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THE OFFICIAL MINUTES

The Big Bend Community College Board of Trustees held a Regular Board meeting Thursday, October 13, at 1:30 p.m. in person.

Present: Anna Franz
  Gary Chandler
  Amy Parris
  Juanita Richards
  Thomas Stredwick

 

  1. Mission Moments
  2. Educational Presentation
    Resident Advisors Liam Mullins and Victoire Wilondja joined ASB Officers Ambra Hacker and Paige Tolley to share information about how they are supporting their fellow students.
  3. Consent Agenda
    Motion 22-29 Trustee Thomas Stredwick moved to approve the consent agenda. Trustee Amy Parris seconded and the motion passed.
  4. Remarks
    The following new employees were introduced to the Board.
    Michele Valdivia, Computer Science Faculty member; Kaha Englund, Criminal Justice/Psychology Faculty member, Emily Eidson, Nursing Faculty; Justin Henley, Manufacturing Faculty member; and Dustin Regul, Art Faculty member
  5. Faculty Updates
    Faculty Association Vice-President Mariah Whitney reported faculty activities.
    Jennifer McCarthy, French instructor, reported her French class this quarter is terrific! She has mostly Running Start students, with a few older students here and there, and with Lindsay Groce, Chemistry Instructor, as a student! She is preparing for her trip to Europe spring 2023.

    The students have had excellent attendance, are very enthusiastic about participating, and they are working on a couple songs thus far, one of which is a Samba. Lindsay, being a dance instructor in Ellensburg, has kindly led them in the moves of the samba. ALL of the students have been singing and dancing ; it's been a lovely way to wake up at 8am!

    Aaron Mahoney, Chemistry and Agriculture instructor, shared that when he started teaching part- time in the Agriculture department the students had little exposure to planting and maintaining plants. He wanted to change this part of the education pedagogy. However, only working part-time, he did not have the opportunity to invest in the changes. Now that he is a full-time faculty in the department, he has added more active learning objectives, such as more field trips and the recent light bank addition. Adding these components and future developments (more equipment and facilities) into the curriculum provides a more diverse and active learning education for our students.

    Rhonda Kitchens, our faculty librarian, has been providing library lessons in classrooms and creating library guides for instructors’ classes..She shares that the next Passion Project is October 27, 2022:
    A *VIP (Very Important Passion) Reception for “We Had Our Reasons: Poems by Ricardo Ruiz and Other Hard Working Mexicans from Eastern Washington.” On Thursday October 27 at 5pm, Big Bend will host our fourth Passion Project Showcase. We will host a reception for poet and alumni Ricardo Ruiz. He will be sharing his passion for writing and life in advance of his ASB reading later that night.

    The library is doing a newspaper social media promotion this quarter. While sharing some of the library’s powerful international news resources, they are also hyping their local print newspaper collections. It is hard to show students what a newspaper looks like online versus a blog or other online formats. They hope to share the reading the paper culture while showing off their formidable research holdings. This is the first video in a launch into this effort: https://youtu.be/vutcJC0meoQ. Others will include faculty, staff, and students sipping coffee and reading a newspaper in the library’s comfortable periodicals reading area. The Board of Trustees is invited to drop by and participate.

    New Psychology instructor, Kaja Englund, shares an interesting class project she did the last two weeks with her Psychology 100 students. She classically conditioned them. She brought in sour patch kids and had students eat sour patch kids continually while she played the song Ain't No Mountain High Enough. She did this twice with them in two separate class sessions. The following week she played the song Ain't No Mountain High Enough with no sour patch kids involved. Most students were successfully conditioned to increase salivary flow (or dry mouth) in response to listening to the song Ain't No Mountain High Enough. The affect was attenuated later. This was intended as she only had students presented with sour patch kids and the song pairing twice. If she had done this ample more times, she says she can only imagine her students would continue to increase salivary flow anytime they hear this song. She didn't want this response to follow them later in life at weddings, restaurants, etc. when listening to this song.
  6. ASB Updates
    ASB President Ambra Hacker and Vice President Paige Tolley shared information they submitted in the board agenda.
  7. Exceptional Faculty Award
    Math Instructors David Mayhugh and Johanna Doty expressed their gratitude for their Exceptional Faculty Awards and shared information about their activities revamping the Math textbook information incorporating best practices in math pedagogy and correct errors.
  8. President’s Update
    President Sara Thompson Tweedy shared information from the board agenda.

    At 2:07pm. Board Chair Anna Franz announced that the Board would adjourn to executive session for approximately 15 minutes to discuss items provided for in RCW 42.30.110 (1): (g) to evaluate the qualifications of an applicant for public employment or to review the performance of a public employee. The executive session ended at 2:22pm. No actions were taken during the Executive session.
  9. President’s Evaluation
    Board Chair Anna Franz read the Boards Evaluation statement:

    The Board of Trustees would like to congratulate Dr. Sara Thompson Tweedy on her continued leadership of Big Bend Community College over the past year. In considering the performance of the President as it relates to the college’s ends statements, the Board finds that the institution has met its stated ends.

    The sustained impacts associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have tested the institution, including the leadership of Dr. Thompson Tweedy. Despite unprecedented challenges, she continues to guide the institution toward excellence. Of the many achievements from the past year, the Board would like to commend the significant effort that culminated in the launch of a new campus strategic plan which includes a new mission, vision, and guiding principles. Additional accomplishments of note include: COVID-re- entry plans; CTC Link implementation; welcoming the first cohort of Bachelor of Applied Science in Applied Management students; the relaunch of basic adult education programs in Mattawa, Othello, and Quincy; an exceptionally clean State Audit; and obtaining three federal grants totaling several million dollars of investment in college programs.

    The Board would also like to recognize Dr. Thompson Tweedy’s leadership beyond the corners of our service district including serving on the following committees and boards: the WACTC Educational Services Committee, the WACTC President’s Executive Committee, the SBCTC Executive Director Search Committee, the Washington State Aviation and Aerospace Advisory Committee, the Grant County EDC Executive Committee, and the North Central Workforce Development board, to name a few. Dr. Thompson Tweedy’s service-orientation postures Big Bend Community College as a leader locally, regionally, and nationally and creates connections for future innovation and growth.

    While these accomplishments are impressive, the way in which this work occurred is also of merit. Dr. Thompson Tweedy exemplifies the values that the institution espouses and serves with transparent communication, a commitment to distributed leadership, and a willingness to collaborate with diverse perspectives. The Board believes these practices support the continued emphasis on the vibrancy of the campus climate and overall inclusive culture of the institution.

    In the coming year the Board encourages Dr. Thompson Tweedy to remain focused on creative enrollment and outreach strategies designed to increase access to the edges of our service district. The Board recognizes the importance of these strategies in achieving our stated Ends, honoring our role as a Hispanic Serving Institution and serving all the diverse communities in our service district, and supporting the continued financial integrity of the college. The Board remains steadfast in our trust of Dr. Thompson Tweedy with the leadership of the Big Bend Community College due to her willingness to engage with difficult challenges and remain focused on identifying sustainable solutions.
  10. President’s Contract
  11. Proprietary Budgets
    Motion 22-30 Trustee Amy Parris moved to approve the 2022-23 Proprietary Budgets. Trustee Gary Chandler seconded and the motion passed.
  12. ACT Transforming Lives Award Nomination
    President Tweedy recommends the trustees select a nominee and an alternate for the 2022 ACT Transforming Lives Award.

    By consensus the board nominated Colton Reynolds as the primary and Damon Barber as the alternate ACT Transforming Lives nominee representing Big Bend Community College. Chair Anna Franz called for a vote and the Trustees unanimously agreed.
  13. Board Self-Evaluation & Board Goals
    The Trustees discussed their self-evaluation and 2022-23 goals.

    2021-22 Goals

    1. Develop and implement an improved system for monitoring Board effectiveness by establishing an annual checklist for monitoring the overall performance of Big Bend Community College and providing training and other educational opportunities for Trustees.

    While a subcommittee initiated work on a dashboard to monitor the health of the institution, the Board determined that this goal was not accomplished over the past academic year as the work was delayed due to a need to revisit and revise our end statements. A continued emphasis on enabling structures to ensure transparency and consistency in evaluating the effectiveness of the institution will continue to be an area of focus in the coming year after the adoption of revised ends.

    2. Advance equity, diversity, and inclusion by establishing policies and institutional goals supporting operational equity, diversity, and inclusion programs.

    Trustees participated in various trainings and conferences relative to DEI. While progress has occurred in this space, the Board believes that additional work needs to occur relative to this goal.

    3. Ensure effective onboarding and support of new trustees.

    The composition of the Board has experienced significant turnover throughout the past year and further turnover is anticipated. As such, the Board believes that the use of the onboarding guide provided incremental progress and support in onboarding new trustees. The onboarding framework will continue to be enhanced over time to ensure greater consistency in welcoming new trustees to the Board.

    2022-2023 Board Goals:
    1. Revise the Big Bend Community College’s Ends Statements and develop and implement a set of indicators which measure the progress of the institution relative to the revised Ends.
    2. Advance equity, diversity, and inclusion by establishing policies and institutional goals supporting operational equity, diversity, and inclusion programs.
    3. Ensure effective onboarding and support for trustees as measured by updates to the board onboarding tool and development of a cyclical board calendar of study session topics and campus engagement opportunities.
  14. Ends Statements
    Revised ENDs Statements
    Big Bend Community College Ends
    E-1: Student Success
    Big Bend Community College provides the entire district with access to learning opportunities, assists students in completion of their educational and workforce development goals, develops skills for continued learning, and maintains high academic standards.
    E-2: Community Engagement E-3: Stewardship E-4: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
    Big Bend Community College supports economic development by nurturing community and industry partnerships to enhance access and service to our district. Big Bend Community College acts as a responsible steward of resources by promoting accountability, sustainability, ethics, and prudent resource management to provide quality and affordable resources to our district. Big Bend Community College fosters inclusiveness for students, employees, and visitors by maintaining a safe learning environment promoting cultural inclusiveness and respect by embracing diversity, access, opportunity, and equity.

    Motion 22-31 Trustee Juanita Richards moved to approve the revisions to the Ends Statements as presented. Trustee Gary Chandler seconded the motion and the motion passed.
  15. Assessment of Board Activity
    Trustee Anna Franz reported that she attended: Graduation, End Statements Committee Meetings, Board Retreat, In-Service State of the College Address, Trustee Candidate Interviews, and agenda preparation meetings.

    Trustee Juanita Richards reported that she met with potential trustees (2) July 28. She also attended: End Statement preparation September 7, Transforming Lives Planning Meeting September 20, Board retreat October 11, Star Night September 30, and met with President Sara Thompson Tweedy.

    Trustee Amy Parris attended: 5-6 meetings to work on Big Bend/OSD AA alignment (Zoom, In-Person, Internal), numerous contacts of Grant/Adams Co. Workforce employers and Big Bend programs for the October 27th Othello Career Showcase, Board Retreat, and Big Bend Workforce Advisory Committee meeting communications.
  16. 2023 Board Meeting Schedule
    Trustees discussed setting the following meeting dates for 2023:
    Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 1:30 p.m.
    Wednesday, March 15, 2023, at 1:30 p.m.
    Thursday, May 4, 2023, at 1:30 p.m.
    Thursday, June 8, 2023, at 1:30 p.m.Thursday, August 24, 2023, (Retreat) (revised to August 31)
    Thursday, October 12, 2023, at 1:30 p.m.
    Thursday, December 7, 2023, at 1:30 p.m.

    Motion 22-32 Trustee Thomas Stredwick moved to set the 2023 meeting schedule after changing the August 24 Retreat to August 31 as discussed. Trustee Amy Parris seconded the motion and the motion passed.

    Adjourned at 4:00 p.m.

 

Anna Franz, Chair

ATTEST:

 

Sara Thompson Tweedy, Secretary