The Bitterroot College Program of The University of Montana
Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, September 28, 2010
The Steering Committee of the Bitterroot College Program (BCP) of The University of Montana met on
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 from 3:15 – 5:00 PM at the Ravalli County Commissioners Meeting Room
in Hamilton. The meeting was chaired by Sharon Alexander. In alphabetical order, committee
attendees included: Tim Bronk, Patricia Meakin, Kimberley Mills, Deb Morris, Rick O’Brien, Dixie Stark,
and Lynn Stocking. Committee members absent were Katelyn Andersen, Anita Driscoll, Royce Engstrom,
Carlotta Grandstaff, Chuck Jensen, Mary Moe, John Robinson, and Bobbie Roos. Also present was BCP
Interim Director Victoria Clark.
Members of the public attending included Terry Berkhouse, Allen Bjergo, Phil Connelly, Terri Duncan,
Ron Klaphake, and Terry Moran. No press was in attendance.
Taking meeting minutes was Bruce Weide.
The meeting opened with Vice Chair Alexander calling for announcements and introductions. Dixie Stark
announced that she had a card for Provost Engstrom congratulating him on his new appointment as UM
President. Stark asked that committee members sign the card. Vice Chair Alexander commented that
she believed that Engstrom would continue to be committed to the BCP in his new position. Victoria
Clark then announced that Chair Robinson was absent due to illness and that he had been hospitalized
at St. Patrick’s in Missoula. Clark told committee members that she would keep them posted on any
developments, but that she had been led to believe that Robinson’s condition, while troubling, was not
serious.
Vice Chair Alexander then called for approval of minutes from June, July, and August. The June minutes
passed unanimously as is. A correction in the spelling of Bobbie Roos’ name (from Ross to Roos) was
made to the July minutes which were then passed unanimously. Clark explained that the August
minutes were yet to be prepared, so passing of the August minutes was tabled until the next meeting.
Alexander then turned the meeting to Old Business, opening a general discussion on Organizational
Planning. Clark commented that she had put this item on the agenda because she had been interested
in asking Provost Engstrom about the new Gallatin College Program (GCP) in Bozeman, however Provost
Engstrom was not at today’s meeting. Clark told the committee that she was concerned with resource
and funding equity in terms of the new GCP with respect to the BCP. She wanted to know how funding
was being allocated to the GCP – by what entity and for what amount. Clark also wanted to know how
funding amounts were being determined for the GCP, how the new entity was being
governed/administered, and how planning was being handled. Tim Bronk asserted that the BCP needed
to be in close communication with the GCP and with the CollegeNOW! planning committee. Alexander
suggested that these questions “be conveyed to *Provost Engstrom+ right away,” and she offered to be
the messenger. Dixie Stark suggested that BCP committee members read the statewide CollegeNOW!
document to help move the BCP forward with strategic planning. Bronk asserted that this would be
particularly important for BCP members of the strategic planning subcommittee. Alexander reiterated
that designing a strategic plan was critical, and that the BCP Strategic Planning Subcommittee needed to
be reconvened shortly. Member of the public Phil Connelly then asked if the Strategic Planning
Subcommittee meetings were open to the public. Clark responded that the subcommittee had been
seen as a work group, so consequently meetings had not been public, however she said that Connelly
had a good point. Alexander noted that the subcommittee was not making decisions just drafting a plan
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Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, September 28, 2010
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which would then be reviewed, amended, and finalized by the full committee during a public meeting.
Stark summarized that Connelly had a raised a fair point, that the steering committee in its present form
was not actually subject to open meeting law although the group was attempting to be transparent to
the community, and that ultimately, as the Montana Supreme Court had ruled that if state money were
involved that meetings needed to be conducted in public, the subcommittee needed to take this
concern seriously.
Stark then asked Clark to provide an update on Montana Commissioner of Higher Education Sheila
Stearns’ visit to Hamilton. Clark stated that the Stearns’ listening session visit date had changed, and
that now the listening session was scheduled for Friday, October 29 from 2 to 4 pm at the Bitterroot
River Inn. Clark encouraged all BCP Steering Committee members to attend the session.
Vice Chair Alexander next called on Kimberley Mills to give the Student Issues report. Mills began by
stating that she had attended the BCP weekend math Learning Lab. She said the turnout was good and
that the tutor was excellent. She said she expected that as word got out more and more students would
take advantage of the service. Mills then spoke of the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) project, that she had
recruiting posters that were being laminated that would soon go up at the BCP facility. Student Terri
Duncan was assisting Mills with the PTK start-up. Mills then turned to the issue of replacing BCP
Steering Committee Student Representative Anita Driscoll, who had never been able to fulfill her
student representative duties. As had been agreed to several meetings ago, Mills was now eager to get
started on the process of identifying a replacement for Driscoll. After some confusion from Clark, Stark
clarified that this was about replacing Driscoll, not about identifying someone for a potentially new seat
resulting from strategic planning. Stark stated that the understanding was that this replacement
student representative would serve until the steering committee was disbanded. Clark said she would
work with Mills in identifying the replacement representative using an application process similar to that
used in identifying the initial student representatives. Mills then announced that she would now need
to leave the meeting, as she had a class starting at 4:10 pm.
Vice Chair Alexander next asked Clark to present her Director’s report. Clark began with a breakdown of
operational issues: 1) enrollment update/issues—final BCP fall enrollment was officially at 237
duplicated students (109 headcount), however the count did not include four individuals (adding
another 13 duplicated students) who were dropped at the last minute because their financial aid had
not disbursed in time for them to pay their registration bill; these four students were petitioning for
reinstatement; of the 109 students only five were from Missoula; BCP fall enrollment represented a 47
percent increase in headcount and a 68 percent increase in duplicated students from Spring 2011; these
numbers also do not include 10 students (40 duplicated students) taking the BCP’s UM Western Early
Childhood Education courses; Clark noted that three BCP UM Western students ended up dropping
because they could not afford Western’s $800 a semester charge for mandatory student health
insurance; Stocking clarified that while the UM also mandates student health insurance, a UM student
can refuse the health insurance with the understanding that the student already has coverage; Stocking
stated that currently refusal of health insurance for UM students was at the student’s discretion; Clark
observed that such was not the case with UM Western, wherein if a student refused insurance the
student must then provide proof of outside insurance; Clark then went on to say that the student health
insurance policy disturbed her, that “many of the students are attending to better themselves, they
can’t afford insurance in the first place and to find out that the initial $800 of a student loan will go
toward insurance is a hardship;” 2) Spring 2011 course planning—a list of 20 developmental and general
education courses is awaiting approval; goal is to have all BCP courses in CyberBear at the same time
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Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, September 28, 2010
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that all UM/UM-COT courses are in CyberBear, ready for the start of Spring registration in late
October—this should not be a problem; Clark noted that Lynn Stocking had been working hard to get
the BCP classes approved; Clark was particularly pushing for a Hamilton section of the Anatomy &
Physiology I Lecture; Alexander asked if second semester business core courses would be available; Clark
responded that this was the intention and that she and Stocking were working to have accounting
available; 3) enrollment services—information sessions were scheduled to resume in October and
orientations in December; Clark commented, however, that a steady stream of potential students (at
least 20) had already been by the BCP office since the start of the fall semester; 4) continuing
education—in terms of the BCP’s fall workforce/business development courses, the Keyboarding and
Basic Computer classes did not fill, probably because of lack of advertising/lead time, cost, and Saturday
scheduling; RCEDA Excel, QuickBooks, and Business Basics courses, however, were likely to fill; a fall
Lifelong Learning four-part Climate Change series had been developed with UM CE, series will also
feature an added field trip led by BCP geology adjunct George Furniss; development of an emergency
medical training program has been initiated, with the All Valley Fire Conference asking the BCP to
provide first aid, CPR, and EMT training courses; Deb Morris, Dianna Reetz-Stacy (UM-COT Outreach
manager), and Clark attended an All Valley Fire Conference meeting to start the process; local fire
departments noted that they needed affordable, convenient, and predictable emergency medical
training programming which was coordinated with the requirements of Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital;
Alexander suggested applying for grants; Stark noted that the Rapp Family Foundation gave to local
volunteer training; 5) community issues—Clark thanked those who had helped at the BCP’s Ravalli
County Fair booth; she noted that the BCP booth was not in the most visited location, however the
booth did have generally steady traffic; Clark then asked for volunteers for the upcoming weekend to
man the BCP’s Apple Days booth – for which Clark was still awaiting approval following a late booth
application; 6) hiring program assistant—42 applications had been received, the hiring committee had
just finished conducting interviews, a decision was due shortly, Clark said she was pleased with the
process; Clark then asked that the Steering Committee recognize the many hours that John Meakin had
put in as a volunteer over the past three months; Clark attributed her ability to function over the past
months to Meakin’s 15 to 30 hours a week volunteer presence at the BCP office; too, Clark asked that
the committee acknowledge the volunteer efforts of Candy Lubansky who had been with the BCP during
the Spring 2010 semester; 7) facility issues—wireless units have arrived and are set to be installed;
beverage and snack machine were now in operation; a building meeting with RCEDA and Job Service
was scheduled for late October; Clark commented that “we’ve [BCP] grown faster than could’ve been
imagined when we signed the lease. There’s been some friction in the past month but I’ve had some
good conversations with Julie [Foster] and John [Schneeberger of RCEDA] lately;” issues to be
considered at the building meeting include the new BCP entrance, locks and keys, traffic patterns, and
cleaning; purchase of instructor podiums and stools was now being considered as current instructor
furniture was no longer suitable; Patricia Meakin suggested that the instructor stools should swivel;
Clark said she would follow through; 8) student support—textbook sales were a lot smoother than
before, though could not have been accomplished without lots of volunteer and work study time; over
$10,000 in sales in a three week period; weekend Learning Lab and study hours have opened, students
are already using the services, but now are also asking for a computer, anatomy, and study skills tutor;
with the committee’s consent, Clark stated she would look into expanding the tutoring services.
Clark then turned to her fiscal report, noting that again the transition to the new fiscal year was still
underway, and as a consequent she did not yet have a fiscal statement to share with the committee.
Clark did note that with some of the $6000 in vacancy savings from the late hiring of the Program
Assistant she had purchased equipment and materials for the Geology Lab, a laserjet printer for the BCP
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Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, September 28, 2010
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Resource Room, and a second whiteboard for the mathematics classroom. Clark also remarked that she
was still moving forward with partnering with Solutionz Inc to prepare for the announcement of the
Career Pathways Innovation Fund grant. Patricia Meakin commented that she “didn’t think we *the
BCP+ should pass this up.”
Rick O’Brien then asked if the listening session discussion from earlier in the meeting could be revisited.
O’Brien wanted to add that he believed a conciliatory gesture showing the BCP’s support for Stearns
might be warranted at the listening session, since Stearns prior visit to the community in 2008 had
ended somewhat uncomfortably. He wondered if President Engstrom might be present and if he might
read a letter on behalf of the BCP. Bronk concurred that some sort of gesture would be appropriate.
Alexander agreed and thanked O’Brien for his suggestion. Clark said she, too, liked the idea, adding
that the BCP needed to show that it was a team player. Stark remarked that something “welcoming”
seemed in order. Clark stated that she would look into this.
Vice Chair Alexander then called for Public Comment. Phil Connelly asked if it mattered where students
purchased their textbooks. Clark responded that students were encouraged to buy their books from
outside vendors, however that a number of the textbooks were specific to UM-COT courses and could
only be purchased through the University Bookstore. Connelly then remarked on the landscaping at the
Ravalli Entrepreneurship Center (REC) (BCP location), noting that there seemed to be a lot of weeds.
Clark said she would mention this concern at the upcoming building meeting. Connelly next asked if
students purchased very cheap health insurance if this would satisfy the coverage requirements.
Stocking said that she would check into it. Stark mentioned that the Ladies Auxiliary has $30 a year
cancer insurance. Bronk wondered about the state’s health insurance program for children, and if this
might help college students. Stark then asked about textbooks and partnering with Chapter One Book
Store. Clark responded that there was little to no profit in local sales and that Chapter One had limited
space. Stark wondered if Chapter One Book Store might take on a piece of the textbook business for
free, as a service to the community. Clark thought they would at minimum want a flat fee. Bronk
suggested that there must be some business in town which would consider taking on the textbook sales
for at least the three weeks when things were the most busy. Clark said she would look into it.
Returning to the listening session discussion, Terry Berkhouse made the suggestion that maybe the
Steering Committee could hold a shorter version of its regularly scheduled monthly meeting the day of
the listening session. Alexander mentioned perhaps a pre-listening session lunch meeting. She said she
would check with Provost Engstrom about this idea. Bronk noted that maximizing community
participation at the listening session was important and that sending invitations to local legislators, city
council members, etc would be helpful. Clark said she would see what she could do.
Vice Chair Alexander then moved to adjourn the meeting, and all agreed. The meeting was adjourned at
5:00 PM.
Minutes subscribed by Bruce Weide (with Victoria Clark summarizing)