HARFORD COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Board of Trustees Work Session
June 7, 2012
The Board of Trustees of Harford Community College met on Thursday, June 7, 2012, at
9:00 a.m. in the Chesapeake Center Board Room.
Trustees present: Mrs. April L. Fritts; Mr. John F. Haggerty; Mr. Bryan E. Kelly; Mr. Richard
D. Norling; Mr. Bradley R. Stover; Dr. James J. Valdes; and, Dr. Dennis Golladay as
Secretary-Treasurer
Trustees absent: Mrs. Doris G. Carey and Rev. Cordell E. Hunter, Sr.
Staff present: D. Cruise, G. Deal, S. Garey, A. Haggray, B. Morrison, A. Pagura, S. Phillips,
C. Sherman, V. Swain, and T. Zimmerman
Others present: J. Determan and S. Walker, Hord Coplan Macht
Call to Order. B. Kelly called the work session to order.
Roll Call. Carol Sherman called the roll; quorum was present.
Announcements. B. Kelly announced:
Applications are being accepted for Leadership Maryland a statewide, year-long program to
cultivate the interest, the statewide knowledge and the leadership capacities of Maryland’s
leaders.
Trustee Norling will serve as Harford’s trustee representative to the Maryland Association of
Community Colleges.
Board evaluation will serve as the driver for developing and subsequently assessing goals for
2012-2013. Trustees were reminded to forward their completed form to C. Sherman for
tallying.
Plans for Nursing and Allied Health Building. J. Determan and S. Walker from the architectural
firm of Hord Coplan Macht provided an overview of the project. He noted that initial meetings
were held with faculty, staff and administrators for input on building needs and vision. In
addition to classrooms and labs, collaborative student space was identified as a need. A site
analysis was also completed. The design is a three-story structure of buff masonry, glass and
metal. The first floor is primarily for noncredit instruction; the second floor provides credit and
noncredit classrooms and some offices; the third floor is for the credit nursing program. Floor
plan and drawings of both the interior and exterior were displayed. In designing the exterior of
the building, the goal was to meld the building with current campus structures and at the same
time incorporate a forward looking, progressive structure. Highlights from the discussion
included:
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Metal on building exterior is easy to maintain; experience with Aberdeen Hall has
demonstrated this.
Concerns were expressed with the ivy wall – (1) expense of drip water irrigation system;
(2) humidity; (3) care/maintenance. Architect will gather more details on the ivy wall and
seek to identify a facility that has incorporated this feature.
Plans for Campus Vehicular and Pedestrian Traffic. J. Determan and S. Walker provided
preliminary information on proposals for improving vehicular and pedestrian traffic. In
considering design, a guiding principle was to keep roads on the outside of parking. Recent
traffic study found that 75% of the campus traffic enters and exits the campus at Entrance 3;
increasing the use of Entrance 6 (“Wawa Road”) would assist with traffic flow. An option is to
have two-way traffic at Entrance 3 from Thomas Run Road to the entrance to parking lot F;
beyond this point, the road would become one-way with traffic exiting to Maryland Route 22 via
Entrance 6. A second phase of the project would be to create a loop road behind parking lot A
and connect the “Wawa Road” to the new road behind the Susquehanna Center. With the
addition of new impervious surfaces, there may be implications for storm water management.
Also, the College would need to work with the Corps of Engineers to address environmental
issues.
R. Norling referred to recent legislation requiring that bicycle and pedestrian paths be included in
future updates of facilities plans. Bicycle and pedestrian traffic is another option to consider in
campus traffic flow discussions.
Since the state provided some capital funds in FY 2013 for campus road projects, G. Deal
indicated that staff would like to continue with the design of campus roadway system.
Update on Self-Study and Middle States Recommendations. The Middle States Commission on
Higher Education will review the findings of the March team visit at the Commission’s June 28
meeting. Shortly after that, the College will be informed of the Commission’s action.
The College is responsible for ensuring recommendations in the self-study and in visiting team
report are addressed. In the Periodic Review Report (PRR), which the College will submit to the
Commission in 2017, the College is to provide an update on how the recommendations have
been addressed. Chart of recommendations was distributed. D. Golladay noted that the chart on
PRR recommendations was shared with the team during the March visit as evidence to the team
that work had begun on those items noted in the PRR.
With regarding to Standard 4 (Leadership and Governance), B. Kelly noted that to address one of
the PRR recommendations, Board evaluation is now formalized as an annual activity.
FY 2013 Operating Budget Potential Impact of Pension Costs Shift. As a result of the special
session of the Maryland General Assembly, funding to community colleges was restored. The
FY 2013 proposed budget presented to the Board in May, was reviewed and revised to reflect the
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restoration of State funds. The increase in tuition has been adjusted downward from $8 per credit
hour to $5 per credit hour. The net result of changes is a reduction in the FY 2013 total budget of
0.25% compared to FY 2012.
S. Phillips reviewed the 10 year history of tuition increases. Since 2004, the total increase in
tuition was $12 which is lower than the CPI increase over that same period. With the proposed
$5 per credit hour increase for FY 2013, Harford will remain the most affordable community
college in Maryland. He also advised that approximately 68.7% of the budget is assigned to
salaries and benefits, which accommodates the Board of Trustees’ guideline to keep such
expenditures at no more than 75% of the entire budget. If the budgeted contracted services
portion of costs for security, housekeeping, and grounds are included in this calculation, then the
ratio would be approximately 71.5% of the operating budget.
The proposed budget includes two new faculty positions ($122,631), an increase in adjuncts to
support 25 course and lab sections ($54,446) and 2% wage adjustment for all eligible employees
($526,686). With regard to other expenditures, there is an increase of $18,400 for the marketing
campaign and promotion of the APG Federal Credit Union Arena; professional
development/training/travel is reduced $94,400 primarily as a result of decrease in travel
associated with the Susquehanna renovation; and, utilities expenditures have been reduced by
$113,014 primarily due to favorable commodity pricing.
Transfers out include:
Transfer to capital budget (Susquehanna, computer equipment and
technology, plant services annex, library infrastructure, water and
wastewater.
Transfer to support scholarships
Transfer to support the arena
Equipment and technology funding sources were also reviewed. These include:
Computer equipment/technology capital projects
Capital projects
Equipment replacement reserve
Operating budget/other
Total
$1,601,583
$470,064
$143,411
$374,030
$332,960
$222,734
$60,230
$989,954
The role of the Board in fiscal oversight and stewardship of College resources was discussed.
B. Kelly suggested that at a future work session the Board may want to discuss a tuition increase
policy and other funding sources.
Other discussion concerned grants and overhead costs included in the grant funding. With regard
to grants in the STEM area, J. Valdes offered to review grant proposals. He also offered to
arrange a meeting with federal representative regarding opportunities for National Science
Foundation grants.
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Beverage Service Options for Arena Events. B. Morrison provided a brief update on plans for
celebratory events for the Susquehanna Center renovation and APG Federal Credit Union Arena.
The Susquehanna Center will open for Fall classes with the arena scheduled to be completed by
November/December. Ribbon cutting will be planned when the arena is finished. Preliminary
plans are for two major events in the March/April timeframe. One event will be student-focused
while the second will be community-centered.
In planning for the use of the arena, there may be some venues for which there is an interest in
serving alcoholic beverages. There are several options, i.e., one-day license applied for through
the Foundation, contract with a third-party caterer who has a liquor license, or pursue
opportunity for the College to hold a liquor license. This latter option would require legislation,
i.e., a special license was authorized through legislation for Ripken Stadium. The latter option
would require support of the state delegation. Ms. Morrison advised that over the next several
weeks a list of pros and cons for the various options will be developed and shared with the
Board.
Closed Session. B. Kelly asked for a motion to go into closed session to discuss personnel
matters.
In accordance with State Government Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, Article 10
508(a)(1)(i) and (ii), closed sessions permitted, motion was made by A. Fritts, seconded by
J. Valdes to move into closed session to discuss personnel matters. Six voted in favor of the
motion; no one opposed the motion; motion adopted.
At 10:50 a.m. the Board moved into closed session. The closed session adjourned at 11:30 a.m.
The work session adjourned at 11:31 a.m.
____________________________________
Dennis Golladay
Secretary-Treasurer Chair
____________________________________
Bryan E. Kelly