GOOD, SHERRER, JOLLY AND RHODES REFUSE TO ALLOW THE BOARD TO VOTE ON THE BCCC MASKING POLICY Chair Forrest Rhodes opened the February 8, 2022 meeting at 4:30 with the Pledge of Allegiance and an addition to the consent agenda. A request for a topic for action was also added to the agenda regarding temporary commercial custodial services (10B). Trustee Shelby Smith asked to add an item to the board agenda to include an action item regarding the mask policy. Smith’s request was seconded by Trustee Kim Braungardt. Rhodes pointed out that the policy is not an issue handled by the board but is an operational issue handled by the critical management team. Trustee Julie Winslow stated that while she understands that, it never hurts to bring issues like that up to the board for a vote. Smith added that cloth masks were recommended but two years later… he does think the kids (students) need to be masked up. Braungardt agreed with that, stating especially since most of us are sitting here with no masks. Smith and Braungardt both felt that if the student agreed, then they can wear a mask but only if they want to. Rhodes again defended the campus masking policy (but he wore no mask himself) saying that we give that decision making authority to the college. Smith disagreed, saying we might recommend it, but he did not agree with forcing the students. Trustee David Sherrer feels this goes to the college to make this decision. As a substitute teacher in El Dorado, they have weeks they are required to wear them, stating that the kids (students) didn’t really seem to care. Braungardt stated that for her it is a freedom thing, and she does not begrudge anyone for wearing one but feels like it is administrative overreach. Sherrer, Mary Martha Good, Rhodes and Jolly voted to NO to allowing the vote, and Braungardt , Winslow and Smith voted to at least place it on the agenda to discuss. The willingness to even discuss the mask policy in an open board meeting was denied however by Good, Sherrer, Rhodes and Jolly. Smith also asked to move two items from the consent agenda to discussion so the board members can ask questions. Mary Good asked Smith why, and Smith just said he had questions. (10C and 10D of the agenda.) The board majority voted to not allow the vote on the masking policy, but did allow a vote (for questions) by removing two items from the consent agenda into board action items. An executive session was held then regarding non-elected personnel, and the board, Ray Connell, Kim Krull and Shelly Shultz were in that session for approximately one hour. President Dr. Krull then had several recognitions, naming Jaime Goering as very instrumental in grants, Covid 19 funds and other resource development tasks. Brady Haag was recognized for his assistance (he co-founded Project Content LLC) in developing software for LED sign content. In addition, Signbuilder Illustrated recognized him as their young sign maker for 2022. Also recognized was Dr. Esam Mohammad, Associate Vice President of Research & Institutional Effectiveness, for his acceptance in Harvard University’s Spring Data Equity and Ethics Institute. Esam has twice in the past been recognized by the Kansas Board of Regents for Data Quality. Krull also recognized Randy Meisch, shop foreman for Dustrol, Inc. of Towanda, Kansas for all of his and of Dustrol’s assistance with the Diesel Mechanic program at BCCC. Dr. Terry Saber came to the podium to recognize Connie Beldon, Professor of Accounting and Business Administration, in that she has been invited to present at Singage Empowerment in April, 2022. She will be presenting on “The Power of Praise”. Connie, he noted, is just another example of the great faculty and advisors we have here at Butler. The next event was shocking. Forrest Rhodes, installed as the chair by the majority (including himself) decided he would respond (on behalf of the board, as he is the chair) in the form of a rebuttal to the Advocate, a small newsletter that the faculty association at BCCC writes for their members. Rhodes was speaking out against the January issue, stating that an article in the newsletter said Krull and her staff were responsible for the stalling of (contract) negotiations, in particular, the current state of impasse. Rhodes claimed this was nothing but a reckless effort to disparage the administration and Dr. Krull. He stated (almost like he was reading facts) that the board has been supportive of the administration during the entire period (of mediation) and that the sticking point was a benefit he said threatened the long term health of the entire college. Winslow said she did not understand. She said she understood what was said (by Forrest) but not necessary why Forrest’s statement was made. She said she had never heard anyone make a statement like that while contract negotiations were going on. She said she knew (Forrest) didn’t want Terry (Dr. Sader) to talk about it, so why did he (Forrest)? Rhodes said the faculty did talk about it in the Advocate. {Editor’s Note: The Advocate is their own private paper. It was not read or mentioned, in prior meetings, during a public board of trustees meeting. Nothing was mentioned to the board as a whole prior to this and nothing was included in the packet, nor was anything about this included on the agenda, therefore appeared to be more of a personal statement by Chair Rhodes acting on behalf of the administration rather than the board itself.} Trustee Good reported on the finance meeting, noting that there was 1M set aside to begin self-insurance. Krull reported she had receive a list of find finding (requests) on behalf of the professional association and that there had been a staff review that also included outside help. Phi Theta Kappa will have a luncheon on April 1, at the Hyatt in Kansas City as four Butler students will be recognized and Trustees are welcome to attend. Trustee Winslow to the opportunity to ask why there have been no capital projects meetings, Krull stated that was because there haven’t been any that fall under that “committee”. Krull also reported that an RFP (Request for Proposal) had been released to provide beverages on campus to Pepsi and Coca- Cola. She stated this would also include the stadium as (BCCC) plays football games there. The board has not received that RFP but the EFABC group already has them. (The EFABC is a committee where expenses of the stadium are shared with the City of El Dorado. This committee was organized to make that happen.) Rhodes moved on to monitoring reports, and Dr. Richard Nichols, Dean of Fine Arts and Communication addressed the board talk about his staff’s accomplishments. Many favorable statistics were mentioned as he gave a detailed overview of how his division is operating post-Covid. His department encompasses many areas of study, including speech, theatre, music, art and dance. Nichols manages a large staff of 17 full time employees and 55 adjuncts. Next tuition and fees were discussed. Kent Williams recommended no change in the in Butler county, out of county and out of state rates for next year, but a reduction in the international rate of 37.00 per credit hour, matching the out of state tuition cost. With that, he hopes to increase the international BCCC student population, claiming international students are more sensitive to (tuition) costs. Bill Young, Digital Transformation and Information Services, discussed the technology access charge at BCCC . Winslow stated she just wants Young to be careful (with that cost) and examine other community colleges to check that BCCC is not too extravagant. (Winslow’s BS is in I.T.) Young has a specific plan for sustainability with only a slight increase (of fees) – maybe 10-25% over the next couple of years. Young also told the board that the Butler Foundation was presented with a great opportunity from Evergy. They have a closed gooseneck trailer that they would like to donate (to the Butler Foundation. He wants to use it as a rolling billboard for the college. There will be a cost to the trailer upgrades, but it could be a mobile technology center, used for marketing and recruitment, sporting event or even a mobile learning lab. Everything that goes in it will be modular so it will be multifunctional and could even be used for parades. The IT department will manage it. Sherrer commented that he thought it would be great to use for going from school to school. Smith noted that he really appreciated knowing about this early. Rhodes went on to next copy of discussion, Board Governance portion of the meeting. He began with an update of the KORA requests that have come in for the last month (Kansas Open Records Act). Winslow said she was happy to see the KORA requests come in the packet and wants the administration to include, quarterly, the KORA log. Good asked that will all of the information Winslow has gained, is there anything she (Winslow) wanted to share with the board? No, Winslow said, everyone gets copies of everything (the info requested by her KORAs) so it’s a self-educating thing. Rhodes said that no one else has asked for anything, and Good agreed. Winslow said that wasn’t her fault, that the board was free to ask for what they needed. Good wanted to know if she (Winslow) was cognizant of all the hours her requests resulted in. Winslow said that is how she has to operate. I have to know what is what. Rhodes asked if I appreciated the value of the information and the burden it places on the administration to collect it? Winslow said while she appreciated his comments, she tries very hard to ask only for information that already exists. She stated that she recently asked for the last HLC (Higher Learning Commission) evaluation, wanting to read it. She said that (the HLC evaluation) should be readily available but Rhodes interrupted, saying she did not know how the college keeps records. Rhodes interrupted again but Winslow ignored his interruption. You sat here and read a statement, she said, that I was totally unaware that you were going to read. It (the statement) was not on the agenda, and I was not a part of it. Rhodes interrupted again but Winslow stated he (Rhodes) wants her to go by his rules but that he (Rhodes) is not going by them. Winslow said she has to have information to better perform her job. If no one else needs any, that’s fine. Rhodes said that because other members haven’t asked for it (information) calls into question whether there is a need. Winslow stated to Rhodes that if he wanted to decide to deny her information, far be it from her to stand in the way. “You have a board majority right here,” she said. Rhodes said no one is suggesting that. No, Winslow said, just last month Mary Martha (Good) suggested that I be charged (by the college) for information I ask for. She said you don’t want me to talk about it, but we got to this point for a pretty good reason. Krull then indicated that the HLC evaluation was not readily available. Smith spoke up and stated that just last month he requested from Dr. Sperry HLC specifics. He feels constantly threatened by the HLC …”if you don’t do what you are told”… Dr. Sperry sent him an email outlining consequences for a college having financial troubles, not just disagreeing with the administration. He said what was sent didn’t really answer his question. He appreciated Sperry sending it, but the example was a financial issue and that didn’t represent anything the board did wrong (such as trustee disagreements). He said maybe if the board of trustees had been more financially involved, maybe it wouldn’t have happened. Krull said one of the examples sent concerned board governance but she would have to revisit to see which college. Rhodes mentioned people (on staff) have told us what might happen…Smith said he just doesn’t believe it. Rhodes said it was it was a professional opinion and did not agree it was a threat. Winslow said she didn’t think it was a threat as much as a bullying tactic. Smth wants more data available so (the board) can make better decisions. Krull said they (HLC) would even look at how we interacted with students. She said some of the (evaluation) considerations would concern governance. Winslow stated they (Braungardt, Smith and Winslow) aren’t allowed to communicate with students…Krull has our mail accounts locked! Krull denied it but Winslow stated it takes an extra step, that sending it to us (as a board) will not include the (minority) board members, only three members (Rhodes, Good and Jolly) and whomever else Krull decides should receive them. Rhodes stating that the majority vote IS the board, so Winslow asked him where, then, was his majority vote to put the statement he read earlier (the Advocate article) on the agenda, and where was the sanction of all the board members that it was okay, when you tell me or Smith we can’t (act independently) as board members? Rhodes tried to move on but Winslow said it was a just double standard and she is calling him out for it. She further stated that having the KORA requests were good, but she was disappointed to see many changes (in her KORA) when they went from her email into the log. She stated the last couple of times she had requested information she has received within a reasonable time. If that continues, she won’t have to write KORAs. Braungardt commented that during training it was made clear that if you have 4-3 votes on the board, it isn’t a cohesive one board. If someone doesn’t feel they are getting information, then why? She said she agreed with Winslow that Rhodes should not be speaking on behalf of the board. She (Braungardt) wasn’t made aware of it either, so saying that you (Rhodes) are speaking on behalf of the board, and not notifying the board (prior) if one of us (the minority) did that on behalf of the board…..well…. Board action items continued with software development. Mel Whiteside, Dean of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, attended the meeting remotely to discuss the changes in the Software Development program. An advisory committee has recommend changes (15 hours) to reflect a staff retirement and therefor the new courses must be approved by KBOR. Smith asked about headcount numbers and was provided them. Winslow felt the new curriculum looked good, but wanted to know how many courses would transfer to four year colleges, what sort of certificates we are offering and if testing could be done (for certificates) during the courses and what internships have we considered? Whiteside stated that conversations are continuing with some companies concerning internship but some students were turning them down. Program changes were approved by the board shortly after. Next item was the addition of temporary custodial services contract. The board approved this as well. Good asked if we ever used the inmate help from Winfield that come over here every day…the city uses them. Ireland Turner, Director of Facilities at Butler, replied that we had not done that for some twenty years. Turner said he would check on it and do some investigating. Smith wondered where those Butler jobs were listed and Shelly said Spider, Kansas Works… there are about 20 sites that the postings go to. The board continued on, discussing an agreement proposed by the Grand Canyon University. Winslow stated she had done a little research, and would ask that we (the college) take care and ensure Grand Canyon maintains their nursing accreditations. ESP Software was discussed next. Smith stated that if it helps parents…. Dr. Jessica Ohman explained that something would be sent to parents for them to sign up with or the students would be encouraged to inform their parents of ESP. She feels this software will help us meet the needs of parents and the students will be more successful. Good stated that when she taught here (at Butler) she was relieved the parents could not contact her for a grade for a child. Dr. Ohman stated the company (ESP) emails the student for parent and student signup. The purchase and installation of the ESP program and the consent agenda were both approved. Board packet supplemental information was discussed by Esam at length, then the meeting was adjourned, just short of three hours in length.
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