The Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College Board of Trustees convened a meeting on Monday, November 4, 2024, at 3:06 p.m., in The Brumit Center for Culinary Arts and Hospitality, Tillman Dining Room. Dr. Theresa Banks, Chair, presided.
The following members of the Board participated: Joe Barwick, Michael Garrison, Himanshu Karvir, Matt Kern, David King, Libby Kyles, Judy Lewis, Roger Metcalf, John Parham, Frances Ramsey, Roger Reid, and Mariana Flores, Ex-Officio. Tommy Justus, Anthony Penland, and Glenda Weinert were absent.
Others present for the meeting included: John Gossett, President; Deborah Bailey, Vice President of Economic and Workforce Development and Continuing Education; Amanda Edwards, Executive Director of College Advancement; Kerri Glover, Executive Director of Community Relations and Marketing; Cris Harshman, Interim Vice President of Information Technology; Fairley Patton, Vice President of Student Services; Beth Stewart, Vice President of Instructional Services; Darryl Rhymes, Director, Employment & Employee Relations; Ashley Leonard, College Attorney; and Carolyn Rice, Secretary to the Board.
Call to Order
At 3:06 p.m., Chair Banks read the ethics statement. No conflicts of interest were reported. Ms. Rice called roll; a quorum was present.
At 3:07 p.m., the Board had a moment of silence for the victims of Hurricane Helene.
Consent Agenda
At 3:08 p.m., Chair Banks asked for a motion to approve the Consent Agenda.
Ms. Lewis moved to approve Consent Agenda items: 1. A. September 9, 2024, Board Meeting Minutes; 1. B. October 23, 2024, Executive Committee Meeting Minutes, and 1. C. Personnel Actions. Mr. Kern seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Resolution/Action Items
2. A. Ms. Beth Green, Director of Facilities Support, informed the Board that the Administration had selected several firms to enter into five separate Annual Open-Ended Service Agreements for Design and Engineering Services for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. Open-ended agreements save the College from bidding for small projects that are less than $300,000.
Dr. Barwick moved to approve the Annual Open-Ended Service Agreements for Design and Engineering Services. Mr. Kern seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
2. B. Ms. Green then discussed needed renovations to the Culinary Arts Kitchens in the Brumit Center. The College is requesting to use $390,000 of its $8,265,643 General Assembly allocated State Capital and Infrastructure Funds (SCIF) to renovate several walk-in coolers, replace condensers, and purchase a permanent backup generator to ensure that electricity will continue to be available to power the coolers in the event of a power outage.
Mr. King moved to approve the Brumit Center for Culinary Arts Renovations. Mr. Kern seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
2. C. Ms. Melissa Valko, Associate Vice President of Business Services, discussed the proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025, with the Board. The budget is in alignment with the College’s strategic plan.
Dr. Parham moved to approve the Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025. Mr. King seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
2. D. Ms. Valko shared that in response to the declared state of emergency in Buncombe and Madison Counties, the College created a new State of Emergency Leave procedure. The procedure allows employees to be paid, subject to the availability of funding, for time lost due to the state of emergency. The College was also able to pay new employees who started on October 1, 2024.
Mr. Garrison moved to approve the Employee Leave Policy and State of Emergency Leave Procedure. Ms. Ramsey seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
2. E. Ms. Valko then stated that the College is required to present the Negative Fund Balance Report annually to the Board. The College is required to have sufficient funds to cover all institutional obligations. The negative fund balance on June 30, 2024, was ($172,294) and consists of unallocated student account receivable balances resulting from federal financial aid reversals. The College has $15M in liquidity which is ample funds to offset the negative balance.
Mr. Kern moved to approve the Negative Fund Balance Report as of June 30, 2024. Dr. Parham seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
2. F. Ms. Dana Moore, Interim Dean, Engineering, Transportation and Technology, presented the revised 2024-2025 Academic College Calendar to the Board. The calendar was updated to reflect the time missed due to Hurricane Helene. The first eight-week term, the second eight-week term, and the full 16-week terms have been extended to December 18.
Mr. Kern moved to approve the Revised 2024-2025 Academic College Calendar. Ms. Lewis seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
President’s Report
Dr. Gossett shared the following with the Board:
- Our world changed dramatically on September 25 when Hurricane Helene hit Asheville.
- We owe special thanks to Dr. Beth Stewart and Mr. Cris Harshman for immediately upfitting our Emergency Command Center and who were on campus constantly for the first two weeks of the disaster.
- All A-B Tech campuses were used to help our communities, and we are grateful that we were able to help.
- Some classes such as BLET and Nursing resumed on October 14, others on October 21, and the rest on October 24.
- Staff and faculty have been encouraged to listen to each other’s stories as it helps with healing.
- Unfortunately, two people associated with the College lost their lives, as did one CCP student.
- We have lost five percent of our student body and expect to lose up to 40 percent more.
- Our faculty reached out to all of their students to make sure that they were ok after the storm.
- The System Office is allowing students who step away from school due to the storm to make up classes in the spring without penalties.
- We have asked Raleigh to hold our budget harmless as it will take three years to rebuild our student body.
- The good news is that the NC System Office has agreed not to audit FTE for fall 2024 programs. We will focus on student learning outcomes – not how many students were in a classroom.
- We hope to receive $3M in disaster relief funds from the General Assembly.
- The SACSCOC Reaffirmation visit has been postponed to September 2025.
- Chef Bugher competed in the world championships of culinary artistry in Singapore and won second place! We hope to celebrate his and our culinary teams’ accomplishments soon.
- The College is relying on established organizations that provide assistance to our community, and we are connecting students and employees to them.
- All losses have been documented, and we will bill FEMA for as much as possible.\
- The EOC plan will be updated with everything we learned this past month.
- A-B Tech has been “Adopted” by Wilkes, Central Piedmont, and Wake Tech Community Colleges. Ms. Bailey is our liaison. These Colleges will help us with both immediate and long-term needs.
The Board thanked Dr. Gossett and ELT for their leadership during the crisis.
Performance Measures
Dr. Gossett then shared the following information about Performance Measures with the Board:
- Performance measures are the NC Community College System’s primary state accountability report and are required by the legislature.
- They are the basis on which state performance funding is awarded to the College.
- They consist of seven measures:
- Basic Skills Progress – A-B Tech is above average compared to the state.
- College Level English Success – The college is below the state average but is improving.
- College Level Math Success - The college is below the state average but is improving.
- First-Year Progression – we have a lot of work to do to help students graduate and/or transfer to other colleges.
- Completion – Unfortunately, students want to learn the skills of their profession and don’t stay to graduate.
- Licensure and Certification – All of our licensure programs exceeded state averages.
- University Transfer – Success rates are improving, and we exceeded state averages here as well.
- In conclusion, we are proud of our faculty and the work they do with our students. With the help of software, the College will improve in helping our students stay on track.
- We will continue to work with the Pathways and Counterbalance Projects that help students get where they want to go.
SGA Report
SGA President Mariana Flores thanked the Board for all the work that they do to make a difference in students’ lives. ;Students received numerous texts and emails from the College on how and where to get resources and what to expect when they returned to classes after the storm. Ms. Flores shared that students are going through a difficult time after the storm and asked the Board to understand that they may not be responding to texts and emails right now.
Currently, the SGA is hosting volunteer opportunities for MANNA Foodbank and is in the process of planning annual holiday sponsorships.
Closed Session
At 4:13 p.m., Ms. Lewis moved that the Trustees enter closed session pursuant to G.S. 143-318.11(a) (1) and (3) in order to discuss confidential personnel matters pursuant to G.S. 115D-27-29 and to discuss matters protected by the attorney-client privilege.”
At 4:38 p.m., Mr. Kern moved to return to Open Session. Mr. Karvir seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Open Session
The Board discussed equity in goal measurements, how to reach out to marginalized students, the Counterbalance Project, A-B Tech representatives in both middle and high schools, mentors, partnering with the United Way, and how A-B Tech can play an educational role in marginalized students’ lives at length.
Mr. King suggested that the Board create an Ad Hoc committee to discuss how to help marginalized students and to bring ideas back to the Board in December.
Handouts
The Hurricane Response Timeline and the 2024-2025 Tracking Measures Scorecard are in the Handouts.
The next Board meeting will be on Monday, December 2, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. in the Brumit Center for Culinary Arts, Tillman Dining Room.
Adjourn
Upon a motion properly made, the meeting adjourned at 5:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn H. Rice
Board Secretary