GRAYS HARBOR COLLEGE
Aberdeen, Washington
Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees
January 20, 2015
Members Present:
Mr. Art Blauvelt, Dr. Harry Carthum, Ms. Rebecca Chaffee, Ms. Denise Portmann
Members Absent:
Ms. Fawn Sharp
Others:
Ms. Kristy Anderson, Dr. Ed Brewster, Dr. Darby Cavin, Ms. Laurie Clary,
Ms. Vicki Cummings, Mr. Forrest Gonzalez, Mr. Darin Jones, Mr. Justin Kjolseth,
Ms. Barbara McCullough, Dr. Gary Murrell,
Ms. Gail Winkelman, Ms. Sandy Zelasko
1. Call to Order
2. Agenda changes
None
3. Approval of Minutes
It was moved and seconded to adopt the minutes from the November 18, 2014 regular Board
meeting, the November 18, 2014 meeting with Grays Harbor County School Boards, and the
December 16, 2014 special Board meeting. Motion carried.
4. Public Comments
None
5. Community Linkages
Dr. Brewster introduced Ms. Vicki Cummings, director of Council of Governments. She explained
the Council of Governments is a regional public planning agency led by representatives from local
public agencies and jurisdictions. It addresses issues and needs of cities, towns and counties in its
region including:
• Transportation Planning
• Funding Searches
• Data
• Mapping Services
• Intergovernmental Coordination and Policy
• JOBS Team
One of the groups that the Council of Governments facilitates is Jobs Team Grays Harbor. Its focus
is to support and fund infrastructure programs that create investment and jobs. They interact with
the legislature and are instrumental in hosting our Coastal Caucus legislators each year to present
Grays Harbor County’s “asks.” There was discussion regarding the proposed re-routing of traffic
flow adjacent to the Gateway Mall. The project is a joint effort of the City of Aberdeen, Port of
Grays Harbor and GHCOG. The estimated cost is $13.5M.
6. Awards and Recognition
Ms. Clary reported that two tenured faculty members, Dr. Gary Murrell and Mr. Brion Buisman
were granted sabbaticals for 2013-2014. She introduced Dr. Gary Murrell, GHC History instructor,
who reported on his experience. He said his sabbatical included three things he wanted to
accomplish:
• Publishing his book.
• Conducting research on a new project.
• Reviewing a collection of 1,000 love letters from a World War II veteran and his wife.
He reported he has been working on his book since 2000. It focuses on historian, Dr. Herbert
Aptheker who changed the way historians view slavery. Dr. Murrell interviewed him for over forty
hours.
Mr. Brion Buisman, GHC Diesel Technology instructor, was not in attendance. A written report of
his sabbatical accomplishments was included in backup materials received prior to the meeting.
His focus was to completely revise the “Task Lists” that students work from in the shop.
7. Board Development (Mr. Jason Hoseney)
Mr. Hoseney presented Student Services Division’s annual unit report to the Board. The division is
designed by five organizing principles: access, student success and retention, student engagement,
student health and wellness and programs for unrepresented populations. His report included
progress in each of the areas.
His report included comparison data from 2010 through 2014 in the following areas:
• High school capture rate.
• Total Fall applications
• Fall FTE’s
• Number of Financial Aid applications
• Number of Pell Recipients/All Aid
• FYE Average Persistence Rates 2009 – 2014
• Counseling and Student Success Center Activity
• Types of Accommodations Used
• Athletic Student Success
• Choker Club Donations
• Emergency Funds
• Bishop Center Attendance/Donor Revenue/Total Expenses/Revenue
Mr. Hoseney showed a video featuring GHC students who spoke about their experiences at the
college. Copies of the video have been sent to legislators and the State Board.
8. College Input (Reports)
a. Trustees’ Report
1) TACTC Legislative Conference – Dr. Brewster, Dr. Carthum, Ms. Chaffee and
Ms. Portmann will attend the upcoming TACTC legislative conference January 28 and 29.
2) Individual Board Goals – Ms. Chaffee asked for Board members to identify their Board
goals for this year.
Mr. Blauvelt
Attend the Transforming Lives event.
Attend a Stafford Creek graduation.
Meet with East County School Boards.
Attend Opening Day
Ms. Chaffee
Attend an Advisory Committee Meeting
Participate in TACTC
Attend a College forum
Participate in meetings with high schools
Dr. Carthum
Attend TACTC
Attend GraPac
Attend School Board meetings in Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties
Ms. Portmann
Attend TACTC
Participate in discussions with area high schools
Attend a student event
Dr. Brewster suggested trying to meet with Pacific County School Boards in conjunction
with one of our regularly scheduled Board meetings.
3) Board Representative to the GHC Foundation Board – Mr. Blauvelt volunteered to be the
Board’s representative to the GHC Foundation Board.
4) Foundation Get Away Event Sponsorship – It was moved and seconded to donate
$1,000.00 from the Trustee fund to become a sponsor for the GHC Foundation Get Away
event. Motion carried.
5) Board Retreat Meeting Date – Ms. Zelasko will poll Board members to find a date in
March to hold a Board retreat. The focus of the retreat will be to review data related to
Student Achievement Initiative data, core themes for accreditation and overall planning.
6) Student/Faculty/Staff Emergency Fund – It was moved and seconded to donate $500.00
from the Trustee fund to the student emergency fund and $500.00 to the employee
emergency fund to assist students and employees affected by the recent flooding. Motion
carried.
b. ASGHC President Report (Mr. Forrest Gonzalez)
Mr. Gonzalez reported students from throughout the state will hold a rally at the capital in
Olympia to present student issues to legislators.
c. Classified Staff (Ms. Gail Winkelman)
Ms. Winkelman announced that Ms. Karen Carriker who works in the nursing department
received this quarter’s classified staff award.
d. Faculty Report (Dr. Darby Cavin)
At an earlier meeting Dr. Cavin stated he would report on two different divisions at each
Board meeting. His report today focused on Science and Math and Humanities and
Communications. He said three areas make up the distribution requirements. Students
have to have to take three classes in each of the three different distribution areas.
Humanities has seven distribution areas: visual arts, theatrical arts, musical arts, literary
arts, languages, speech and culture and ideas.
Science and math has six distribution areas: biological science, chemical science,
environmental science, earth science, physical science and math. One science class needs
to be a lab and math has to be 107 or higher.
e. President’s Report (Dr. Ed Brewster)
1) WACTC Report - Highlights from the last college presidents’ meeting were included
in the Board packet received prior to the meeting. Dr. Brewster noted the Governor’s
budget includes salary increases for state employees of 3% for 2015/16 and 1.8% for
2017/19. However, the Governor charges one third of the cost to tuition, with no
tuition increase which would result in a budget cut for the colleges.
Dr. Brewster and one other president are meeting with State Board staff and faculty
union leadership regarding how to fund increments on a permanent basis.
2) OP 621, Tuition and Fee Waivers for All Employees
Dr. Brewster presented Operational Policy 621, Tuition and Fee Waivers for All
Employees for review. The revisions reflect historical practices and interpretations of
the policy. It was moved and second to adopt revised OP 621, Tuition and Fee Waivers
for All Employees. Motion carried.
3) Items of Interest
None
f.
Vice President for Instruction (Ms. Laurie Clary)
1) Bachelor of Science Management Degree Proposal – Ms. Clary reported our proposed
Bachelor of Applied Science in Organizational Management is due to the State Board by
February 5, 2015. It will be sent to the State Board for approval at their May, 2015
meeting. If approved, it will be forwarded to the Northwest Commission on Colleges. If
approved, the Commission will authorize the college as a baccalaureate-granting
institution.
g. Vice President for Student Services (Mr. Jason Hoseney)
1) Enrollment – Mr. Hoseney reported Winter Quarter enrollment is down compared to last
year at this time. He stated the recent storm may have had an impact on enrollment. Dr.
Brewster said he would make an appeal to the State Board for leeway regarding lower
enrollment caused by the flooding.
h. Vice President for Administrative Services (Ms. Barbara McCullough)
1) Emergency Medical Training Fee Increase – The Emergency Medical Training contract
with the Emergency Medical Services Council of Grays Harbor County has increased their
costs from $12.00 per credit to $18.00 per credit. Ms. McCullough asked the Board to
consider approving the fee increase. It was moved and seconded to adopt the revised fee
schedule. Motion carried.
2) Bishop Scholarship Endowment Resolution – Ms. McCullough asked the Board to consider
adopting Resolution 1-15. This request is due to the resignation of US Trust as the Trustee
Bank and Fund Manager for the Bishop Scholarship. The fund totals $4.7M and is for
scholarships for upper division students. It was moved and seconded to adopt Resolution
No. 1-15, Resolution of the Board of Trustees of Grays Harbor College authorizing Dr. Ed
Brewster to transfer the full balance of Bishop Scholarship funds from US Trust/Bank of
America to TIAA-CREF. Motion carried.
9. Executive Session
None
10. Action Items as a Result of Executive Session
None
11. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 4:39 p.m.
__________________________
Edward J. Brewster, Secretary
_____________________________
Rebecca Chaffee, Chair