's a lot of design going 14 on behind the scenes when you look at 15 the first new academic building on the 16 Eastern Campus since it was constructed; 17 the first new academic building on the 18 Ammerman Campus in 30 years; the first 19 new academic building on this campus 20 in -- probably since the sports and 21 education center. All contributing to 22 the mission of the college, all 23 contributing to the learning 24 environment, to our growing enrollment, 25 to putting students in a very 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 55 2 comfortable setting to accomplish our 3 mission. 4 Very exciting time. We'll be very 5 busy. And certainly encourage anyone 6 who wants to see a particular project, 7 if you have questions about a particular 8 project, let us know, we're proud of all 9 of them. 10 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: The only 11 question is, how many more parking 12 spaces are going in Ammerman? 13 TRUSTEE MCMAHON: Yeah, really. 14 (Laughter) 15 DR. MCKAY: Well, let me jump on 16 that one, because -- you know, when we 17 computed at Ammerman -- and I know 18 Dean Sherwood is back here somewhere -- 19 realized he got 3,956 spaces, of which 20 over 600 belong to the employees, with 21 14,000 students. 22 In Riverhead, when we did a 23 presentation with Jon DiMaio, one of the 24 first things we said was that, in order 25 to be green, we've got to go up. 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 56 2 Meaning that, on existing parking 3 spaces, we have to go up with parking 4 structures. 5 On the Ammerman Campus, which is, 6 you know, hill and gully, there's no way 7 we can put additional parking spaces -- 8 and we've created additional parking 9 spaces, by the way, by narrowing some of 10 the spots. But we have to create a 11 structure that is an upright structure, 12 that can have several levels, that can 13 put parking in more than one space. 14 And I believe we had some support 15 for submitting that as a project -- a 16 new project going forward. We have not 17 discussed that fully in regard to where 18 we're going to go with that, but I 19 believe that's one of the new projects 20 we're going to enter into the capital 21 program going forward, because that 22 campus has simply outgrown its ability 23 to maintain the amount of students that 24 are commuting to that campus. 25 If you come down College Road on a 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 57 2 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 3 and we've -- we've now reached out to 4 the town to ask the town to change the 5 timing on the light so we have a longer 6 green light to get folks onto the campus 7 and off the campus than we've had in the 8 past. And that's one preliminary 9 approach we have taken, but we have to 10 have a parking structure put in place in 11 that location, and that will be a 12 capital project we'll send forward. 13 MR. DIMAIO: Just to add to that. 14 In the short term -- or shorter 15 term, trying to leverage the projects we 16 currently have, with the new science 17 building, given its location, the annex 18 parking lot by the tennis courts in 19 Ammerman will be significantly used. 20 And we've asked the architect team for 21 that project to specifically look at 22 that lot to improve its efficiency. The 23 islands are relatively large. The 24 larger they need to be, we hope to 25 increase the number of spaces in that 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 58 2 lot -- okay -- by as much as we can 3 afford. 4 DR. MCKAY: Right. 5 MR. DIMAIO: And the benefits there 6 are, it's certainly associated with the 7 project we already have. It's certainly 8 associated specifically with that 9 building. So, again, we hope to 10 leverage the funding we already have to 11 improve the situation on campus 12 associated with that particular 13 building. So we'll see how many more 14 spots we can get there as well. 15 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Thank you. 16 VICE CHAIRMAN HAZLITT: Just one 17 comment then. Just think of all the 18 money that's generated by the fines that 19 they give. 20 (Laughter) 21 DR. MCKAY: You know, Walter, 22 that's the one thing that a president 23 can do, you know? 24 We've noticed on that campus, by 25 the way, folks are parking either under 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 59 2 the trees or on the sidewalk, you know, 3 and we understand that. We don't issue 4 the tickets. And we tell students, Just 5 don't park by the fire hydrants, just 6 don't park in the fire lanes, because 7 those are the things that -- it would 8 take the fire marshall to come around or 9 the cops come around, and that's what 10 you see. So we're doing our best in 11 that area. 12 And certainly, when it comes to 13 issuance of tickets, we're very mindful 14 that that's something that we simply 15 cannot put as a priority for us on that 16 campus. It is simply nothing that we 17 can do, because we don't have the 18 infrastructure to seek that level of 19 parking on the campus. 20 Moving -- I'm sorry. 21 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: I know I'm 22 dating myself, do we still have a 23 student court? 24 DR. MCKAY: There's an appeal 25 process where the students appeal online 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 60 2 and all of that, and then they will 3 state, you know -- we're using 4 technology, by the way. 5 (Laughter) 6 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Okay. And we 7 had a court. 8 DR. MCKAY: Sure. Sure. Sure. 9 It's a little bit different. 10 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Okay. 11 DR. MCKAY: As you had received, my 12 inauguration will be commencing this 13 Sunday. I hope that we'll see each of 14 you there. It's a wonderful, wonderful 15 time for the history of this college. 16 We're having guests traveling from 17 Trinidad, from England, from Canada, 18 from Maryland. You name the states, 19 they're all coming in town just to be 20 here. We've got presidents from 21 numerous institutions that are coming, 22 and others that have sent proclamations 23 because of the fact that there are 24 conflicts, but numerous proclamations. 25 This is a wonderful time for the 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 61 2 history of this institution. And I 3 think serving as its sixth president, 4 I'm honored to work with you as a board 5 to help take us into that 51st year. 6 We're already there. We just thought 7 that we had no more parking spaces, so 8 that's the first problem. But on 9 Sunday, we are at the hot -- the 10 Sheraton, on Sunday, for the president's 11 reception. 12 Walter already talked to me about 13 being at the wine pairing session, 14 because that's the one he loves -- 15 (Laughter) 16 DR. MCKAY: -- and the inauguration 17 will be on Tuesday. The Chancellor will 18 be here, the Board of Trustee members 19 from SUNY will be here, and our 20 symposium, by the way, we have Hal 21 Plotkin from the U.S. Department of 22 Education that's flying in town to 23 represent Secretary Annie Duncan. That 24 symposium will help us position the 25 institution in regard to where we are 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 62 2 going forward in regard to planning and 3 assessment, understanding what the 4 demands are upon the institution. 5 Community colleges have been 6 founded upon access and the whole issue 7 about, you know, affordability, 8 transferability, and all of those areas, 9 but the elements of workforce 10 development and so much more has been 11 added to what we do. So that 12 discussion's going to have a broad-based 13 panel of presidents and national 14 experts. And Dr. Tina Good, who's in 15 the room with us today, as well as 16 Trustee Lewin will sort of oversee that 17 entire discussion. 18 I hope that from that we can get 19 some working documents that we can help 20 in the fall, when we begin our planning 21 sessions, to talk about where we are, 22 how we are, and where we're headed. And 23 that's a key roll in this inauguration. 24 I followed up just last evening, 25 and I -- you know, we have to keep the 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 63 2 students at the front of what we do, but 3 our men's soccer team is ranked number 4 one in the country. 5 (Applause) 6 DR. MCKAY: I'll say that one of my 7 proudest moments as president is when we 8 decided to become a one college sports 9 team and sports program. If anyone 10 knows the history of having three 11 campuses and try to merge three of 12 anything into one team, and the 13 difficulty you have with that, and then 14 you have the founding parents or faculty 15 members who are with those teams. 16 I'm also proud to announce that 17 Coach Brown has been selected as the 18 first baseball coach of a one college 19 team for this college. That has been a 20 phenomenal process, a difficult process, 21 but I think we're moving in the right 22 direction as an institution. 23 The other areas that we would look 24 at in regard to the coming through in 25 one college institution, and it's going 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 64 2 to require change. That's the only 3 constant that we have. And this is one 4 of the first major elements in my 5 administration that I think we have 6 successfully accomplished. 7 We also had a state visit before -- 8 between our meetings from the Prime 9 Minister's Delegation from Trinidad and 10 Tobago, and I want to comment and thank 11 all those who were involved in that. 12 This campus did a phenomenal job. They 13 turned around with a room -- a lecture 14 room into a state room in a matter of 15 two days. And I walked into the room 16 and I didn't realize where I was. 17 But the delegation had the 18 equivalence of our SUNY Chancellor on 19 that delegation. The Prime Minister 20 unfortunately got sick and was in -- in 21 the city. But while we had the meeting, 22 I started speaking. One minute into my 23 speech, the fire alarm went off. 24 (Laughter) 25 DR. MCKAY: You know, but -- but we 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 65 2 were able to then go outside and break 3 into different groups. 4 Ernie, you were right there with 5 us. 6 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Yeah, I know. 7 DR. MCKAY: And we were able to 8 engage -- engage. And I'll tell you 9 this, I've gotten back several responses 10 now where they want to have a delegation 11 from the college to now come back to 12 Trinidad and Tobago to establish 13 relations. 14 One important thing in that meeting 15 was we put together a three 16 delegation -- a state delegation, a 17 county delegation, business and 18 industry, our faculty, all in one room 19 to meet with this delegation that was 20 international. So now what they've 21 gotten in return is saying, we have that 22 same delegation come down to us so we 23 can start to have some bilateral 24 agreements on trade and industry and 25 commerce and education; all of those 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 66 2 areas. That's major. We've never had 3 that at this college. So now we've 4 expanded the boundaries of what we do. 5 Over the past few months, I've been 6 meeting with every elected official. 7 I've met with several of you one-on-one 8 as part of expanding my vision and 9 understanding the vision of those 10 individuals in regard to how we can work 11 together throughout the region. We've 12 existed for 50 years, and that 50 years 13 means a lot to this county. When we 14 started this institution, we had only 15 500 students. 16 Ernie, you remember. 17 And -- 18 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Wait a second. 19 Hold it. 20 (Laughter) 21 STUDENT TRUSTEE FIESELER: I was 22 waiting for that. 23 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: It was a little 24 before my time. I mean, that was 25 close -- 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 67 2 DR. MCKAY: I know. I know. I 3 know. 4 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Close, but -- 5 STUDENT TRUSTEE FIESELER: I was 6 waiting for the reaction. 7 DR. MCKAY: I didn't give the year, 8 Ernie. 9 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Yeah, I know. 10 DR. MCKAY: But we are now over 11 25,000 students, and that means a lot. 12 We are not just growing because we need 13 growth, we are serving a county, and 14 we're doing a fine job of doing that. 15 I think it's important -- it was 16 important for me to meet with every 17 elected official, meet with each of the 18 trustees. I'm now -- I'm meeting now 19 with all the presidents. 20 Trustee McMahon mentioned earlier 21 about keeping folks on Long Island. 22 There's a new initiative that I started, 23 which is called "Stay on Long Island." 24 In meeting with the presidents, I'm 25 asking them to commit at least three 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 68 2 scholarships for our students to be on 3 the campus full time at no cost. So far 4 we've gotten four institutions to 5 commit. And, in fact, one institution 6 wants to go beyond that, which is, 7 again -- they may pay for three 8 full-time students, plus pay either half 9 or a quarter or whatever it might be in 10 a shared system. 11 I believe that we have to keep the 12 best on Long Island, because most of our 13 students are either transferring or -- 14 almost 70 percent are transferring. The 15 problem that we have is the cost of 16 higher education in regard to where the 17 students are going. 18 We have right now three 19 scholarships, $30,000 a piece, for one 20 student from each campus. And now 21 that's going to be expanded to where 22 they're going to allow our students to 23 at least visit with them when they have 24 specific sessions on the campuses. 25 That's important. That's significant 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 69 2 for us as well. 3 Under the operating budget, Chuck 4 mentioned most of it. We did a lot of 5 work this past summer to make sure that 6 our campus would be ready for reopening. 7 We knew that we were going to face a 8 very high number of students that were 9 turning out. We wanted to make sure 10 that our infrastructure was in place, 11 and are each of the deans spending an 12 inordinate amount of time with Jon 13 DiMaio and the plant operations teams on 14 each campus. 15 We did not have a better start 16 since I've been here in six years than 17 this semester. Having this many 18 students and having such a smooth start, 19 to me, was -- was a phenomenal 20 achievement. I spent one day on each 21 campus; first I was at East, then at 22 Ammerman, then at Grant. And my 23 observations, I did not see students 24 lining up through any door requiring 25 service. They were in classes, and 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 70 2 that's an attribute to the staff and to 3 the deans that are on the campuses. 4 Going forward, it is going to be a 5 challenge, and we're going to have to 6 find new ways of trying to address our 7 enrollment issues going forward. 8 You know, we talked about the 9 climbing enrollment. That may 10 potentially happen. If the economy gets 11 better, great; more folks are getting 12 jobs. Our students are going to be 13 moving on, and we hope that they do get 14 those jobs because that's what we are 15 here for. But we also have to look at a 16 budget that we have to sustain and we 17 have to function and operate going 18 forward. 19 Recently, what we did was to hire 20 three counselors. As part of the 21 Middle States discussion, they've asked 22 us to make sure that we look at the 23 faculty-to-student ratio. And I believe 24 we are around 1,200 or 1,300 students 25 per employee in counseling. In that 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 71 2 area, I believe that's the number. I 3 can verify that number as well. But 4 this semester, we were able to hire one 5 on each campus. 6 Is that enough? Absolutely not. 7 But it takes small steps to get to -- 8 you know, resolve in those issues. 9 Our Middle States report is due 10 back to Middle States by November 1st. 11 All of the items that were listed in 12 that report in regard to the county and 13 the relationships with the college, in 14 our opinion, have been resolved. We 15 have evidence of good relationships with 16 the county. We've documented that. 17 We'll provide that to the Middle States 18 group in that report. Their visit -- 19 They may visit us in January if 20 they do want to come on site if what we 21 submit is not sufficient. We're no 22 longer on warning, that has been 23 addressed, but now they wanted to see 24 evidence of working relationships with 25 the county, and we've given them 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 72 2 numerous instances of where that has 3 been done. I'm hoping that that will 4 resolve the issue. 5 That concludes my report. 6 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Thank you. 7 Anything else before we close from 8 anybody? 9 (WHEREUPON, there was no response.) 10 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: All right. Then 11 at this point, I request a motion to 12 move to adjourn the Board of Trustees 13 meeting. 14 VICE CHAIRMAN HAZLITT: So moved. 15 TRUSTEE IRIZARRY: Second. 16 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: All those in 17 favor? 18 ALL: Aye. 19 CHAIRMAN MATTACE: Done. 20 (Time noted: 11:07 a.m.) 21 22 23 24 25 1 Board of Trustees 9/16/10 73 2 3 4 C E R T I F I C A T E 5 6 I, THERESA PAPE, a Shorthand Reporter and 7 Notary Public of the State of New York, do hereby 8 certify: 9 That the foregoing is a true and accurate 10 transcription of the stenographic notes taken 11 herein. 12 I further certify that I am not related to 13 any of the parties to this action by blood or 14 marriage; and that I am in no way interested in the 15 outcome of this matter. 16 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my 17 hand this 16th day of September 2010. 18 19 20 21 ___________________________________ THERESA PAPE 22 23 24 25