BOARD MINUTES
JUNE 14, 2007
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MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE STATE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
IVY TECH COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF INDIANA
FORT WAYNE, INDIANA
AUGUST 9, 2007
Chairman Jesse R. Brand called the August 9, 2007, regular meeting of the State Board of Trustees to order at 10:00 a.m. in Hamilton Hall at the Hilton Fort Wayne at the Grand Wayne Center, 1020 South Calhoun Street, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
A. ROLL CALL:
Assistant Secretary William F. Morris called the roll and the presence of a quorum was announced. The following State Trustees were present:
Mr. Jesse R. Brand, Chair
Mr. Norman E. “Ned” Pfau, Jr., Vice Chair
Ms. Linda Buskirk
Ms. Leigh A. Duckwall
Mr. David M. Findlay
Mr. Lee J. Marchant
Mr. Robert L. McCreary
Mr. Mark J. Neff
Mr. Steve Schreckengast
Mrs. Anne K. Shane
Mr. V. Bruce Walkup
Ms. Kaye H. Whitehead
Trustees unable to attend the meeting:
Ms. Martie Rivas-Ramos, Secretary
Ms. Linda E. White
B. NOTICES OF MEETINGS MAILED AND POSTED:
Assistant Secretary William F. Morris confirmed that notices of the August 9, 2007, regular meeting were properly mailed and posted.
C. APPROVAL OF BOARD MINUTES:
Chairman Jesse R. Brand directed the trustees’ attention to the minutes of the June 14, 2007, regular board meeting. Trustee Leigh A. Duckwall made the motion to approve the minutes of the June 14, 2007, regular meeting as submitted. Trustee Mark J. Neff seconded the motion, and the motion was carried unanimously.
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BOARD MINUTES
AUGUST 9, 2007
D. STATE OF THE COLLEGE:
Chairman Brand called on President Thomas J. Snyder for the President’s Report.
· President Snyder thanked the trustees for the opportunity to share the progress of Ivy Tech Community College with them. He said that Ivy Tech is an institution that has been growing enormously over the past few years. The objective is to continue to grow and meet the needs of Indiana citizens of all ages. President Snyder provided the trustees with an overview of some of the strategic activities that have taken place over the last month, and announced additional initiatives that will be submitted to the Board at future meetings for their approval. He directed the trustees to their copies of his PowerPoint presentation. Governance reports will be presented at each of the six regular board meetings. The Board will also hear reports from the regional leadership of the College during the course of the year. President Snyder explained to the Board that upon advice of their chairman and with their support, the meetings will be conducted in the various regions throughout the state over the course of three years. A trustee serving a three-year term will have the opportunity to participate in meetings at each region. President Snyder reminded the trustees the College’s strategic plan, “Strategic Plan 2010: From Success to the Best,” calls for a 50 percent improvement in our graduation and participation rates, and an increase in our enrollment to 175,000 in both credit and non-credit. A progress report on the strategic plan will be presented in the next couple of months, but we are making progress. The College currently has credit and non-credit enrollment of 130,000. President Snyder also directed the trustees to their folders for a copy of the book The Community College Story. He said this was a great opportunity for them to familiarize themselves with our role in the education of the nation. The community college system is educating about 6.5 million people each year in credit courses and about 5.5 million in non-credit courses. This clearly illustrates that Ivy Tech is in the middle of what we think is an education and workforce challenge, if not a crisis. The trustees are critically important to the success of the College. He explained that he was changing our organization to better reflect the challenges we have today and shared his organizational chart that showed that the central administration is now divided into three groups: the Office of the President, the Office of Workforce and Economic Development, and the Office of Provost. Key changes inside those groups include on the Provost side, Dr. Marnia Kennon’s appointment as Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, the appointment of Dr. Becky Nickoli as Associate Vice Provost for Institutional Engagement and Grant Administration, and the change in role of Dr. Benjamin Young into the role of Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Diversity. Two chancellors taking on additional responsibilities include Jeff Pittman, Terre Haute chancellor, who will also assume the title of Vice Provost for Distance Learning; and Jim Steck, Richmond chancellor, as Vice Provost for Facilities. In the Office of the President, Tony Harte, Chief Technology Officer, will now report directly to the President because of the importance of technology, and Jeff Fanter has been promoted to Vice President for Marketing and Communications. Five business councils have also been formed, the first one is on strategic planning which is co-chaired by Vice President Bill Morris and Chancellor Dan Schenk. A Human Resources council will be co-chaired by Chancellor Steve Daily and Human Resources director Julie Lorton-Rowland; the Technology council will be co-chaired by Chancellor John Whikehart and Tony Harte; and the Marketing council will be co-chaired by Chancellor Rita Shourds and Jeff Fanter. President Snyder also touched on some of his objectives which include achieving internal savings to reinvest in full-time faculty; completing staffing that has been discussed; making the reporting structure on the financial side clearer to strengthen our financial structure and audit capability. A study of our procurement procedures inside the College has been launched. By the year end, the budget will be integrated with the strategic plan. A statewide outreach program for Indiana high schools in consultation with the Department of Education will be developed. A statewide faculty and staff development plan will be created under the leadership of Vice President Bob Garton. The new council structure will be integrated with statewide functional initiatives so the College will achieve reaccreditation in the winter of 2009. A statewide diversity plan, to include the Board, faculty, staff, and students, needs to be created. President Snyder outlined his stretch goals which help the College become “best in class” in all the metric areas. Substantial growth in the Foundation development for financial aid, faculty, and program endowments will be a priority. President Snyder also said that we owe the state a build out plan that identifies the communities in which we do expect to locate or grow, and then gain support from those constituents. Two global objectives include becoming the largest provider of distance learning not only in the state of Indiana but also in the United States and to take the community college concept to at least one international partner.
· President Snyder announced that the Board would hear three governance reports today. The first will be Dr. Becky Nickoli on Accreditation, the second will be Dick Tully on Facilities, and the third will be Jeff Fanter on Marketing. He also announced that Chancellors Steve Daily and Dr. Mark Keen would provide reports on their respective regions, Kokomo and Ft. Wayne.
All of these reports were provided for information only; no Board action was required.
(Narratives and PowerPoint presentations were previously distributed to the Board and are on file with Minute Material.)
E. TREASURER’S REPORT:
Chairman Brand called on Bob Holmes, Vice President for Finance/Treasurer, for the Treasurer’s Report.
· Treasurer Bob Holmes said that we have closed out the 2006-07 fiscal year and are in the process of completing the final carry forward calculation. Once that is complete, the next big initiative will be putting together the year-end financial statements. While final carry forward calculation is not yet complete, he is pleased to report that we ended the year in solid financial shape. For the second year in a row, we have received all general operating, special line item, R and R, and debt service funds appropriated by the state. This is a real sign of improvement in Indiana’s economy because in prior years, significant portions of the appropriations made to the College and colleges and universities across the state have been withheld. In addition, in 2006-07 the state began paying back the one month’s payment delay—$10.7 million for Ivy Tech—that has been delayed since 2001-02. About $4.6 million was repaid this past year, leaving a balance of $6.1 million. That has been appropriated in the 2007-09 biennium, due to be repaid at just over $3 million each year, if the state’s revenue estimates hold up. Total general fund revenues for the College went up about $19.6 million compared to last year. This growth is primarily due to our enrollment growth, as student fees grew by $14.6 million compared to 2005-06. By comparison, student fee rates increased only by 4.8 percent last year, so the primary driver of the increase in revenue was our enrollment growth. State operating appropriations grew by $5.4 million last year. We are pleased that there was growth because not many other higher education institutions received an increase in their appropriations, but it was considerably under our enrollment growth for the year. Other revenue was down slightly from last year as increases in investment income were offset by declines in overhead recovery, insurance refunds, and other miscellaneous revenue. Total general fund expenditures increased by just over $16 million last year, so we have a positive spread in revenues and expenditures for the year. The vast majority of the expenditure increase went to salaries and benefits, which were up $16 million compared to last year, as a result of the 3 and 4 percent salary pools and the new faculty and staff that we have added to serve our new students. We added 67 new full-time faculty positions last year. Like other higher education institutions, just over two thirds of our total general fund expenditures are allocated for compensation. All other expenditures for items such as supplies, utilities, and equipment, grew by one tenth of one percent. This is partially a result of the Integrated Information System (IIS) expenditures for software that were front-ended in 2005-06; nonetheless, it is a significant statistic. Vice President Holmes added that in Indiana, unspent college and university funds do not revert back to the state at the end of the year. This is a real advantage to both Ivy Tech and the state as there is no end of the fiscal year buying binge and it allows the College as a whole and in each region to plan for future needs and to save for them. Two examples include the IIS computer software project, where we are not incurring any debt; and regions are able to save for new furnishings and equipment when a new academic building comes online. Vice President Holmes also noted that we continue to make progress towards our goal of fully funding our compensated absences liability. While this liability is only paid out over time as people leave the College and not in any one year, the goal is to fully fund the reserve through future incremental contributions. In addition, in 2006-07 the College again contributed to our post employment benefits reserve. Although the College is not required to recognize actuarial costs in our ending financial report for one more year, this will be a significant liability and we want to begin addressing that issue. As we close out this year and begin 2007-08, Vice President Holmes took this opportunity to recognize all of the chancellors and regional finance directors for the excellent job that they have done in managing their budgets. Our enrollment growth was significant last year, and with the state’s difficult economy, they have done a very good job. Because our financial health is heavily impacted by the relative health of the state, Vice President Holmes took this time to talk about the state’s year-end close. He was pleased to report that the state’s financial picture has improved considerably. The final 2006-07 surplus for the state is $1.286 billion, up nearly $200 million from last year. In addition, they have reduced their payment delay obligation by about $340 million more. We are hopeful that the state’s improving financial picture will allow them pay down what they owe us and other institutions as well. Vice President Holmes called for questions, and there were none. Trustee Anne K. Shane moved that the Treasurer’s Report be approved. Trustee Duckwall seconded the motion, and the motion carried unanimously.
F. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Item 1 Reporting for the Executive Committee, Chairman Brand reported the Executive Committee held a teleconference on July 18, 2007, to discuss two primary topics. Chairman Brand reported that the Committee first discussed work that he, President Snyder, and Vice Presidents Morris and Terp had done in modifying the Board’s meeting agenda. The proposed changes were reviewed with the executive committee during their teleconference and implemented for the first time at these meetings. Chairman Brand said that he thought that the changes were positive, and he welcomes feedback from trustees and members of the College staff. The Executive Committee also discussed a letter that had been sent to Chairman Brand, former Chairman Bill Goins, and Vice Chairman Pfau from Rich Smikle of Ice Miller, the College’s external counsel. The intent of Mr. Smikle’s letter was to inform them that, while he was honored to be asked to continue to serve as counsel to the College and Board of Trustees, he had other obligations that he needed to attend to and thereby submitted his resignation as the College’s external counsel. Chairman Brand took the opportunity to introduce Melissa Proffitt Reese from Ice Miller, who is now serving as the College’s principal attorney. Chairman Brand also introduced Ice Miller attorney Marilee Springer, who has provided counsel the College for 10 years. Chairman Brand said that while he was disappointed that Mr. Smikle would no longer be serving the College, he said that the College is still well represented with Ms. Reese and Ms. Springer.