Bitterroot College University of Montana
Minutes of the Advisory Council
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Meeting Location: Classroom 111, Bitterroot College, 103 South 9 th Street, Hamilton
Meeting Time and Date: 3:00 PM, Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Chair: Dixie Stark
Vice Chair: Terry Berkhouse
1) Call to Order and Roll Call
a) Reminder to Council Members to Declare any Conflict of Interest (per Bitterroot College Advisory Council Bylaws,
Article V, Section 1) as May Arise during the Course of the Meeting
b) Advisory Council members present: Terry Berkhouse, Perry Brown, Pat Connell, Penny Jakes, Roger Maclean,
Deb Morris, Bob Nicholls, Dixie Stark, and Nancy Valk
c) Advisory Council members absent: Tim Johnson
d) BC staff present: Victoria Clark (Director) and Scott Ralston (CDL Program Director)
e) Members of the public present: Alan Baum (community member), Candy Lubansky (community member), Sue
Smith (community member), and Vicki Steele (Bitterroot Job Service Manager)
Discussion Summary: None.
2) Introductions
3) Announcements and Documents Received
4) Public Comment
Discussion Summary: Community member Sue Smith commented on how gratifying it was to see the Bitterroot College
sign when she walked into the College building. Vice Chair Terry Berkhouse added that the new location for the College
was better than the prior location. Chair Stark mentioned that what remained to be done was to have the exterior of the
College building painted.
5) Action Items
a) Approval of Meeting Minutes from February 2016
Discussion Summary: The February 2016 meeting minutes were unanimously approved.
6) Information Items
a) Director’s Report – see supplemental materials
i) Questions on Director’s Report
b) Director’s Topic
i) Facilities Update
Discussion Summary: Vice Chair Berkhouse asked about the decline in College enrollment. Director Clark spoke of the
shift in BC demographics to a younger and more college-ready student. This shift had resulted in enrollment declines in
developmental courses (particularly developmental math) as well as a greater interest in more advanced and diverse
courses, with students looking to online courses in light of limited Bitterroot College offerings. Chair Stark added that the
EdReady Math program had also likely impacted college enrollment in developmental math classes. Clark concurred.
Clark then deferred to Provost Brown for additional comments on enrollment changes. Provost Brown remarked that
enrollment at both the UM Mountain Campus and Missoula College was also down, with declining trends dating back to
2012. Provost Brown mentioned that declines overall were steepest in the Montana University System among two-year
colleges. Strong employment was considered the primary reason for two-year college enrollment loss.
Chair Stark commented on the addition of Libbi Sleath as the College’s new Student Support Specialist. Chair
Stark was pleased to learn that Bitterroot College student health services fees were now being used in support of o ncampus services. Clark noted that Kathleen O’Leary (BC Academic and Student Affairs Director) had been selected by her
alma mater Kansas State University to serve on a committee designing a doctoral program in academic advising. Pat
Connell and Chair Stark remarked on the success of the Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) program’s outreach to high school
students. Connell highlighted the importance of the collaboration between area high schools and the College in making
the program a success. Chair Stark stressed the importance of and need for CNAs in the local economy.
Next the topic turned to the upcoming Bitterroot Water Symposium being organized by BC geosciences faculty
George Furniss. Connell and Chair Stark agreed that offering this type of community information event was an exciting
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BC Advisory Council Meeting Minutes, 03-16-2016, Page 2 of 2
first for the Bitterroot College. Connell mentioned that the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Resource Advisory
Councils (RACs) provide a model for these types of events. The RACs have been successful in providing venues for civil
discussion and consensus-driven decision making among varied elements in rural states and regions. The conversation
concluded with Connell asking Clark about progress with respect to UM admissions. Clark replied that discussion s
between herself and UM admissions had taken place. Now she was waiting for the items discussed to be acted upon.
Vice Chair Berkhouse remarked that in the current climate everyone (all faculty and staff) needed to act as a recruiter.
Regarding the Director’s Topic, Clark explained that she had been in conversations with the Hamilton School
District about the future of the Westview building (current College facility) as well as the 15-acre Westview parcel. The
Hamilton School District had hired Paradigm V2 Architects out of Missoula to prepare several development options for
the Westview site. These options were presented at the February meeting of the Hamilton School District Board of
Trustees. The options ranged from essentially no development (idea that the entire parcel with all existing buildings be
sold to the Bitterroot College as is) to moderate density development (idea that the Bitterroot College purchase only the
Westview building and little to no acreage, with the remaining area sold to a developer(s) for residential construction).
Clark explained that the School District was doing due diligence in providing the community with the gamut of income
generating options with respect to the sale of the property. Clark relayed that the School District’s goal with the sale of
the Westview property would be to generate funds to offset the costs of building a new athletic facility on the Hamilton
High School property (to replace and update what would be lost by the sale of Westview’s Haynes Football Field and the
Westview tennis courts) as well as needed renovations and expansion at the Hamilton Middle School (as the option of
relocation of the Hamilton Middle School back to Westview would be negated with the sale of the Westview property).
Notably, while Paradigm V2 Architects had suggested that construction of a new athletic facility would cost in the
neighborhood of $5.7 million and renovations/expansion at the Hamilton Middle School site would run about $4.5 million,
at present there were no revenue figures associated with the development options presented for the Westview property.
Clark further commented that Hamilton School District leadership understood that the School District’s decisions
regarding the Westview property would ultimately be made by District voters. Consequently, the School District was
interested in having as many options as possible openly discussed, debated, and fleshed out during this planning period.
Clark concluded by stating that the Bitterroot College needed to consider what its interests were with respect to staying
at the Westview location—would it make sense for the College to purchase only the Westview building with no or
minimal ability to expand at the Westview location? If the College did have an interest in staying at the Westview location
with room to expand, how much acreage would it want to secure in order to realize its long-term potential at the site –
several acres or the entire 15-acre parcel?
7) Work Items
a) Annual Review of Bylaws – see supplemental materials
b) Strategic Planning Update
Discussion Summary: Discussions concerning the Bylaws involved evaluation of the Director, membership, leadership,
and meeting minutes. With respect to evaluation of the Director (Article I, Section 5), no changes were recommended.
With respect to membership (Article II), it was recommended that a currently active BC faculty representative be added to
the Council, bringing the total number of Council members to 13. With respect to leadership (Article III, Section 1), it was
recommended that both leadership positions be opened to any member of the Council regardless of whether or not the
Council member was a locally-selected or UM-appointed Council member. Finally, with respect to meeting minutes, it
was recommended that the preparation of the meeting minutes be no longer specifically assigned to the BC Director and
that completion of draft meeting minutes be changed from five days following a Council meeting to five days preceding
the next Council meeting. Clark was tasked with drafting these recommendations and sending them to UM Legal Counsel
for review.
The Strategic Planning Update was tabled until the following meeting due to time constraints.
8) For the Good of the Order
Discussion Summary: Berkhouse encouraged everyone to attend the upcoming weekend’s International Culture and
Food Festival at the UM in Missoula.
9) Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 5:00 PM
Meeting notes subscribed and summarized by Victoria Clark