Northern Essex Community College Board of Trustees
Minutes of Meeting (OFFICIAL) – October 4, 2023
A meeting of the Northern Essex Community College Board of Trustees was held in room TC103A&B in the Hartleb Technology Center at the Haverhill Campus on October 4, 2023
at 5:00 PM.
PRESENT:
Ms. Borislow
Ms. Quiles (arrived at 5:22PM Via Zoom)
Ms. Fernandez
Ms. Sanchez
Mr. Hamm
Mr. Vasquez
Ms. Paley Nadel
UNABLE TO ATTEND: Mr. Gomez, Ms. O’Rorke, Mr. Silverio
ALSO PRESENT: President Glenn
CALL TO ORDER: Chairwoman Borislow called the meeting to order at 5:09 PM with a roll call of attendance and a quorum present.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Chairwoman Borislow asked for a motion to approve the September 6, 2023 meeting minutes.
On a Motion presented by Trustee Paley Nadel and seconded by Trustee Hamm, by roll call vote, the Board unanimously approved the September 6, 2023 minutes as presented.
CORRESPONDENCE: Chairwoman Borislow noted a card that she and the board received from Mr. Blake Eisenhart from Buck’s County Community College. Mr. Eisenhart is seeking the title of Northeast Regional Director for the Association of Community College Trustees and is seeking NECC board members vote.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
a) Introduction of Newly Hired Employees (Verbal)
President Glenn introduced Rosa Valentine, NECC’s new full time HR Generalist in the Human Resources office. The board welcomed Ms. Valentine to the college.
EDUCATION REPORT:
a) SOAR (Seize Opportunities, Aspire to Rise) Success Program (ADM-3820-100423)
Dr. Paul Beaudin, Provost, introduced Sarah Cooper, Director of the SOAR Program since August of 2021. Sarah has over 20 years of experience across several areas of student affairs. She was joined by Martha Mazeika, Assistant Director of the SOAR Program who has over 25 years of experience in academic advisement, and Dermot Luddy, Assistant Director of SOAR for Academic Support. Dermot is an educational specialist who has been employed at NECC since 2007.
Trustee Quiles arrived at 5:22PM.
Ms. Cooper provided an overview of the data highlights for academic year 2022-23. She and Mr. Luddy described the number of honors and awards received by students, the number of SOAR student interactions (services used) and an explanation of the new SOAR Incentive Program established to impact/increase participation in the SOAR program. Ms. Mazeika spoke about the engagement sessions for the two cohorts (which includes a total of 415 students) and the number of services they utilized. 218 (53%) of these students engaged in at least one term of SOAR services while another 117 students received coaching or advising for a total engagement rate of 81%.
Ms. Cooper noted that the staff recognize that our students have competing priorities (working jobs, academics, etc.) and because of that, the SOAR team developed the Incentive Program. The program is based on a point system where students receive vouchers for bookstore gift cards and ice cream for completing their courses.
The three presenters also outlined the outcomes for the program for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 academic years. The data provided statistics on Non-SOAR, SOAR-Eligible, SOAR-Not Engaged and SOAR-Engaged populations. In terms of semester-to-semester persistence, 79% of SOAR-engaged student were retained from Fall 2021 to Spring 2022. For annual retention (Fall 2022 to Fall 2023), 63% of SOAR-Engaged students were still enrolled at NECC for the Fall 2023 semester. 51 SOAR students graduated and 10 students transferred. In terms of course completion, 67% of SOAR-Engaged students completed their courses with C- or better. That percentage increased to 73.2% for the Fall 2022 to Spring 2023 semester.
In closing, Ms. Cooper noted that the SOAR staff worked on new welcoming initiatives for students, and provided data on student attendance, GPA, and college preparedness plans. Initiatives included welcome/connection dinners with SOAR coaches, offering Mental Health services as needed, and expanding the incentive programming with an online Student Success Prep Course, offering appointments with SOAR Writing Tutors, offering embedded support for English and Writing Courses, SOAR After Dark programming and additional group activities for special interest groups.
Trustee Sanchez asked about the success of the coaching model. Ms. Cooper noted that the center seeks out students who are in need of assistance and opted them into the program as a SOAR scholar. Some students responded well to this method of selection while others did not. It was important to come up with different options, and the opt-in approach seemed to attract the students who needed the most help. That proactive outreach to students was important to their success.
Trustee Fernandez asked what the program capacity is, and how many students are first generation, BIPOC, etc.? Ms. Cooper noted that she did not have that aggregated data on hand, but assured trustees that the SOAR criteria focus on a low GPA and/or our low income (Pell- eligible) students many of whom identify as BIPOC or Hispanic. 63% of our SOAR students fell into those categories.
In closing, Ms. Cooper talked about the future plans for SOAR which are to increase recruitment efforts, deepen career exploration, better preparation for transferring, and cultivating supportive relationships for future student cohorts. President Glenn thanked the SOAR team for their report.
BOARD CHAIR UPDATE: Chairwoman Borislow extended congratulations to CFO/COO Mike McCarthy and fellow Trustee Evan Silverio for being inducted into the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors later this evening. She thanked both of them for representing the college so well.
REPORT OF BOARD COMMITTEES:
a) Audit and Finance Sub-Committee:
1) FY24 Operating Budget (AFC-24-01): Trustee Hamm reported that the Audit and Finance Committee met immediately before the full board meeting, and the first order of business was to review the FY24 operating budget. The update on FY23 was that the college was in overall excellent shape thanks to the leadership of the college. In addition, Northern Essex is fully implementing two new funding programs: the Tuition Equity Program for undocumented students, and the MassReconnect Program for students over 25 years of age who do not have a degree. Mr. Hamm noted that the college is experiencing additional growth due to these programs, and he also commended the leadership of the college for the hard work they did during the leaner times. He noted that the very prudent spending paid off, and NECC is going to be well-prepared for the future.
With that said, Committee Chair Hamm noted that the Audit & Finance Committee approves this budget and recommends adoption.
On a Motion presented by Trustee Paley Nadel and seconded by Trustee Sanchez, by roll call vote, the Board unanimously approved Agenda Item 7a1, the FY2024 Operating Budget in the amount of $69,369,342 as presented.
b) Alumni Advancement Sub-Committee:
Sub-Committee Chair Fernandez noted that she had two reminders. She was excited to note that the committee in collaboration with the Institutional Advancement team is bringing back the NECC Annual Giving Day on April 4th and also the NECC Impact Awards on May 1st. As a committee, they will be working with the IA office to support these two spring events and ask for Trustees continued support. Also, she reminded trustees that the Presidential Appeal is out, and gifts continue to come in to support that effort. She thanked the IA team and her fellow committee members for their continued support.
c) Equity Imperative Sub-Committee:
Sub-Committee Chair Paley-Nadel’s noted that this committee will meet next month and have a report at that time.
d) Nominating Sub-Committee:
Sub-Committee Chair Quiles noted that the committee had not met but will provide an update at the next meeting.
REPORT OF ADMINISTRATION:
a) Human Resources Data Analysis/Presentation (Verbal)
President Glenn noted that he had planned to present this human resources information this evening, but due to time constraints and several board members unable to attend tonight’s meeting, it would be better to defer this presentation to the November 1st meeting. All trustees agreed.
b) New Vice President of Human Resources: Vivian Cavazzi (Verbal)
President Glenn noted that NECC’s new Vice President of Human Resources Vivian Cavazzi would be starting next Tuesday. Ms. Cavazzi spent the last two decades in a variety of human resources roles, including her recent role as the Senior Director of Human Resources Operations at BAE Electronic systems in Nashua, New Hampshire. Vivian will succeed Patty Gauron in the HR leadership role as Patty transitions to the newly created, vital position of Executive Director of Employee Engagement and Chief People Officer.
c) Enrollment Update (Verbal)
President Glenn asked Provost Paul Beaudin to provide a brief update on enrollment for FY24. Dr. Beaudin discussed how the college will hit or exceed its goal of a 5% increase and at a future meeting will discuss what strategies we will employ (marketing and otherwise) to further this work.
Dr. Beaudin noted that last year, the enrollment and budget teams worked on looking at the data by category, made projections based on budget and enrollment assumptions, and developed and employed strategies to increase enrollment. As of now, for the Fall 2023 semester, continuing student headcount enrollment is up 4% over last year; new student enrollment has increased by 9%, and transfer student enrollment is up by 6%. Our stop-in student enrollment is up by 8% (mostly due to the MassReconnect program) and on average, the college has awarded about $2K per student for that program. The overall increase in student headcount enrollment was 4.4% (including Early College enrollments).
In terms of credits generated, total credits this Fall has increased an overall 105% when including all students (including Early College). Provost Beaudin noted that it is also important to note that the college now has seven (7) different start times for courses this Fall. Fall 2 begins on October 30th and as of October 2nd, Fall 2 credits have already reached 102 credits generated. These credits will help the bottom line, and the college is prepared to open additional sections as the need arises.
President Glenn thanked Dr. Beaudin and the enrollment services and finance team for this work.
d) Communique (ADM-3821-100423)
President Glenn noted that trustees have the October edition of the Communique in their agenda packets.
e) Haverhill Campus (Verbal)
President Glenn briefly noted that the NECC Baseball Team would be headed to the Dominican Republic next week to play some exhibition baseball with two of NECC’s partner universities, to participate in service work, and to learn firsthand about the Dominican culture. The team will play several games over the weekend against Universidad Central del Este (UCE) and one against Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo UASD. An update on the immersion trip will be forthcoming.
President Glenn also noted that the NECC woman’s Volleyball Team is 12-0 and nationally ranked. NECC continues to be proud of its student athletes.
f) Lawrence Campus (Verbal)
Due to time constraints, President Glenn will have a report on the Lawrence Campus next month.
NEW BUSINESS:
a) Grants:
President Glenn noted that there were two (2) grants slated for approval totaling $137,967. They are:
1) Massachusetts Department of Higher Education: Training Resources and Internship Networks (TRAIN) Program
ADM-3822-100423
2) Northeast Regional STEM Network Collaboration FY24
ADM-3823-100423
On a Motion presented by Trustee Hamm, and seconded by Trustee Paley Nadel, by roll call vote, the board unanimously approved the two grants (ADM-3822-100423 and ADM-3823-100423) in the total amount of $137,967.
OTHER BUSINESS: There was none.
ADJOURNMENT: With no other business, Chairwoman Borislow adjourned the meeting at
6:10 PM.
