The Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College Board of Trustees convened a meeting on Monday, September 12, 2022, at 3:01 p.m., in person in the Brumit Center for Culinary Arts and Hospitality. Mr. Matt Kern, Chair, presided.
The following members of the Board participated in person: Theresa Banks, Joe Barwick, Joe Brumit, Michael Garrison, Tommy Justus, Matt Kern, David King, Judy Lewis, Roger Metcalf, John Parham, Frances Ramsey, Jason Walls, and Ryan Adams-Clark, Ex-Officio. Trustee Libby Kyles participated via Zoom. Trustee Himanshu Karvir was absent.
Others present for the meeting included: Dr. John Gossett, President; Terry Brasier, Vice President of Student Services; Amanda Edwards, Executive Director of College Advancement; Kerri Glover; Executive Director of Community Relations and Marketing; Dirk Wilmoth, Vice President of Business and Finance/CFO; Deborah Wright, Vice President of Economic & Workforce Development and Continuing Education; Darryl Rhymes, Chris Campbell College Attorney, and Carolyn Rice, Secretary to the Board. Brian Willis; Vice President of Information Technology participated via Zoom.
Call to Order
Chair Kern read the ethics statement. No conflicts of interest were reported. Ms. Rice called roll; a quorum was present.
Swearing in
At 3:07 p.m., new Trustee Jason Walls, reappointed Trustee Roger Metcalf, and new SGA President Ms. Ryan Adams-Clark, Ex-Officio, were sworn into the Board of Trustees by Judge Susan Dotson-Smith.
Employee Recognition
At 3:14 p.m., Mr. Matthew Fender was recognized as Professor Emeritus by the Board for his years of teaching accomplishments at A-B Tech.
Consent Agenda
At 3:18 p.m., Chair Kern asked for a motion to approve the Consent Agenda.
Mr. Brumit moved to approve Consent Agenda items: 1. A. August 1, 2022, Board Meeting Minutes; 1. B. August 24, 2022, Executive Committee Meeting Minutes; and 1. C. Personnel Actions.
The motion to approve the Consent Agenda was seconded by Ms. Lewis. The motion passed by unanimous consent.
Resolution/Action Items
2. A. Dr. Dirk Wilmoth stated that the Administration has selected several firms to enter into five separate Annual Open-Ended Service Agreements for Design and Engineering Services for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. The selected firms will be used for specified services when the projects are less than $300,000.
Dr. Parham moved to approve the Annual Open-Ended Service Agreements for Design and Engineering Services during 2022-2023. Mr. King seconded the motion. The motion passed by unanimous consent.
2. B. Dr. Wilmoth requested funds from the Buncombe County Article 46 funds for two new projects that, if Board approved, will be submitted to the A-B Tech/Buncombe County Joint Capital Advisory Committee for consideration.
The cost of replacing the roofs on the TCC (Technology Commercialization Center) on the Enka campus has escalated significantly and has risen to $5.7 Million. The $5.7 Million cost is guaranteed by Vannoy and includes a $1 Million contingency.
Dr. Wilmoth then discussed the stormwater problems along Victoria Road on the Asheville campus. To mitigate the stormwater that creates undesirable erosion and adversely impacts our neighbors and the local waterways, the Administration is requesting that $1 Million be allocated from the Article 46 funds to address the following:
- A need for a comprehensive stormwater management master plan throughout the campus to guide our efforts. The projected cost is $100,000.
- Once the campus-wide stormwater management master plan is in place, $600,000 will be required to fund the greatest priority projects throughout the campus.
- An outcome of the College’s participation in an EPA-sponsored Greening America's Communities Workshop last year was the concept for addressing the negative impact of stormwater on Haith Branch and its tributary as they flow down the west slope to the French Broad.
Dr. Justice moved to recommend the funding of the Recommended Capital Projects to the A-B Tech/Buncombe County Joint Advisory Committee for consideration. Mr. Brumit seconded the motion. Trustee Kyles verbally approved the motion. Mr. Walls abstained from the vote. The motion passed by majority consent.
Trustee Business
3. A. Chair Kern thanked the Trustees who attended the NCACCT Leadership Seminar. A-B Tech had eight Trustees in attendance at the Seminar, and all were pleased with the subject matter and praised Dr. Gossett for his participation on a luncheon panel.
President's Report
Dr. Gossett shared the following information with the Board:
- Dr. Gossett presented the results of the 2022 Performance Measures for Student Success. There are seven measures that are reevaluated every three years. These include basic skills progress, college-level English success, college-level math success, first-year progression, completion, licensure and certification, and university transfer.
- Performance measures are now graded on a bell curve.
- Basic Skills is in the mean.
- College-level English and math success scores are in the red.
- First-year progression and completion are in the black.
- Licensure and Certification scores are the best in the state of North Carolina.
- University Transfer scores are in the mean.
- Unfortunately, all scores are from the 2019-2020 cohort which was affected by the pandemic, and the state did not give anyone any leeway with the scores.
- To summarize, Dr. Gossett stated that the College still has work to do and that we have scores that are below our expectations. Our faculty are doing an excellent job teaching our students, the issue lies in the data collection and how the state uses it.
- Dr. Gossett then shared enrollment data with the Board. We are up three percent from this time last year and have added over 50 class sections since August. As students require more classes; we are adding them to the schedule. Through the efforts of Dr. Fairly Patton and her team, our CCP (Career and College Promise) student enrollment is up ten percent this year. Dual-enrolled students are taking more credit hours as well.
- Enrollment demographics are improving. We have seen an increase in opportunities for students of color.
- The College continues to target adult learners and is focused on getting them back to the classroom.
- Workforce Development is a strong division for the College. With several new programs such as Community Health Worker, Truck Driver Training, Certified Nursing Assistants, the Barber Academy, Customized Training, STEP (Skills Training Employment Program), and apprenticeship money for Madison County, Workforce Development and Continuing Education is busy! Kudos to the staff who work very well with both our internal and external partners.
- Finally, the College expects that the Haynes Tower on the Enka campus will be demolished in the spring of 2023.
Staff Report
Ms. Katie Hast, Coordinator of Security, Policy, and Compliance, and Mr. John Bradley, Administrator of Information Security presented the College’s Information Security Program Policy and Procedure, in accordance with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), to the Board:
- The College is compliant with the GLB Act which was written in 1999.
- The principal areas of focus are to eliminate obstacles to effective communication, collaboration, and student success and to ensure the fiscal sustainability of students, our employees, our institution, and our community.
- The North Carolina Community College System has adopted the Information Security Program which codifies security efforts related to GLBA.
- All employees must participate in annual cyber security training.
- The College continues to safeguard our information systems by maintaining access controls, installing patching to correct software vulnerabilities, regularly backing up data, and replacing servers as needed.
- Multifactor Authentication (MFA) has been mandatory for all employees of the College and is now mandatory for our students. We will have all students signed up for MFA by the end of the year.
Dr. Gossett thanked Ms. Hast and Mr. Bradley for all of their work on GLBA and shared that A-B Tech is blessed to have them on our staff. We are lucky to have excellent people working every day to protect our data.
SGA Report
SGA President, Ms. Adams-Clark, invited the Board to participate in the Fall Festival on September 13, which is the first festival the College has been able to hold in three years.
The SGA has met three times this year and hopes to fill the offices of Vice President, and Secretary soon. Several clubs have started meeting again, and Ms. Adams-Clark is grateful for the guidance of Ms. Michele Hathcock and Ms. Patricia Hughes.
Closed Session
At 4:41 p.m., Dr. Metcalf moved that the Trustees enter closed session pursuant to G.S. 143-318.11 (a) (1) and (3) to discuss confidential personnel matters pursuant to G.S. 115D-27-29 and to discuss matters protected by the attorney-client privilege.
On a motion properly made, the Board returned to Open Session at 5:10 p.m.
Handouts
Divisional Updates and the August 2021-2022 Student Success Scorecard are in the Handouts.
The next Board meeting will be on Monday, October 3, 2022, at 3:30 p.m., at A-B Tech Madison.
Adjourn
On a motion properly made, the meeting adjourned at 5:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn H. Rice
Board Secretary