1 2 3 -----------------------------------------x 4 MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 5 SUFFOLK COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE 6 AMMERMAN CAMPUS 7 ALUMNI ROOM - GYMNASIUM BUILDING 8 SELDEN, NEW YORK 9 FEBRUARY 16, 2006 - 8:30 A.M. 10 -----------------------------------------x 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Court Reporter: Lori Anne Curtis 22 23 24 25 2 1 2 3 A P P E A R A N C E S: 4 5 WILLIAM D. MOORE, Trustee/Chair 6 WALTER C. HAZLITT, Trustee/ Vice Chair 7 JERRY KANE, Trustee/Secretary 8 FRANK C. TROTTA, Trustee 9 DAVID OCHOA, Trustee 10 JOHN L. KOMINICKI, Trustee 11 ERNESTO MATTACE, JR., Trustee 12 BELINDA ALVAREZ-GRONEMAN, Trustee 13 AVETTE D. WARE, Student Trustee 14 DR. SHIRLEY PIPPINS, President, SCCC 15 TERRI KOPP, President's Office 16 MARY LOU ARANEO, V.P. for Institutional Advancement 17 DR. JAMES CANNIFF, V.P. Academic & Student Affairs 18 GEORGE GATTA, V.P. for Workforce & Econ. Dev. 19 CHARLES STEIN, V.P. for Business & Fin. Affairs 20 JOANNE BRAXTON, Assoc. V.P. for Campus Affairs 21 ILENE KREITZER, Executive Director of Legal Affairs 22 ET AL 23 24 25 3 1 February 16, 2006 2 MR. MOORE: Let's get started. And 3 we'll start off with the Pledge. 4 (Whereupon, the meeting commenced 5 with the Pledge of Allegiance.) 6 MR. MOORE: Thank you to all for taking 7 the time to come to today's meeting, and 8 we'll hop right down to the resolution to 9 approve the minutes of our January 19th 10 meeting. 11 MR. OCHOA: So moved. 12 MR. MOORE: Second? 13 MR. TROTTA: Second. 14 MR. MOORE: All in favor? 15 (Whereupon, all those in favor 16 respond "aye.") 17 MR. MOORE: We have just the six 18 resolutions. Are there any questions on 19 any of the six? 20 (No response.) 21 MR. MOORE: Hearing none, I'll 22 entertain a motion to approve Resolutions 23 2006.11 to .16. 24 MR. KANE: So moved. 25 MR. MOORE: Is there a second? 4 1 February 16, 2006 2 MR. HAZLITT: Second. 3 MR. MOORE: All in favor? 4 (Whereupon, all in favor respond 5 "aye.") 6 MR. MOORE: You guys want to go. 7 That's good. 8 MR. OCHOA: I'm double-parked. 9 MR. KOMINICKI: I left mine running. 10 (Laughter.) 11 MR. MOORE: I'll entertain a motion to 12 recess our trustees' meeting and convene 13 the directors' meeting of the Association. 14 MR. OCHOA: So moved. 15 MR. KANE: Second. 16 MR. MOORE: All in favor? 17 (Whereupon, all in favor respond 18 "aye.") 19 MR. MOORE: And now we can approve our 20 minutes of the January 19th Board of 21 Directors' meeting. 22 MR. KOMINICKI: So moved. 23 MR. MOORE: All in favor? 24 (Whereupon, all in favor respond 25 "aye.") 5 1 February 16, 2006 2 MR. MOORE: And there is a resolution, 3 "Increasing The Stipend Rate For the 4 College Association Treasurer." 5 And I'll entertain a motion on that 6 one. 7 MR. KANE: So moved. 8 MR. MOORE: Are we going too fast? 9 (Board members respond "no.") 10 MR. MOORE: All right. 11 I'd be happy to slow down. 12 MR. KANE: No. 13 MR. MOORE: All in favor? 14 (Whereupon, all those in favor 15 respond "aye.") 16 MR. MOORE: All right. I'll entertain 17 a motion to adjourn the Board of 18 Directors -- 19 AUDIENCE MEMBER: There's another 20 resolution. 21 MR. MOORE: There is? 22 Ah-ha. Never mind. I was going too 23 quickly. 24 Item B on our Directors' hats is a 25 presentation on our auditor's report, and I 6 1 February 16, 2006 2 apologize for not catching that. 3 Do we have that presentation ready to 4 roll? 5 MR. KIRSCHNER: Yes. 6 I just wanted to inform you that a new 7 auditing firm has been hired after some 8 problems with the prior auditing firm with 9 a lot of school districts on Long Island. 10 Enough said. 11 DR. PIPPINS: Maybe we didn't even need 12 to say that. We just hired a new auditing 13 firm (laughing). 14 MR. MOORE: All right. 15 MR. KIRSCHNER: Sorry. 16 We recommended the treasurer to review 17 bank statements as well as review an 18 initial reconciliation, and that's part of 19 the reason for the increase in the stipend. 20 That's been implemented. They've noted 21 that there was no account policy and 22 procedures manual. That's being developed. 23 They sent over a copy for a model for us. 24 We also had no confidential procedures 25 for reporting inappropriate actions, which 7 1 February 16, 2006 2 is a whistle-blower policy. That will be 3 developed and presented to the Board of 4 Directors for the next meeting. It will 5 parallel the College's policy. 6 All prior year recommendations have 7 been implemented, and those focused on 8 child care and the Long Island Children's 9 Festival. If there are any detailed 10 questions, Maryann Alger is here from the 11 Association to assist. 12 MR. KOMINICKI: Who is the new auditor? 13 MS. ALGER: Callahan and Nuroki 14 (phonetic). 15 MR. TROTTA: What is it? 16 TRUSTEES: Callahan and Nuroki 17 (phonetic). 18 MR. TROTTA: How were they chosen? 19 MS. ALGER: We did an RFP last year and 20 we received about six replies. We spoke 21 with the Association, the Foundation board, 22 and there was a consensus. Callahan and 23 Nuroki, not only were they the least 24 expensive, but they also had a lot of 25 experience between Nassau Community College 8 1 February 16, 2006 2 as well as other non-for-profits. So we 3 felt they had more hands-on expertise. 4 DR. PIPPINS: And for the record, it's 5 important to note that we conducted the RFP 6 consistent with group policy in terms of 7 having different auditing firms over a 8 period of time. 9 MR. KANE: I noticed also in there, 10 there's no written credit card policy. 11 MS. ALGER: Right. There isn't one, 12 and we are now comparing some other 13 community college credit card policies, and 14 hoping by the March 9th meeting that we can 15 get that policy to you. 16 MR. MOORE: Thank you. 17 Now I'll take that motion to reconvene 18 our Board of Trustees' meeting. 19 MR. MATTACE: So moved. 20 MR. TROTTA: Second. 21 MR. MOORE: All in favor? 22 (Whereupon, all those in favor 23 respond "aye.") 24 MR. MOORE: We're doing so well -- 25 MR. KANE: -- we're going to take a 9 1 February 16, 2006 2 break. 3 MR. MOORE: No. 4 We are going to drop down to our 5 finance report because we do have an 6 appointment at nine o'clock. We're going 7 to walk over to the gym to see a 8 presentation. 9 But for now, we'll take Chuck's finance 10 report. 11 DR. PIPPINS: I want to provide a 12 context for that report before Chuck 13 provides the report. 14 This will be a context both for the 15 fiscal report and for the enrollment and 16 retention report that will follow on the 17 agenda. 18 The good news is that we met our spring 19 credit enrollment goals, and met them at a 20 level high enough to begin to mitigate the 21 variances from the fall. And I'd like to 22 congratulate the entire campus and college 23 community for their work, with special 24 thanks to the enrollment committee, to our 25 union leadership, to our faculty for making 10 1 February 16, 2006 2 calls, the student services. And a special 3 thanks to Kate Rowe, who I called every 4 morning between December 1st and probably 5 yesterday, for having gotten us to this 6 point. 7 Despite what I would describe as 8 surviving our first important hurdle, we 9 still have some challenges moving forward. 10 I mentioned to you late last year that 11 despite significant efforts, our fall 12 enrollment did not decline as happened in 13 many parts of the state; it was essentially 14 flat. And this situation, from our 15 perspective, caused concern because 16 enrollment drives the funding for the 17 institution. So after our fall census 18 date, we began an in-depth analysis of the 19 data from the fall, laying the foundation 20 for what we're calling the institution's 21 data-driven decisions and planning for the 22 spring, and you will hear more about this 23 later. 24 As a result of that analysis, it became 25 apparent that while enrollment was, in 11 1 February 16, 2006 2 fact, flat and we had maintained our 3 traditional average class size of 21 4 students plus, a significant number of 5 sections had been added in the fall, 6 resulting in the significant increase in 7 costs. 8 We also note significant enrollment 9 challenges in our non credit ESL programs 10 and significant declines in enrollment 11 among certain age groups. And in this 12 case, that same group that Long Island is 13 looking at in terms of the brain drain. We 14 had instituted additional controls designed 15 to monitor costs and implemented access on 16 student success efforts to address our 17 enrollment challenges. 18 As we planned and addressed these 19 issues, we tried to balance five goals: 20 (1) maintaining quality and our commitment 21 to excellence; maintaining access and 22 clarifying the needs to our population; 23 meeting enrollment goals to avoid loss and 24 to increase FTE aids for subsequent years; 25 and staying within our budget. 12 1 February 16, 2006 2 As you probably know, meeting 3 enrollment goals has implications for two 4 years connected to any particular academic 5 year. It effects the tuition for that year 6 and the FTE aid for the subsequent year. 7 So for example, not meeting our goals in 8 '04-'05 meant a loss of about $294,000 in 9 FTE aids for 2005-2006. And in early 10 January, just tracking against the previous 11 year, we anticipated that we could have 12 been down about 400 FTEs. And without 13 significant intervention, that would have 14 resulted in a loss of about $686,000 in 15 tuition and even more significant loss in 16 terms of FTE aid for the subsequent year. 17 So given the seriousness of that challenge, 18 we moved forward in the following way: 19 I personally coordinated the 20 institution's recruitment and retention 21 plan. I guess micromanaging that. 22 Sometimes we have to do that. We held the 23 line on administrative vacancies. We 24 adjusted our goals in the spring to 25 compensate for variances in the fall. We 13 1 February 16, 2006 2 required daily reports of enrollment 3 figures, monitored class cancellations, 4 reviewed and monitored class size and 5 sections offered. We held a town hall 6 simulcast on January 25th to reinforce this 7 with the chancellor's community. We 8 reached out to address ESL enrollment 9 issues -- and Belinda was very much 10 involved in that -- and we developed a 11 strategy to follow up on that initiative, 12 and we instituted additional controls and 13 reporting systems as needed. 14 When you look at your data, you will 15 see negative variances under the area of 16 "Tuition" for part-time fall, part-time 17 spring, summer and noncredit ESL aid. And 18 in terms of expenditures, under "Part-Time 19 Instructors," evening, part-time summer, 20 part-time overload evening, keep in mind 21 that these estimates are based upon both 22 allocation challenges in terms of the 23 control we have over how long to get 24 allocated, and a very conservative fiscal 25 assumption that the spring variances would 14 1 February 16, 2006 2 parallel the fall variances. We have, in 3 fact, established controls which we believe 4 will minimize these possibilities, and the 5 March report will reflect the results of 6 our efforts. 7 In summary, we've met our full-time 8 credited enrollment goals for the spring at 9 a level that mitigate much of the fall 10 variance. The spring ESL enrollment 11 increased last year, and we are very 12 pleased with that, but not at a level to 13 compensate for what happened in the fall, 14 and we have instituted and will institute 15 additional controls as necessary to ensure 16 that we finish the year with a balanced 17 budget. 18 Moving forward, we'll continue with the 19 strategies that I've outlined earlier, and 20 we will address further issues as part of 21 the Plan C discussion allowing us to 22 allocate appropriately and more effectively 23 manage our resource. 24 And with that context, I'll let Chuck 25 take it. 15 1 February 16, 2006 2 MR. STEIN: Well, that about sums it 3 up. 4 (Laughter.) 5 MR. STEIN: Let me get into some 6 specifics that I think will help. 7 First of all, the president pointed out 8 that the adjunct and overload lines for the 9 expenditure side show a variance. But 10 that's predicated on the fall situation. 11 And we will have the first payroll for 12 adjunct and overloads on March 2nd, and 13 that will give us the data necessary to 14 revise the projection, and we expect an 15 improvement there. So, I think we're going 16 to see in the March report an improvement 17 on the expenditure side from where we are 18 now. We're still to the good on the 19 expenditure side now, but it's going to go 20 up. 21 In terms of the FTEs, what we see is 22 with the current projection for FTEs for 23 this year, we will have a positive increase 24 for state aid next year. So we're hopeful 25 that that's going to hold. 16 1 February 16, 2006 2 One other thing that I wanted to point 3 out on the finance report, you might want 4 to note that in your resolutions today, you 5 did not have a resolution for health 6 insurance payments. 7 MR. MOORE: And Walter is not here. 8 MR. STEIN: And Walter is not here. 9 We've raised the issue with the County 10 that the rates they sent over were 11 incorrect, and we raised that with the 12 budget office and we raided that with the 13 budget review office over at the 14 legislature. All sides agree that the 15 rates sent over to the College were not 16 correct, and they are revising them. And 17 we have been advised not to pay the health 18 insurance bill until we get the revised 19 rates. 20 So I just wanted to keep you up to 21 speed on that and we'll keep you posted as 22 the rates are developed. 23 MR. MOORE: Any questions from the 24 board? 25 MR. OCHOA: I have a question, and I'm 17 1 February 16, 2006 2 not sure who to direct it to, but I'll 3 direct it to president for the moment. 4 There's a conversation in the community 5 going on regarding a policy matter of head 6 count of employees. Mr. Romaine indicates 7 that there are vacancies, so fill them 8 automatically; Mr. Levy's response has been 9 that may not be good public policy, and do 10 that with great care. 11 I notice in our monthly position report 12 that we have some 42 existing vacancies 13 across the board, all the way from exempt 14 to faculty. The bottom line on that report 15 indicates these are known -- some of these 16 vacancies are known as "dormant" vacancies. 17 This may not be the moment to respond 18 to my query, but I raise it because I would 19 like to have a response, generally, about 20 this report. It's something that we 21 normally don't look at, but we raise it now 22 -- I raise it now because it's part of a 23 greater conversation. And (2), we're 24 looking at budgets mid year, and I would 25 like to know downstream, at least, the game 18 1 February 16, 2006 2 plan on some of these vacancies and -- 3 DR. PIPPINS: You are asking for a 4 policy position or -- I'm not sure I know 5 what you are asking. 6 MR. OCHOA: My question is: There are 7 42 vacancies. I'd like to have an update 8 on why. 9 MR. STEIN: Okay. 10 A number of those positions have 11 temporary appointments in them for the 12 term. So it's not a permanent appointment. 13 MR. OCHOA: Okay. 14 MR. STEIN: And to go into a full-blown 15 explanation of that, would take some time. 16 If you like, we can develop a whole 17 discussion on that for the next meeting. 18 MR. OCHOA: I would prefer that. Thank 19 you. 20 DR. PIPPINS: I think also it's 21 important to keep in mind there are general 22 policies towards vacancies, and then there 23 are the realities and the situations that 24 we find. I think that's part of what you 25 were saying. 19 1 February 16, 2006 2 MR. OCHOA: That's correct. 3 DR. PIPPINS: So in the current 4 context, it would be very difficult for me 5 to push the board on any vacancies that I 6 wouldn't deem absolutely necessary, if 7 that's what you were asking. 8 MR. OCHOA: That's part of the 9 conversation, yeah. Thank you. 10 DR. PIPPINS: I wouldn't want to make 11 any political statements to you (laughing). 12 MR. KOMINICKI: Is it possible to be a 13 full-time student online only? 14 DR. PIPPINS: We have an online degree 15 in business, and that's part of what -- if 16 you look at some of the -- I'll talk a 17 little later in terms of our plans moving 18 forward. 19 One of the things you see us doing is 20 seeking to increase the number of online 21 courses that we offer with more assurances 22 with quality and students' preparedness 23 from the online courses. Because, we're 24 finding some challenges in terms of the 25 persistence of students in distance 20 1 February 16, 2006 2 education. 3 I would mention that as part of the 4 initiatives at the Grant Campus, we now 5 offer courses at 6:30, 7:00 and 7:30. We 6 have 14 people in an Introduction to Human 7 Communication from 6:30 to 7:45; 25 people 8 in Freshman Comp, and 34 people are taking 9 Western Civilization I at 6:30 in the 10 morning. Then at seven, you've got people 11 taking developmental math skills and 12 algebra, and then a whole range of 13 offerings at 7:30, from Principals of 14 Accounting to Special Health Care. And 15 this was part of our effort to shift what 16 you offer in order to attract population. 17 We thought that we were losing people in 18 the afternoon and evening because, we felt, 19 that was because people were working 20 perhaps, now, two jobs. And if we offered 21 it in the morning before they went to work, 22 they would be more likely to come. And it 23 looks like that's something that we will be 24 able to reach. 25 MR. MOORE: And we have the feedback 21 1 February 16, 2006 2 coming up the line to you and to the staff 3 around you so that the decisions can be 4 made as this data becomes available? 5 Sometimes I guess it's got to come from 6 the lowest place and work its way through 7 reports up, and by the time it gets to 8 where we have to work with it, there's been 9 a lag of time. 10 So do we feel that we have in place the 11 tools we need to respond to this rapidly 12 changing -- to set courses at 6:30 a.m. is 13 a tremendous step of a college to respond 14 to a need. And I guess the question 15 becomes: If we see something where we've 16 allocated resources and it's not going to 17 work, have we put in place the tools so we 18 can respond to it quickly and say, That 19 didn't work, let's re-allocate over here? 20 DR. PIPPINS: We're paying lots of 21 attention to class size, number of sections 22 offered, what people are attending. 23 So for example, when we analyzed the 24 data, we saw that that population of 20- to 25 35-year-olds, was a significant drop. That 22 1 February 16, 2006 2 was like 66 percent of our student body 3 traditionally. That means that we have to 4 address -- attract other populations 5 because these people were leaving Long 6 Island. The Brain Drain data shows that at 7 five times the national average, Long 8 Island people are leaving. 9 We also know that we've got an aging 10 population in a sense, and we also know 11 that people are potentially working more 12 hours, and so that's how Dr. McKay came up 13 with the morning classes, and we're trying 14 to be more flexible and creative as an 15 institution. And that will be essential in 16 terms of our success moving forward. 17 MR. MOORE: Are there sources of data 18 or explanations? 19 You have given one explanation, which 20 was people migrating off the Island. 21 Obviously, you don't get the kind of 22 post-departure interview of students that 23 says, please explain why you are not coming 24 back. 25 DR. PIPPINS: I think we do. As part 23 1 February 16, 2006 2 of the process -- 3 MR. MOORE: Do we get useful -- 4 DR. PIPPINS: Part of our process is 5 that faculty makes calls to students to 6 encourage them to register, and as part of 7 those conversations, you get lots of 8 information. 9 Would you like to elaborate on that, 10 Joann? 11 MS. BRAXTON: We do do a survey. It's 12 called a Non Returning Student Survey. So 13 any student who is not with us who was in 14 one semester and did not return for that 15 semester, we send out a survey to them. 16 And we report -- it goes from 17 transportation to I couldn't get a 18 babysitter to relocation. So we have 19 about, I'd say, about 25 different factors 20 as to why people did not return. And we 21 follow those trends. And if we see 22 something we can address to making changes, 23 we do that accordingly. And we do that by 24 campus and by the college. 25 MR. MOORE: And you are getting a 24 1 February 16, 2006 2 descent -- 3 MR. TROTTA: -- sampling? 4 MR. KANE: Statistically significant 5 sample. 6 MS. BRAXTON: Oh, yes. Absolutely. 7 Our Institutional Sector's Office, they do 8 that survey. And they're statisticians, 9 and they make sure that the survey is 10 significant and it's valid and it's 11 reliable to give us quality information. 12 MR. TROTTA: Can we see some of that 13 data? 14 MS. BRAXTON: Oh, absolutely. 15 MR. TROTTA: It would be really 16 interesting to see by campus, the reasons, 17 or the top reasons. 18 DR. PIPPINS: Right. We looked at it 19 by campus and encouraged the campus deans 20 to attend to the issues on their campus, 21 because it did differ by campus. 22 MR. TROTTA: Sure. 23 DR. PIPPINS: We're also involved as 24 part of the Mission Review II, as part of 25 preparation for Middle States, as part 25 1 February 16, 2006 2 of all the -- Tina might be able to help us 3 with this -- the general assessment process 4 in looking at courses and seeing where 5 there's weaknesses and where there's 6 strengths, making adjustments. We're 7 looking at productivity data on departments 8 and programs. So we can share all that 9 with you. 10 But what we're trying to do is become a 11 more data-driven institution so we have the 12 information we need to make decisions. 13 If you have any more questions, Tina 14 will be happy to answer them. 15 (Laughter.) 16 MR. MOORE: Dennis? 17 MR. McCARTHY: Dr. Pippins, can we also 18 get some information on the industry 19 downward trend that's going to probably 20 occur in the next five or six years, as far 21 as everybody knows about, as far as the 22 admissions and just the availability and 23 the pool of students? 24 And I think that's within a five-year 25 plan right now. Could we see what -- 26 1 February 16, 2006 2 DR. PIPPINS: Right. 3 Is Joe here? 4 (No response.) 5 DR. PIPPINS: He gave us can a chart. 6 It looks like it's a leveling off of the 7 increase as opposed to a loss as is going 8 to be in some other areas. 9 MS. BRAXTON: Yes. And we do have a 10 summary that gives us the five-year 11 enrollment trend and the reasons why that 12 trend will be taking place, and we can 13 provide that to you as well. 14 MR. McCARTHY: I think that's important 15 for a planning tool. It's something that 16 you are all aware of, being in the 17 industry, but we're not. 18 MS. BRAXTON: Right. I will have that 19 for the March meeting. 20 MR. McCARTHY: Thank you. 21 DR. PIPPINS: And part of what we 22 talked about in the simulcast is the fact 23 that we will, as an institution, see the 24 intersection of the loss of this 20- to 25 35-year-old group with the trend that 27 1 February 16, 2006 2 you're talking about, Dennis, in the next 3 few years. So that it's going to be 4 important that we be more flexible and 5 creative and responsive. And I can talk 6 about it now or I can talk about it later 7 in terms of what we're doing in terms of -- 8 MR. McCARTHY: And it has significance 9 with the question that David asked about 10 with vacancies. 11 DR. PIPPINS: Right. 12 MR. MOORE: Any other questions? 13 (No response.) 14 MR. MOORE: So we'll have some 15 information in March. It's a short 16 turn-around time, if you look at your 17 calenders. The March meeting is earlier 18 rather than later, or maybe the February 19 meeting is later rather than earlier; 20 however you want to look at it. 21 And we timed this really well, because 22 we have a break for a presentation at 23 nine o'clock, so we're going to walk across 24 to the gymnasium, have a presentation and 25 then we'll come back because we have more 28 1 February 16, 2006 2 to do. 3 (Whereupon, a short recess was held 4 from 9:00 a.m. to 9:13 a.m. for a 5 presentation of the Grant Campus 6 Dance Team.) 7 MR. MOORE: All right, that was a real 8 nice interlude. I'm energized watching 9 somebody else exercise. 10 (Laughter.) 11 MR. OCHOA: Hey, man, you're shameless; 12 okay? 13 MR. MOORE: I'm putting my sneakers on 14 this afternoon. I've got to get out there; 15 fifty-something degrees. 16 All right, my turn. 17 Plan C. And excuse the pun, it came to 18 me this morning and I refuse to let it go. 19 "Plan C discussion is more than an academic 20 exercise." 21 MR. KOMINICKI: Okay. They say 22 two-thirds of a pun is P-U. 23 (Laughter.) 24 MR. MOORE: We've discussed Plan C for 25 it seems like and it has been years and 29 1 February 16, 2006 2 years and years. 3 MR. KANE: And it has been. 4 MR. MOORE: And it goes -- I guess 5 where I want to push this discussion, or my 6 suggestion where we can push it is take it 7 beyond the theoretical, which we had the 8 folks come down from SUNY and the attorney 9 comes down and tells us Well, this is what 10 state law says and this is what the 11 regulations say and then you get this 12 Memorandum of Understanding from the 13 County. And I asked Ilene to kind of 14 coordinate reaching out to say: What does 15 it mean for the college when you are doing 16 your functions as an institution where this 17 agreement or differing understandings of 18 what it means to be a community college in 19 the state system, how it influences how you 20 operate on a daily basis? 21 And so Ilene put together an issues 22 list, and it's going to help the 23 discussions. I've met with Dr. Pippins and 24 some folks from the County Exec's Office 25 and the legislature's office. Because, 30 1 February 16, 2006 2 everyone has an understanding from where 3 they come from of what it means to be a 4 community college working with the County, 5 working with the legislative branch, and 6 we're all coming from different places. So 7 I've asked Ilene to give us some hard and 8 fast examples to get us off the theoretical 9 and onto the factual. 10 So perhaps you can just discuss some of 11 the areas -- 12 MS. KREITZER: Are we going to go into 13 executive session to discuss the details? 14 MR. MOORE: We are going to go into 15 executive session to discuss the specific 16 details; the models of contract, we had 17 Memorandum of Understanding and how we can 18 negotiate the terms and conditions of what 19 would be a new revised or nonexistent MOU. 20 But just for the purposes of getting 21 the conversation going, you might give us 22 some highlights. 23 MS. KRIETZER: Well, I provided each of 24 you in a separate mailing a copy of the 25 issues list we are using. 31 1 February 16, 2006 2 Just to give you a quick update, we are 3 trying to schedule a meeting with the 4 Plan C panel. Due to the election in 5 November, membership of that panel has 6 changed a little bit. There's a new 7 presiding officer and new chair of the 8 Education Committee. 9 Some of the issues that were raised 10 there that need to be addressed are the 11 limitations that the current Plan C puts on 12 our ability to purchase anything over a 13 certain amount -- 14 $2,500; correct, Chuck? 15 MR. STEIN: Yes. 16 MS. KRIETZER: -- and the ability the 17 board has to, as you know, to set salaries 18 for its exempts and have those salaries 19 implemented. 20 Limitations we have on legal services. 21 Right now, the County attorney's office 22 provides us with legal services. We have 23 no other option for legal services other 24 than what I do in the office. 25 I'll ask Chuck if he has any hot items 32 1 February 16, 2006 2 he wants me to raise now. 3 MR. STEIN: Just as a definition in 4 terms of questions that have come up in 5 terms of processing of payroll. 6 I think it's important to point out 7 what the current Plan C provides. It 8 provides for the College to go out for 9 proposals to have the payroll processed. 10 What that means is it's the technical 11 operation of printing the checks, and then 12 having -- or stubs, if someone has direct 13 deposit -- and then having those delivered. 14 We cannot, under the current situation, 15 completely take over payroll where we can 16 appoint people, set salaries, start paying 17 them. 18 Under the County charter as well as the 19 limitations of Plan C, the county 20 comptroller, a separately elected official, 21 certifies the payroll. And what that means 22 is the College couldn't hire someone, put 23 them on the payroll at a determined salary 24 under the current circumstances. You need 25 the approval of the county process, 33 1 February 16, 2006 2 including the county comptroller. 3 So I just wanted to point out that 4 definition; that while we can go out with 5 an RFP right now for payroll services, what 6 you are going out for, basically, is the 7 technical printing and delivering of the 8 check and the stub, and that's it. 9 MR. MOORE: Thanks, Chuck. 10 Okay. We are going to bring this up in 11 executive session and talk more fully 12 because we do want to have a scheduled Plan 13 C meeting. I would invite another trustee 14 to join Dr. Pippins and myself. I know 15 that everyone has conflicting schedules and 16 things like that, so if you are interested 17 in representing the board in this subgroup, 18 let me know or let Dr. Pippins know. Your 19 input is valuable, and we want to move this 20 along. 21 It goes beyond -- I mean, there are big 22 issues here which is understanding the 23 autonomy of a college in the context of 24 Middle States accreditation in the state 25 SUNY system of what the appropriate roles 34 1 February 16, 2006 2 are, and there is a law firm being hired to 3 really evaluate on a statewide basis the 4 entire relationship of community colleges 5 to their sponsors and to the state system 6 to see how it's working. 7 I think they thought in the last 8 go-around of regulatory language changes 9 they had it all fixed, and there's mild 10 litigation of that. Westchester litigation 11 continues, and I just checked with counsel, 12 and the appellate division hasn't ruled yet 13 on this. So, what they thought was clear 14 clarification language to give clearer 15 lines of authority to respective 16 authorities, hasn't seemed to jell just 17 yet. So that's where we are with that. 18 DR. PIPPINS: And I think, Bill, also, 19 the big issue really is in building and 20 managing resources, being able to allocate 21 funds to those categories that you deem 22 appropriate so that you can effectively 23 manage an organization. If you don't have 24 control over your resources, it limits your 25 ability to manage effectively, and that's a 35 1 February 16, 2006 2 major concern. And I believe, as you 3 mentioned, moving into Middle States -- and 4 they will be here in 2007 -- that will be 5 an issue. 6 I had conversations with the president 7 of Erie County Community College and we 8 know the issues, the problems they had with 9 accreditation. We have similar issues, but 10 some of ours are deeper than theirs, so it 11 would be an interesting process that we 12 need to address prior to Middle States. 13 MR. MOORE: You received before -- I 14 don't know whether you consider it a 15 confidential package of that issues list. 16 There's material out there that Ilene 17 gathered for us, and it may be her work 18 product, so I won't... 19 But she reached out and did a great job 20 to see how other colleges in the state 21 system are working with their sponsors 22 on particular -- and she set forth 23 particular pointed questions. I'll let her 24 decide whether it's her work protect or a 25 public document. But I encourage you to 36 1 February 16, 2006 2 review that because it's going to give you 3 a sense of -- we're not working in a vacuum 4 here. Other colleges have the same kind of 5 issues, so it's not something unique to 6 Suffolk. 7 MR. KOMINICKI: Is anyone ahead of us 8 in the Middle States process? 9 DR. PIPPINS: Well, Erie was, and they 10 lost their accreditation temporarily based 11 on some of these issues. And they had to 12 address these issues if they wanted to 13 retain their accreditation. And they are 14 having problems again so.... 15 And there's a law firm that SUNY has 16 contracted with. 17 MR. MOORE: Right. Harris Beach. 18 DR. PIPPINS: Right. And part of what 19 they will be looking at is the relationship 20 between the counties and the colleges and 21 SUNY, should SUNY have a different type 22 relationship with the colleges in order to 23 avoid some of these problems that colleges 24 are having with the counties. 25 MR. MOORE: Dennis? 37 1 February 16, 2006 2 MR. McCARTHY: Yeah. 3 When the county attorney handles our 4 legal, how about when it comes time for a 5 settlement. What type of input does the 6 board have and what type of input do you 7 have when it comes time for a final 8 settlement; any? 9 MS. KRIETZER: We recently clarified 10 that the College has final say on 11 settlement. 12 MR. McCARTHY: And they accepted that? 13 MS. KRIETZER: Yes. Which is why you 14 have the two resolutions -- 15 MR. McCARTHY: Yes. I thought that was 16 new. 17 MR. TROTTA: Yeah, it wasn't that way 18 before. 19 MR. MOORE: Any other comments, 20 questions or observations on that? We've 21 talked about it for a long time. The 22 litigation is wearing on everybody. Let's 23 just move on in these areas where we can 24 sit and have substantive conversations. We 25 have the nice benefit of trustees that have 38 1 February 16, 2006 2 moved off this board to other places, and 3 there are voices who we're speaking with 4 who have sat in our seats. And Kevin Law 5 is one, for example. So, he knows of what 6 we speak. It's not alien territory to him. 7 So he's a good listener and understands 8 from our perspective, and from where he 9 sits, he can share with us the perspective 10 from that office. And so, hopefully, we 11 can move forward. 12 The next item on my chairman's report 13 is not something on there, but I've come 14 across some material, and I'd like to share 15 it with you, if the board is interested. 16 I'm kind of addressing this to our student 17 trustee. I gave Avette a heads up 18 beforehand. 19 We're living in a time -- and if you 20 read Newsday in the last several months, 21 you're hearing of opportunity where people 22 of very different backgrounds who on the 23 face can't talk to one another are finding 24 a way to sit in meeting rooms and discuss 25 things they never thought they could 39 1 February 16, 2006 2 discuss. Whether it's Muslims speaking 3 with Jews; red states talking to blue 4 states. But this great divide is creating 5 a difficulty in people communicating and 6 understanding perspective. 7 I came across some material -- I'm a 8 member of an organization. I'm not touting 9 it. That's not what it's about -- but they 10 do a program in nonviolence training. And 11 it talks about transforming people -- 12 equipping people to respond nonviolently to 13 injustice and conflict. And the group does 14 training sessions and weekend programs. 15 They have been doing it across the country, 16 and in the last three years, they have 17 trained over 4,000 people in small groups. 18 I thought it might be something the 19 college, as a college community, might be 20 interested in. 21 So I'll show you the material. Take a 22 look at it. I've been in contact with the 23 training coordinator for this program, and 24 she was like, "Well, whatever you want to 25 do, I'd be happy to work with you." 40 1 February 16, 2006 2 So we'll start small -- if there's 3 interest in the college community -- start 4 small and who knows from there. It's in 5 the school of the Martin Luther King, Jr. 6 Center for Nonviolence down in Georgia. So 7 I'll pass this onto you. Take a look at 8 it, and we'll go from there (handing). 9 MR. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Mr. Chairman, 10 would you provide copies to the governance 11 organization? They would be interested in 12 that. 13 MR. MOORE: Sure. 14 So I'll work with Avette on this and 15 see what kind of interest there is and go 16 from there. 17 MS. WARE: Yes. 18 MR. MOORE: Great. Thank you. 19 That's it for my report. So we'll 20 swing around the table and see if there's 21 comments, questions, concerns. 22 Jerry? 23 MR. KANE: No. 24 MR. MOORE: Frank? 25 MR. TROTTA: No, I'm good. 41 1 February 16, 2006 2 MR. MOORE: John? 3 MR. KOMINICKI: Did you say there will 4 be discussion on distance learning? Did 5 someone say that? 6 DR. PIPPINS: We'll talk about it a 7 little bit just briefly in terms of our 8 strategies moving forward, but if you 9 wanted to discuss that separately, we 10 could. 11 MR. KOMINICKI: Okay. It doesn't have 12 to be now. 13 MR. TROTTA: Actually, I do. 14 MR. MOORE: Frank, go ahead. 15 MR. TROTTA: First, I wanted to say 16 we've all received the campus publications, 17 and I've noticed in the last year, in a 18 very positive way, changes in the 19 publication. I mean, they seem very 20 responsive to their individual campus 21 needs, good articles. I just wanted to 22 make that comment because I know a few 23 years back, we were going through some 24 transitions at the different campuses with 25 the publications, and the students are 42 1 February 16, 2006 2 doing a wonderful job just by reading them. 3 I look forward to reading them and they 4 have been very helpful to me as a trustee. 5 I also wanted to thank George Gatta and 6 his team that came to the Village of 7 Bellport. As we try to do economic 8 development in our downtown areas, we in 9 the Village of Bellport -- in my other hat 10 as mayor -- I reached out to the college 11 for some assistance in meeting with our 12 chamber and seeing how our downtown area 13 could utilize some of the resources at the 14 college to invigorate it and identify some 15 of the problems that we're having. And 16 George and several others came down and 17 were very helpful. We're at a very 18 beginning point, but it was very helpful 19 for all of us to get started. So, I wanted 20 to recognize that. 21 MR. MOORE: John? Are you set? 22 Anything you want to share with us other 23 than the observation on distance learning, 24 that we're going to talk about it more? 25 MR. KOMINICKI: No. 43 1 February 16, 2006 2 MR. MOORE: Ernie, you okay? 3 MR. MATTACE: I'm fine. 4 MR. MOORE: Avette? 5 MS. WARE: Yes. I just wanted to take 6 a moment and pass these down as I speak. 7 (At this time, Ms. Ware hands out 8 documents.) 9 MS. WARE: I just came back on February 10 10th from attending the Community College 11 National Legislative Summit in Washington 12 DC. And it was really exciting because I 13 had an opportunity to actually go out and 14 lobby upon behalf of some of the programs 15 to be reauthorized, especially for the Pell 16 grants and the different -- Workforce 17 Investment Act and Karl D. Perkins 18 Vocational and Technical Act. All of 19 those, of course, affecting myself and 20 other students in community colleges 21 nationwide. 22 So I was actually able to go on Capitol 23 Hill to meet with congress, to speak with a 24 couple of the administrative aides and 25 staff personnel in the House of 44 1 February 16, 2006 2 Representatives for the New York districts. 3 Unfortunately, I was unable to meet with 4 Hillary Clinton because all of her 5 appointments were canceled for those two 6 days due to her being in Atlanta for her to 7 attend a funeral for Coretta Scott King. 8 But it was quite an eye-opening experience, 9 and I was really helped to appreciate even 10 better the importance of forming 11 relationships with our respective political 12 leaders, whether it's a congressman, a 13 legislator or the House of Representatives. 14 Because, they can actually make a 15 difference and they do listen. Now, what 16 happens when it comes to the voting, well, 17 that may be another thing. But at least if 18 you get the message out, I can see where 19 that's the beginning. 20 So it was my first time going and 21 accepting that type of a challenge, because 22 I really didn't know what to expect when I 23 went to this summit. But as I said, it was 24 very informative and I enjoyed that 25 opportunity. 45 1 February 16, 2006 2 In addition, I was able to pass on a 3 little information about the college. I 4 just kind of created and drafted up a quick 5 little fact sheet, which is in your packet. 6 And I always enjoy passing things out or 7 even verbalizing the fact that I'm from 8 Suffolk County Community College because 9 everyone states what a great president we 10 have. Everyone knows Dr. Pippins, and that 11 really makes me feel good. 12 In addition to that, on another note, 13 Dean Karl Kirschner, as was mentioned at 14 our previous meeting with the student 15 survey for public transcription, well that 16 survey is now on the student porthole. So 17 I did give you copies of the survey just to 18 give you an idea of what type of 19 information they are trying to get together 20 so that when Legislator Vivian Fisher gets 21 involved, she'll be able to draw from that 22 information being provided. 23 The last thing is that the student 24 government asked me to inquire again, on 25 the schedule of their meetings for the 46 1 February 16, 2006 2 spring semester, hoping that any of the 3 board members are able to attend any of the 4 meetings. It's open. And as I mentioned 5 before, March 15th, we do have a town hall 6 meeting where student leaders will be 7 there, Dr. Pippins and various other 8 administration. So if any of the members 9 besides myself are available to attend, the 10 students would really like to see some type 11 of show of support. It's at 11 a.m., and 12 that's March 15th. 13 MR. OCHOA: Avette, one of the things I 14 wanted to share with you is that we need, 15 as trustees, to hear from the students and 16 the students' organization regarding the 17 issue of student support, financial 18 support, financial aid, cutbacks and 19 programs. I share it with you because you 20 are our link to the students, and I don't 21 share it in the context of who's in the 22 white house and which party controls the 23 congress; I share it with you as a fellow 24 citizen that I have a sense of outrage at 25 the significant cutbacks that we're having 47 1 February 16, 2006 2 in higher education and in financial aid in 3 particular. 4 Many at this table and in this room 5 have, in the past, lifted their voice about 6 things that were wrong in society and in 7 our community. And the best approach -- 8 the worst approach is not to say, "Well, in 9 our day, we walked in six feet of snow to 10 go to class." So what? In this day, you 11 need to have a conversation in that 12 context. 13 So I don't know why coast to coast 14 student organizations on campuses do not 15 have a sense of outrage on this issue. It 16 could explain why so many of us are 17 A-political and why so few of us vote. I'm 18 not completely sure. Maybe there's a sense 19 among young people on the college campuses 20 that they are helpless or voiceless; I 21 don't know. And I'm not being critical 22 about that -- what I perceive to be that 23 situation, but I hope that at this college, 24 students come to this table and say to us, 25 there should be a resolution on some of 48 1 February 16, 2006 2 these matters regarding financial aid for 3 students. 4 It's very hard to go to a community 5 college. Retention is a critical issue. 6 So we can spend a million dollars to get 7 people to come here in 19 different 8 languages, but if they can't stay, then you 9 are dashing dreams and hopes. And I don't 10 know how we can help create that dialogue 11 with student organizations and student 12 groups. 13 But I want to draw to your attention 14 again, that I have a sense of outrage that 15 the congress, that the administration, that 16 Washington is cutting back significantly on 17 financial aid. It's not a minority issue. 18 It's about people. It's about people who 19 have dreams for second careers; it's adults 20 going back to school. It's about someone 21 who is cleaning in the hospital that has a 22 dream to be a nurse. And those dreams are 23 being dashed because the cuts are 24 significant. They are deep. 25 And I would urge you as our student 49 1 February 16, 2006 2 rep, as a member of this table, as a peer, 3 that we need to hear from student 4 organizations. Not just elected bodies, 5 but clubs and organizations. And the whole 6 nation, all community colleges, all higher 7 education, all have been quite on this 8 issue. And this is worth discussing; this 9 is worth having a conversation about. This 10 is worth shutting down a campus, campus 11 wide and saying let's talk about this 12 issue. 13 DR. PIPPINS: I'll let you be president 14 that day. 15 (Laughter.) 16 MR. OCHOA: For some of us it took a 17 terrible journey. 18 Thank you. 19 MR. MOORE: Well, I want to thank 20 Avette for attending. And one of the 21 things that we have not done as a board of 22 trustees, and we're fortunate to have a 23 president who works in the field outside 24 just the campuses here. Her contacts are 25 out there. So I think that the lack of 50 1 February 16, 2006 2 awareness of the advocacy issues is 3 overstated. 4 Dr. Pippins, at one point, presented as 5 part of her strategic statement of policies 6 and purposes for this coming year that 7 we're going to evaluate her on, are 8 advocacy issues of various forms of 9 legislation. I would ask -- it's hard to 10 believe it, but they say for every letter 11 written, it speaks for a thousand voices. 12 And there are a number of websites out 13 there on any number of topics from cuts in 14 Medicaid to student aid cuts to things like 15 that; that if there are pieces of 16 legislation that you become aware of 17 through your trip down there, that 18 individual trustees can write letters. You 19 are fully capable of writing as trustees. 20 We have a policy as speaking as a board, 21 but you are certainly entitled to express 22 and to write to your elected 23 representatives and to anyone else you feel 24 is a worthy recipient to share your 25 thoughts and concerns about this thing. 51 1 February 16, 2006 2 And we, as a board, can speak. It need not 3 be limited nor should we expect the 4 students to be the sole source of their 5 outrage. Because, we are there for them as 6 well. 7 DR. PIPPINS: Well, I was going to 8 mention this later, but I'll mention it 9 now. SUNY Day is coming up March 7th, and 10 we'll be taking a delegation to Albany as 11 part of the effort there, and Avette is one 12 of the persons that has agreed to go. And 13 I was going to invite other board members 14 to come with us for that day. We'll be 15 putting a team together to go up and lobby 16 as part of the efforts. And then SUNY also 17 has SUNY day in DC, which is April 6th. So 18 I'll participate in that. 19 AACC and ACE have been much involved in 20 lobbying and garnering resistance to these 21 changes that have taken place. And also 22 SUNY also has a list. 23 George, do you want to talk about that 24 a little. 25 MR. GATTA: Within the past month, the 52 1 February 16, 2006 2 State University has funded an advocacy 3 website using private dollars, and we've 4 been cooperating with SUNY administration. 5 And actually on our website, on our home 6 page and in the student porthole, there is 7 a link regarding this advocacy website. It 8 talks to the issues that affect the 9 community colleges and the four-year 10 institutions throughout the state. 11 It will link individuals directly to 12 their elected state officials. If you 13 don't know who your senator or assembly 14 person is, if you type in your address, it 15 will automatically bring up all the elected 16 officials. It has all the issues outlined, 17 and it gives you sample letters so that you 18 can communicate directly with your elected 19 officials. It's patterned after something 20 that was done at CUNY last year, and we've 21 been advised that there were over 400,000 22 letters generated by the CUNY website last 23 year. 24 So we are fully involved in cooperating 25 with SUNY on that. If you look on the 53 1 February 16, 2006 2 college website home page, you will see a 3 small version of a poster, SUNY.org. I 4 would recommend you take a look at it and 5 register your support for the issues that 6 are impacting us this year in the state 7 budget process. 8 DR. PIPPINS: And Tina sent a 9 communication out to the faculty asking for 10 their support, so we're involved in a 11 number of ways. 12 MR. MOORE: Good. The more people 13 speaking out, the better. 14 MR. KANE: And we do have an advantage, 15 as Bill said, that we do have a couple of 16 people that sat on this board now that you 17 are speaking to at the county level. 18 I don't think we should let it go 19 unnoticed that there are two gentlemen at 20 this table today -- the next time Ernie 21 speaks to us, he will be speaking to us as 22 our assemblyman, and he'll carry this vigor 23 over to the assembly. And, of course, 24 David, you, who speaking of this outrage on 25 the part of the federal government will 54 1 February 16, 2006 2 fight tooth and nail to restore the state 3 back from its 33 1/3 where it should be to 4 the 24 it is today, and you will fight for 5 us to do that. I'm confident. 6 Thank you. 7 MR. KOMINICKI: Unless they have gone 8 into political mode and are making no 9 promises. 10 (Laughter.) 11 MR. MOORE: Belinda, anything to share 12 with the board? 13 MS. ALVAREZ-GRONEMAN: Other than the 14 fact that I have not attended meetings for 15 the last month for Middle States, but I 16 will be back. I was on personal leave, but 17 I will be back. 18 MR. MOORE: Glad you're back and up. 19 MS. ALVAREZ: And Kate's right behind 20 me, and she's going to let me know when the 21 next meeting is and I'll be back there. 22 MR. TROTTA: Are you having little 23 withdrawals after all those meetings? 24 MS. ALVAREZ-GRONEMAN: Yes. Can't wait 25 to go back. 55 1 February 16, 2006 2 MR. TROTTA: I can tell. 3 DR. PIPPINS: And thanks to Belinda for 4 her support. It really helped to turn 5 numbers around. And we're actually up from 6 last quarter and we were significantly 7 down. 8 MR. McCARTHY: I don't know what's more 9 traumatic for you, the surgery or going 10 back to Middle States. 11 (Laughter.) 12 MS. ALVAREZ-GRONEMAN: As I mentioned, 13 I'm looking forward to going back to Middle 14 States. 15 MR. MOORE: Dennis? 16 MR. McCARTHY: The question I had was 17 how close to the community college property 18 was the potential site for the new hockey 19 arena for the Long Island coliseum. It 20 wasn't actually on it; was it? 21 DR. PIPPINS: That's in negotiations, 22 so we probably should have that 23 conversation in executive session. 24 MR. McCARTHY: Was it on our property? 25 DR. PIPPINS: I think we should have 56 1 February 16, 2006 2 those conversations in executive session. 3 MR. McCARTHY: Okay. 4 I'm looking forward to hearing it. 5 MR. MOORE: David? 6 MR. OCHOA: No. 7 MR. MOORE: Okay. 8 Are we satisfied with our board meeting 9 time? We'll drop that or shall we -- I see 10 "Uniform BOT Meeting Time." 11 MR. HAZLITT: We do need to go into 12 executive session. 13 MR. MOORE: David? 14 MR. OCHOA: Are you back on uniform 15 time? 16 MR. MOORE: Yes. 17 MR. OCHOA: I would like to revisit 18 that just for a moment. I'm not sure of 19 the history or tradition, and I'm 20 respectful of both, but we have different 21 times for different dates. And I 22 personally would prefer if we had uniform 23 time at 8:30. I would also, as a citizen, 24 appreciate having meetings so fellow 25 citizens can attend. People I know are 57 1 February 16, 2006 2 working and can't be here. So some thought 3 might be given to a meeting that's just a 4 town meeting, and if no one shows up, 5 that's the way it is. And what do you do 6 about that. But you have offered it. 7 I'm not sure even the college 8 constituents who should be here and heard 9 on occasion, we might have to facilitate 10 that in an evening meeting. But at a 11 minimum, I was concerned that if I drive 12 all the way out to Riverhead, it's at 9:30; 13 if I go to Grant, it's, I think, 9:30; and 14 then I come down the street and it's 8:30. 15 So I'm not sure as to the history of that, 16 and that's where that came from. 17 We've delayed the conversation at my 18 request for some time, and if we delay it 19 again, I will not, at all, be upset. It's 20 okay. 21 MR. MOORE: You have raised a couple of 22 ideas to kick around, too. 23 MR. OCHOA: Or better yet, if we didn't 24 meet, would it really matter? Would anyone 25 notice that we went from eleven meetings to 58 1 February 16, 2006 2 seven? So it's just the whole thing of 3 meeting for -- to what end; for what 4 purpose? 5 And I can make that comment now having 6 served on this board for two years about 7 the connection of how we do things. And 8 it's good, sometimes, Mr. Chairman, to call 9 a time-out and review the conversation 10 about how we do things and why. And that's 11 where it comes from. It doesn't come from 12 a mandate, from me at least, that we must 13 meet at 8:30 or eleven, but the overall 14 issue is one that the issue of 15 accountability is the critical issue, but 16 how you create that dialogue. Well, we may 17 have to change the way we do things. 18 MR. MOORE: I appreciate your 19 observations. Thank you. 20 MR. McCARTHY: Bill, I think David 21 addressing the number of meetings, I think 22 it's a real tribute to the administration, 23 to the faculty and to the staff, if you had 24 a possibility of having a board that could 25 meet three times a year and have a strong 59 1 February 16, 2006 2 executive committee and a finance committee 3 looking over and any ad hoc committee set 4 up. I don't know if you can do that in the 5 public sector, though. But you might well 6 be able to run this board by meeting three 7 or four times a year. If you expanded -- 8 if the board was a few more people with 9 more input. 10 But I think it really is -- your point 11 is well taken. You might well be able to 12 accomplish everything you have to 13 accomplish by fewer meetings, and the only 14 reason we can do that is because we have a 15 strong faculty, administration and staff. 16 But to have a meeting to have a meeting 17 is not the purpose of any board. 18 MR. MOORE: Okay. 19 It sounds like we could have a retreat 20 on that one, huh? 21 MR. STEIN: It would be good if you 22 knew SUNY's requirements with respect to 23 what the board is required to do in terms 24 of meetings. 25 And just to throw in something else to 60 1 February 16, 2006 2 consider, we do have things that require 3 your approval to pay certain expenses, 4 so... 5 MR. McCARTHY: Yeah, that's why I said, 6 Chuck, I don't know if you could pull it 7 off in the public sector. 8 MR. KOMINICKI: Other thoughts offer 9 different meeting times, offer 10 opportunities to get input. 11 MR. TROTTA: Well, this was really 12 about the time; right? We started talking 13 about uniform board meetings, and I think 14 primarily, from what I know, it has to do 15 with the representatives of the east end 16 that were on the board that have to go 17 west; is that correct? I don't know. I 18 mean, whether it's good or bad, I think 19 that's what it was. 20 MR. MOORE: We can talk about this. 21 We'll work on it. 22 But David has some other ideas, whether 23 it's an evening meeting, or if there are 24 people who care. 25 It's a funny thing. A lot of 61 1 February 16, 2006 2 organizations have meetings and nobody 3 attends until there's a hot button topic, 4 and then boom, the room fills up. And I 5 served on a town board for eight years, and 6 I can tell you a lot of meetings were empty 7 meetings. And we had meetings in the 8 morning and meetings in the evening, and 9 when the hot topic came out, the room was 10 full. But worthy thoughts, worthy of 11 consideration. 12 We do have executive session. We've 13 got folks that have to leave, at least one 14 who has to leave at 10:15. I guess the 15 question is: Do we anticipate action 16 coming out of executive session? 17 MS. KRIETZER: No. 18 MR. MOORE: Is it illogical to put our 19 president's comments and Item M behind 20 executive session so we can do that and let 21 Frank leave? Anybody have a reason why we 22 shouldn't do that? 23 DR. PIPPINS: I don't -- we won't be 24 making -- there's no vote necessary on 25 workforce housing or policy updates or 62 1 February 16, 2006 2 enrollment and retention, so you can do 3 that. 4 MR. MOORE: Good enough. 5 Then, just for the purposes of juggling 6 our attendance here, we're going to 7 entertain a motion for executive session. 8 The purpose of executive session is to 9 discuss employment of a person, litigation 10 and contract negotiations. 11 DR. PIPPINS: I would encourage you all 12 to take a look at the Newsday article. 13 Also, I would love to ask any of you who 14 are interested come with us to SUNY Day. 15 MR. MOORE: Very good. 16 Can I have that motion, please? 17 MR. OCHOA: So moved. 18 MR. KOMINICKI: Second. 19 (Whereupon, executive session is 20 held from 9:49 a.m. to 11:04 a.m.) 21 MR. MOORE: Thank you all again for 22 your extended cooperation. I do appreciate 23 it, and that was important. And we needed 24 to have the members here for that. 25 Dr. Pippins, you're up. 63 1 February 16, 2006 2 DR. PIPPINS: Just a couple of quick 3 things I would like to bring to the 4 attention of all the board members; that 5 the New York Community College Trustees' 6 Association is having its annual meeting in 7 Saratoga March 31st to April 1st, and I 8 think it's important that we be represented 9 in these activities. 10 I'll just pass this around (handing.) 11 And again, just bringing to your attention 12 some of the success of our efforts in 13 publicizing the college and having the 14 appropriate profile for the Foundation 15 which resulted in the opportunity half of 16 op ed in Newsday. 17 And as far as retention -- Kate is not 18 here, and because we spent a lot of time on 19 this, I would just briefly share with you 20 that meeting our goals for the spring, 21 gives us a feel for what we need to do in 22 the fall. Because, in the numbers for the 23 spring, were included 90 nurses -- these 24 are all new initiatives which shows that if 25 we didn't have the flexibility, we wouldn't 64 1 February 16, 2006 2 be meeting these goals -- a number of 3 police academy students and an increase of 4 about 45 international students. So that's 5 what got us here from the spring, which 6 gives us an idea of what we're facing as we 7 move forward. 8 Go back to the context that Dennis 9 shared, you can see the magnitude of the 10 challenge; with the predicted decline in 11 the rate of graduates from high school and 12 the loss of the 20- to 35-year-olds on Long 13 Island. 14 So as part of the simulcast and as I 15 started to meet with the campuses, I've 16 shared some of the ideas that we're looking 17 at, and I'll quickly share them here. 18 One is expanding on our mission for 19 recognition to include recognition as a 20 college of excellence on an international 21 level, which will be increasingly 22 appropriate in a world that we're thinking 23 will become flatter. 24 More international students: Perhaps, 25 even thinking in terms of having some 65 1 February 16, 2006 2 offerings from the college in other parts 3 of the country. Ellen has volunteered to 4 go to Paris (laughing). 5 Looking at programs for baby boomers 6 who are the growing population: So we 7 would look at having some staff person who 8 would be really good in developing programs 9 both in traditional liberal arts, career 10 enhancement, second careers and 11 employability. 12 Increasing students persistence: So I 13 would like to see us get involved with high 14 schools and junior high schools earlier so 15 we can prepare students for when they come 16 to us so they have a better chance to 17 persist. And also looking at, for example, 18 now the student assessment is in April. 19 Our College Success Program isn't offered 20 until August. Could we not have 21 self-diagnostic and self-learning tools 22 available to them with some support with 23 faculty in these months before they come to 24 us, so, again, they have a greater ability 25 to persist. 66 1 February 16, 2006 2 And we started this time, after the 3 summer session, their coursework will 4 continue through the fall, and we should 5 look at, in some ways, connecting them 6 throughout the year so they can persist. 7 You will see us looking to, as I 8 mentioned earlier, expand on distance 9 education, but having better screening and 10 assurance criteria so that we not having 11 students go into these formats who really 12 don't do well. We need to take another 13 look at that. 14 You will see us focussing on 15 diversifying our funding so we will invest 16 in resource development, whether it's 17 grants or institutional advancements, so 18 that we can bring in additional funds. And 19 we're having a workshop tomorrow, all day 20 tomorrow, on grants and management. When I 21 was at the conference with the president, 22 they talked about -- this was the ACE; that 23 in some colleges despite the new faculty 24 orientation, they have orientation in 25 grants. So we should move forward in that 67 1 February 16, 2006 2 direction. 3 Increased organizational effectiveness 4 and efficiencies so that we can become a 5 more data-driven organization so that we're 6 able to make decisions based on data: New 7 technology, like a new telephone system and 8 Banner, will help us with that. 9 And also more professional development 10 activities for everybody, including our AME 11 employees. And we've even thought about 12 setting aside a time on Fridays to help 13 people develop their skills. But the new 14 focus is not on permanent employability 15 necessarily at one institution, but 16 developing skills that make you employable 17 no matter what's going on. 18 And finally, I think the good news 19 about having met the enrollment goals is 20 that we did it without lowering our 21 standards. If you remember, we changed the 22 entry dates for classes, so we no longer, 23 as of two years ago, had students entering 24 here after a class started. And despite 25 the fact that other colleges across the 68 1 February 16, 2006 2 state are level or declining, we've held 3 strong. So the real strategy might be to 4 bump it up even another notch; make those 5 College Success requirements stronger. 6 Kind of send out the message that we're 7 here if you're really serious about 8 college. And at the same time, really 9 talking about the EOP programs really look 10 at getting the students started earlier and 11 preparing to come here. I'm really 12 thinking about setting a time between now 13 and August to get some of your more 14 motivated students to work in improving 15 their skills. Because, we find to the 16 extent that they are prepared, they will do 17 better here. 18 Kate was going to talk to you a little 19 bit about the categories that we're 20 concerned about, but I think we hit that 21 already; that we hit the enrollment goal, 22 but again, that the mature students, the 23 evening students, they are challenged. But 24 then I found out when I was talking to Mary 25 Lou and Tom Breedon, that a class at 6:30 69 1 February 16, 2006 2 might actually be at night, not the 3 morning. I didn't know that before today. 4 MR. KOMINICKI: I couldn't imagine 25 5 people showing up for a history class at 6 6:30 a.m. 7 DR. PIPPINS: Well, we've got 'em. I'd 8 be more likely to do that than some other. 9 I didn't -- any questions on that, 10 enrollment and retention? 11 (No response.) 12 DR. PIPPINS: You wanted to talk about 13 distance learning? 14 MR. KOMINICKI: Bill and I were just 15 talking on the side that I have a friend 16 who is probably in the mid-forties and sort 17 of decided this was the year she was going 18 to finally get her college education which 19 she had never done. And, of course, she 20 turned to the University of Phoenix because 21 she can get a bachelor's degree completely 22 online and it works with her schedule. And 23 I think that is very much the future. 24 Especially given in a market like ours, 25 even though we have three campuses, it is 70 1 February 16, 2006 2 still a long island. And I think in 3 whatever way we want to mitigate tuition -- 4 FTE drop-offs, I think that is a very easy 5 place to go. 6 DR. PIPPINS: You will probably see us 7 moving in that direction. There's some 8 philosophical issues connected to distance 9 education, especially with some of the 10 students we serve. There's a real 11 challenge there. And as we grow in that 12 area, you will see us looking to monitor 13 carefully, persistence and how well the 14 students do in those areas. But we can't 15 act like it's not happening. Because, the 16 students do have a choice. They can come 17 to us or go to University of Phoenix or 18 Hawaii or whatever. But we are forth in 19 our online courses already, and I think 20 that you will see as faculty become more 21 comfortable that they can maintain 22 standards, then we will probably explore it 23 more. 24 Do you want to add anything Ellen? I'm 25 looking at your face. 71 1 February 16, 2006 2 ELLEN: No. 3 MR. KOMINICKI: As the Germans say, we 4 should be doing it mitrezian schrittan 5 (phonetic). 6 DR. PIPPINS: Right. 7 MR. KOMINICKI: And the live wire 8 doesn't work. I just thought I'd throw 9 that out. 10 DR. PIPPINS: Workforce housing. 11 George? 12 MR. GATTA: Last year during our 13 deliberations with the county legislature 14 and the county executive's office on a 15 capital project that had been a legislative 16 initiative -- and that was a feasibility 17 study for the development of dormitories, 18 looking at where they might work on one of 19 our campuses or more than one of our 20 campuses -- the topic came up about the 21 possibility of doing workforce housing and 22 having that as a component of the 23 feasibility of that study. Ultimately, 24 that capital project was not funded. The 25 funds were not appropriated. It did not go 72 1 February 16, 2006 2 forward. 3 But during that discussion, a number of 4 constituencies weighed in, and I had 5 briefed the board back in April or May of 6 last year. Since then, we've had continued 7 discussions with both the legislative and 8 executive branches. The county executive 9 is interested in working with us to look at 10 the feasibility of how workforce housing 11 might work on one or more of our campuses. 12 We've also had conversations with the Long 13 Island Association, who is pushing this 14 agenda, and we've also had discussions with 15 the new SUNY chancellor and some of his 16 staff and some of the other SUNY 17 institutions here on the Island. 18 SUNY Farmingdale is looking at a 19 workforce housing component. They have 20 some vacant land, and they are looking at 21 some models that have been developed in 22 other parts of the country; specifically, 23 out in California, at the Cal Poly system. 24 They need some legislation to move forward 25 with what they are proposing. 73 1 February 16, 2006 2 Old Westbury is also looking at how we, 3 as a group, might be able to address this, 4 and the purpose of me briefing you today is 5 to really put it on the board's radar 6 screen that we want to look at the 7 feasibility as to how it might work; how it 8 might help us attract new faculty, new 9 staff; how it might be used in its own 10 equitable way for alumni of the college, 11 possibly as transitional housing to help 12 young professionals make a start here and 13 move on. 14 The county executive and his staff has 15 agreed to support us in some of the 16 research with staff and planning 17 department, looking at sites that might 18 work, looking at site planning issues as a 19 preliminary step. 20 Now, there's a lot more that needs to 21 go into it in terms of where would it be 22 located; how would it work; who would be 23 the target and how would it be financed and 24 ultimately administered. But those are the 25 things that would be brought out in that 74 1 February 16, 2006 2 feasibility study. 3 So we're in those discussions, and I 4 wanted to let the board know and get your 5 feedback. 6 MR. KOMINICKI: Could the Dormitory 7 Authority bond transitional housing if it 8 was located on college property? Do you 9 know? 10 MR. GATTA: That's one of the issues. 11 There's a lot of legal and financial issues 12 we have to look into. I'm not sure about 13 that. 14 And really, as we look at this, we have 15 to look at: Is this going to be a 16 completely public project? Is this going 17 to be a public/private partnership? Those 18 are different issues that we'd have to 19 study. 20 MR. McCARTHY: They bond court houses. 21 They bonded the Central Islip court house. 22 MR. STEIN: If I might, there was 23 special legislation that permitted that. 24 MR. McCARTHY: But they were in that 25 business. You know how tough it is for 75 1 February 16, 2006 2 them to get something done in Albany. 3 MR. MATTACE: The back of my head is 4 pounding. 5 DR. PIPPINS: In terms of categories, 6 we were thinking faculty, staff, 7 administrators and maybe alumni, but in 8 terms of recruitment. We have real huge 9 issues in terms of recruiting faculty, 10 staff, administrators. So we're defining 11 workforce housing very narrowly. 12 MR. KOMINICKI: What about the 13 students? 14 DR. PIPPINS: That's a whole other step 15 because of the issues of funding and 16 staffing it when you have students on 17 campus 24/7, and you are responsible for 18 everything that goes on. That's another 19 level of challenge, which would certainly 20 not be my first choice unless otherwise 21 directed. 22 MR. MOORE: Shirley, you're starting to 23 duck stuff now (laughing). 24 DR. PIPPINS: It would never get funded 25 appropriately, so that would be the first 76 1 February 16, 2006 2 nightmare, and you have all the public 3 safety and security and challenges. 4 MR. MOORE: Thanks, George. 5 DR. PIPPINS: The next topic is the 6 Facility Use Policy Update. 7 You want to lead us in the discussion 8 about that, Ilene? 9 MS. KRIETZER: At your last meeting you 10 received draft criteria for the undeveloped 11 land use, and you directed us to go forward 12 and develop a policy using that criteria. 13 In reviewing the policy that we currently 14 have adopted by the board on land use and 15 on facility use, I made a decision to give 16 myself more work and revamp all of them and 17 put all of them into one document instead 18 of the four we currently have. 19 You were provided a copy of the draft 20 of this policy. Most of the stuff on the 21 undevelopment land use is the last two 22 pages of that document, rewritten into 23 "policy language." 24 We had a very productive meeting 25 yesterday with all of the different 77 1 February 16, 2006 2 constituent groups that are in charge of 3 overseeing the use of the various 4 facilities on campus, not just undeveloped 5 land, but our buildings, our athletic 6 fields, our theater. And a lot of very 7 valuable contributions came out of that 8 meeting, so I'm in the process now of 9 revising this policy, yet again, to 10 incorporate some of those recommendations 11 because I think they make the policy 12 stronger. 13 And we're also in the process of 14 reviewing and revamping our fee schedule, 15 which hasn't been looked at in five years. 16 Because, we want to make sure that fee 17 schedule is consistent with the needs of 18 the community as well as the needs of the 19 college. 20 We have a very short turnaround between 21 this meeting and our next meeting, only 22 three weeks, which means that our packet 23 has to go out in two weeks. So, it's 24 unlikely that the final policy will come to 25 you in March for approval, because we want 78 1 February 16, 2006 2 to make sure it's done as properly as it 3 can be and that we have the fee schedule in 4 place. So I anticipate bringing the final 5 policy to you in April for your approval. 6 Any questions? 7 (No response.) 8 MR. MOORE: Thanks. 9 DR. PIPPINS: Has everybody had a 10 chance to look at it? It's important. If 11 you have any questions before we move 12 forward -- 13 MR. KANE: Ilene, when you talk about 14 the college's right to revoke, specifically 15 what is that? 16 MS. KRIETZER: Well, it could be the 17 board or the administration. It depends 18 on if another event comes in that takes 19 president. 20 MR. KANE: No, I'm not thinking about 21 that. I'm thinking about the problems that 22 they had years ago when they actually had 23 to suspend all use because they had a lot 24 of problems. Do you know what I'm talking 25 about? Then the board actually passed a 79 1 February 16, 2006 2 resolution. 3 How many years ago was that? I think 4 it was like 13 years ago. 5 MS. KRIETZER: I'm only here for five. 6 MR. KANE: Does anybody know what I'm 7 talking about? Do you remember that? 8 MR. MOORE: Only by reason of past 9 resolutions. 10 MR. KANE: In other words, if somebody 11 uses a facility in a particular year and 12 there are many, many problems, are we 13 prepared to say you can't do that again? 14 MS. KRIETZER: Well, it's in the 15 discretion of the administration, yes. The 16 entire policy provides the ultimate 17 discretion to the college to deny any use. 18 This right to revoke means the 19 permission has already been granted for a 20 use, but something comes up. Perhaps we 21 have a hurricane, and the facility is going 22 to be closed down for weather-related uses 23 or for use for a shelter, and permission 24 was granted but now we have to take it back 25 because something more pressing has come 80 1 February 16, 2006 2 along. So it's to give us the flexibility 3 that yes, we gave you permission, but there 4 may be times when we have to take that 5 permission back. 6 But if we are to revoke permission for 7 the entire college, that would have to go 8 to the board. That would be a revocation 9 of this policy; not use. 10 You want me to look back and see if I 11 could find that, the resolution? You said 12 it was 13 years ago? 13 MR. KANE: I think we had it in front 14 of us at one point. 15 MR. MOORE: Right. It was targeted for 16 the west. 17 MS. KRIETZER: Oh, this replaces that 18 resolution. 19 MS. BRAXTON: May I? 20 MR. MOORE: Sure. 21 MS. BRAXTON: Only because I was here. 22 What it was, was that we didn't revoke 23 using the college property across the 24 board, it was just for a particular type of 25 event we revoked it and that's when we 81 1 February 16, 2006 2 established -- we grandfathered certain 3 people in. It wasn't across the board. It 4 was not. 5 MR. KANE: And that was maintained for 6 quite a few years. 7 MS. BRAXTON: It's still is maintained 8 as we speak. 9 MS. KRIETZER: And that's the purpose 10 of the policy. 11 DR. PIPPINS: I would bring your 12 attention to the goal, Action 21, which 13 says we will have fields functional for 14 athletic purposes; after 2010, no use of 15 fields for nonsporting events. 16 I want to make sure you see these 17 things. And what I plan to do is talk with 18 groups who have expressed an interest, to 19 make sure they understand what the policies 20 are and that they are moving forward in a 21 time table that would allow them the option 22 of applying while this policy is developed. 23 Just so you know what I'm thinking. 24 MS. KRIETZER: Just to add to that, the 25 two other groups that expressed interest, 82 1 February 16, 2006 2 they were sent the draft criteria so they 3 could see where the board was headed on 4 this so they wouldn't be surprised. 5 MR. McCARTHY: Who would those groups 6 be? 7 MS. KRIETZER: Salvadorian Alliance and 8 Puerto Rican -- 9 MS. ALVAREZ-GRONEMAN: -- coalition. 10 DR. PIPPINS: These are pretty rigid 11 requirements, so I don't think we'll be 12 bombarded by people given the criteria we 13 put in place. 14 Belinda and David Ochoa were involved 15 in the meeting with the community groups 16 and with the legislative representatives as 17 we developed these, so I appreciate their 18 support. 19 MS. ALVAREZ-GRONEMAN: This is my 20 commitment to 2010, so... 21 MR. MOORE: Right. Unfortunately, it's 22 a short-term thing. But it was too easy to 23 shut the door and do nothing as opposed to 24 saying if we're open to the community and 25 can share our facilities within reason -- 83 1 February 16, 2006 2 MS. ALVAREZ-GRONEMAN: I think it's 3 great having everybody come in and sit down 4 and get really good feedback. 5 MR. MOORE: This policy, is it designed 6 to cross all three campuses? I forgot, I'm 7 sorry. 8 MS. KRIETZER: Yes. 9 MR. MOORE: All right. That wraps up 10 the president's report? 11 DR. PIPPINS: Yes. 12 MR. MOORE: Very good. Next thing on 13 our list is to entertain a motion to 14 adjourn, unless there are any last pressing 15 items. 16 MS. ALVAREZ-GRONEMAN: Just one thing. 17 MS. MOORE: Belinda? 18 MS. ALVAREZ-GRONEMAN: The March 19 31st/April 1st Saratoga trip, I'll attend 20 that. Only because of the whole Middle 21 States thing that's going on, I think that 22 I should be there to network. 23 MR. MOORE: I believe the topic of 24 discussion there is Trustees in Turbulent 25 Times Regarding Financial Fundraising, 84 1 February 16, 2006 2 what's the role of trustees in fundraising 3 was one of the topics. So we'll see if I 4 can make it, but... 5 MR. KOMINICKI: Do they ever have any 6 meetings up there, like, in August 7 (laughing)? 8 MR. MOORE: This is how you get the 9 good prices. Saratoga on April 1st is a 10 great place to be. 11 I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. 12 MR. KOMINICKI: So moved. 13 MR. MATTACE: Second. 14 MR. MOORE: All in favor? 15 (Whereupon, all those in favor 16 respond "aye.") 17 MR. MOORE: All right. 18 19 (Whereupon, the meeting of the 20 Suffolk County Community College 21 Board of Trustees was adjourned at 22 11:27 a.m.) 23 24 25 85 1 2 3 C E R T I F I C A T E 4 5 STATE OF NEW YORK ) :ss 6 COUNTY OF SUFFOLK ) 7 8 I, LORI ANNE CURTIS, a Notary Public within and for 9 the State of New York, do hereby certify: 10 That the meeting hereinbefore set forth is a true 11 record of same. 12 I further certify that I am not related to any of 13 the parties to this action by blood or marriage; and 14 that I am in no way interested in the outcome of this 15 matter. 16 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand 17 this 26th day of February, 2006. 18 19 20 LORI ANNE CURTIS 21 22 23 24 25