May 14, 2021 - BOD Minutes

ECTC Board of Directors (BOD) Meeting

• Elizabethtown Community and Technical College
• Microsoft Teams Meeting
• Friday, May 14, 2021, 9:30 a.m. EST

Attendees

CALL TO ORDER

For the record, the Board of Directors meeting held May 14, 2021 was held via Microsoft Teams due to COVID-19 restrictions and safety recommendations from national, state, and local authorities.

Chair Stan Routt called the regular board meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. EST.

DISCUSSION

Welcome, Introductions, and Announcements

• Chair Routt welcomed everyone via Microsoft Teams and commended ECTC on the beautiful drive-thru graduation ceremony held Monday, May 10, in front of the James S. Owen building.

Approval of Minutes

• MOTION: Mr. Howard Williams made the motion to approve the February 12, 2021 minutes as presented and Ms. Kim Huston seconded the motion.
• VOTE: The minutes were approved by unanimous consent.

Old Business

COVID-19 Update:

• Ms. Whitney Taylor shared with the board that ECTC is working to have an ionization ventilation system installed in the near future.
• A vaccination clinic will hopefully be available on campus during WOW week, early in the fall semester.
• ECTC is now permitted to implement a 3' social distancing guideline within the classroom.
• At this time, all faculty, staff, and students are still required to wear masks at all times while on campus.

New Business

Election of Officers:

• Mr. Howard Williams made the motion to re-elect Stan Routt as Chair and Ms. Kim Huston as Vice Chair and Mr. Mike Phillips seconded the motion. Motion carried.
• Mr. Paul Witten nominated Mr. Howard Williams to serve as Secretary. Mr. Stan Routt seconded the motion. Motion carried.
• Ms. Kim Huston made the motion to re-elect Ms. Emily Allen as Assistant Secretary to the Board and Mr. Howard Williams seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Budget Approval:

The proposed fiscal year 2021-2022 budget was distributed to all board members prior to the start of the meeting for review.

• Question: How does the proposed budget for fiscal year 2022 compare with budgets in the past?
• Answer: Our fiscal year 2022 budget is more conservative than budgets in the recent past.  Faculty and staff have made tremendous sacrifices throughout the year in an effort to reduce expenses.
• Ms. Kim Huston made the motion to accept the 2021-22 budget as presented and Mr. Paul Witten seconded the motion. Motion carried.

REPORTS

Provost/CAO Report:

Interim Provost/CAO, Mr. Darrin Powell, shared his report with the board:

• Our success rate has held strong over the last academic year. During fall 2018 our success rate was 68%, during fall 2019 our success rate was 71%, and during fall 2020 our success rate remained at 71%.
• Our enrollment goal for fall 2021 is to reach the enrollment numbers we experienced in fall 2019.
• Our URM (underrepresented minority) numbers are near the numbers we had in fall 2019.
• Our dual enrollment numbers continue to increase and account for approximately 25% of our enrollment.
• During fall 2021 we will implement the 8-week advantage program. Research and data has shown this type of schedule will lead to a higher success rate for students.

Chief Finance and Facilities Officer Report:

Mr. Brent Holsclaw, Chief Finance and Facilities Officer, shared his report with the board:

• Throughout this past year we have continued to improve the facilities on our main campus.
• The Academic Technical Building has received new ceiling and flooring upgrades in much of the building.
• ECTC is working with an architecture firm to create a Master Plan, a final draft will be available for review in the near future.
• The Occupational Technical building's IT department received an upgrade. This area received new paint, lighting, ceiling, and flooring.
• The biology and chemistry labs in the Science building will be renovated in multiple phases in the near future.
• The Student Center project will go out for bid later this fall.
• An air purification system will be installed in the main areas of the Regional Postsecondary Center.
• Keyless entries will be installed on the main entrances for each building on main campus.
• New security cameras will be installed equipped with HD cameras which will provide for better coverage and visibility.

Chief of Student Affairs Officer Report:

Dr. Dale Buckles shared his report with the board:

• Since January 2021, the Advising Center has held over 1,100 appointments. A new process to assist in advising appointments, the Advising Form, has helped 371 students since its implementation in March 2021.
• The Admissions office has processed over 7,900 applications and each prospective student has received at least seven contacts. This resulted in over 55,500 communications (texts, email, phone calls) from the Admissions office to prospective students.
• The Assessment Center has administered 183 different exams to 1,638 people. Approximately 78% of those exams were certification and employment testing which benefits 427 companies across our state.
• Our Call Center staff, Ms. Julie Smith, with backup from the Assessment Center and Admissions office), has answered 4,739 calls and has initiated 5,220 outbound calls to welcome new applicants.
• The Financial Aid office has disbursed $19,455,291 in financial aid funds to 3,595 students for the 2020-2021 academic year. Additional aid will be awarded this summer.
• Our 2020-2021 Work Ready Kentucky Scholarship disbursements totaled $1,340,589 among 482 students, an increase over our 2019-2020 disbursements.
• Our Financial Aid office has awarded $1,212,000 in HERF/CARES funds to 2,020 ECTC students during the spring 2021 semester.
• The First Year Experience program has developed a new podcast, FYE Talks, and hosts various faculty, staff, student, and community member guests. To date, 59 episodes have been created and these episodes can be found on our YouTube and Facebook pages.
• The FYE program has coordinated a drive-by new student orientation with over 200 students in attendance.
• The WIN Center continues to offer tutoring services and this past year held 135 in-person tutoring sessions and 115 virtual tutoring sessions.
• The Military and Veteran Services Center (MVS) has been established as an official Chapter of SALUTE, the Veterans National Honor Society. SALUTE recognizes the academic excellence of Military, Veteran and family member students. The MVS Center has provided outreach and support to over 250 underrepresented minority students.
• Our Records office has evaluated over 1,382 incoming transcripts and completed over 5,700 degree audits from 7 /1/20 to 4/30/21.
• The Ready to Work (RTW) program has partnered with the Department of Community Based Services to allow RTW students who are currently enrolled in college or a GED program to purchase laptops using their supportive services funds from the Kentucky Transition Assistance Program.
• The Student Accessibility office worked with 284 students this past year and hosted virtual presentations on disabilities and how they can affect students.
• The TRIO EOC staff have assisted the Advising office by enrolling new, current, and returning students.
• Our Veterans Affairs office staff do an outstanding job assisting our veteran students. ECTC has passed the last eight compliance surveys/inspections with the Department of Veteran Affairs with zero discrepancies.

Institutional Advancement Report:

Ms. Megan Stith shared her report with the board:

• Our Mobile Training Unit continues to visit high schools to share information and assist with admissions, financial aid and enrollment.
• We have continued to hold Senior Days virtual enrollment events for 12 schools in our service region.
• Keeping our adult learners in mind, we have tuition assistance programs with the Amazon Career Choice program.
• Our recent commencement ceremonies, both virtual and drive-thru, were a great success and we are using video testimonies from our graduates when talking with high school graduates.
• Six distinguished alumni and two lifetime achievement recipients were recognized during our Profiles of Excellence virtual event held this past April.
• We are currently in the process of becoming a KCTCS-recognized foundation.
• Within the last month we were awarded a $300,000 National Science Foundation grant and a $97,391 Summer Bridge Programming grant from the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.
• Over the last year, we have developed 14 new scholarships. We have awarded $285,785 in scholarsh!ps for 2020-2021, up from $193,727 the prior year.
• Ms. Stith asked board members to consider making a personally meaningful donation to a program important to them at our institution.

President/CEO Report:

Dr. Juston Pate shared his report with the board:

• We are in the process of compiling a comprehensive report that outlines how our college has progressed over the last several years. This report will be available in the near future.
• The combination of becoming more proactive and more externally focused has set up ECTC's future with area partnerships to be exciting and full of opportunity.
• Moving forward, our number one budget priority will be investing in our employees. ECTC has gone through nearly 10 years of limited raises for employees, from this point forward we will focus heavily on increasing salaries for our employees with our recurring increases from tuition and state appropriations.
• Additionally, moving forward, we will focus on using our one-time fund balance surplus towards improving our facilities.

President/CEO Evaluation:

• Prior to the board meeting, Chair Routt distributed an evaluation form for Dr. Pate's performance during the 2020-21 academic year to all board members. Board members returned their completed evaluation form to Chair Routt prior to the May 14, 2021 board meeting.
• Chair Routt summarized all evaluation responses for each category Dr. Pate was evaluated on including institutional leadership/management, educational leadership/internal relations, external relations, and College Board relations.
• In summary, Dr. Pate met or exceeded all expectations for each category evaluated.
• Board members identified important contributions Dr. Pate made that enabled the college to move forward during the past year and these include commending Dr. Pate on his proactive leadership and decision making during the COVID-19 pandemic, creating and maintaining a cohesive group of employees, noting his agility in meeting student needs to sustain quality education and access, the implementation of the 8-week advantage program for fall 2021, noting Dr. Pate maneuvered well during uncharted waters to keep the college successful, and noting Dr. Pate ensured employees maintained public interface within the community.
• Issues or concerns the board would like Dr. Pate to focus on during the 2021-22 academic year include maintaining momentum and balance in staffing, student retention, budget, and quality of offerings, ensure a solid plan for returning full-time, continuing to align student knowledge with employer needs in high wage high demand sectors, addressing and adapting to post-COVID ways of learning, returning to high schools for in-person recruitment, and continuing to grow virtual programs and capabilities.
• Mr. Paul Witten made the motion to approve Dr. Pate's evaluation as discussed and Ms. Kim Huston seconded the motion. Motion carried.

MEETING ADJOURNMENT

A motion was made by Ms. Kim Huston and seconded by Ms. Judy Akers to adjourn the meeting, motion carried.

The meeting adjourned at 11:04 a.m. EST.

NEXT BOARD MEETING

The September 10, 2021, board meeting will likely be held in-person, the located has yet to be determined.

Minutes respectfully submitted by,