The regular meeting of the Board of Regents of the Del Mar College District opened in Room 102 of the Barth Learning Center, Del Mar College West Campus, Old Brownsville Road, Corpus Christi, Texas, at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 11, 2000, with the following present:
From the College:
From the Attorney's Office:
Others:
Mrs. Olga Gonzales, Vice President of the Board, presided and with a quorum present, called the meeting to order.
Dr. Dicianna introduced Dr. Lee Sloan, Dean of the Division of Occupational Education and Technology. Dr. Sloan announced that the Occupational Therapy Assistant program at Del Mar College was recently given an outstanding achievement award of seven years full accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education of the American Occupational Therapy Association. Dr. Sloan gave a brief history of the program and also read comments from the report made by the Site Visiting Team. Sloan recognized Pat Paris, Chair of Allied Health; Abel Villarreal and Mary Platt, instructors in the program; and the OTA students present in the audience. Mr. Villarreal gave a brief report about the efforts made by the whole department.
Dr. Dicianna congratulated August Alfonso and the staff of the Information Technology department for the efforts they put forth to make sure that the College was Y2K compliant. Mr. Alfonso gave a brief update in regards to Y2K and explained about the three teams that helped with the compliance effort. In response to a question from Mrs. Spann, Mr. Alfonso stated that there are fewer than 50 computers on the campus that need to be replaced at this time.
Several people signed to speak under public comments. Mr. O.K. Smith, representing the Former Students' Association, announced an upcoming Scholarship Bowl to help raise funds for scholarships. Mr. R. A. Avery, Jr., Rev. H. T. Branch, Rev. Harry Williams, Betty Brandesky, Roma Smith, Alma Harris, and Mr. R. D. Campbell spoke under public comments in support of naming the new classroom building after Mr. Solomon Coles.
Mrs. Gonzales called for committee reports. There being no committee reports, Mrs. Gonzales then asked for staff reports. Dr. Richard Armenta and Ms. Claudia Jackson presented the Marketing and Enrollment Management Plan. Dr. Armenta summarized the report by stating that in the future Del Mar College must be an institution of options to make it the institution of choice. In response to this report, Rev. Davila recommended that the non-traditional students be recognized more and that future marketing efforts be more sensitive to the cultural make-up of the community. Ms. Jackson answered that plans were already made to address his concerns. Mrs. Adler commented that she would like to see the phrase "life-long learners" be used more in the future.
In continuing with staff reports, Mr. Bob Horton gave an update on the construction projects including the Harvin Center and the new classroom building. The new classroom building was completed on December 16 except for a few minor items. The Harvin Center expansion was completed on December 17 except for minor items on the exterior of the building. There will be 22 days liquidated damages on this project at an estimate of $16,500. The central plant was shut down on December 17 to install the new chiller system. Installation was a success and the central plant was back on line on January 2, 2000.
Re-roofing of the Gym and the Aquatics Center has been completed. The insulation and painting of the building is still needed. The West Loop Road extension job should be complete by the middle of February. Phase II of the Harvin Center is scheduled for completion by August 1. Mr. Horton recommended that an alternate bid be added to the proposed project that would include replacement of the cooling system for the building. This would raise the approved budget of $680,000 by $180,000 to cover the expense of the new cooling system. Mr. Horton concluded his construction update by reporting that the design for the Baldwin St. entrance should be completed by March 1 and the project completed by December 1.
There were no employees' or students' reports. Mrs. Gonzales asked for Regents' reports and comments. Mrs. Adler opened a discussion about the naming of the new classroom building. The Board discussed waiting until there are two buildings to be named and waiting for the appointment of the new Board of Regent before any decision would be made. Mrs. Spann commented about the need to continue to address the Legislature about the need for full formula funding. Mrs. Spann also made positive comments about the physical facilities update presented by Mr. Horton.
Dr. Dicianna announced the dates for several events. The NAACP dinner will be held on January 14. Tickets are available to the Board members for this event. A Buildings and Grounds Committee meeting and a Called meeting have been scheduled for January 18. The next regular meeting of the Board is February 8, and a dinner with the SACS Visiting Team is scheduled for February 14.
With the conclusion of the reports section of the agenda, Mrs. Gonzales moved to action items.
A motion was made by Rev. Davila and seconded by Mrs. Adler to accept the minutes as presented for the following meetings: Audit Committee held on December 14, 1999; Regular Meeting held on December 14, 1999; and the Called Meeting held on December 28, 1999. The motion carried.
Dr. Dicianna explained the request made by Gary, Thomasson, Hall, and Marks for an increase in their billing rates.
After a brief discussion, a motion was made by Mrs. Adler and seconded by Rev. Davila to accept the changes in the fee schedule of Gary, Thomasson, Hall, and Marks to be effective on January 1, 2000. The motion carried.
Discussion was opened about the Board vacancy. Mr. Whittle voiced concern about checking the qualifications of the applicants. Dr. Dicianna stated that the Vice President's office would review the qualifications, as is done for a regular election and seek advice from the lawyer's office, if needed. Rev. Davila suggested that the Board be polled concerning the best date for interviewing candidates and that the date be determined during the Called meeting on January 18.
The next item on the agenda was the consideration of a request for a leave of absence.
A motion was made by Mrs. Spann, seconded by Mrs. Adler, to approve the leave of absence for Jane Wolter-Williamson, and the motion carried.
Rev. Davila left the meeting at 3:15 p.m.
Mr. Alaniz presented the financial statements for the month of November, 1999.
A motion was made by Mrs. Adler, seconded by Mr. Whittle, to accept the financial statement for November, 1999, and the motion carried.
Mr. Alaniz presented the investments for December, 1999.
A motion was made by Mr. Whittle, seconded by Mrs. Spann, to accept the investments for December, 1999, and the motion carried.
Mrs. Gonzales asked Mrs. Natale for an update about the College Policy Manual. Mrs. Natale responded that Mr. Mike Anzaldua and Mr. John Crisp have recently been appointed to chair a committee that will review the policy manual. Work has begun on this project.
With no further discussion, the meeting adjourned at 3:20 p.m.
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