SPECIAL MEETING
OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM
August 12, 2003
Minutes
The Board of Trustees of the Houston Community College System held a Special
Meeting on Tuesday, August 12, 2003, beginning at 3:00 p.m., at the System
Administration Building, Chancellor's Conference Room 12D11, 3100 Main,
Houston, Texas.
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT
James R. Murphy, Chairman
Herlinda Garcia, Vice Chairman
Herman Litt, Deputy Secretary
Christopher W. Oliver, Secretary
Jay K. Aiyer
Bruce Austin
Michael P. Williams, D.Min.
BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT
Abel Davila
Yolanda Navarro Flores
ADMINISTRATION
Bruce Leslie, Chancellor
Irene Porcarello, Interim Vice Chancellor, Institutional Development
Rosie Barrera, Associate Vice Chancellor, Communications
Michael Kyme, Executive Director, Purchasing
Miles LeBlanc, General Counsel
Carole Keeney, Public Information Officer
Jean Vining, Director, Community & Resource Development, Southeast College
Doretha Eason, Interim Deputy to the Chancellor
OTHERS PRESENT
Arturo Michel, System Counsel, Bracewell & Patterson
Other administrators, representatives of the news media
and interested citizens
Houston Community College System
Special Meeting – August 12, 2003 – Page 2
CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Murphy called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. and declared the Board
convened to consider matters pertaining to the Houston Community College System
as listed in the duly posted meeting notice.
PUBLIC IMAGE CAMPAIGN
Rose Barrera introduced principals from the consulting firm of Yaffe-Deutser who
were selected to developed a public relations program for the bond campaign: Brad
Deutser, President, Todd Gentzler and Kelley Beirne. The principals had met
earlier with the vice chancellors and presidents.
Mr. Gentzler presented an overview of the process to be used in developing a
campaign. He explained that the most successful campaigns focus on values and it
is important to identify your major audiences and subgroups that influence decisions.
The next step is to ask questions regarding attitudes, beliefs and values. An
effective campaign strategy must target the emotional aspect of education and the
quality of life, which are centrally held values for most people. Ultimately, a
campaign “message” must be developed. After identifying the major audiences, it is
necessary to develop mechanisms to motivate these people to adopt our message
and communicate it to others. The Trustees agreed the following audiences should
be targeted:
The “silent” generation
Parents of college age students
Seniors
Ethnic communities
Employers
Workforce constituencies
Internal audience
Students/former students
(Mr. Murphy left at 5:00 p.m. and Mr. Oliver chaired the meeting)
The firm recommended using television and outdoor advertising to publicize the
campaign. The Trustees pointed out the short timeframe for staging a campaign.
The firm will submit concepts for approval in 1-2 weeks. Ideally, the campaign shoot
will take place on August 29, and run the second week of September.
Mrs. Garcia felt it was very important to seek an endorsement from HISD General
Superintendent Kaye Stripling. The Trustees also felt it would be advantageous to
hire an individual for each college to manage the campaign in that community and to
maximize the Trustees’ time. Dr. Leslie indicated he would immediately create a
budget for these positions and seek qualified individuals.
Houston Community College System
Special Meeting – August 12, 2003 – Page 3
Further discussion took place on activities of the political action committee. The
Trustees requested clarification of the role of the Board and the PAC and the
process that will be used in selecting a campaign manager.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business to come before the Board, Mr. Oliver adjourned the meeting
at 6:20 p.m.
Minutes Prepared by:
Linda Gray, Executive Administrative
Assistant, Board Services
Reviewed and Submitted by:
Christopher W. Oliver, Secretary
Board of Trustees
Approved as Submitted:
September 24, 2003