Board of Directors Meeting | ACTC

Leadership

Board of Directors Meeting

College Drive Campus-John & Pat Stewart Board Room
November 10, 2021
Minutes

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Rick Clark, Ben Collier, Amanda Collins, Brooke Elswick-Robinson, Addie Howard, Kathryn Lamp, Vicki McGinnis, Jason Salyers

MEMBERS ABSENT:

Bob Maher, Ramona Salye

ALSO PRESENT:

Taylor Alexander, Kellie Allen, Karen Blevins, Todd Brand, Larry Ferguson, Steve Flouhouse, Pam Miller, Steve Woodburn

CALL TO ORDER

Board Chair, Rick Clark, called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. A quorum was present.  

APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MINUTES

Members reviewed the minutes of the August 11, 2021 meeting (copy attached).  Ben Collier made a motion to accept the minutes as written. Kathryn Lamp seconded the motion. All voted to approve the minutes.

BOD MEMBER INTRODUCTION

Steve Woodburn, Dean of Student Success and Enrollment Services, introduced ACTC’s student representative to Board members, Ms. Addie Howard.  Ms. Howard is a Paul Blazer High graduate, former Shawnee State University student, an ACTC ambassador and a student worker as well as the new student representative to our Board of Directors. She was warmly welcomed by the Board.

PRESIDENT’S UPDATE

Dr. Larry Ferguson used a PowerPoint presentation to update members (copy attached). He touched on areas of Institution Leadership/Management, Educational Leadership/Internal Relations and External Relations. Additionally, he listed four 2022 priorities:

  • Continue to focus on growing enrollment and revenue streams
  • Continue to increase the number of students participating in experiential learning
  • Improve associate degree transfer rate
  • Complete development of and implementation of the 2022-2026 strategic plan

In closing, he thanked the Board for their leadership and support.

KRS 164.465 COMPLIANCE

Members were given copies of the KCTCS College Board of Directors Handbook and Managing Open Records 2021.  Those present signed the Certificate of Receipt and Distribution Form.  The forms will be uploaded to the KCTCS System Office.

Dr. Ferguson announced Bob Maher’s resignation from the ACTC Board of Directors due to his move to Michigan.  He praised Bob’s 20+ years of service to the Community and Technical College Foundation of Ashland and the Board of Directors.  He will present a plague to Bob soon. 

FACULTY UPDATE

Vicki McGinnis, Faculty Representative to the Board, reported the following:

  • Awards
    • Lisa Henderson, First Among Peers and Online Instruction
    • Rebekah Michael, BPST, First Among Peers
    • Dale Queen, Humanities and Social Studies
    • Melissa Green, Health Sciences
    • Thomas Wheeler, MTIT
    • Morgan Byrne, Adjunct
    • Innovations-Lisa Henderson, Melissa Green
  • Sigma Kappa Delta Honor Society is conducting a children's book drive to provide books to local agencies such as Shelter of Hope, to create Little Libraries, and to give to individual children.
  • CMM received an $8,000 scholarship from the Gene Haas Foundation--a total of $28,000 to date to be used for CMM students' tuition and required tools and textbooks.
  • ACTC LPN program met all KY Board of Nursing benchmarks again in 2021!  There are new beds in the skills labs, and new equipment has been installed to create an examination room, simulating one at a medical clinic.  This will help students learn how to prep patients for exams/tests, check-ups, etc.  

STAFF UPDATE

Jason Salyers, Staff Representative to the Board, reported the following:

STAFF EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

  • Fall Decoration Contest - staff were invited to submit pictures of their Halloween decorations at work or home.
  • Bonfire - SEC held a bonfire get together for staff and faculty and their families, with hotdogs and s’mores. Feedback from attendees was very positive.
  • Staff Recognition - Sent goodies to various departments to let them know they are appreciated.
  • Fall Community Service Project - the staff voted on various organizations to hold a donation drive for, and Community Hospice was selected. We will be collecting snacks and other items, and will deliver those in December. 

EVENTS/PROJECTS

  • Young Women’s LEAD Conference - October 21 -22nd. From the Ashland area, we had 266 high school girls registered. The conference featured speakers discussing empowerment & leadership for young women.
  • Young Men’s Conference planning is already underway for the spring and as of now, we should be able to host the event in-person!
  • Pathfinder Pantry - Students are able to shop for goods in-person now instead of just pickup orders. We have been getting fresh bread and some produce from River Cities Harvest on Tuesday mornings.
  • Transfer Fair - October 18-21 with 17 state and regional universities on our campus over the four days.  This approach offered our students more opportunities to access information and in a more intimate (fewer schools each day) way.  We also offered something unique that they really appreciated - the opportunity to do 30 minute recruitment presentations in our JB Sowards Theatre, which is not a typical feature of a Transfer Fair.  Our Transfer Partners were thrilled with the student engagement, that they were given a chance to really spotlight their institutions, and excited to see students in person again!  The event was only possible due to the collaborative team approach taken from folks across our college - from leadership to student workers.  We are discussing hosting a Transfer Fair in the spring for technical programs/students and the ADN nursing program will host one this spring, as well.  Details to come soon!
  • Program Fair - Recruitment event for high school students to come to campus and meet program coordinators and other staff.
  • Veterans Day Program - 11/11 at CDC 1-2 pm. Chief Warrant Officer Jennifer Maggard will be the keynote speaker at the event.
  • Book Discussion - Dr. Bill Turner, discussed his book, The Harlan Renaissance, in which he reconstructs black life in the coal company towns in and around Harlan County during coal’s final post-war boom years from his own personal experiences.
  • Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration - included guest speakers and a Day of the Dead celebration.
  • Job and Internship Fair hosted by Career Services at TDC, 11/12. They also held a prep day for the fair where students could get help with resume, interview and networking skills.
  • The CDL Program that Workforce Solutions runs was been featured on WSAZ and WOWK. There is an incredible demand in the national economy for CDL drivers right now and Workforce Solutions is helping fulfill that need. They run a class each month and it is booked up through February. 

MILESTONES AND RECOGNITION 

  • All College Recognitions
    • Staff Excellence Awards - 18 staff members were nominated. Winners were Dawn Guilds for Support Staff, and Megan Smedley for Administrative Staff.
    • 4DX Awards - Many staff teams were recognized for their hard work and success with their 4DX goals.
  • Educational milestone
    • Jasmine Curry from SSS earned a Master of Science in College Student Personnel Services from Arkansas State University.

CABINET UPDATES

Taylor Alexander, Director of Marketing & Public Relations, announced the use of “Handshake”, to build the alumni group.  She also reported that the Ambassadors will help with TikTok.  

Kellie Allen, Director of Human Resources, reported for Healthy-at-Work, ACTC is continuing the mask guidelines for the Fall semester.  She does not know if those guidelines will change in the Spring semester. In addition, she reported that local food trucks are on campus Tuesday-Thursday and they are open to the public.

Karen Blevins, Dean of Business Affairs, reported that since April 2020, ACTC received three (3) allocations of emergency aid funds from the Department of Education - CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security funds), CRRSAA (Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act funds) and American Rescue Plan funds.  Total funds received:  $5,590,774.  These funds are emergency based and are not bound by the same regulations that govern federal student financial aid.  The funds are intended to lift barriers the students have endured because of the pandemic.  The funds were disbursed to 2,890 students.

Dr. Todd Brand, Dean of Academic Affairs, announced the following:

  • Winter session is coming up.  Classes online and at TDC in welding.
  • Schedule Summit ’21 was held recently.  Many items were discussed:
    • Shorter term online classes
    • Evening possibilities
    • Weekend possibilities
    • Scheduling capacity
    • Our new normal
    • Possibly moving more classes back to in person
    • Student affairs will create a survey for next year
  • Upcoming Personnel changes:
    • Longtime math faculty member Ralfred Hall is retiring at the end of the current semester.  Academics will be hiring a new math/physics instructor.
    • Academics will be hiring a new CADD program coordinator as well.
  • New Handshake system has been purchased for Career Services area.  It will link employers and students to jobs, and will allow employers to market directly to our program’s students.  It is a cross between monster.com and linkedin.
  • ACTC has been chosen for the KY Graduate Profile Project.  A team will be traveling to Frankfurt on Monday, Nov. 22nd for the first meeting.   This project included CPE, all of our universities in the commonwealth, and four of the 16 KCTCS colleges.  Our team consists of Dr. Brand, Dr. Sara Brown, Dale Queen, and Ashley Vanderpool. 
  • ACTC is a founding partner in a project created by Norma Meek that seeks to mitigate the effects of Covid in pre K-high school students in the area.  It targets students who have suffered academically and socially during the pandemic.  The project takes a three pronged approach, and targets pre K, elementary, and secondary students separately.  Dr. Hankins and I are currently both serving on the board for this task force, and the results so far have been positive.  One of the things that has materialized out of this group’s work is Ms. Meek has assembled a group of 30 of the best teachers in the area to work with these students.  I am very proud to say that both Dr. Hankins and Professor Warren Howard are on this list.  I look forward to reporting periodically on the progress of this project in future meetings. 
  • The college’s annual Science Fair will be held virtually this year.  This is due to the next fair after ours making a similar decision.

Steve Flouhouse, Dean of Institutional Effectiveness and Grants, reported that the Title III grant has finished, with only the final reporting to be completed.  Over two million dollars was spent to improve student success in selected courses.  The courses selected, such as ENG 101 and MAT 150, were chosen because they had low success rates in both online and face-to-face classes.  The purpose of the grant was to redesign classrooms spaces to help improve course success rates offered face-to-face.  The college created two student success labs, one on CDC and one on TDC, to help students who are enrolled in low success courses receive additional help to improve their success.  While these courses were redesigned in terms of in-person teaching, these same courses were redesigned for online teaching as well.  These faculty received additional training in online teaching through an organization called Quality Matters.  Additionally, a faculty lab was created on TDC whereby faculty could receive training in using the technologies for both in-person and online classes.  Many of these efforts were successful.  A significant challenge unfolded beginning March 2020 as the pandemic caused the college to move all instruction to remote setting.  While a return to face-to-face instruction occurred in the fall 2020 and into 2021, the lingering effects of the pandemic remained as there were fewer students on campus.  This grant did help the college transition to this remote/online teaching situation because of the online redesign as well as the technology that was available in some of the classrooms.  Students enrolled in face-to-face classes who could not attend class regularly were able to access the class materials and in some instances access the live classroom instruction from their homes.  ACTC will continue to build on these aspects beyond the grant through a director of online learning, a new position created in Academic Affairs.  The activity director of the Title III grant has transitioned into that position and will continue to lead efforts regarding online, hybrid (mix of face-to-face and online instruction within a class), as well as face-to-face instruction using the new technology tools acquired during the grant.  

Steve Woodburn, Dean of Student Success & Enrollment Services, announced that ACTC has four exceptional Student Ambassadors!  They connect with students in ways employees cannot.  They attend college events, work six hours per week and receive a scholarship.

BOARD CHAIR COMMENTS

Chair Clark announced that he is thankful for the staff at ACTC and for students like Addie.  

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 9:39 a.m. by Chair Rick Clark.

Respectfully submitted,
Pam Miller, Recorder