NORTHERN ESSEX COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MINUTES OF MEETING (OFFICIAL) – May 3, 2023
A meeting of the Northern Essex Community College Board of Trustees was held in Room TC103A of the Hartleb Technology Center at the Haverhill Campus at 5:00PM.
Present:
Ms. Borislow
Ms. Fernandez
Mr. Gomez
Ms. O’Rorke (Via Zoom)
Ms. Pachano
Ms. Paley Nadel
Ms. Quiles (arrived at 5:12PM)
Ms. Sanchez (via Zoom)
Mr. Silverio
Also Present: President Glenn
CALL TO ORDER: With a quorum present, Chairwoman Borislow called the meeting to order at 5:02 PM.
Chairwoman Borislow and President Glenn recognized Trustee Anita Worden who passed away on April 12, 2023 after a courageous three-year battle with ovarian cancer. Dr. Glenn noted that Ms. Worden was a devoted wife, mother, and daughter who was loved by many. Ms. Borislow also noted that Anita, who was a brilliant entrepreneur, was so generous with her time and talents, and NECC will be forever grateful for her devotion to NECC. With that said, Chairwoman Borislow called for a moment of silence in memory of Trustee Anita Worden.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: It was decided to approve the April 2023 and May 2023 minutes at the next Board of Trustees meeting, scheduled for June 14.
CORRESPONDENCE: President Glenn noted that he received two letters from the All College Assembly Student Affairs Committee, and a copy of the letters had been forwarded to trustees.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
a) Introduction of Newly Hired Employees (Verbal)
President Glenn noted that there were no new employees to introduce this month.
EDUCATION REPORT:
a) A Report on Transfers @ NECC with Michelle Sunday (ADM-3792-050323)
President Glenn introduced Dr. Paul Beaudin, Provost and Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs who introduced Michelle Sunday, Director of Transfer Articulation, and Academic Center Advising. Dr. Beaudin noted that Ms. Sunday is largely responsible for NECC’s joint admissions agreement with UMass Lowell and is currently working on a similar agreement with Merrimack College.
Ms. Sunday thanked the Board for inviting her to do this presentation and noted her prior position at a Massachusetts public university and how she brings her heart and soul into this work. Ms. Sunday noted that she recently participated in the ASPEN Transfer Intensive Collaborative with Salem State University and North Shore Community College serving in the transfer function. She noted NECC’s top 5 transfer institutions (UML, SNHU, Salem State University, Merrimack College and UMass Amherst) and provided their transfer graduation rates ranging from 25% to 51%. She noted that these rates are beyond the national average. It is important to note that NECC’s SOAR program supports our student success advisors who work hard to engage with students to keep them on track.
Trustee Quiles arrived at 5:12PM
Ms. Sunday noted that transfer agreements open up a lot of opportunity for students, and she was excited to be a part of the recently crafted Joint Admissions Agreement with UMass Lowell. In October 2022, NECC held its first in-person transfer fair with over 45 colleges and universities in attendance at both NECC campuses. In addition, several accidental mini-fairs were held as well with about 50 students participating.
In conclusion, Ms. Sunday noted that moving forward several additional projects are in-progress such as:
a) A Joint Admissions agreement with Salem State University and Merrimack College;
b) A Partnership with Woods College at Boston College;
c) International Transfer Agreement drafts with England, Morocco and Greece;
d) And a Transfer Fair in October 2023.
Trustee Fernandez thanked Ms. Sunday for her report and asked how the joint enrollment process works and how can trustees help to get the good news out? Ms. Sunday noted that joint enrollment has actually been built into our web application process and students can also opt-in to joint admissions through the process. How to do that and how it benefits the student is also listed on our NECC portal.
As a follow up question, Ms. Fernandez asked if the system leads to more or fewer barriers? Ms. Sunday noted that the hope is fewer barriers. As an example, she noted that she shares directory information with UML, and they will start a quick application for a transfer student on their end immediately, so essentially, student information is uploaded very quickly. She noted that it is not the lack of transfer credits that prevents students from transferring, but the possible red tape involved in the process (a missing document, something is incorrect), etc.
Related to the percentage of students who transfer, Trustee Gomez asked what our transfer rate is and how can NECC increase those rates? Ms. Sunday noted that about 7% of our transfer students go to UMass Lowell, but it does depend on the program they want, the support they provide, etc. In the past, a number of transfer students will come back from the university, and it is usually because they somehow fell through the cracks. With closer connections between institutions and additional supports in place, students get there and are retained.
And lastly, Trustee Quiles asked if these partnerships are contingent upon the associate degree? Ms. Sunday said yes. With our joint admissions agreement, NECC has a solid partnership with the university that benefits the students by completing the associate degree and then transferring on.
With no other questions, President Glenn thanked Ms. Sunday for her report on this more streamlined admissions process.
BOARD CHAIR UPDATE: Chair Borislow said she was in awe earlier this morning when she attended the inaugural NECC Impact Awards breakfast. Congratulations to Trustee Jouel Gomez on his award, and also congratulations to the entire Institutional Advancement team for a wonderful event. The space was transformed into a wonderful setting, and the event provided a ray of hope and light for future fundraising. She closed by saying she was very proud to be an NECC Trustee. At this time, Chair Borislow welcomed the reports of the Sub-Committees.
REPORT OF BOARD COMMITTEES:
a) Audit and Finance Sub-Committee
1) FY24 Budget Process Update (AFC-23-08)
Trustee Hamm reported that the Sub-Committee reviewed and approves the proposed FY24 budget of $68,724,161. This proposed operating budget is based upon the estimated state appropriation support, the college’s enrollment plan, the college’s staff and faculty salaries and benefits plan and grant support.
1) FY24 College Operating Budget (AFC-23-09)
Trustee Hamm reiterated that the Audit & Finance Committee supports the proposed operating budget.
On a Motion presented by Trustee O’Rorke, seconded by Trustee Silverio, on a roll call vote, the board unanimously approved the Audit and Finance Sub-Committee’s recommendation to approve the FY24 budget of $68,724,161.
b) Alumni Advancement Sub-Committee (Verbal)
Trustee Fernandez, Chair of the Sub-Committee, noted that the AA Sub-Committee did not meet this month in order for everyone to focus on the NECC Impact Awards. She thanked Allison Dolan-Wilson and her team for the months of preparation involved in today’s inaugural NECC Impact Awards Breakfast. Kudos to the IA team! Echoing Chairwoman Borislow’s comments earlier, the event was joyous, the speakers wonderful and celebrating the award winners was wonderful. And many thanks to Covanta for pledging $100K to the Haverhill Promise Program getting NECC closer to the $200K goal.
c) Equity Imperative Sub-Committee (Verbal)
Trustee Paley Nadel, Chair of the Sub-Committee, noted that the bridge between this morning’s event and the equity group provides the framework for how we do this kind of work within and through the community partnerships in a very proactive way. She noted that Ms. Francellis Quinones, NECC Chief JEDI officer will continue to work with local food and other programs as we consider how to best streamline the resources that exist to best serve our students. Ms. Paley Nadel noted that the group talked a lot about how to best amplify the efforts that already exist in the community. They also discussed how the academic side of student success and the work on policies that help address inequities and that challenge student success. She ended by saying that the group is also thinking about how we establish settings and places that students are grounded in where they can get the help and counseling that they need. That continued work will be thoughtful and intentional.
d) Nominating Sub-Committee (Verbal)
Trustee Quiles noted that the Sub-Committee did not meet this month.
e) Presidential Evaluation Sub-Committee (Verbal)
Trustee O’Rorke, Chair of the Sub-Committee, noted that the team had completed a number of community partner evaluation interviews, and the team is now in the process of reviewing notes from those interviews to develop a first draft of the executive summary. Ms. O’Rorke gave a sincere thank you to Trustees Borislow, Fernandez, Silverio and Gomez for their time and insight. This is truly a group process, she noted, and the Committee anticipates it will have a full evaluation ready for approval at the June 14th Board meeting.
REPORT OF ADMINISTRATION: President Glenn thanks all the trustees for attending this morning’s event. He also noted that related to the FY24 budget approval, the trustees have a copy of the FY24 Community College Budget Priorities. The community college presidents are moving forward with advocating for these items. In addition, he provided the following updates:
a) “The Great Resignation” at Community Colleges (Verbal)
President Glenn and Executive Director of Human Resources Patty Gauron provided a presentation on The Great Resignation at Community Colleges. President Glenn noted that he had done this presentation at a recent President’s General Staff meeting and wanted to share it with the board. The presentation notes the current problems with recruitment, hiring, salary, and onboarding issues post-pandemic. He noted that colleges are experiences work/hiring challenges when they are usually safe from these working challenges, but it is all different now. While there continues to be the difficulty of getting labor, there are still many reasons why working in higher education is appealing.
He also noted that NECC makes a conscious decision to have faculty and staff be actively in-person and on-campus to help students, and so the college has certainly lost some staff to places with more remote flexibility. While the “Great Resignation at Community College’s is not yet catastrophic, it is very noticeable, particularly when reduced staffing is happening in key areas like enrollment services, financial aid and advising. Another factor is the lower salaries combined with increases in general cost of living.
Ms. Gauron went on to explain the recruitment challenges including smaller applicant pools, higher vacancy rates, and higher-level positions which are already severely competitive to fill. These factors result in failed searches and reposting which takes time. In terms of employee retention, many employees are feeling volume, cost of living increases, burnout, etc. so we will make every effort to do more by expanding and revitalizing new employee orientation, individualized programming, and providing growth opportunities to stay with NECC. The college is also setting up new management trainings to help employees feel more successful in their role.
Trustee Paley Nadel asked how do some of the numbers in the report break down between professional staff vs. faculty? President Glenn noted that we don’t have that data with us tonight, but we can certainly find out and bring that back to a future meeting. Given lower enrollment and fewer class sections running, we can certainly estimate that we have fewer adjunct professors now, but there are also significant problems in recruiting and retaining employees for the enrollment and financial aid areas.
Lastly, President Glenn shared some current challenges facing the Lawrence Campus in particular. Transportation to/from the Lawrence Campus has always been challenging for students, and funding transportation with one budget line item for 2 campuses has been difficult. The college has committed, however, to return intercampus transportation beginning in the Fall 2023.
a) Haverhill Campus (Verbal)
President Glenn reported that a video of this morning’s event will be made available to all trustees. He also noted that he recently spoke with Sal Lupoli and BOSA Restaurant will hopefully be opening before classes start again in September. In closing, President Glenn noted that the Health and Wellness project open forum will be held on May 18th at the Haverhill Campus.
b) Lawrence Campus (Verbal)
President Glenn provided a picture of yesterday’s visit to the State Souse with Trustee Paley Nadel, Senator Payano and other members of the Lawrence Partnership. The meeting provided an opportunity for Lawrence Partnership members to talk with the senator and his colleagues about issues like workforce development, affordable housing, banking environment challenges, and the economic outlook. He thanked Senator Payano for setting the meeting up.
c) The COMMUNIQUE (ADM-3793-050323)
President Glenn noted the monthly Communique is included in Trustee agenda packets this month.
d) Reminders (Verbal)
President Glenn reminded trustees about the upcoming events.
– Awards Convocation Invitation, May 9, 2023
Sport and Fitness Center, Haverhill Campus @ 6:30PM
– Early College Ceremony, May 11, 2023
Under the Tent, Haverhill Campus @ 5:30PM
– NECC’s 61st Commencement Exercises, May 13, 2023, 11AM
Please arrive in C120 (Spurk Classroom Building) @ 10:15AM
e) End-of-Year Board Gathering, Wednesday June 14 @ 6:30PM, El Taller Café, 275 Essex Street, Lawrence (Verbal)
An end-of-year gathering has been scheduled immediately following the June 14th meeting at El Taller Café on Essex Street in Lawrence. Light refreshments will be served.
NEW BUSINESS:
a) Personnel Actions:
1) Motion to Approve MCCC/MTA Reappointments (ADM-3794-050323)
President Glenn noted that reviewing tenure recommendations is an annual process which is vetted by the President, along with the respective departments, their Academic Deans, and the Provost. There are forty-six (46) MCCC/MTA reappointment recommendations slated for approval.
On a Motion presented by Trustee Hamm seconded by Trustee O’Rorke, on a roll call vote, it was voted unanimously to approve the forty-six (46) MCCC/MTA Reappointment Recommendations as noted in Attachment A of agenda item 8a1.
OTHER BUSINESS: There was none.
ADJOURNMENT: With no other business, Chairwoman Borislow adjourned the meeting at 6:10PM.
