By Kaitlyn Skrzypczak, Editor-in-Chief.
The Delta College Board of Trustees unanimously approved their “Five-Year Capital Outlay Master Plan” which includes the new Saginaw satellite campus as their No. 1 priority. This budget plan also lays out other projects that are top priorities for Delta College between fiscal year 2016 through fiscal year 2021.
The Saginaw center is projected to cost $12,614,000. The new Saginaw satellite campus will replace the existing Ricker Center in Buena Vista Township. The Ricker Center was constructed in the 1950s and no longer meets the “needs of current programs and learning environments”, according to the Five-Year Capital Outlay Master Plan. Other projects that are planned for the 2016 fiscal year are maintenance related and are as follows:
- Emergency/Central Power System Upgrades – $1,080,000
- West Parking Lot Repaving and West Campus Site Upgrades – $5,465,414
- Roof Replacement / Fascia and Soffit Repairs (Midland Campus) – $700,979
- Road and Parking Lot Repaving (Midland Campus) – $428,461
The Board of Trustees also voted to approve the purchase of Blackbaud software at a cost of $171,646. Barbara Webb, Director of Business Services, said that with the new software, “We’ll be better at managing our donor databases.” According to a memo from Webb to the Board of Trustees, in May 2014, “fundraising operations for both the Delta College Foundation and Delta Public Broadcasting were combined into a single team of staff members.” Each operation is currently working with separate databases to track donor information and contributions.
“It’s a system that will allow us to streamline in the Foundation Office as well as Broadcasting,” said President Jean Goodnow.
The Blackbaud software will require an annual maintenance cost of $42,272 for the second and third year that it is in operation. “This is a cloud hosted solution, so the college will not have any infrastructure cost. That is why the annual maintenance cost is $42,000 a year,” said Webb. None of the funds to pay for the software will come from Delta’s general fund. The initial cost will be paid by funding set aside within the Foundation’s reserve holdings.
The Board voted on and approved revisions to Senate Policy 3.030 regarding “Master’s Degree Equivalency.” This will make it easier for instructors with sufficient work-related experience to advance in pay grades without a Master’s degree.
“Instructors in the manufacturing and tech trade virtually have no way of achieving the next pay grade. I think this will help us to attract the top instructors when they see they can move up the ladder here at Delta College,” said Senate President Tim Heinz.
President Goodnow and Board of Trustees Secretary Andrea Ursuy presented a “Scorecard” program that they hope to implement that would help Delta faculty monitor student success and Delta’s performance as compared to other community colleges. “The more we can know about our students, staff and whole region the better we can serve them,” said Goodnow.
Other presentations at the Oct. 14 dinner and Board meetings include:
- Delta College’s PRISM Alliance by Stuart Barbier and Charissa Urbano
- Diversity Update by Vice President Reva Curry
- Student Enrollment Profile Update by Margaret Mosqueda
- Talent Development and Succession Planning by Loyce Brown and Jean Goodnow
