The Bitterroot College Program of The University of Montana
Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, July 27, 2010
The Steering Committee of the Bitterroot College Program (BCP) of The University of Montana met on
Tuesday, July 27, 2010 from 3:15 – 5:20 PM at the Ravalli County Commissioners Meeting Room in
Hamilton. The meeting started late as the prior Commissioners’ meeting ran later than planned. The meeting was chaired by John Robinson. In alphabetical order, committee attendees included: Sharon
Alexander, Tim Bronk, Carlotta Grandstaff, Patricia Meakin, Deb Morris, Rick O’Brien, Bobbi Roos, and
Dixie Stark. Committee members excused were Katelyn Andersen, Royce Engstrom, Chuck Jensen,
Kimberley Mills, Mary Moe, and Lynn Stocking. Also present was BCP Interim Director Victoria Clark.
Members of the public and press attending included Allen Bjergo, Laurie Bolter, Pat Connell (Republican candidate for HD 87), Phil Connelly, Kathleen Driscoll, Ron Klaphake (Community Economic
Development Services), and Jeff Schmerker (Ravalli Republic).
Taking meeting minutes was Bruce Weide.
The meeting opened with Chair Robinson calling the committee to order and conducting roll call, followed by Robinson reading prepared remarks which he had earlier forwarded to Provost Engstrom:
TOO FAST OR TOO SLOW
A meeting or two ago it was pointed out that as the lead dog I was pulling the team to fast. I must admit at my age I am in a hurry to see this college established so that more people will have the opportunity for higher education.
We have a serious problem that is rapidly becoming more serious and needs to be attended. Two months ago we passed a motion to hire an assistant for the director because the extra heavy load the director was bearing was impeding our progress. Well in the last two months the load heaped upon the director’s shoulders has greatly increased, and we still don’t have an assistant in place to relieve some of the burden.
We do not need someone who requires constant motivation from the director. We need a self-starter with organizational skills, people skills and the ability to make judgments on their own initiative. If we have that person aboard it will speed up our progress toward becoming a self-sufficient college.
The director and volunteers have brought this effort a long ways. We need more help on the administrative end of this project. The director cannot do it all by herself. I stop in at the school on a regular basis at different times of the day. What I find is the director working on the computer, talking on the phone, helping a potential student get oriented and two people standing outside her office waiting for her. She needs help.
This requires money. Our money is supplied by the University. The help has been requested and the bottleneck seems to be at the University. We are supposed to be the working project toward establishing the kind of program needed for two-year higher education in Montana. Adding an assistant for the director is the step that needs to be taken if we are to proceed at a pace that will continue the expansion of this project.
It is my understanding that the money has been secured. The holdup seems to be in the University oversight. Although contacted many times about this problem they have still not authorized the hiring of this needed personal. An operation expanding as fast as this one is cannot operate within a strict budget.
For some time there are always going to be occurring needs that have to be satisfied that fall outside of the proposed budget.
We need an assistant to the director and we need it now. This program is growing exceptionally fast and we need to have the people in place to handle the progress. We should hire the assistant within a

The Bitterroot College Program of The University of Montana
Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Page 2 of 5 week. We are losing ground too fast to wait any longer. Is there anything you can to do speed up the process?
Next, Chair Robinson asked for comments or corrections to the minutes from the group’s May and June meetings. The May minutes were approved without any changes, while reviewing the minutes from the
June meeting was tabled until July, as the June minutes had not yet been prepared.
After the minutes’ vote, Chair Robinson opened up Old Business, Educational Planning with Dan
Rosenberg, Maas Companies’ analyst, recognized (via conference call) to summarize and field questions concerning Maas’ recently finalized BCP Needs Assessment report. Rosenberg began with a review of the report’s findings.
Highlights from Maas’ internal scan:
BCP students are older (32 versus 21), take a lighter course load (6 units versus 13 units), and are more likely to be female (60 percent to 40 percent) than their local counterparts who leave
Ravalli County for 2-year education
The BCP should prepare for an older student and needs to offer programming attractive to male students as well as female students.
Highlights from Maas’ community survey:
755 respondents
Respondents were interested in both for-credit and non-credit programming
Less than 25% of respondents were willing to drive to Missoula for adult learning services
Highlights from Maas’ external scan:
County population at 41,000 and growing slightly faster than the state average (1.2% versus
0.8%)
County’s population growth groups are 20-34 year olds and those 55+
Programming needs to be tailored for and made available to those 55+
County’s percentage of individuals with only a high school diploma or some college but no degree is higher than the state and nation; these individuals are prime candidates for 2-year education; such data suggests tremendous potential for BCP growth; these two groups total almost 17,000 individuals in the County
Based on a review of 2-year education participation rates in the state, the County should expect that by 2015 the BCP, if provided adequate resources, should grow to 440 students and that by 2025, with a projected county population of 49,000, the BCP should serve 1,200 students
Overall Maas’ conclusions
Strong need and demand for a community college in Ravalli County
Programming needs to be four-pronged: developmental, technical, transferable, and personal enrichment
After his overview, Rosenberg accepted questions from the committee and, with Chair
Robinson’s consent, the public. Rick O’Brien asked about Maas’ confidence in the survey respondents. Rosenberg responded that while the survey was not conducted according to

The Bitterroot College Program of The University of Montana
Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Page 3 of 5 scientific polling practices, the results, with over 750 responses, were sound in terms of providing broad insights into the wants and needs of the community. Phil Connelly asked about the source of the demographic data. Rosenberg responded that Maas subscribed to ERSI out of
Virginia to compile the most current demographic projections. Connelly then asked if a distinction in the survey question regarding travel to Missoula had been made between individual and public transit. Rosenberg replied that no such distinction had been made. Dixie
Stark reiterated the report’s findings that there was a large segment of individuals in the
County – no college or no college completion – who were ripe for community college enrollment. Patricia Meakin noted that it seemed from the survey that younger students were interested in having a facility to attend. Rosenberg concurred. O’Brien asked about what other types of services Maas might have available. Rosenberg answered that Maas essentially does master planning for community colleges, and that the BCP Needs Assessment, in the end, was nearly a complete master plan, as Maas had supplied additional information regarding program of instruction planning and facilities planning. However, Rosenberg noted that in a complete master plan these final sections would have gone into greater depth and detail. Sharon
Alexander asked about educational planning in terms of the variety needed, especially with respect to there being as much of a demand for workforce development as there was for transfer and career technical. Rosenberg agreed that detailed planning at the for-credit as well as the non-credit levels remained. Chair Robinson then thanked Rosenberg for an excellent report. The Maas report discussion ended with Rosenberg letting the Steering Committee members know that he was available for questions at future Steering Committee meetings, and to please not hesitate to contact him when and if any issues arose.
Chair Robinson then recognized Victoria Clark and Carlotta Grandstaff to provide summaries of their Community Conversations piece of the Educational Planning effort. Clark referred the committee to Grandstaff’s and Clark’s summary briefs in the meeting packet. Clark noted that the primary themes she found in the various conversations were that people wanted 1) relevant programming, 2) convenient programming, 3) an entity that connected them with the learning services they needed, and 4) to keep costs to the taxpayer to a minimum. Grandstaff echoed that people had told her repeatedly that the community needed an “educational broker or clearinghouse” – an entity that could help local residents find the adult learning course or program they needed. Grandstaff and Clark both asserted that they believed the Maas report was consistent with what they had heard from individuals in the community.
Chair Robinson then moved the meeting topic to Organizational Planning. Clark summarized the work of the newly formed Strategic Planning Subcommittee. She said that the subcommittee was working on forming a five-year plan, with the UM remaining at the helm during this period. The subcommittee had spent its first meeting on determining a programming vision and path, and then its second meeting on organizational structure. A third meeting was being planned for working out the fine details – courses and faculty, support staff, and facility needs. Too, a final discussion concerning funding was still required. Meakin noted that she wanted assurances that whatever organizational structure was decided upon that it would be one which allowed the Bitterroot entity to be eligible for two-year grants and grants

The Bitterroot College Program of The University of Montana
Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Page 4 of 5 which targeted communities akin to the Bitterroot. Alexander suggested that Joe Fanguy, the
UM’s new Vice President of Research and Development and Director of Tech Transfer, might be helpful on this end.
Chair Robinson then asked about the Student Issues report. Clark spoke up that Kimberley Mills was under a work deadline and was unable to attend the day’s meeting. Clark relayed that
Mills was continuing to work on securing a local chapter of the 2-year honor society PTK and that Mills was still waiting to hear about her attendance at the upcoming Governor’s Forum on adult learners.
Chair Robinson next asked Clark to present her Director’s report. Clark began with a breakdown of operational issues : 1) enrollment update —fall enrollment was at 188 students with
19 courses, enrollment was sluggish as online registration had been restricted for the last few weeks, issue with Missoula students signing up for BCP American Government course continued to be a problem – BCP students were not having a chance to enroll in this class, as UM students had already taken a majority of the slots and the class was now filled. At this juncture Tim Bronk asserted that he did see the issue here, as a student was a student. Clark noted that the point of the BCP was not to serve Missoula students in Hamilton – this was not what the taxpayer had in mind. Alexander suggested that this was something that needed to be taken up with Provost Engstrom. Another issue regarding fall classes, was that a number of instructors for the BCP courses had yet to be hired. This troubled Clark, she felt she did not have the authority/pull to have instructors hired in a more timely manner. Bronk wondered “where the glitch was;” 2) enrollment/academic services —new student information sessions were ongoing and continued to attract potential students, new student orientations were underway and seeming successful, the BCP office was proctoring exams for several distance learning students a week
(from non-MUS schools); 3) continuing education —designated fund established, summer RCEDA
Building Bitterroot Business classes and COT CNA classes getting underway, Veterans Upward Bound classes ready to start in September, getting lots of calls from people wanting basic computer and keyboarding classes – will try to pull something together for the fall; 4) facility issues —wireless has been requested, beverage vending machine is in, waiting for new doors so entrance can be moved; 5) student support —had very productive discussion with UM Bookstore and anticipate that the coordination of textbooks sales will be much improved this fall, DSS coordinator is now scheduled to come down periodically to BCP, looking to start a Learning Lab for college students this fall, working with Dixie Stark to see what might be arranged through a partnership with Literacy Bitterroot.
Chair Robinson then recognized Clark to conclude her Director’s Report with an update on fiscal issues .
Clark briefly reviewed the current BCP financial statement, noting that the packet handout contained a final statement for FY2010 but that a statement for July FY2011 was still too premature. Clark mentioned that Solutionz, Inc had contacted her about the possibility that the BCP might be interested in applying for an upcoming Career Pathways Innovation Fund (CPIF) grant. Clark noted that she had emailed the committee about this possibility in late June. Clark wondered if there was someone with the UM who might help with this. The grant announcement was not yet officially “out,” but once it was there would be 60 days to complete the application. The committee expressed that in terms of grant focus, Allied Health seemed the best route.

The Bitterroot College Program of The University of Montana
Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Page 5 of 5
Prior to Chair Robinson adjourning the meeting, Meakin interjected a final comment concerning the
BCP’s presence on the UM website. Meakin asked that information about the BCP be more accessible from the UM website. Clark said she would look into the issue.
Chair Robinson then moved to adjourn the meeting, and all agreed. The meeting was adjourned at 5:20
PM.
Minutes subscribed by Bruce Weide (with Victoria Clark summarizing)