By Greg Horner, Senior Editor.
Sleet, succession and lawsuits hung in the air around Delta College on Feb. 2 as the Board of Trustees converged for their monthly meeting on the main campus.
Beginning the regular meeting with public comment, Kim Higgs, an attorney from Bay City and a former trustee, served the Board with a civil case for violation of the Open Meetings Act.
“It is unfortunate that we have to resort to this, but this board is making the conscious decision to do things differently than is recommended by the Attorney General and others,” says Higgs. “So, consequently, we’re going to do what we have to do to ensure that the public is provided the information that they have a right to have.”
Higgs has been involved in several cases against the Board for violations of state law. Higgs believes the Board failed to cite specific pending litigation when voting to go into closed session and violated provision MCL 15.263(2) “That all decisions of a public body shall be made at a meeting open to the public.”
In response to the allegation that the Board failed to properly enter closed session, Treasurer Deb Lutz says, “Just to put you at ease, I believe that four times in the last year or two, the college has consulted different attorneys on this subject, and they’ve all said that it’s not a requirement that the case be cited.”
The Board then accepted the president’s emergency succession plan, which trustees have been juggling with since Nov. A committee met on Jan. 28 for concerned members to propose changes and create a final draft.
“This is a good plan, a workable plan and reflects the committee’s decision that it’s a plan that we can put in place and go forward with,” says Trustee Earl Selby, who recommended the plan be approved.
Trustee Kimberly Houston-Philpot shared ideas she’d learned at the Association of Community College Trustees annual leadership summit. “I think we have a responsibility, as trustees for Delta College, to be looking at strategic issues that impact the college.”
Houston-Philpot is concerned about the future of declining enrollment and believes the college has to do more to foster diversity on campus.
Board Member Karen Lawrence-Webster recommended that the Board use the dinner meetings to talk about the future and the college’s strategic goals. “Retreats are good, but I think we need to build it into our meetings, an opportunity to have those discussions.”
Lawrence-Webster pressed the Board on how it would follow-up the issue. The Board held a poll to decide whether it would continue discussion at the next dinner meeting or during a trustee retreat. The Board favored the dinner meeting idea, but didn’t make a motion.
“I appreciate the ideas and the presentations that we have at the dinner meetings,” says Lawrence-Webster. “But I don’t think we spend enough time on a monthly basis talking about the future or policies that a board should be concerned with.”
Lawrence-Webster is concerned that the Board isn’t given adequate information or understanding about the school’s financial situation, or its curriculum. “We get talked to. The majority of the time we’re being talked to, and we’re not communicating with each other.”
The president gave an update on the school’s 2015/16 goals. She thanked the Board for their action on the emergency succession plan and says that the school is committed to reverse the trend of declining enrollment.
Some Trustees, including Lawrence-Webster and Robert Emrich, expressed concern about the future of the college’s new Saginaw center, and worried that the water crisis in Flint could affect the state’s decision to fund the project.
“Do we have any alternative plans?” asks Emrich. “Say the state doesn’t give us the money, are we going to wait until Santa Claus comes?”
Deb Lutz assured Emrich that the project is at the top of the state’s funding list. President Goodnow says that projects like this could take 10 years for approval, but that the Board could begin considering alternative means of funding.
Goodnow also assured members that while Downtown Saginaw was selected as the school’s location, no property has been chosen yet.
Other topics covered at the meeting include:
- Deb Lutz’s monthly treasurer’s report, where she reported that the college is in good financial standing and there are no variances in the budget.
- Terri Gould and Zachary Ward gave a presentation on the college’s new CRM, or enrollment management tool, which will allow Delta to more effectively recruit new students and fight declining enrollment.
- Toni Clegg spoke about Delta’s cyber security program. Students, Justin Scheidler and Jason Noggle, shared their experiences in the cyber information assurance program and the future opportunities available in cyber security.
