The Bitterroot College Program of The University of Montana
Meeting Minutes: Thursday, December 17, 2009
The Steering Committee of the Bitterroot College Program (BCP) of The University of Montana met on
Thursday, December 17, 2009 from 3 – 4:30 PM at the Bitterroot National Forest Headquarters in
Hamilton. The meeting was chaired by John Robinson. In alphabetical order, committee attendees
included: Sharon Alexander, Tim Bronk, Victoria Clark, Royce Engstrom, Patricia Meakin, Kimberley
Mills, Rick O’Brien, and John Robinson.
Members of the public in attendance included: Amy Cianflone, Candi Lubanski, Rick Lubanski, William
McDonald, and Colleen Murphy-Southwick.
Taking meeting minutes was Bruce Weide.
The meeting opened with Chair Robinson calling the committee to order and conducting roll call,
followed by Robinson making a short announcement concerning general meeting protocol. Chair
Robinson outlined his “Robinson’s Rules of Order,” with the salient points being:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Permission is needed from the Chair to speak
Permission is obtained by raising your hand
The Chair will indicate who has the floor
If more than one person wishes to speak, the Chair will select in random order until all have
expressed their opinions
5. When the Chair determines there’s been enough discussion, the Chair will either call for a
motion or simply close the discussion and move on
6. Committee members will have received minutes from the previous meeting prior to the current
meeting. Committee members need to have read the minutes and noted errors or corrections
prior to the current meeting. Minutes will not be read aloud at the meeting. If there are no
errors or corrections the minutes will be approved. In the event of errors or corrections, the
minutes will be appropriately amended.
7. Public comment would be at the end of each meeting, with Committee members responding
when appropriate and with unanswered questions from the public addressed at the succeeding
meeting.
Chair Robinson then reminded the Committee members of the task before them, that there were only
so many hours (about 25 total) of meeting time remaining before their task was meant to be completed,
that meetings needed to be productive, efficient, and with minimal time wasted. Chair Robinson closed
by saying, “I know that everyone here is as sincere as I am about getting a valid working two-year
system of higher education established in the Bitterroot Valley and the state of Montana. This
committee has the opportunity to go down in Montana educational history. Let us all work hard toward
that effort and achieve a great result for education.”
Next, Chair Robinson asked the members of the public to introduce themselves (see list of public
attendees above). Following the public introductions, Chair Robinson called for approval of the minutes
from the November 24, 2009 BCP Steering Committee meeting. Interim Director Victoria Clark noted a
few exclusions and corrections to the minutes: 1) sentence about approving minutes needed to be
added and 2) Brenda Jurgens and Falcon Asset Management Group needed to be properly identified.
The Bitterroot College Program of The University of Montana Steering Committee
Meeting Minutes: Thursday, December 17, 2009
Page 2 of 3
Tim Bronk moved that the amended minutes be accepted. The committee then voted unanimously to
approve the amended minutes.
Next, Chair Robinson gave the floor to Clark for the presentation of the Director’s report. Clark’s report
began with an itemized breakdown of current operational issues, while noting at the onset that
operational issues had begun to consume the majority of her time, with planning issues no longer
receiving adequate attention. Clark’s operational comments included: 1) enrollment update—67
students with math classes filling more quickly than writing classes; issue of Missoula students
inadvertently registering for BCP courses; 2) new student orientation update—29 individuals had
attended the two December orientations; students appreciated that orientation sessions were being
held in the Valley; 3) agreement with Montana Western being actively pursued with respect to the local
delivery of an AAS in Early Childhood Education, with Montana Western providing the program specific
coursework and the BCP providing the general studies coursework; some sticking points were
application procedures and financial aid procedures; 4) an agreement with Hamilton’s Chapter One
Book Store and The Bookstore at the College of Technology to provide local purchasing of textbooks was
being actively pursued; 5) the BCP adjunct applicant pool advertisement was posted and interest seems
high (171 “hits” via the Job Service online listing); 6) looking to resurrect high school pilot program with
local homeschool community actively advocating; 7) move to new facility at Ravalli Entrepreneurship
Center almost complete, co-location with Job Service is a good partnership; 8) decision to wait on the
purchase of new furniture, interest in conserving funds; 9) BCP Fund via the UM Foundation has been
launched, already at least one donation; 10) Falcon Asset Management Group wants to out-source their
new employee training with the BCP; the BCP has decided to go forward with this, despite procedures
not being fully in place; this is an opportunity not to be passed up; 11) Kathleen Dent with Hamilton
Schools is pursuing developing a summer teacher training program using the BCP as the partner higher
education entity. Clark’s final operational remarks were that “a lot is going on.”
Comments from Committee members on the operational report included Provost Engstrom asking if
Montana Western had looked into accreditation issues with respect to off-site programming. Clark
noted that Montana Western had dealt with this issue. Dean Alexander asked about when Spring 2010
BCP courses which were under-enrolled would be cancelled, and she wondered how the Montana
Western programming would affect BCP enrollment. Clark responded that cancelling courses would be
negotiated between herself and the COT, and that she believed the Montana Western courses were
likely to enhance BCP enrollments. Provost Engstrom stated that there were generally two reasons to
cancel low enrollment classes, “one is student experience and the other is financial.” Clark asked
Engstrom to be part of the decision making group involved with cancelling courses, and Engstrom
agreed.
Next, Clark moved onto educational planning issues. Clark noted that the data analysis contract with
Maas was now going through the UM business office, and she believed it would be finalized shortly.
With regard to the pending Community Conversations piece of the educational planning, Clark remarked
that with so much of her time dedicated to operational issues and with this trend likely to continue
through the start of the Spring semester in January, that she had decided to put the Community
Conversations that were not already in place on hold until February. She summarized the work to date
on the Community Conversations as follows: 1) there will be four Sector Conversations, with Deb Morris
in charge of health care, Rick O’Brien in charge of small business, Carlotta Grandstaff in charge of
government, and Clark, with Tim Bronk assisting, in charge of school districts; 2) also eight local
Community Conversations are being planned, with leading individuals for each conversation not yet all
The Bitterroot College Program of The University of Montana Steering Committee
Meeting Minutes: Thursday, December 17, 2009
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identified; and 3) Patricia Meakin has offered to assist with much of the background work in pulling the
community conversations together. Clark thanks her.
Comments and questions from the Committee with respect to educational planning included Rick
O’Brien wondering if the small business sector conversation, which was set for Jan 28, should be delayed
due to Clark’s hectic January schedule. Clark stated that since the event was already planned it should
just go forward. Chair Robinson then interjected that Clark “was going full bore five days a week and we
need to get her some help.” The conversation turned to the new business item of hiring part-time
student services help for Clark. Clark summarized that an individual with significant responsibility was
needed to assist her. Someone who could run new student orientations, understand admissions
procedure, and do initial advising. Dean Alexander suggested hiring a work study student, as this would
keep costs down. Clark advise that the level of responsibility for this person was beyond what one
would generally expect from a work study position. She commented that ultimately someone with
student services expertise was going to be needed in the Valley and that this position would provide a
training opportunity for just such a person. Tim Bronk moved to allow the hiring of an assistant. Rick
O’Brien seconded the motion and the Committee voted in favor. Provost Engstrom concluded that the
details would be discussed at an upcoming BCP budget meeting. Provost Engstrom also mentioned the
possibility of a campus contract and noted that the Committee needed to proceed carefully when
advising students was at stake.
Chair Robinson then called for public comment. Bill McDonald asked about a student counselor for
academic advising. Colleen Southwick-Murphy remarked that she remained confused about what sort
of assistance Clark needed – administrative or student counseling? Southwick-Murphy suggested that
perhaps two positions were in order. Candi Lubanski suggested the use of volunteers. Amy Cianflone
expressed her frustration as a current BCP student. She had started with the Hamilton Higher Education
Center and found guidance at that time. Now she wasn’t sure were to turn, but that she had been
unable to connect with anyone up at the COT to give her academic guidance. Committee members then
interjected, with Rick O’Brien wondering about Clark having appropriate UM/UM-COT contacts. Clark
explained that these relationships were being developed. Provost Engstrom noted that when Clark was
hired she was introduced to a wide-range of student support individuals. Kimberley Mills noted that
advising could be done over the phone, that email was a good way to communicate with advisors when
the telephone failed, and that it is important for students to remain proactive. Cianflone commented
she was always being told to go up to the Missoula to get her questions answered. Tim Bronk stated
that “the crucial link is that the student doesn’t feel in limbo.” Clark noted that for the upcoming
semester she would develop a student information sheet, so that information about her availability and
“BCP student rights” (i.e., not having to drive to Missoula for advising, tech support, etc) would be
better disseminated among the students.
Chair Robinson then moved to adjourn the meeting, and all agreed. The meeting was adjourned at 4:30
PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Bruce Weide (with Victoria Clark summarizing)