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February 14, 2024. Regular Meeting of the Governing Board.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Happy Valentine's Day. I'm going to call
this meeting to order.
Will you please stand and join me in saying the Pledge of
Allegiance.
(Pledge of Allegiance.)
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: We want to acknowledge that Pima Community
College is on the original homelands of the Tohono O'Odham people and
the Pascua Yaqui who have stewarded this land since time and
memorial.
The practice of acknowledging the land of these sovereign nations
brings to the forefront their enduring connection to the land
regardless of historical and current colonization practices.
Let's also acknowledge that we all benefit from these lands on
which we work and learn. We encourage each of you today to learn
about the land we inhabit, the tribal communities connected to this
land, and the ways in which you can contribute to restorative
practices related to land and community.
Roll call. Mr. Luis Gonzales.
>> MR. LUIS GONZALES: Present.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Mr. Greg Taylor.
>> MR. GREG TAYLOR: Here.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Ms. Maria Garcia.
>> MS. MARIA GARCIA: Present.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Dr. Wade McLean.
>> DR. WADE McLEAN: Present.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: All present and accounted for. Thank you.
Moving on to the public comment, call to audience. We're going
to remind you that we have a set amount of time. You may speak for
three minutes if you would like, and it's important always to realize
that we are in this together, so please be respectful and kind to the
people you're talking to and talking about. Thank you so much.
First on our list is Anthony Lovio. Thank you for being here.
>> Thank you. Good evening, and Happy Valentine's Day. Board
Chair Riel, members of the Governing Board, and all present, both
virtually and in person.
My name is Anthony Lovio. I am a board member for the Arizona
Education Association. I am also a special education teacher at
Laguna Elementary School in the Flowing Wells Unified School District
and an alumni of Prescott College and Pima Community College.
I am here tonight in solidarity with the members of Pima
Community College Education Association and their efforts to have a
fair and transparent process in negotiating wages and working
conditions at the college.
I want to take a moment to reflect on the power of solidarity.
All who came in solidarity with PCCEA, please rise.
These individuals come from districts across the Tucson area. I
know we have a lot of differences, but in all of our school districts
we have different versions of Meet and Confer. In all of our
districts, the final approval goes to our democratically elected
Governing Boards.
I also want to take a moment to recognize faculty and staff from
the U of A, members of the United Campus Workers. What a pleasure to
see them here in solidarity with PCCEA, AFSCME, and ACES. We will of
course continue to be in solidarity with your union as you take on
big issues at the U of A.
Most importantly, I want to recognize PCC faculty and staff,
members of PCCEA, AFSCME, and ACES that are here tonight as well as
those that are attending virtually or are teaching class and will
view this meeting at a later time.
This has been a long road for you all, and we are so glad to walk
with you on this journey. We are stronger together in solidarity.
Thank you.
(Applause.)
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you, Anthony.
Next we have Makyla Hays.
>> MAKYLA HAYS: Good evening, board members, chancellor,
colleagues, and many guests. My name is Makyla Hays, faculty, PCCEA
president, and AERC co-chair.
I appreciate the attention people have paid to the topic of BP
1.25. I'm here to ask that you vote for version A, the employee
version. But first I want to clear up some misconceptions of what BP
1.25 covers and what these two versions are asking of the board.
This policy change will not directly change anything in regards
to how individual employees handle grievances, complaints,
disagreements with supervisors, et cetera.
This change determines how the shared governance group of AERC
moves forward with policy changes if the employee representatives and
management cannot come to consensus.
This board policy is not the only thing that governs how the AERC
operates. There is also an administrative procedure which has a
detailed explanation of the process that any and all policy changes
would go through in AERC, including many steps for potential
resolution prior to coming to you.
If an individual employee has an issue with the policy change,
this board policy does not give them the ability to come to the board
and present a different version for a vote. It would still need to
go through the AERC. That being said, any employee or public member
always can come to the board with public comment. That doesn't mean
you're required to act on it, but you can now and would likely in the
future hear those concerns.
AERC does not determine individual complaints since we are not
employee relations or ODR. Rather, the AERC looks at policy language
that applies to all employees or all employee groups as a whole, such
as full-time faculty or all nonexempt staff or exempt staff.
For example, a concern was brought to AERC regarding demotions.
Without getting into the employee's individual situation, we looked
at policy to identify any holes that would allow employees in similar
situations to be treated dissimilarly. A definition was needed, and
the staff salary administration policy needed more clarity.
After meeting with HR to determine guidelines that would apply to
future demotions, these changes were finalized. They have just
finished a 21-day comment period for employees to give feedback, and
the board will probably see these changes as information items soon,
since consensus was reached.
Regardless of the version you vote for tonight, the board will be
hearing from employee groups and administration when consensus is not
reached. The difference is what power the board has in the final
step of the process.
In version B, the board would give feedback to the chancellor who
would make the final decision. In the employee version, version A,
the board still has that option, but the board also retains the
option to make the decision as a governing body.
If the board were presented with what they felt was an
operational decision, the board could direct the chancellor to make
the decision. But without the employee version, the board would not
be able to make the final decision on nonoperational personnel
policies.
Lastly, I see that the AERC tracking spreadsheet again is in the
board packet tonight. I'm so glad this system I built has been
useful, and I also want to express how much time and effort that I,
along with our employee representatives, have spent to make that
system work.
Aubrey has been a wonderful collaborator, and I've put many hours
above what I'm compensated for, which is only the equivalent of
teaching one course per semester, to make a sustainable process
-- (bell ringing).
Can I finish my last sentence? Okay.
If Aubrey were replaced with an administrator unwilling to hear
the concerns of employees or I were replaced with a leader scared to
push for change or unable to devote the time to deeply understanding
these changes, this policy would not be enough.
So I ask you to vote for the employee version as a huge step in
creating a structure that will ensure that our current system
continues to serve people. Thank you.
(Applause.)
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you, Makyla.
I just want to point out that these meetings are always riveting,
and all you employees at the college, you're always invited to come
to our meetings, not just on special days when we are talking about
union stuff. Thank you for being here and showing your support of
your union and the college in general.
I didn't see Kimlisa Duchicela -- oh, thank you. You're up next.
>> KIMLISA DUCHICELA: Sorry, I'm super nervous. So if I get it
wrong with the titles, I apologize.
My name is Kimlisa Salazar Duchicela. I'm a history faculty
here. I have been at the college for more than 20 years, and I have
sat in Rita's seat for at least 6.
I am here today because I am the originator of PimaOnline, and it
is a testament to the innovation and inclusivity and success at this
college. It was born from the work of a dedicated task force
comprising a wide array of stakeholders. We sought inclusivity and
we sought participation, we sought opinions, and we sought concerns.
In contrast to the decision that was just made to disrupt
PimaOnline, which was marked by a lack of collaboration, a lack of a
spirit of transparency and open dialogue, it certainly stands in
complete contrast to a culture of caring.
There was a noticeable absence of engagement with stakeholders.
The manner of this decision, the scant explanations, the limited
outreach to those directly affected undermined the trust, the
collaborative ethos that should be part of our college.
It created anger, resentment among many who worked tirelessly for
this college and for this institution. The fact that communication
leaked to the wider college community in bits and pieces harmed us
even more.
The prior week, no information was provided. Then sadly, when
the eventual e-mail came out, when it did, it didn't include all the
stakeholders. The adjunct faculty were left out. Staff were left
out of the loop. The whole process felt disrespectful and harmful
and caused unnecessary anxiety. Certainly it was made clear, in many
ways, that our opinions and extensive knowledge of online were not
important.
In a meeting after the announcement, I was directly told by the
acting provost that he does not care about awards, although I would
say my e-mail box would contradict that. I respond that PimaOnline's
essence goes beyond its achievements and recognitions. It symbolizes
a progressive educational paradigm attuned to our students'
realities. To state that there was no need to explore impacts on
students was naive at best. It showed a lack of understanding of our
students.
Our students are as varied in their daily lives as their
educational needs. This decision not only threatens to disconnect
these students from the central educational resource but also sends
the message that their needs and preferences are secondary. It
ignores the mother working on classes while caring for a baby. There
is one right up there, my daughter. It ignores the son who has to go
to Mexico to take care of his family.
Make no mistake about it, this was an equity issue, and Pima
missed the mark.
I noticed on this that it says the fight was never about grapes
or lettuce. It was always about the people. Cesar Chevas.
This fight is about the people and the students.
(Applause.)
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you, Kimlisa.
I just want to mention that when I took the lead and build and
those courses, you were one of my teachers, and I really appreciate
the great job you did. So thank you.
Okay. We're moving on to section 1.6, Pima Community College
Foundation update.
>> MARCY EULER: Good evening, chancellor, board chair, Board of
Governors, guests, and everyone who is attending virtually.
Just very briefly, I don't want to read slides, but I do want to
provide with you some information on what's happened since the last
time we met.
So as you know, Pima Foundation is the philanthropic partner to
the college. We support the students, faculty, and programs that are
important to the institution in our region. Our mission, vision, and
purpose are here for you to read at a different time.
Some recent highlights. We regularly advertise in BizTucson
magazine for a variety of different reasons. This month we said
thank you to the Jim Click Automotive Team for the Ford ASSET funds
that have stood up that program. It started last January.
Mr. Click and his business associates have made sure that we had
the money in order to have the equipment and the students taken care
of for this cohort that will be completing in December.
In January, we received $110,000 from the Oro Valley Chamber of
Commerce, and that is for scholarship support. It is an endowment
mostly, some spendable money for students so that while the endowment
grows we were able to provide those scholarships to students. It has
also been matched 50% by the Hillman Foundation.
That same day we got $80,000 from the Rotary Club of Tucson which
is part of Pima START for the Center of Opportunity Project at the
Gospel Rescue Mission. Also to be matched by the Hillman Foundation.
The next day we got a $200,000 check from Mr. Adamson who is the
chair of the Hillman Foundation matching funds that came in through
November 30th, from September 1st to November 30th.
So we are in a $10 million challenge, and November 30th, 2024, is
the end of that challenge to help us raise $5 million.
Also, a week or so ago, I was part of testifying at the state
legislature to change the law to allow us to be able to have a Pima
College license plate, much like you see with ASU, NAU, U of A. We
are trying to make that a reality for Pima.
So that's me, and Jonathan Paton to the left-hand side is our
lobbyist, and then you can see Phil Burdick in the back, and the
senator who supported our bill is there as well.
We are keeping our fingers crossed. We passed 7 to nothing, and
we will go to the house next.
Some upcoming things. Well, this already happened. We got a
$500,000 check today. I will show you that in a minute. We had a
tour of aviation from a number of folks with the Rotary Club of
Tucson who gave us the $80,000.
March 21-23, the National Association of Community College
Entrepreneurship is holding a summit at Pima's Downtown Campus. I
think I might have this wrong. I put October 21. It might be
October 19 is the Rotary Club car show. We are the beneficiary.
That will be our second year to go toward that Pima START. As soon
as we have our fliers together for purchasing tickets that are also
the entry for the car, the Corvette, we will make sure and let you
know.
Also, I wanted to say congratulations to the Bellwether
finalists, both the legacy award and the instructional programs and
services category finalists that are coming up. That is near and
dear to our heart at the Foundation, because in 2020, we were
actually a finalist based on our participation in the Earn to Learn
program, and we were able to go to San Antonio. It's a big deal.
While there are lots of people that are deserving of congratulations,
that one is particularly close to the Foundation's heart.
Last time I indicated that our portfolio was at 15.4 million. As
of the end of January, we are at 15.9, and our endowment has gone up
$100,000. Scholarships through December 31st of this fiscal year we
have given out 240,000. We will give out another
100-some-odd-thousand for spring semester. We have been supporting
programs that includes athletics as well as departmental support to
the tune of half a million dollars, and we expect to spend another
million before the end of the fiscal year.
My team. Remember, you're all on my team, right? Everybody is
on my team. But these are the people who actually work for me.
This is how you can contact us. If you have not been on our
e-mail list to get our little weekly e-mail blast, you probably
didn't see what we sent out today, which was all about what I want to
share with you now.
So this morning at the health professions center of excellence,
our board member and friend, Mr. Greg Taylor, and his associates from
Arizona Complete Health provided the Foundation with a $500,000 check
for providing both program development, scholarships, and an
endowment. Here is Greg being interviewed by Pima TV, and here is a
picture of all of us with the big check.
So on behalf of the Foundation -- and by the way, PCCTV and Phil
Burdick and his team did a lovely job with the media event. Over
here I will put the big check around, and Valentine's Day, it's
really hard to find orange flowers that match Pima colors, I will
just tell you that, so you got red instead of orange, but we got the
blue bow.
Thank you so much. We are extraordinarily grateful for that
gift. And it will be matched 50 cents on the dollar. It will have
an additional $250,000 added to that fund. So thank you.
(Applause.)
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Greg, I don't mean to put you on the spot,
but will you just mention to everybody here what was involved in that
gift from your company?
>> MR. GREG TAYLOR: Yeah, absolutely. We have a regular
community reinvestment program, so it was something that I pitched as
part of that review process.
You know, I'm happy to say that my colleagues recognized the
importance of what Pima is doing in the healthcare space in terms of
preparing the next generation of healthcare workers, everything from
nurses to techs to everything in between that are so critically
needed across Southern Arizona, across Tucson, across the whole
state.
So we are very excited, Arizona Complete Health, myself, and my
colleagues, about the new health professions center of excellence
opening on the West Campus later this year.
To break it down a little bit just for everybody, so 100,000 of
that will go to program development specifically for programs around
long-term care workforce as well as care coordination and behavioral
health that can be added into the health professions center of
excellence. There's another 100,000 that will be made available
immediately for scholarships. Then the other 300 of that 500 will go
into an endowment, which will allow it to award scholarships into
perpetuity, long before all of us are retired and, you know, beyond.
So we are really excited to make this perpetual investment in Pima.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Next section, 1.7, summary of current
events from Governing Board members.
Mr. Gonzales, would you like to start us off?
>> MR. LUIS GONZALES: Good afternoon. Luis Gonzales. Hello to
everybody that's present right now but also our people that are at
the virtual, watching this live.
I just want to say Happy Valentine's Day to everybody. I know
it's a big day for the community, but also, more important for myself
and others, it's the beginning of Lent. It's Ash Wednesday today,
too. As you see by my forehead, I did have a Mass this morning that
I attended with the senior centers in our village. They asked me to
do some readings, which I was very honored to be asked.
It's the start of our, if you don't know, it's a start of our
Lenten season in reference to the Pascua Yaqui and Yaqui members not
only from here but also all the way to Guadalupe. It's 40 days of
Lent that we sacrifice and really believe in reference to what's said
in the Bible, but more important, it's a bringing of the communities
together. Families, children, they all participate.
It's a big event. It's not a regular event. It's a commitment,
because all the participants that are in the Lenten ceremonies from
the church to the people that are outside, there are various
categories, they are there for a reason.
The reason is because all of them have been ill. They were
promised by either their family members or parents or grandparents
reference to commit 40 days in reference to making a promise to the
Creator. So that's the storyline behind it.
Again, I just want to say congratulations to the staff, but more
important, to the community in reference to celebrating this day,
which is very imperative for each of us.
I just want to say two events. Actually three. Two events, one
of the events we attended at Pima Community College in reference to
several chefs that came in from Italy. It was on a Saturday, and
myself and Mrs. Riel were out there. I think it was great promoting
the culinary program that we have out there as well, too.
The second report I want to do is we just came back from a
conference. That all went very well. I have been there before, but
the new people haven't been there. But I'd like -- this conference
we attended, it's a big conference. ACCT? ACCT.
One of the main things we have, they provide trainings to all the
trustees. But more important, and I'm a firm believer that this
works, as I mentioned to our chair, Ms. Riel, is that I need more
cards, because my thing is to network in reference to what works and
what does not work in the various parts of the nation. Because we,
as a part of the nation, as trustees, we need to be united as we are
and move forward providing the best services we can to all students
across the nation.
I met a couple of people that were from Hawaii. In fact, I did
attend the Hawaii AANHPI, which is Asian Pacific Indian Native
American core group that we had there, and I met a few people in
reference to my networking, which is fantastic.
The last thing I just want to say is that I recommend that to
everybody, and it was so exciting, but more important, I'm going to
let my colleagues here, that we invited three students, and they were
marvelous. They were great. Aside from the conference and their
presence there, they also did the congressional runs where we met
with congressmens out there. I'm going to leave it up to them to
elaborate on the three students.
That's my report for right now. There is a lot to do. I think
it's very good to come but also share with the community the efforts
that as a board we're doing. I think it's great, but there is a lot
of work, as well, too, as we all know.
Thank you.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you, Mr. Gonzales.
Mr. Taylor?
>> MR. GREG TAYLOR: Thank you. I can continue on what Luis was
saying there. Yeah, it was a great privilege, and it was an
excellent experience to attend the Association of Community College
Trustees Legislative Summit in Washington, D.C., that was a
combination of a conference as well as congressional visits where we
had a chance to meet with some members of Arizona's congressional
delegation.
We talked about a number of issues, but the two that I was
hitting on hardest were the importance of short-term Pell to be able
to propel our workforce programs forward.
And then what I think is the ridiculousness of taxing Pell
Grants. It seems like they should be exempt from taxes, and this
impacts our students more than four-year universities, because some
of that money ends up in their pocket, but for the federal government
to say here's dollars to support you while you're making your
education with one hand, and then with the other hand say now you've
got to pay it back, it really puts students in a ridiculous position.
So there was a lot of support for that among the folks we were
talking to. That doesn't mean it's going to pass. There's a lot
more folks down there than just the Arizona delegation, but I think
that they heard and understood those issues.
One thing I took away from the actual conference itself, and it's
a credit to Pima with all the work that we have done here already in
this, but without a doubt, all of the federal officials that we heard
from, whether it was elected officials or whether it was the
Department of Education or any of the others that were coming to
speak with us, they are relying on community colleges to do that
workforce development work that's going to be critical across
multiple areas of our economy, not only social services but that and
beyond.
So we are it. I think Pima has done a good job among community
colleges of being a leader in developing those programs. We were
doing what they need us to do. So it was nice to see that. And a
lot of what we have done so far, we were on the right track as a
community college in terms of what the nation is relying on community
colleges from a public policy standpoint to step in to be able to do.
And then, thank you, I realize when I was talking about the grant
from Arizona Complete Health, Marcy, I didn't get a chance to say
thank you for the flowers, but this might get me out of the doghouse
for being here on Valentine's Day rather than with my wife. If she
asks, I bought these and I brought them home. (Laughter.) We'll see
how it goes. Thank you, Marcy.
>> MS. MARIA GARCIA: Well, thank you, all, for attending and for
those of you online. I'm not going to repeat everything these guys
have already said, but I am going to say that I don't know whether
you realize how much advocacy goes in to supporting Pima College from
this board. It is extremely important that we talk to our
congressional people, our state legislators, to ensure that funding
is not cut from the college.
So, you know, the programs that Pima, your salaries, everything
that is given or is provided costs money. So it's really critical.
And I am so proud of the team that we have here and the Foundation,
the faculty for all the support, and the training that you give our
students, we would not be anything without all of us together.
So thank you, everyone.
>> MR. GREG TAYLOR: Sorry, wait. I just realized I forgot one
thing. I meant to mention the students who joined us by name. I
don't think I did that when I was talking. Roxanna, Minerva, and
Brandon were the students who joined us in D.C. They have incredible
stories of resilience and what Pima has done to transform their
lives.
Everybody was much more interested in them than they were us,
rightfully so, because they were much more interesting, but they did
an incredible job representing this college and their fellow students
in front of all those elected officials, so I wanted to give kudos to
them.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you, Greg and Maria, for your
comments. Dr. McLean?
>> DR. WADE McLEAN: Would it be helpful if I mentioned your
wife? (Laughter.)
Marcy, thank you very much. Thank the staff of the Foundation.
What a wonderful report. Just so everybody knows, this money is
going to go to help young people, older people in our community, help
attain the goals that they have made for themselves.
Board Member Greg Taylor should be thanked immensely for his
efforts and the contributions of Arizona Complete Health. As we have
been explained, this is going to give scholarships to students
forever. I don't know how many hundreds and hundreds of students
will have a positive impact in their career aspirations because of
this donation. So thank you ever so much.
Next year I'll come and speak and mention your wife and if it did
any good. Thank you. (Laughter.)
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: So Happy Valentine's Day, everybody. I
just want to mention that right now my heart is full of love for all
of you and what you do at the college, and I really am very thankful
for all of these people sitting up here with me because it's a great
group of people to work with.
They have already pretty much said everything that's happened in
the last month and a half, so I have nothing to say. I will tag on
one little bit. I have been up to the state legislature three times
and up in Washington, D.C., once, and I think it's very, very
important to lobby and advocate for education.
So take a minute over the next couple of weeks and write your
congressmen, your senators, congress people, senators, state
legislators. I notice some of my AEA retired friends, the first
three times we went up together. It's really important when you talk
to these people, when you make that human connection, when they see a
bill or something come through, they are going to remember your face
and the words that you said, how you spoke about how education is
helping your family, your children, yourself. They'll remember not
that it's just SB whatever the number is, but they're going to
remember that you came and talked to them. So think about that and
use some of your time over the next year to advocate for Pima
College.
We haven't had the state funding, it got cut I think in 2015, we
used to get 25 million. We don't get any of that now. So when you
reach out to your state legislators, right, that would be a great
thing to remind them that Pima College is a gem down here in Southern
Arizona and we could use the state support.
Thank you for being here. We will move on with our meeting.
>> JIM CRAIG: Empower every learner, every day, for every goal.
Chairperson Riel, Chancellor Duran-Cerda, distinguished board,
administrative reps, PCC family and friends. I'm Jim Craig. I'm the
dean of business, IT/cyber, and hospitality leadership.
That is our mission. The Mission Moment I'm going to tell a
story about today is about fulfilling that goal one student at a
time.
I first would like to acknowledge the incredible leadership team
in the IT center of excellence. Chris Bonhorst is our academic
director. Will McCullen is our advanced program manager. Mona
Currien (phonetic) is our department head for online. Theresa Noon
is our manager for our Title III his STEM grant.
The center of excellence for IT and cyber was completed with
construction in 2021 with approximately 12,000 square feet with some
very innovative and unique features. It has a student-run production
data center. It has a cybersecurity operations center. It has a
live-fire Cyber Warfare Range and has a fusion center as well.
Very excited about the layout and what we've got so far with the
center of excellence. The amazing thing about the center of
excellence since we stood it up is the phenomenal growth we have had,
the great success we have had.
Now, when you're looking at enrollment numbers, it's important
not just to look at percentages, because, you know, 80% of 3 is not
that many. But over 83% enrollment increase since 2019 that gets you
up to 5,177 enrollments is very significant. That's what we have
done with this program in a very short period of time.
By the way, that's equivalent to having 514 full-time students.
So the growth of this program has just been phenomenal. We have also
been laser-focused on institutional goal No. 2 and have dramatically
increased the percentage and the raw numbers of our Hispanic
students, our women students, and our African-American students in
the program. That's all been a great success, and we're very proud
of what we're doing and how we are outreached to the community to
serve those underserved community members.
We have a number of different partnerships that we have built
over time, most notably is our recent Raytheon apprenticeship for
IT/cyber program. It's the first time Raytheon has done that with
any community college, and we were the model for them. They are
since expanding that all over the world because of the success that
we have had with them. So we are very excited about that.
We also are serving the community in so many different areas in
so many different ways. From the Gospel Rescue Mission to the Second
Chance programs that we are running at the prison to a whole number
of other pieces. We've written core curriculum, custom curriculum
for some of our tribal partners, and are reaching out constantly to
see how we can involve the community and help them out.
We have also been designated as the center for academic
excellence nationwide from the National Security Agency, which is a
very big honor for us and something that we have just acquired. So
we are very proud of our connections locally, statewide, and
nationally.
But the main story is with our students, like our mission
statement says. Success one goal, one student at a time.
So at this point in time, I'm honored to introduce you to one of
our IT/cyber students, Jocely Valles. She is a student in our
advanced certificate program. She already completed the beginning
certification. She's also an IBEST student. She's working on her
GED as well. And she's a peer mentor for our program.
Without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to Jocely. Go
ahead.
(Applause.)
>> Hi, everyone. Thank you for having me here. My name is
Jocely Valles, and I am very honored. I'm a single mom of five kids,
four boys and one girl. They range from 14 to 5. They're a handful.
I was raised by my grandmother so everything I do is really to make
my kids and my grandmother proud.
Like Jim said, I was in the IBEST program. I actually got my GED
already. I completed my first certificate. I'm on my advanced
certificate for the support specialist while on track to getting my
associate's and now working in cyber defense.
With this program, with me being able to go to school as a single
mom full-time and have that time with my kids has been invaluable. I
have been able to not only motivate myself but my kids as well. I
have my daughter, who is in her student leadership programs now, and
every single one of my kids has benefited from this. It's not only
helping my generation but it's helping their generation. That has
been amazing.
I have had the opportunities to work in the data center, so as an
intern, I'm currently a peer mentor, which I get to not only help
other students who are starting off and are in the same position as I
was, but who are continuing their education and we're just kind of
building a community where we're all gathering together.
It's just been so amazing. I've gotten to meet so many people,
so many different experiences that I would have never had had I not
come back to school. I'm thankful for every single opportunity, and
I'm taking advantage of every single opportunity.
So thank you.
(Applause.)
>> JIM CRAIG: We're so proud of Jocely and the other students
that are transforming their lives and their family's lives. It's
just so inspiring to be around Jocely and the other students at our
program. Thank you so much for being here.
So moving forward, we desperately need to support the growth of
this amazing program even more so than we already have. We have a
grant that has a number of resources that we're going to need to
justify institutionalizing them so we can continue to teach and to
support the students with programs like peer mentoring. Then we need
more full-time faculty as well.
Finally, we are in somewhat of a desperate need to expand our
facility. 12,000 square feet isn't much when you have 5,100
enrollments. We're excited about the problem moving forward, but
we're anxious for the college's support to keep this moving. There
are so many other areas we want to expand into and grow with new
related programs.
We are up to the challenge, and I thank you for your time today.
Thank you.
(Applause.)
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you, Mr. Craig. That was wonderful.
A quick question, Chancellor and Jeff and Dave Bea. What is the
procedure and the process for figuring out how to expand the East
Campus so we can -- this is the second time today that we have had
great presentations showing that we need more buildings, more
facilities over on the East Campus.
So what is the procedure and the process for the board learning
and knowing how these processes take place?
>> DR. DOLORES DURAN-CERDA: Thank you for the question.
We have a lot of areas that need growth, such as cybersecurity,
and it's right now vital in the workforce area to look at right now
reallocating, looking where there is growth, and using that data and
information and community input as well as advisory committees that
from the community give us advice, looking at what the community
needs are, what the students want, too.
So in looking at that data and providing it to you, we can have a
discussion as to where there needs to be growth, and so that can be
through internal processes with discussions with students, with
faculty, with administrators, and then presenting to you options
perhaps as to where certain programs could go, where they could
expand.
So there has been talk about perhaps cybersecurity moving to the
Downtown Campus -- we have been talking about that for several years
-- for the synergy, because of all the things that are located right
now downtown as a hub. But we haven't continued that conversation.
So there have been some spots of conversation, but we need to get
more data and more information from the community.
So those are some of the processes.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Board, I'm going to move action item 5.2,
board policy 1.25, to this time, and then we'll follow along with the
agenda as it was printed.
We have a lot of teachers and staff and employees that most
likely don't want to stay here till the end of our meeting, and I
appreciate their support for their colleagues. I would just like to
ask someone to make a motion concerning board policy 1.25.
>> MS. MARIA GARCIA: I'll make a motion to vote on board policy
1.25, version A.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Do I have a second?
>> MR. LUIS GONZALES: Second.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you. Discussion?
>> DR. WADE McLEAN: Madam Chair, my issue with adopting this
policy tonight is strictly based on timing. We're in the process of
trying to attract applicants for the chancellor's position at the
college, and I'm fearful that taking these kinds of actions at this
point in time might detract from getting all the qualified candidates
we can.
I also believe that the permanent chancellor that we hire,
hopefully in the very near future, would need to have input into this
decision.
I caution us that it appears that the culture with the board
right now is a very positive one. We're going to have three,
possibly three new board members in January of 2025, and it's
possible that the whole culture of the board could change.
If we're looking at hiring a chancellor in an effort to maintain
some positive leadership for the next five to ten years, I would
think that the continuity of that culture would help determine
whether we want the board intervening in these decisions or the
chancellor intervening in these decisions.
For that reason, I wish we could defer this conversation until we
have a permanent chancellor onboard.
Thank you.
>> MS. MARIA GARCIA: I think, in my view, I believe that we
should approve this version A. I have sat on this board for five
years, and I believe that this will serve our faculty and our staff.
We need representation from our unions.
I also believe that it will not affect a chancellor in applying.
I think that if you're sure of yourself and you know the direction
and you have the support of the board that that will not be a
deterrent.
So that's it.
>> MR. GREG TAYLOR: So I also support version A, so I'll support
the motion when we vote. But I say that with -- there is a lot of
people who I have abiding respect for who have talked to me or sent
in comments that are warning of moving forward with that version. I
want them to know that I hear that.
I don't entirely agree with all the arguments that are being
made. I do believe that this might have an impact on the chancellor
search, but here's why I think we should do it anyway.
It was clear to me when, not only in conversation we have had,
but certainly when we brought together that large group of faculty
and staff and leadership with all of us a couple weeks back now, that
there is a lot of pain and mistrust within this institution. Some of
it based on real things, some of it based on perceptions of things
that are not accurate to what happened.
I think us putting this policy in place, I hope those folks will
see as an action on our part to put institutional safeguards in place
that will prevent any one individual from railroading over shared
governance or inclusiveness and that we need to go forward.
So I think what we can gain from putting this in place outweighs
the risks, which I think are real, and I'm not dismissing them, but I
think on the whole it will benefit the college I hope to have this in
place to begin to heal some of those wounds that happened long before
I was on this board, so I don't claim to fully understand all of
them, but it was very apparent to me that they were there.
So I hope we can continue to move through this healing process
together and people can feel confident, like I said, that there are
some institutional safeguards in place to prevent some of the things
from occurring again in the future no matter who we bring in as a
chancellor, although I promise we will pick someone who will do this
job well.
That's it for me. Thank you.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you for your comments.
Luis, do you have anything to add?
>> MR. LUIS GONZALES: (Off microphone.)
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: I'd like to call this version the shared
governance version, because that's what shared governance is when
everybody works together and they decide they make the best decision
for the college, and then this duly elected board just ratifies it,
says yes, that's what the law of the land will be.
I just want to point out that I believe this is an amazing place,
and I believe that with shared governance, culture of caring, all of
these things that we are moving toward and improving the college in
ways that hadn't been working recently, I do believe that we're going
to have the best and the brightest want this job. Because who
wouldn't want to work in a college where everybody is working for the
best outcome for our students and our faculty and our staff and our
administrators?
So I just like the shared governance version, and not that I
don't completely admire the administrators at this college, they do a
great job, but this isn't the shared governance versus
administrators. This is allowing the board to do what we were
elected to do, which is to govern the college and sign those decrees
when they come through.
So I guess I'll call for a vote.
All in favor of the version A, the shared governance version, say
aye.
(Ayes.)
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Any opposed?
>> DR. WADE McLEAN: Nay.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Motion passes 4 to 1. Thank you. And
thank you for all showing up and supporting your college.
(Applause.)
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: You can stay. There is going to be great
things coming up. So feel free to stay.
One other thing, before everybody leaves, I'd like to mention we
are having one of our next HLC Town Halls tomorrow here in this room,
I believe. It's from like 10:45 on. 35- to 40-minute presentations
from all of the different areas that the HLC is going to be making
sure that we are improving and being the best college we can be.
It's really important for you all to understand what's going on
for this reaccreditation. So if you have any free time tomorrow
between 10:45 and 3:45, we'd love to see you here again. Thank you.
Safe drives home for those of you who are leaving right now.
Moving on to section 2, the reports. Our first administrative
report is going to be a legislative update from Jonathan Paton.
Thank you for being here.
>> JONATHAN PATON: Thank you.
Well, it was mentioned that today is Valentine's Day and that
it's also Lent. One more thing: It is also Arizona Statehood Day.
So Happy Arizona Statehood Day to everybody. I'm here at the state
capitol working on a lot of issues for Pima College, and I just want
to go through some of them right now.
Probably the biggest issue that we are facing and that the entire
state is facing -- or actually, let me give a caveat. I'm going to
be talking about a number of things happening at the state capitol.
Keep in mind that these, it's a snapshot in time. There is a
legislative session we are in the middle of right now, and there is a
very good chance that things will change dramatically as we go
through the session. So many of these bills I might be talking
about, they may be going forward, they may not be going forward.
We'll find out about new bills that suddenly appear on the horizon.
I just want you to keep in mind that it's all in a state of flux
except for the very first item that I'm going to be talking about,
which is not in a state of flux, and it's a very serious thing that's
going to be lasting throughout the rest of the session, and that's
the state budget.
Arizona is facing a $1.7 billion deficit right now in the state
budget. I have been asked a lot by folks in the community and folks
on the board and elsewhere exactly how this problem happened.
This budget deficit that we have is not a structural deficit.
What I mean by that is if you can kind of liken it to your own
situation at home, you have your salary, you have the income coming
in, and you have your bills, your mortgage, you have your car
payments, and everything is in alignment. You have enough money
coming in to pay for your bills that you have every month, but one
thing is that you were waiting on a Christmas bonus. You had already
bought a ticket to Hawaii.
Well, that bonus, all of a sudden, doesn't come in, and now
you're out all that money that you put into your vacation to Hawaii,
and you have to scramble to come back with that money.
That's exactly what happened with the state budget. There was a
budget surplus, or so everyone thought, and they spent money on
one-time spending for a variety of things, for road projects, we were
a beneficiary of that, given a few million dollars here at Pima
College in addition to what we would normally get through STEM. And
all of that money was basically -- it's kind of like that Christmas
bonus.
So right now, the state legislature and the governor are trying
to find ways to claw that money back and to find other ways to cut
things so they can pay for that Christmas bonus money that they
thought they had.
That's affecting every agency and everyone else. It doesn't
impact the basic funding of government, things that are formula
funded, things that are ongoing spending. Just like your mortgage,
those things, there is plenty of money coming in for that but there's
just not enough money to cover this one-time spending that occurred
to the tune of $1.7 billion.
So with that in mind, one of the first priorities that I have is
to protect the state funding that we get, which is STEM funding, and
we are working hard to make sure that we don't see a reduction in
that. Secondly, we are trying to protect the third year of the
three-year adult basic ed funding. Those two things are probably our
top priorities in this budget environment, because obviously it's
basically impossible to get more money because they're in a deficit
environment.
You will hear about a lot of bad bills that are happening at the
state legislature. I tell this every year, that there is, I kind of
liken it to, in the Bible, they talk about wars and rumors of wars.
There is always, obviously the budget is going to be a real war, but
the rumors of wars are a lot of these bills you might have heard
about.
One of those is SB 1044. That's the elimination of the commerce
authority, the repeal of the commerce authority. There are a lot of
people concerned about that, especially in a business community. I'm
guessing that the governor is not going to sign that bill. I think
that there is going to be a big effort to protect the commerce
authority.
There is also SB 1005. That's ideology training prohibition. I
seriously doubt the governor is going to be signing that bill, as
well. But they will probably go through the session. You will
probably read newspaper articles about some of these things, but I
don't think they are actually going to come to fruition.
There is also another bill that may come up. I have heard other
people talk about it. HB 2519. It would be appropriations to
Arizona Western College. I think it may be well-intentioned. We
actually spoke with the sponsor of that bill, Representative Pena,
and I think that it's pretty much dead on arrival, because like I
said, the state budget, there is no money to put out for any new
projects because they are trying to find money to pay for all the
one-time projects that they have already spent money on. So that's
probably not going to happen.
And as Marcy mentioned, we were able to get senate bill 1190,
that's the community college license plate bill, we got that through
the senate transportation committee. It went through unanimously.
It has passed through both caucuses and through the rules committee.
We have to wait for it to go through a final third read vote in the
senate and it goes on to the house. So we are working on that as
well.
That's basically what's happening at the state capitol. I think
things will probably change dramatically as time goes on. It's a
very busy week right now because this is the last week to hear bills
in the chamber of origin. So all senate bills, for example, have to
be heard this week in the senate or they're dead.
The same thing with house bills being heard in the house. If
they don't go past today and get a hearing, they are also dead.
There is a lot of committee hearings going late into the night, and
that should continue through to tomorrow, and things will taper off
for a little while in the next week.
So I'd be happy to answer any of your questions.
>> MR. GREG TAYLOR: I have a question. This is Greg Taylor.
I understand we have to pay for our Hawaiian vacation, so this
isn't in the context of this year, but maybe just, I'm curious, the
history of the last ten years or maybe to the extent to which you
have a crystal ball over the next ten years, what has been the
opposition to restoring Pima's regular state funding, as all other
community colleges across the state except Maricopa have had
restored, where it hadn't been able to get done in the last ten years
and I know why this year it isn't likely to happen, given the
financial situation, but then what do you think the prospects are in
the somewhat near future of being able to successfully have that
conversation?
>> JONATHAN PATON: So I would say that it's a combination of
things. First of all, I think the hardest thing in state government
is to get a restoration of ongoing spending. It was relatively easy
to do one-time spending.
The senate and house majority were willing to allow members to
spend things on one-time spending because they didn't know whether
this money would last, and obviously it didn't last. So they are
very reluctant to commit to putting in money for an ongoing program.
I think that Pima is in an unfortunate position, because the
amount of money for Pima is relatively modest compared to that for
Maricopa College. I think that the sheer amount of money that, to
give them the amount that they have for their FTSE count, for
example, just dwarfs anybody else's, and it's just a large chunk.
They would never give money to Pima College if they didn't give it to
Maricopa College as well. So I think that's one reason.
The other reason is that it's always the focus of the legislature
on education, there is a natural lobby put in place for K-12. You
have not only the teachers but you have parents on that end, and then
I think that the universities, obviously they have a platoon of
lobbyists and consultants that work for them, and they have the
business community that lobbies on their behalf. I think that the
community colleges are just in a tougher spot advocating for that.
So I don't know if that answered your question, but that's
basically what's happened over the last ten years. We have requested
that money in the past. They are willing to do individual projects,
and I think that, as an example of that, with the aviation project
that we were able to get passed a few years ago, they are willing to
do those one-off projects, but I think they are simply not willing,
because of the state that the state has been in for most of this
time, and that's probably, I guess, the best reason to say is that
the state has also been in financial straits for much of those ten
years in the kind of money that we are talking about.
I don't know if that answers your question, but that's been my
assessment.
>> MR. GREG TAYLOR: Thank you.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Jonathan, this is Theresa Riel. I met up
at the capitol a couple weeks ago. Thanks for being here today.
>> JONATHAN PATON: Yes.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Hey, I wanted to ask about the ESA
vouchers. To me it's very interesting that our state government is
okay saying they're not going to fund Pima Community College and
Maricopa County, but this year they are spending $489 million on ESA
vouchers for students that are not necessarily going to public
schools.
What's your take -- I mean, how do you deal with the disparity of
those two comments? They can't fund community colleges that help out
the economy and students and programs and all of that, but they're
giving, you know, $489 million this year to parents to pay for their
private schools for their students.
>> JONATHAN PATON: So that's the partisan battle that happens at
the capitol, and it's kind of become, I would say the ESA is like
another one of the hot-button issues that you see, that you have
intractable positions on both sides.
I don't see that the current majority ever changing that, because
every one of them has basically voiced support for ESAs that's in the
majority right now. I just don't see that going away.
As to what their motivation is, I don't know if I'm in the right
place to be able to explain that in a short amount of time in this
hearing, but they are very passionate about that, just as people on
the other side are passionately against it. I think the fact that
the governor signed a budget with those ESAs in them, I think it
shows the intractable nature of getting rid of them in this current
legislature.
Does that make sense? I think if she could have, I think she
would have absolutely tried to get rid of them, but she never would
have been able to pass the budget with the current majority.
And that majority is very thin. There is only one vote. There
is 31 Republicans, 29 Democrats in the state house, and 16
Republicans and 14 Democrats in the state senate. So it obviously
hinges on just a handful of votes on both sides. I think this is
probably one of the biggest hot-button issues that's going to drive
the budget on both sides this year.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you. I just think if we use that
same analogy of how we deal with our own personal budgets, if we did
that in our own personal budgets, we spent $489 million when there
are other expenses that we should be paying in the state, it just
seems a little irresponsible. But thank you.
>> MS. MARIA GARCIA: I have a question. I'd like to know, okay,
as far as the ESA vouchers, why is it that the education department
is allowing Tom Horne to come out every single day on TV in the
Mexican station, Spanish station, and the English station? How much
is that costing us and why isn't that money being diverted or why
don't they cut him off?
>> JONATHAN PATON: Madam Chair, I don't know how to answer that
question, because I don't really know how that works with the
Department of Education. I don't have knowledge about how that would
work one way or the other.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you, Jonathan.
>> JONATHAN PATON: So I apologize for that.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: We realize you're our lobbyist, not
necessarily the guru of making everybody behave up there on Capitol
Hill.
Thank you for being here today and for everything you do for the
college. We really support your support up there on the Hill.
>> JONATHAN PATON: Thank you very much. And Happy Statehood
Day.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you. Our next one is Dr. Dave Bea on
the chancellor's goal update, improving effectiveness.
You have the floor, Dr. Bea.
>> DR. DAVID BEA: Good evening, Chairperson Riel, members of the
board, Chancellor Duran-Cerda, colleagues and guests.
It's my pleasure tonight to give a quick update of the progress
we are making in the chancellor's goal No. 4, which is improving the
effectiveness of the institution.
We put a bunch of narrative in this slide show. I'm not going to
go through it all tonight. I'd rather highlight a couple of key
areas in the outcomes and how it's going to impact us going forward.
The first one is looking at the assessment and conducting a broad
assessment, really identifying inefficiencies. I think it probably
says identifying efficiencies. But really identifying areas where we
can tangibly reduce costs over time.
The key outcome of that is you're going to see very soon when we
talk on Monday, which is some of the ideas coming out of that for
cost-savings ideas that we can implement in the short run. I'm
expecting that we can implement some cost-saving strategies that are
going to be sufficient to at least in this upcoming budget offset the
operating increases that we normally expect through contractual
obligation increases and that sort of thing.
We'll talk a little bit more on Monday about that. Similarly,
the second one is, as you know, we have made a fair amount of
progress on the budget, having good conversations both with the board
in study sessions and then the big study session on Monday, also
talking with folks around the college and talking with members of
AERC related to compensation-related priorities. We have been making
sure that they, as well as Staff Council, have a good understanding
of the budget dynamics and the challenges we're facing, and then I'm
meeting with Faculty Senate to talk about that at their upcoming
meeting early in March.
The key one, as I mentioned, on Monday we're going to have a good
conversation with you all regarding the upcoming budget, how to
balance the revenues and expenditures, what the challenges are, and
then again, how to implement some of the cost efficiencies we are
talking about both in the short term and then as we look forward to
more of a two- and three-year plan, what we are going to do to reduce
costs over time.
With that, I will say those are the big highlights of the update.
Again, a lot of it will be discussed in much more detail on Monday.
Also, for the board's information, I will have some models
available so that we can actually have an interactive discussion. I
will do my usual dog-and-pony where I talk a little bit about things,
but it's not going to be just a one-way conversation. We're going to
actually talk through and I'll have some real simple models we can
play around so you can sort of say, well, if we do this and do that,
what's the outcome and impact on the budget, have a really inclusive
and interactive discussion on Monday.
Looking forward to that. With that, I will ask if the board has
any questions related to this item.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you, Dr. Bea. We'll see you on
Monday. I hope your kids feel better real quick.
>> DR. DAVID BEA: Thank you. Yeah, they're doing better.
Sorry, for those who don't know, sorry I'm not able to be there in
person tonight. I'm solo parenting tonight. My wife is on a
business trip and my kids are sick. Yeah (smiling). Just hoping I
don't get sick too, but we'll know more on Monday, I suppose.
Anyway, have a good night and happy three days for Ash Wednesday,
Statehood Day, and Valentine's Day. Lots going on today.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you.
Our next report is the climate action plan, Climate Action and
Sustainability Plan, by Dr. Nic Richmond.
>> DR. RICHMOND: Good evening, Chair Riel, members of the board,
Chancellor Duran-Cerda, colleagues and guests. It's my pleasure to
be here this evening to provide a brief update on the status of the
college's Climate Action and Sustainability Plan.
I should note that this update is accompanied by an executive
summary that provides comprehensive information. I'm just going to
touch on a few highlights.
Now, pretty much any day when you open the news there are
articles and information about extreme weather and the impacts
particularly on vulnerable populations. This is just one example.
But from an education point of view, there have been a number of
surveys conducted highlighting the importance of climate action and
sustainability to the students and learners that we serve.
The slide here highlights some national data gathered from a
survey that was conducted of 114 colleges and universities a little
over a year ago. We also have a survey that we conducted in-house
where we found that from the students who responded, there was just
under 400 students, that 91% say they were somewhat, very, or
extremely concerned about climate change.
This is an area we have been focusing on institutionally
primarily driven by the strategic plan and the goal to ultimately
reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by the year 2030.
We have five priorities within the plan, and as noted, the
executive summary provides full information of the work that's been
done. I'm just going to provide an example for each of these
different areas.
For priority 1, energy reduction, we have completed a full
inventory and baseline of our current energy use led by Phil Berry in
the office of sustainability in collaboration with the facility's
team. Based on the energy use, we have determined the associated
greenhouse gas or GHG emissions associated with it.
For priority 2 related to the curriculum, we have had, for a
number of years included in the plan development a very active group
of faculty in this space, including, for example, Dr. Noah Fay, Dr.
Maria P., and Charlie McCabe. We have added to that group in the
last year with the hiring of Dr. Crystal McKenna, who has been
brought onboard to develop a suite of climate action sustainability
classes for the institution.
The faculty are proposing six new courses in this area and they
are designed to meet multiple AGEC requirements, so they are going to
be accessible to all students regardless of the program or major they
are pursuing.
For priority 3, engagement and education, we have been active in
a number of different areas. Supported by the office of
sustainability, a group of students have started a student club,
PCASA, the Pima Climate Action Sustainability Ambassadors. This is a
small group of students, but it's growing all the time, so that's
very exciting to see that engagement on the student side.
In addition, we have developed a partnership with the Tucson
chapter of the Citizens Climate Lobby, and there are monthly Saturday
morning meetings hosted at a Pima campus which focus on climate
action sustainability, and typically there is around about 50
attendees at each of those.
For priority 4, we have completed the initial greenhouse gas
baseline for scope 1 and scope 2 sources. Scope 1 are emissions
associated with direct college actions. So, for example, fuel in
company or college vehicles. Scope 2 are indirect, so greenhouse gas
emissions associated with purchased electricity, just for example.
So we are making good progress, establishing our baseline, which is a
critical piece to then mapping out our route to reducing emissions by
50% by 2030.
Then lastly, for priority 5, a lot of work has been done here
through the office of sustainability housed within STAR to position
the college to apply for certification from the Association for the
Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
We are on track to become one of only a handful of community
colleges that hold gold certification through that system, and we are
looking to submit the application for that in the summer, which is
about a year ahead of schedule from what we initially planned in the
CASP.
So our short-term priorities are pursuing the application through
AASHE, so that's convenient shorthand for the Association for the
Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, which is a very
long time.
The new climate action and sustainability courses will be offered
in the fall semester, so that's coming up very soon. And also to
align the climate planning work with the college's comprehensive and
integrated planning process, we are adjusting the timeline on the
existing plan by one year, so it will conclude in June of 2026
instead of June of 2025, which means that the planning for the next
priorities in this space can be integrated with the strategic plan
development, the education master plan, the facilities master plan,
et cetera, which is another shift towards our effort to get a good
handle on the priorities of the institution and ensure we are not
overcommitting and stretching people too thin with too many
priorities.
With that, that's the full update, and I would be happy to answer
any questions.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Any questions?
Thank you, Dr. Richmond.
Our next report is with Dr. Wendy Weeks and David Parker. Thank
you.
>> Good evening, Madam Chair, Governing Board members,
Chancellor, PCC family, friends, and guests.
First of all, I would like to thank our team members, some of
which kind of switched their roles. They were going to be a writer,
and then they started helping us look for evidence and developed the
argument. I'm going to work a little more from notes tonight,
because I'm condensing 30 minutes to 5, and I want to make sure we
don't go further behind.
HLC Criterion 2 focuses upon integrity and ethical and
responsible conduct. There are five subcriterion examples of how we
can demonstrate how we are consistent with accreditation standards.
Along with this criteria, we also look at the basic eligibility
requirements, make sure we address them, and the assumed practices,
some of which we hear they are all black and white, and some are not
quite as black and white as we think, especially in this area.
There are a few outstanding HLC items that we are addressing that
fall under Criterion 2. An embedded report will address complaint
processes. Process information has been clarified. We have drafted
a generic flow chart. The processes may be different, but they tend
to have similarities, so it's more of a typical flow chart instead of
specific to each one.
We are updating web pages to include cross-links and a
centralized information page. And as complaint processes involve
different information systems, we are bringing together a team
quarterly to start to evaluate trends, effectiveness of our
processes, and how to continually improve based upon that
information.
Our peer reviewers will directly address some governance and
communication items remaining from the last focus visits and interim
report, and you see my paraphrase of the four different topics that's
stated a little bit differently, but I needed to make it fit on the
slide.
I'm working on the best way to incorporate evidence of resolution
of their specific items. We talked around it. They want to see
specific answers in the reaffirmation argument as we draft it.
This is an area where they will expect to find evidence
consistent with our representation and hopefully find evidence of
continuous improvement when they arrive in December.
We have strong policy, procedure, guidance, and resources
available and the evidence of those, and it tells a good story. It
can be a little more difficult to document that we follow it
consistently and that it is effective in practice.
That's one of the things we need to work on over this next year,
make sure our policies are all up to date, that they are consistent
with our practices, and they work.
I will run through some evidence quickly that we have identified
and keep us on track. Some of this evidence is types instead of
specific, and some evidence is applicable to multiple areas and will
be mentioned more than once.
Criterion 2.A or Subcriterion 2.A, examples include board bylaws,
board policies and administrative procedures, codes of conduct,
satisfaction surveys, our integrated planning efforts, financial
policies and reports, internal controls, and the three lines of
defense model, external audits, complaint processes, and a universal
duty of all employees to report fraud or abuse along with
whistle-blowing procedures and companion protections for those who
report.
Subcriterion 2.B examples include our regulatory surveillance
efforts. Seems like they are always changing, and we have to use
ways to make sure we are aware of them as they are changing. And our
updates to policies and practices, review, and updates to consumer
information and notifications, tuition and cost information and
calculators, program requirement information, OutReach Program,
consistency and controls, updates to website information, which can
still be a challenge, there is a lot of them and we need to make sure
they stay current, and our developing ethics and compliance efforts.
2.C examples include Arizona community college model, which tends
to be a little different than a lot of other states. Open Meetings
and Public Records Law, bylaws, policies, admin procedures,
handbooks, codes of ethics, the board's fiduciary and oversight role
and delegation and accountability framework and governance bodies,
standing committees, and task forces.
By the way, if anybody watches tomorrow, I will take 30 minutes
and give more specific examples of these.
2.D examples include intellectual freedom, freedom expression
policies, annual reports, employee handbook and administrative
procedures, faculty pedagogical and innovative teaching methods.
This is my paraphrase, it's what I think of as some artistic license
for our faculty consistent with curriculum and learning outcomes, and
our deans, discipline committees, and representative groups.
2.E examples include the academic integrity code and student
codes, controls on human subjects research, general learning
outcomes, library tutorials to help students with several of the
areas, copyright compliance, accessible use standards, AI task force
is spinning up right now, use of course syllabus template, and
oversight by deans and student affairs.
Then I did include a very short topic paraphrase of what the
different assumed practices are, and as I mention some of these, it's
easy to say the board approves the budget and employs the CEO.
That's black and white.
Formal agreements for outsourcing, black and white, but requires
ethical behavior partners. Still trying to figure out exactly what
that means, how we implement it, and those pieces. It's a brand new
one.
As a final thought, Criterion 2 is usually the one that requires
the shortest argument. However, because of recent HLC complaints in
the area and especially Criterion 2.C, which is where they seem to
focus, it will remain a potential area for scrutiny and will require
a consistent continuing effort over the next year through the peer
review and beyond after that.
I appreciate your time, and would be happy to try and answer any
questions you may have.
>> MS. MARIA GARCIA: Will you have, tomorrow, when you make your
presentation, will you be answering questions tomorrow?
>> We do the presentation, and then we take questions. The
time's a little bit shorter. We are doing 30 minutes instead of 45,
but I think I will be done in about 20 or 25. There will be time for
questions, and then there is a gap between that one and the next one,
so we should be able to.
>> MS. MARIA GARCIA: So I'm going to ask one question. On 2.A,
how are you measuring that, or has it been measured?
>> The examples that they give, because they list A through F or
something like the examples that they show, the HLC says that that's
just examples, you don't have to answer those things specifically.
But we tailor our answers to it, because when you look at when they
have a finding that somebody isn't really meeting that or they're not
documenting it well, they always go back to those things.
So we are focusing on those, we are adding to the story. There
are some places where we are still trying to gather better evidence.
We have identified one or two gaps that we are still trying to
improve so we can talk about it and tell them about it and provide
that evidence.
Some of it's subjective. It's very easy to show the policies.
It's a little harder to show that we are consistently following them
and that they are consistently effective. And then the important
thing is how do we measure that, how do we review it, and then how do
we improve from it. Even things that are working well, we can always
improve.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: David, are you and the others that are
working on the different criterion, are you still accepting
suggestions for evidence for these different criterion or are we
already past that point?
>> If you get ahold of me and let me know what is, we are still
doing edits through the 29th of this month, and then they are going
to take the five different separate drafts -- we don't have enough
words to, or they don't give us enough words to answer all of these
separately. We actually have to take that and condense it into a
single narrative, and that's where it gets a little more difficult to
start making changes.
But all the way until we submit it, we can make adjustments,
especially if we find better evidence or we need to correct
something.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: I think I'm just going to make one more
plug for administrators and faculty and staff. When you go to these
Town Hall meetings, you might hear something. The first one I went
to in August, I took seven pages of notes of just things that were
new to me. Not necessarily that they were problems or anything like
that. But I took seven pages of notes.
I'm sure that all of us have ideas of ways we can show how we are
doing exactly what the HLC wants, but if you don't know that they're
looking for your bit of information because you haven't attended one
of those workshops, you know, you should be there.
Thank you.
>> If I can add one more plug to that. It is important that a
lot of people in the college read through it, not only give us our
input, become familiar with it. When they come, they don't want to
talk to me as the drafter. They want to talk to other people. They
want to check it independently. It's important that there is a
consistent message. If we get it wrong, fine, but we don't want them
to walk away going, wait, nobody knows about this, they must not be
doing it right, when we are.
So we need a lot of people to read it and be familiar and be
available.
Thank you.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you. Okay.
Now, moving on to our reports by representatives to the board,
our first will be Rebecca Ursule.
Sorry about that. One of these days I won't make mistakes, but
it's not happening today. (Laughter.)
>> KELLY O'KEEFE: Well, hello and good evening, Governing Board,
Chairperson Riel, Chancellor Duran-Cerda, administrative
representatives, and colleagues and guests. Thank you so much for
allowing us just a few moments to share with you all the work that
Criterion 3 has done in support of the reassurance argument.
Our group consists of Darla Aguilera, Jim Craig, Suzanne
Desjardin, Emily Halvorson-Otts, Makyla Hays, Jeff Thies, and myself,
Kelly O'Keefe.
We have focused on Criterion 3 for a long time now, gathered a
lot of evidence, and everything about Criterion 3 is all in support
of quality learning and teaching. Many of us leads on this group are
faculty and many of us are administrators working directly with the
faculty.
This criterion is broken up into four subcriterion, and Jim Craig
will be giving us a preview of 3.A and 3.B and Makyla Hays will be
giving us a preview of 3.C and 3.D.
>> JIM CRAIG: So core Criterion 3.A really talks about the rigor
of our academic offerings and that it's appropriate for what we are
supposed to be doing in higher education. We have a great story to
tell about this. We've got a lot of really significant, positive
evidence.
BP 3.25, which we need to thank all of you for, because you do
such a great job of reviewing and approving all of our programs, new
programs, programs that we're inactivating, everything that goes into
managing and maintaining quality programs at Pima Community College.
Another great example we have are all of the certificates and
microcertificates and FastTracks and applied sciences degrees for
transfer, all of our transfer programs, to go to the universities and
that we have wonderful transfer agreements for all of those. That's
a lot of the evidence that ties into this criteria as well.
We also have, for our career and technical education programs, we
have very robust and very well-documented advisory committees. Those
advisory committees are made up of industry experts, hiring managers,
and fellow university and college colleagues as well.
What they do for us is they really help us inform us about what
to build, what kind of programs to build, how to improve them, what
they really need and what the discipline and the industry really
needs out of Pima Community College. So we have some great evidence
there.
Then of course we have all of the articulation task forces that
focus on transfer students and transfer standards across the state
and elsewhere. Then finally, student program of studies, which we
have well-documented also.
3.B talks more about engaging students, collecting, analyzing,
communicating information, and really how do we help them master
different modes of intellectual inquiry, creative thinking, all of
those general education and other skill sets like that.
So evidence of this is all of our general education curriculum
that we communicate in our catalog and our websites and other places.
It's also documented through all of our efforts to the general
education redesign work that we do throughout the state. We are very
active in that and part of the leaders for that.
Then of course we have all of our strategic plans. The main
strategic plan, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan, and all of
our future plans that are tying in, concepts like DEI and other
intellectual pieces for our students. Thank you.
>> MAKYLA HAYS: 3.A and 3.B really kind of set the tone of how
do we communicate to our students and what's the rigor, what is the
content that we're offering. And 3.C and 3.D are more about what are
we doing to ensure that that support is there, kind of more of the
people side of things.
Criterion 3.C is showing the institution has faculty and staff
needed for effective, high-quality programs, and student services.
You'll notice on each of these slides up to this point for 3, we've
put a board policy that relates that we've used as evidence, because
you are the board, and so if they ask you about these things for
Criterion 3, we want you to know what board policies we used, since
that's your policies and we used them as evidence.
BP 2.01 and 2.02 talk about the hiring processes and how we use
diversity and equity, how we look at those things. We have our DEI
dashboard on pima.edu. We have minimum qualifications for faculty
and staff and all of our federal compliance training. So we have
listed a lot of those things.
We also have a faculty minimum qualification rubric that the
faculty update through the provost's office, and a big one that you
may want to know and other people, to keep our faculty and staff up
to date on their requirements and everything, we do provide
professional development funding through a regular process to faculty
and to staff. And it's not just a nice perk of the job, but it is
actually to continue our education and make sure that we are
maintaining our accreditation and keeping people qualified for what
they do. You know, it is a nice perk, but it's for a very important
purpose, as well, and so that's really awesome.
Our faculty also have to maintain oversight through the DFCs in
Faculty Senate. You have heard a lot about that through BP 1.25,
which was not mentioned in this, but faculty oversight of curriculum
is a very crucial thing for HLC, and we do that through our Faculty
Senate.
3.D is more about the actual support spaces that we have and the
services that we provide outside of the classroom. We have all of
these amazing services on the left. I have just kind of listed them
all, and there is actually more, but we go through and detail each of
those things as well as the comprehensive advising that happens.
There is an actual syllabus that they use in advising to try to make
sure they are advising in that way.
And then our learning areas, we have a lot of really great
physical spaces like our libraries, computer commons, makerspaces,
ASL labs, centers of excellence all throughout the place. So we have
gone through each of those as well. We also highlighted the fact
that the pandemic shifted all of our services, not just our courses
but our services, to online and virtual services, as well, and we
have maintained those modalities for our students to make sure that
any of our fully online students or students that just can't make it
to campus can still get the services they need.
One of those great supports is checking out computers and
hotspots to our students from our libraries. So that is a highly
used service, and I hear about us running out all the time because
students are using it that often. It's a wonderful service for them.
Overall, our criterion has received a really strong response from
all of our reviewers. Our consultant looked at it and gave us some
pointers, we fixed it, and then we also got all of the comments from
being posted online.
We had a mock visit, and we were told that Criterion 3 performed
wonderfully. We had a really good turnout, and I'm looking forward
to seeing how that turns out for next time.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you, all.
Okay. Now moving on to reports by representatives. Rebecca.
>> REBECCA URSULE: Good evening, chancellor, board members, PCC
faculty, and guests. I'm pleased to present this report outlining
the outcomes and initiatives discussed during our recent retreat and
regular meeting for Student Senate.
We had a successful Student Senate retreat on January 16, 2024.
This retreat provided a platform for planning and organizing our
activities for the upcoming spring semester.
Additionally, we engaged with mentors, vice presidents, Student
Life coordinators, and other key leaders at Pima Community College
fostering collaboration and laying the groundwork for our
initiatives.
Our meetings will be held virtually and all of our recordings
will be accessible on PimaEngage. Everyone is welcome to attend the
meetings on the following dates and times. Our working meetings will
always be on Friday, and our first working meeting was on the 19th,
January 19th, 2024, and was from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00.
Our second working meeting was on 9th February from 10:00 a.m. to
11:00 a.m. Our next meeting will be March 15th, 2024, from 10:00
a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Our last working meeting will be April 19th,
2024, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
We also have regular meetings. Our first regular meeting was on
February 2nd, 2024, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Our next regular
meeting will be on March 1st, 2024, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.,
followed by the one April 5th, 2024, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
And our last regular meeting will be May 10th, 2024, from 10:00 a.m.
to 11:30 a.m.
During our regular meeting on January 19th, 2024, the Student
Senate of the Desert Vista Campus brought up a crucial issue
regarding the lack of a cashier on campus creating difficulties for
students in making swift payments. This problem has persisted for
about a year, forcing students to travel to the West and Downtown
Campuses for financial transactions.
Cesar Pena and Atheena Martinez from the Northwest Campus and the
online Student Senate have proactively collaborated to address the
issue. Discussion took place with the Desert Vista Campus cashier's
office, and the responses indicated that there are currently multiple
payment options available. Around 90% of payments are currently made
electronically. Opening a cashier's office would incur additional
costs for the college, especially for the remaining portion of
payments, making it electronically unsound to pass through changes to
the cashier's department.
The Market on the Move Program is led by Kristy Snowden, Student
Senate of the Downtown Campus. The program continues to be an
effective method to support and provide students with resources.
During this meaningful community engagement, the program have
utilized this platform to spread the news of the GED scholarship
aiming to strengthen the community's economic stability through
education.
Furthermore, the proceeds from these events have contributed to
establishing the Downtown Campus hygiene pantry, a resource that will
assist students in meeting their essential needs. Discussions are
underway to potentially extend the pantry service to online students,
aiming to minimize barriers for all students.
It is important to know that funding will be needed to accomplish
this next goal, and they are actively exploring avenues to secure the
necessary resources.
Our upcoming events. We had a Welcome Week tabling events and
all the Student Senates participated in tabling events during the
Welcome Week at various campuses. This engagement aimed to connect
students and create an inclusive welcoming atmosphere.
We also have the Town Hall event for the spring semester 2024.
The Town Hall events of the spring 2024 will be held at the Northwest
Campus on Wednesday, March 27th, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. This
event will provide a platform for open dialogue and community
engagement.
We also have a Student Senate conference in Atlanta. We are
excited to announce that the PCC Student Senate plans to attend the
upcoming student governing training conference in Atlanta, Georgia,
with the American Student Government Association in March 16th. This
training will offer valuable insight and its working opportunities
for our Student Senate.
We, the Student Senate of Pima Community College, express our
sincere appreciation to the board and entire Pima community
leadership for their responsiveness to student concerns. Their
approval of making and creating a distinctive entrance at the West
Campus along with the future plan for dedicated bike path lane from
Pima West to St. Mary's Hospital in collaboration with the City of
Tucson demonstrates a commitment to improving campus accessibility
and enhancing the overall well-being of students.
As we embark on the spring semester, the Student Senate remains
dedicated to advocating for the student needs and contributing to
positive changes within the Pima Community College, and we appreciate
your continued support.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you, Rebecca.
Moving on...
>> MR. GREG TAYLOR: Chair Riel? I imagine, Rebecca or Interim
Chancellor, you may not have this information now, which is okay, but
I would love to know more about the hygiene pantry that was
mentioned.
What are they providing now, where are the resources coming from
that are being used, and what those future needs are in terms of
funding, and if there is anything like that on the other campuses as
well or is it all Downtown? I'd love to know more about that.
It can come right to me if I'm the only one that's interested, or
it can come to all of us at a meeting, if that is appropriate. I'm
fine either way. Unless you know off the top of your head, but I
certainly don't expect you to.
>> DR. DOLORES DURAN-CERDA: I will come back with some
information, but there are ways -- actually, a lot of our employees
donate to the food pantry through the Pima Foundation, and we do have
a staff member, but mostly it's students getting very minimal
compensation for it, so we want to make sure that we do have a
process that is a little more robust.
So we are in the conversations about it, but I can get you more
details about it. It is something that's very needed, and it's not
just food insecurities but it's also clothing, we want to expand to
that eventually too. Thank you.
>> MR. GREG TAYLOR: Thank you.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Adjunct faculty report by Sean Mendoza.
>> SEAN MENDOZA: Thank you, Chairman Riel, Interim Chancellor
Duran-Cerda, members of the board, and honored guests. Happy New
Year in this Year of the Dragon and a Good Ash Wednesday.
I'm happy to report the administration continues to engage and
invite feedback from adjunct faculty on a variety of topics. This
month we met with Acting Chancellor Dr. Dolores Duran-Cerda where she
shared her thoughts on three main topics brought forward by our
employee group.
They were, one, the top three challenges facing our institution.
Two, whether or not she plans to apply for acting role. And three,
the safety of all faculty on and off campus.
I don't want to give away the ending of the movie, but the
adjunct faculty appreciated her thoughts and her thoughtful
responses. If you want to watch her responses for yourself, they can
be found on the recorded link to our adjunct faculty agenda. Thank
you, Chancellor, for visiting our adjunct faculty and we hope you'll
visit us soon in the future.
As we all know, the All Employee Representative Council, or AERC,
plays a large role in the development of policy impacting
compensation and compensation at our institution.
This spring semester, Lynn Maners stepped down from his role at
the AERC and was replaced by Zoe Schopick. I'd like to thank Lynn
for his service and his role on the initiatives adjunct faculty enjoy
today, and an early thank you to Zoe for hearing and answering my
call to service as our new AERC representative.
The second representative is Patrick Moore who continues to play
a key role on the initiatives shaping the workplace environment of
adjunct faculty. This year the AERC representatives have been
working on a variety of initiatives ranging from compensation for
canceled classes to strategies that meet the diverse needs of our
employee group.
I'd like to thank Dr. David Bea and members of the provost's
office, specifically Kate Schmidt, for meeting with us and sharing
your insights as we collaboratively work to support adjunct faculty.
Thank you, board members, for your continued support, and this
ends my report.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you, Sean.
And the faculty report by Rita Lennon.
>> RITA LENNON: Good evening, Chairperson Riel, members of the
board, Chancellor Duran-Cerda, PCC family and guests.
Faculty Senate met for the first time on February 2nd. It was a
little later than we usually meet in our spring semester, and that
was because we were back on contract to just two days before classes
began, and rather than fill that up with a bunch of meetings, the
provost's office and Faculty Senate leaders decided to go ahead and
give that back to the faculty so we could prep for our classes. It's
not a lot of time.
So what we talked about in our first meeting was we heard from
the registrar's office about the not-attending process. It was a
manual process where all faculty would report if students were either
attending or not attending in the first couple weeks of the classes.
We're now moving that to an automated process. Hopefully with a
couple of hiccups that we have identified and we can work through, it
will get better and better for us.
Also, we talked about faculty qualifications. This is something
that because HLC made some changes to their process, or not their
process but their policy, we are also going to be updating that and
looking at what we can do to improve the qualifications.
We also talked about APs and BPs. As we know, we have quite a
few -- Jeff, I'm not really looking at you, I'm just looking out.
(Laughter.) I just caught his eye.
So we have quite a few that are going through 21-day process
where we are also looking at minor updates, and so we asked senators
to work with their constituents about looking at all of those
policies, making sure they're on the right track either to make
comments or to alert us if there were any that we need to move out of
the updates, minor updates, into 21-day.
We also talked very little bit about our faculty leadership
model. We know that that needs to be updated and improved. That was
put on hold because of PimaOnline, the decision to be made about
PimaOnline and its future. So now that that decision has been made,
we are now working very diligently with a very, very tight schedule.
So we have about a month to get that decision made.
So I did want to mention also to the board, I don't have anything
really formal to mention about this, but after our meeting we have
heard about PimaOnline's decision. I know that Kimlisa came and
spoke very passionately to you about what's going on.
There has been quite a few comments and concerns, questions about
the decision, the timeline, the rollout. As I mentioned, I don't
have anything formal to mention to you because we haven't met with
senate yet about that. But I'm sure that either Denise Reilly or I
through this venue will be talking to you about that in the future.
Denise Reilly, our new president, mentioned her philosophy for
service leadership, and so I'm sure that if anything, you know, even
if it may not impact us personally, that she will be bringing
something forward to you.
And that concludes my first, actually my second report to you.
Thank you.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you, Rita.
And the administrative report by Jim Craig.
>> JIM CRAIG: Chairperson Riel, Chancellor Duran-Cerda,
distinguished board, PCC family and friends. Two chefs from Parma,
Italy, Mario Marini, chef and owner, and Nicole Zerbini, chef owner
of her family's 25-year-old restaurant, spent five days in Tucson
from January 18th to the 22nd learning about our culinary cultural
heritage and sharing theirs.
A highlight of the trip was an event co-sponsored by PCC and the
Tucson City of Gastronomy at the Desert Vista Campus Center of
Excellence for Hospitality Leadership. PCC students helped out and
prepared a number of appetizers for the 50-plus guests that showed
up, and as you heard, including our own Governing Board Chair Theresa
Riel and Governing Board Member Luis Gonzales.
Guests watched a cooking demonstration and got to sample some
amazing original tortellini made the traditional, old-fashioned way
from Southern Italy.
Y'all missed it. It was great.
The administration would like to thank the chancellor and the
Governing Board for the recent Governing Board retreat on shared
governance. It was a very strong, long day, but it was full of great
conversation, some learning, and I think a new perspective about how
we can move forward as a college with a stronger sense of shared
governance. Thank you for that.
Over the past year and a half, the mathematics faculty have been
engaged in increasing our students' ability to complete their math
degree requirement, which includes redesigning courses, engaging
professional development, and increased placement into co-requisite
courses in which students are placed directly into a college-level
math course with one hour of support provided before each class.
In fall of 2023 the success rates of math courses increased to
62%, which is the first time success rates have been above 60% for a
fall semester for several years.
In particular, students who were accelerated into a college-level
math co-requisite course experienced success rates of 61.1% for math
142 and 65.7% for math 151, which is college algebra.
PimaOnline was recognized in several 2023 Instructional
Technology Council categories this year. Outstanding reward
recipients are commended for their hard work, dedication to online
quality learning for students, and excellence in distance education.
I won't read everybody, because there are about 12 people here, but
they will all be recognized next week at the ITC conference.
Edgar Soto, campus vice president for Desert Vista Campus, has
been selected as the First Things First Pima South Region Champion
for Young Children. The award is given to local champions who are
going above and beyond in their efforts for young children from birth
to age five. Edgar is a lifelong Tucsonan and has been employed with
the college for over 20 years where he has served as the key player
in the recent relaunching of the Desert Vista early learning center
for student parents. Edgar is a vocal supporter of early childhood
education and the importance of the first five years.
In 2021, the Arizona Supreme Court approved the licensure of a
middle-tier legal professional called the legal paraprofessional, or
LP, making Arizona the first state in the nation to license this new
legal profession to address growing inaccessibility to affordable
legal representation.
An LP can provide legal services, including representation of
clients in court and in limited practice areas without the
supervision of a licensed attorney. PCC has been helping lead this
effort for one building a trial advocacy course that goes towards the
licensure. This course was developed by Gwen Gorbette, paralegal
program manager.
Recently there was an entire day spent on trial advocacy with
students, professional lawyers from the community, and even Honorable
Judge John J. Assini, who gathered and participated in full trial
process for petition for relocation of minor children.
This was accumulation for the class, and they had an amazing
experience with feedback given by Judge Assini as he ruled at the end
of the experience and gave the LP students some constructive
criticism.
The dean of dual enrollment and high school programs is proud to
announce the accomplishments up to date for 2024. We have once again
shown an increase of head count and enrollment in our dual enrollment
schools. Data as of February 6, 2024, all numbers are historic
numbers for the college. So head count at 5,811, which surpassed the
2023 head count of 5,304, and enrollment of 9,916, which is up from
9,546 last spring.
The All College Council met on February 8. The handouts from the
Governing Board retreat on shared governance were distributed to the
ACC members, and we discussed it at the meeting. The ACC members
will take those comments back to their respective groups, to Staff
Senate and Student Senate and the other groups, and have some
conversations about shared governance, and bring that back to the All
College Council so that we can help advise and inform the chancellor
on some of their perspectives.
The group is also taking back to their respective groups concepts
and questions about retention and enrollment and trying to address
some of the key chancellor goals there and to really try to get some
great insights from students and staff and faculty along those lines,
as well.
This concludes my report. Thank you.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you.
Next up, our own chancellor, Dr. Dolores Duran-Cerda. Thank you
for your report.
>> DR. DOLORES DURAN-CERDA: Thank you, Chairperson Riel. Happy
Valentine's Day, Happy Birthday to the State of Arizona, and also we
are celebrating this month Black History Month.
As I start, I'd like to welcome a new member of the Pima family
in the administrative capacity, and that's Tina Neil, who is our
acting assistant vice chancellor for human resources. I asked her to
come up to the podium to share a little bit about herself to the
board members and our guests here and colleagues.
>> TINA NEIL: Thank you, Dolores. Good evening, board members,
good evening, colleagues. I've see many of you in trainings before,
so I figured I'd just give a little history.
I moved to Tucson in 2008, and from the very start I had a
history with Pima Community College. I became an adjunct faculty
member, using my master's in human development and family studies to
help students with the student success classes while I was working
full time at the U of A.
In 2019 I joined the staff full-time, and many people in this
room have experienced hopefully my fun trainings in compliance as
well as leadership and other supervision topics.
Then recently, I was asked to step into this acting role, which
I'm really happy to do, to help out the college. That's the most
important thing to me. I think this college is great, and I want to
make sure that we can continue to move forward in a positive
direction.
In my free time, I have an eight-year-old. We are currently
building a castle for a school project. And I hike to destress.
Any questions? (Laughter.)
Well, I will be seeing all of you tomorrow.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: I just want to say welcome, and we really
are happy that you stepped up to help us out at this very important
time of hiring our chancellor. The board's No. 1 responsibility is
to make sure we make that good choice, and we really appreciate what
you've done so far in that capacity. So thank you.
>> TINA NEIL: Well, the other secret hidden talent I have is I
have a degree in accounting, so I know how to be organized.
>> DR. DOLORES DURAN-CERDA: Thank you, Tina. We really
appreciate it.
I'd also like to congratulate some folks in the Pima family as
well as some units. So Assistant Vice Chancellor Laurie
Kierstead-Joseph, there she is, she's been selected as the winner of
Coalition for Adult Basic Education Prestigious Administrator of the
Year award.
Let's give her a warm round of applause.
(Applause.)
>> DR. DOLORES DURAN-CERDA: This award is given to an adult
education administrator who has made an outstanding contribution
toward fostering the concept of education as a continuing life
process. She will be honored at the 2024 COABE National Conference
in Nashville, Tennessee. We're very proud of her.
I'd also like to congratulate PimaOnline for their work with OER,
Open Educational Resources. PimaOnline has saved students $987,300
the fall semester of 2023 with a total of just over $11 million saved
since 2017. So thank you to PimaOnline for that.
(Applause.)
>> DR. DOLORES DURAN-CERDA: I think it was this week or last
week, Michael? Last week you were on TV? Yes, because PimaOnline
was ranked one of the top 50 online programs. We are very proud of
that.
Brian Stewart, where are you? There you are. Brian Stewart, who
is our Northwest Campus vice president, has received the Phi Theta
Kappa Shirley B. Gordon Award of Distinction for Community College
Presidents. This award recognizes Brian for his ongoing commitment
to student success and hard work to provide opportunities for student
completion, transfer, and employment.
So we are very grateful to you, Brian.
(Applause.)
>> DR. DOLORES DURAN-CERDA: Dean Jim Craig has already talked
about Edgar Soto, Desert Vista Campus VP, for his award, so
congratulations again, Edgar. Very proud of you.
(Applause.)
>> DR. DOLORES DURAN-CERDA: And the assistant director of Title
IV compliance, Aurie Clifford, presented at the Oregon Association of
Student Financial Aid Administrators conference in Oregon. Her
presentation was on values-based leadership. She also taught, I
think it's NASFAA, credentialed course on professional judgment.
I don't know if Aurie's here, but we'd like to congratulate her.
Congratulations to Aurie.
(Applause.)
>> DR. DOLORES DURAN-CERDA: And the board members have already
discussed this about the Community College Day in Phoenix, Capitol
Day, and also the fact that we went to the ACCT legislative summit.
Almost board members were there at both events.
I just wanted to mention that their dedication and commitment to
this college is genuine and it's heartfelt, and they are there to
advocate for students and for this community and for all of us. So I
wanted to express my gratitude to all of you for your participation
in these events.
The one that I was just super touched by was the one in
Washington, D.C., the ACCT legislative summit, where we took three
students. Their stories were amazing, and in fact one of them I
think came out in Congressman Juan Ciscomani's newsletter, and that
student is Minerva. I think her last name is Torres.
She was from Honduras, and she came to the United States five
years ago with her family, her three kids and her husband, didn't
speak a word of English. Took her adult education classes, learned
English, and when she completed her program, at the ceremony there
was a raffle, and she won, like, $250 and used that to enroll in our
translation studies program. Now she's going through that program.
So we're very proud of her, and I think her kids are all going to
Pima. Pima, she says, is in the family.
That was a wonderful experience, to hear all of their
experiences. Another student was in aviation, and another one is I
think in STEM and going to transfer to the U of A for the college of
pharmacy. So incredible students and inspiring.
Also, I'd like to thank campus VP of East Campus, Jade Borne, and
also vice chancellor for student experience, Irene Robles-Lopez, and
our PCC police department and others for some things that have
happened at East Campus, some incidents. Thank you for your
leadership and for reassuring everyone at the campus and the
surrounding area that everything is all right. Thank you.
I know you're new to the college, Jade, so this was an experience
for you. (Laughter.)
Thank you.
(Applause.)
>> DR. DOLORES DURAN-CERDA: I will share just a few activities
that I've participated in. The first week of classes I had the joy
of going to the various campuses and greeting students and faculty as
they came in. Having been in the classroom for 27 years, I've really
missed being in the classroom and greeting students and handing out
swag. It was a wonderful experience.
Also, I started my Chats with the Interim Chancellor at the
Downtown Campus, and will be continuing till April at the various
campuses where all faculty and staff are invited to chat with me and
share their questions and suggestions and concerns.
I was honored, and also Brian Stewart, we went to the Pascua
Yaqui Tribe groundbreaking for the early childhood learning center,
which was amazing and very well-attended by the community, government
employees, the tribal nation, everybody was there. It was a great
experience.
Let's see. Couple weeks ago I went to the Helios Institution
where we had a retreat with NAU, and also there was a panel that I
participated, it's called the A++ Retreat. It's a partnership and
ecosystem that some colleges, including Pima Community College, have
with Northern Arizona University. I was on a panel with the
president of NAU, Cruz Rivera, Arizona Western president, Daniel
Corr, and the president of Coconino Community College, Eric Heiser.
We talked about the importance of universal admissions.
So students who didn't quite make it to being accepted at NAU but
are promised to be accepted, they can continue, take their classes at
Pima, for example, and then when they are finished, they are
automatically admitted to NAU. We are hoping that we can continue
that effort at the other universities, as well.
Then I think it was last week there was a press conference and
Education Forward, and our board chair and vice chair were present as
well. It was talking about celebrating the data of 73% of Arizona
residents are in favor of our residents getting a higher education.
It's really interesting how I have been seeing a common thread,
common theme in the various events I have been going to, the
importance of alignment, of education, business and industry, and
government agencies. Because we're all working for the same common
good, economic development in our community, in the State of Arizona,
and so that is what I keep hearing and seeing. This was an excellent
way to put this information forward.
Then today, this morning, with Board Member Greg Taylor, Pima
Foundation, Marcy Euler, students, and we had the dean of health
professions, Don Martin, and Associate Dean Karen Tam, and others,
and also the director of nursing, Yolanda McCoy Stokes, celebrating
this wonderful generous gift from Arizona Complete Health to the Pima
Foundation as an endowment for our students in the future.
We are incredibly grateful. As we know, there is a huge shortage
of healthcare workers, and in particular, nurses, so we're very
grateful for that.
A reminder, Futures Conference coming up March 8. We really
would like your participation in that. And then this past Friday,
there was an event held at the West Campus, and it was Data Day.
Some of you were there.
This was led by Acting Vice Provost Michael Parker. This was
held on Friday where faculty gathered and had the opportunity to work
with disciplined colleagues to develop and refine or assess progress
and plans to improve productive grade rates, otherwise known as DFWs,
in their courses and to identify ways to improve Pima Community
College's first-term no-success rates.
So at this time they analyzed data, they talked about their
division planning and also budgeting processes. Analysis of data,
development of plans, and alignment to their budgeting process is
really going to help the college with data strategically to improve
student success.
So one last final thing is I just want to say that we are an
incredible team, family at Pima Community College. We believe in the
community, in our learners, and our students. I remember when we
went through the process of pivoting from in-class, in-person classes
to virtual and online during the pandemic, it was during spring break
in one week. The collaboration that everybody worked on to make sure
-- it was rolling up their sleeves and just working collaboratively
with one mission, and that mission is to get our students through
this pandemic and continue their studies. It was incredible.
So I feel that if we can get through that, we can get through
anything. I just want to thank you for your passion for the college,
for your presence and guidance of how we run things at the college,
and for the benefit of our learners and students.
So with that, I end my report. Thank you very much.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you. Chancellor, can we have the
three students, Roxanna, Minerva, and Brandon come and be introduced
at a future board meeting?
>> DR. DOLORES DURAN-CERDA: Yes. I think we're planning for
them to do the Mission Moment next month.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Excellent. Thank you.
Item 3 is information items, so the board members have all looked
through them, and of course they are all online for to you look at
them too if you're interested.
Moving on to item 4, the consent agenda. I'd like to pull 4.11,
the contract for Kelly Services.
>> MS. MARIA GARCIA: I second it.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: I don't think -- we just pull them? Yeah.
Thank you, though.
Any others that need to be pulled, or can we move for a motion to
pass the consent agenda as it currently stands with that extraction?
>> DR. WADE McLEAN: Madam Chair, I move we approve the consent
agenda with the modification that you made.
>> MR. LUIS GONZALES: Second.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Any discussion? All in favor say aye.
(Ayes.)
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Motion passes unanimously.
Moving on to the action items. Let's just discuss 4.11 right
now, if you don't mind. I did receive some information, but I think
it's something that we need to have a discussion.
We were told last year that it was going to cost us
three-quarters of a million dollars, and now it's another $400,000 to
tack on to it. I understand that we have more faculty that, you
know, live outside of the state. But the fact that we're going to be
paying Kelly Services more and more and more money to do the job,
there may be somebody in Tucson -- I mean, I don't know. Dave Bea
and people who are in finance would know. But there may be somebody
who has the qualities and the skills to do that job here in town.
So I would just like some more information before we vote on that
one.
>> MS. MARIA GARCIA: I would like to state though that I would
also like to know how many people are out-of-state and what classes
they're teaching and why we haven't been able to fill those, you
know, in Tucson.
>> DR. DOLORES DURAN-CERDA: Dr. Bea, are you still with us?
>> DR. DAVID BEA: Yeah, I am totally waiting. I'm just waiting
for someone to call on me.
So let me address a couple of the points. The recommendation is
coming from staff. It is based on compliance and making sure that we
are compliant with following all of the different state laws,
regulations, et cetera.
It is, again, to reinforce some information that we provided, the
contractor is only getting a small share of the total contract
amount. The rest of it is going, it's a funnel, a pass-through to
the employees who are paid by Kelly Services. So the large majority
are adjunct faculty wages and some benefits-related costs, mostly
tax-based costs associated with those employees.
When we initially put the contract estimate together, we used the
information that we had on hand. We have now rolled out a more
comprehensive and better procedures to identify faculty, these
adjunct faculty who may be living out-of-state, and that is why there
is an increased cost in this contract.
I can assure you the staff in no way do they feel like they could
properly manage payroll in what amounts to 24 different states at
this point, all with different systems, all with different rules, and
maintain proper compliance.
It's a small -- it's a price to pay. It isn't certainly to say
that $100,000-plus to manage this kind of contract is not, it is not
an insignificant amount of money. However, I can assure you that
there is no way that the college could properly maintain that kind of
talent in-house and for that kind of money.
I can give you my assurance and know that what we are doing here
is ensuring that we are maintaining compliance with all of the states
that we have on hand.
We did also provide the board with the list of the classes that
were taught by these faculty members, and my colleague Jeff Thies I
think is also able to speak a bit to that if the board so desires to
hear a bit more.
What we tried to do is make sure that those classes that are
taught by out-of-state folks, that there is a very strong
justification for doing that, and the idea from my standpoint and
from this program standpoint is to minimize the amount of
out-of-state costs as much as we can.
So with that, Jeff, if you wanted to add in anything.
>> JEFF THIES: Yeah. Thank you, Dave. Yeah, so we do have an
out-of-state adjunct faculty hiring-expectations document that we
have been working through. The considerations that are part of that
work are have we done a diligent job of recruiting, so we have made
multiple recruiting efforts to get people that can teach online in
specific disciplines. Does the candidate provide a very unique set
of skills and information specific to a course, I can give you an
example of that one.
The autonomous vehicle discipline is a fairly new discipline, and
so that's not a program where we have a lot of folks that have the
background knowledge and the subject-matter expertise.
Our primary person locally left, moved out-of-state for whatever
reason, and is really our sole provider of that content as an adjunct
faculty in a particular class. We have other specialty courses, as
well, where we have, you know, similar situations.
There is also the challenge of having faculty that have taught
for us for a long time and do a great job for us, that they move. So
we do have a category that references putting time constraints on
that. You know, we have some challenges with not being able to fill
some courses because of various full-time and part-time faculty
changes between fall and spring, so we can rely on somebody that has
taught the course before, but if they have been out-of-state, then
all of a sudden they are added to this list as well.
Really, those last-minute decisions and temporary options for us
and those specialty courses are oftentimes the challenges that we are
looking at.
You will probably notice from that list that there is a
significant number of HIT. Our health information technology relies
on a lot of these out-of-state adjunct faculty for different courses
over the fall, spring, and summer. Again, that's the challenge we
face with recruiting those that have that specific subject matter
expertise that can teach online, can teach online well, with respect
to those particular topics.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: So, Jeff, thank you. I just have a couple
of questions. I looked through that list, and I noticed that there
was one person that's teaching a math 092 LB, something like that.
My question is, you know, I talk to adjunct faculty all the time,
and I know we have adjunct faculty in Tucson that could teach that
class. So I guess my question is what kind of assurances can the
board have that, A, the right protocol, if I remember right, adjunct
faculty are allowed to teach three courses, nine units per semester,
are we still doing that? Or do we have different policies that we
use for our online teachers compared to the ones that are here in
Tucson?
Because when I was looking through that list, there were quite a
few people's names that looked like -- mind you, I didn't go to check
how many units they were, so it could have been nine one-unit
classes, right, but there were quite a few instructors that were
teaching a lot.
So I have concerns that what's good for the goose is good for the
gander, right? If we think it's important to have our adjunct
faculty teach under the maximum number of classes, are we changing
that for these out-of-state people who are teaching online? That's
the first question.
And then for Dave Bea, you know, I think it's unreasonable for
the board to be asked to approve, what is it now, $1.19 million
contract when we have never been given the amount that we are
actually paying Kelly Services to do this job.
Last year when we did this first, I was against it because I
talked to Char Fugett, our former HR representative that was AVC of
HR for 17 years at the college, and when I asked her about it, she
seemed to say that that was unreasonable. Now, admittedly that was
17 or more years ago, so maybe things have changed drastically since
then.
But also last year, at the bottom of Andrew Plucker's letter, it
said that if the college was willing to spend $130,000, we could do
it in-house, and so, you know, if that is still true that we could do
it in-house for 130,000 and we could find the person, I think it's
really important for this board to know how much we're paying Kelly
Services to do this.
Because if we're paying Kelly Services $20,000, of course this
would be a better deal. But if we're paying Kelly Services $300,000
and we could hire two people for $110,000 to do it in-house,
mathematically it just doesn't make sense.
So those are my two questions. Thank you.
>> MS. MARIA GARCIA: So should we have another discussion?
>> MR. GREG TAYLOR: Let him answer the question.
>> DR. DAVID BEA: We did provide additional information that's
in your board packet that represents the amount of money that Kelly
Services actually would be making at the company for providing that
service.
If you look, it's the additional item, the last item that's
attached to the board packet indicates that the amount that Kelly
Services would get that's above and beyond the amount that goes
through to the employee is around $130,000.
>> DR. DOLORES DURAN-CERDA: Dr. Bea, it's a little hard to hear
you. Maybe you could either raise the volume or speak a little
louder. I don't know if you all caught what Dr. Bea's response was.
>> DR. DAVID BEA: Attached to the board packet, we attached an
amendment or another piece of information that spells out the amount
of money that goes to the adjunct faculty or the temporary employee
and the benefits associated with that, and then separates out
essentially the amount that Kelly Services would make in this
agreement, which is in the neighborhood of $130 ,000.
>> MR. GREG TAYLOR: So, Dave, if I'm looking at those tables
right in this agreement, we're actually paying Kelly Services
$132,000 for their work, and all of the rest of that is actually the
wages and benefits of the people that we're hiring through them? So
Kelly Services isn't taking any of that, they are just passing it
through to pay those employees?
>> DR. DAVID BEA: Correct.
>> MR. GREG TAYLOR: Well, so to the idea of hiring somebody, and
I'm relying on Google here, but Google tells me that Kelly Services
has 7,100 employees, so for $132,000 we just hired 7,000 people to do
this job versus one or two that we could hire here, and the
expectation that one or two people could know all of those payroll
rolls or could keep track of all that stuff, personally I think is
unreasonable. That's why they have 7,000 employees to be able to do
that.
Not only that, but if we were to hire an FTE or more than one FTE
and they did a bad job because we were setting them up for failure,
the process by which to perform it somewhat out of the organization
is much harder than changing this contract or amending this contract
or deleting this contract, and so I think, at least in my opinion,
this is money -- I mean, separating out the issue of whether we
should hire local people or not, I would hope that we would start
first, but if they're saying that we need these people, I don't have
any question about whether Kelly Services is a good investment.
It seems like for $132,000, if we're getting a 7,000-plus-person
crew that can keep on top of all of these payroll laws, that that's a
great investment that we couldn't possibly replicate internally.
>> DR. DAVID BEA: I might add, in addition to that, they're able
to use their own systems that are set up with all of the different
states. We do not have a system that would manage that kind of, the
complexity of payroll for all those different states.
So we would have to do it very manually. For example, I know the
staff were talking about trying to turn off or deactivate one state,
and just the process of trying to turn off one state was taking hours
of time.
So doing that, multiplying all of those different actions times
24 times times every pay period is, again, something that Kelly
Services is much more capable of managing than we are.
>> DR. DOLORES DURAN-CERDA: If I could add one piece of
information. So as you can see, there are many instructors in
writing, and if students can't get into a writing class, they won't
enroll or they'll just give up, because that's a crucial class to
take when they first get started.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: So what about the qualifications of adjunct
faculty? Are we holding online, the people that Kelly Services is
paying, are we holding them to the same standards that we hold
adjunct faculty in town? Yes?
>> JEFF THIES: Yes. And to your first question, 10.5 is that
credit number that we're really looking not to have to go over the
top of. That has to do with the 20 hours and 20 weeks rule that we
look to follow.
And the challenge specifically, I notice you called out the one
that was the 92 and 92 LB, oftentimes with scheduling a course,
opening a new section for a 14-week, the department heads will look
for those that, A, haven't reached that point, and B, have the teach
and previous success in the online environment, and so occasionally
you'll end up with somebody teaching a dev ed course that is somebody
that was with us in-state, has moved out-of-state, still has all the
PimaOnline credentials as far as teaching online, and is a subject
matter expert obviously in that specific discipline, so they do meet
those qualifications, as well.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Okay. I guess my last question on this
would be before we passed this motion last year, somebody at our
college was doing this, correct? Somebody was paying these
out-of-state people? Because these people didn't start the minute we
approved that contract.
So I'm wondering, I mean, I don't have any HR experience. I'm
sure most of us here don't. But I hope that we are using college
monies wisely, you know. In that letter last year, I don't need to
repeat it, Andrew said we could also do it in-house -- and by the
way, I'm assuming that was Andrew who wrote the letter, I don't
really know, it was in the documents last year -- in-house for
$110,000.
But I'm hoping we're doing the right thing. My gut feeling, I
don't feel good about this vote.
But anyway, so any other comments? Shall we make a motion?
>> MR. GREG TAYLOR: I move to approve 4.11.
>> DR. WADE McLEAN: Second.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Any more discussion?
>> MS. MARIA GARCIA: I make a motion that we --
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Wait, wait, wait. There is already a
motion on the floor.
Should I call for a vote? All in favor say aye?
(Ayes.)
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: All opposed?
>> MS. MARIA GARCIA: Nay.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: So it passes 2 to 1 with one abstention.
Didn't you abstain?
>> MS. MARIA GARCIA: You abstained?
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Jeff?
No, because I didn't think I could vote to do, to make it a tie.
I thought that was Robert's Rules of Order that the chair...
Then it's going to be tied.
(Discussion off microphone.)
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Well, we don't have that.
>> MS. MARIA GARCIA: So I make a motion that we request
additional information from our HR representative on the questions
that we have and have a meeting.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Can we hear from the HR people and the
people who do this kind of, whoever used to do the payment of
out-of-state, and just hear what they think, if it's reasonable, if
they were going to get paid 130,000, would they want the job?
Can we table this until next month?
>> DR. DAVID BEA: May I chime in a little bit?
There is actually a pressing issue where we are going to be
running out of capacity. So if the board is interested in having a
longer-term discussion about this, I have no problem with that. I'd
be happy to bring Andrew and his staff to have that conversation with
you in the lead-in to the next time we have to do this.
But we are in a situation where we do have to make sure that we
are maintaining compliance, and tabling it is going to be a challenge
in terms of making sure that we have the capacity to get through the
rest of the year.
Again, we can certainly review the contract for the upcoming year
and the need for it. We have some direct experience from the people
who do this payroll on a regular basis.
Also, adding in a couple of comments related to someone used to
do it? I think that we had a compliance concern. The college is
trying to make sure that we maintain proper compliance and remember
that the number of states has dramatically increased since we have
scrutinized and identified all the different out-of-state folks who
are working for us.
So it's a change that happened, we identified a problem, we are
addressing the problem, and we need to continue to address the
problem properly.
Then I think what we can do is maybe once a month or so is have,
whether we join a study session or in one of the board meetings,
actually have people explain some of the complexities in terms of how
they would have to manage this in-house and the problems
(indiscernible).
>> DR. WADE McLEAN: Madam Chair, I didn't quite understand all
that, David, but my question is if we don't pass this tonight, are
these people still going to be paid and paid on time?
>> DR. DAVID BEA: We run the risk that we will run out of
contract capacity, so that becomes a challenge. That will be a
problem, because it may force us to have to manage some of these
folks in-house and then we'd have a mixed payroll and it would not be
ideal.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Okay. I'm going to table this motion until
our study session on Monday. Is there a second?
>> MS. MARIA GARCIA: Second.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Okay.
(Discussion off microphone.)
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Let's call for a vote. All in favor of
tabling this until our study session on Monday where we will have
more information.
(Ayes.)
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Any nays?
>> DR. WADE McLEAN: No.
>> MR. GREG TAYLOR: Nay.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Okay. Passes 3 to 2.
One other thing, I'm looking right here and I didn't count the
number of people on this new list, but we were told last time it was
25 people getting paid, and that was the, you know, $734,000 mark,
and, you know, it's three pages. But many people's names, because
they're listed for each course they are teaching, so if you could
have -- I just want you to have the numbers make sense to me because
they just don't right now.
>> DR. WADE McLEAN: Madam Chair, I think it would be helpful, if
we're trying to make a decision Monday, if the people that want to
defer this decision would specifically send Dr. Bea a list of
information that they need to make another decision on Monday.
So send him the questions tomorrow, because he's going to have to
do it Friday, and we will have the information Monday morning. So he
knows what we want, want answered, so he can get to work on it.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Okay. We will do that within the next,
let's say by noon tomorrow if you can get those out.
>> DR. WADE McLEAN: So everybody that voted needs to give him
the questions.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Thank you.
I'm going to table action item No. 1 to a future date. I'm just
going to remove it from our list. Then we're moving on to 5.3, the
discussion.
So last month or whenever it was, I did not follow Robert's Rules
of Order the right way. There were a couple of friendly amendments,
and that wasn't done properly.
So we're going to revisit the motion that Maria originally made
to have myself and Dr. McLean be on the committee of selecting the
chancellor.
So, Maria, if you still have that same motion --
>> MS. MARIA GARCIA: Yes, I do. I make a motion that we vote on
having Dr. Wade and Theresa Riel as a representative of the committee
for the chancellor search.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Is there a second?
>> MR. LUIS GONZALES: Second.
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: We have sort of discussed this ad nauseam,
so let's just move straight to vote since we are redoing my mistake.
All in favor say aye?
(Ayes.)
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: Opposed?
(Nays.)
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: So it passes 3 to 2, like it did last time.
Thank you.
Any future --
>> MR. GREG TAYLOR: That motion didn't include any of the ex
officio stuff that was added at the end. Do we need --
>> MS. THERESA RIEL: We're not going to do that.
Any requests for future agenda items?
Okay. I adjourn this meeting. Thank you all for being here.
(Adjournment.)
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