Board Minutes - December 2023 - Western Iowa Tech Community College

Date: December 11, 2023
Time: 4:00 pm
Location: WITCC Campus - Sioux City, Iowa

WITCC Mission

As a comprehensive community college, our mission is to provide quality education and to economically enhance the communities we serve.

Board Members

Administration:
Terry Murrell, College President | Juline Albert, VP of Learning | Troy Jasman, VP of Finance and Administrative Services | Darin Moeller, Executive Dean of Instruction | Jackie Plendl, Dean of Human Resources | Tawnya Beermann, Dean of Students | Christina Brandon, Dean of Outreach and Information Technology | Revathi Vongsiprasom, Dean of Opportunity and Engagement | Erin Volk, Dean of Quality

Item

Brenda Wright called the meeting to order.

Brenda Wright introduced Terry Murrell to discuss the appointment of Brad Griffin to the District II Board position. Jeremy Ogle made a motion to approve the nomination and it was seconded by Russ Wray. All were in favor and motion carried.

The abstract of votes was reviewed.

Brenda Wright swore in the directors from the November 7, 2023 election with the oath of office. Directors sworn in include:
District I – Micah Lang
District III – Blanca Martinez
District IV – Linnea Fletcher
District XI – Mary Parker
District XII – Jeremy Ogle
District IX – Erin Muck

Brenda Wright also swore in the new Board member for District II.

Brenda Wright opened the floor for nominations for the Board President and Vice President. Jeremy Ogle made a motion to nominate Russ Wray as the Board President. Erin Muck seconded the motion. All members were in favor and motion carried. Linnea Fletcher made a motion to nominate Tricia Sutherland for the Vice President. Brad Griffin seconded the nomination. Mary Parker made a motion to nominate Jeremy Ogle to the Vice President position. There was no second. All in favor of Tricia Sutherland as Vice President. Motion was carried.

Russ Wray assumed the Board President chair.

Tricia Sutherland was nominated by Jeremy Ogle to be the Community Colleges for Iowa Representative. Linnea Fletcher seconded the nomination. All were in favor and the motion carried. Linnea nominated Jeremy Ogle as the Alternate. Brad Griffin seconded the nomination. All were in for and the motion carried.

The following were selected for the Audit and Finance Committee members. Brad Griffin made a motion to approve and it was seconded by Erin Muck. All were in favor and motion was carried.
Jeremy as chair
Linnea – vice chair
Micah – member of audit comm

Brenda Wright took a Roll Call of Directors.

There were no Oral Communications brought to the board.

No Written Communications were brought to the board.

Russ Wray asked the board to review the Consent items. Jeremy Ogle made a motion to approve the consent items and it was seconded by Linnea Fletcher. All were in favor and the motion carried.

Mike Brown thanked Terry Murrell and the Bard for allowing sports at WITCC. Mike introduced student athletes. Each student spoke about their experiences and why they chose WITCC. Each coach then introduced themselves and why they chose WITCC.

Christina Brandon introduced Andrea Rohlena and the Marketing team. Andrea Rohlena, Jessica Huggenberger, Wendy Ohl, Russell Roach, and Sue Owens. Andrea talked about the activities and re-branding plan this year. Each team member talked about what their contributions.

Terry Murrell presented the Title IX and other Designations changes to the board. Erin Muck made a motion to approve and it was seconded by Linnea Fletcher. All were in favor and motion was carried.

Troy Jasman and Christina Brandon presented the Identity Theft and Prevention Report. Christina explained all of the things that we do to stay on top of identity theft.

Troy Jasman presented the Rocklin Stage Bids. Troy explained that this was our second round of going out for bids. We received only one bid and it came in higher than the estimate. It is recommended that we reject the bid. After doing some research we have chosen to go a different route and go with something premade to make the stage ADA accessible.
Linnea Fletcher made a motion to reject the bids for the stage and it was seconded by Jeremy Ogle. All were in favor and motion was carried.

Troy also brought forward the Gaylord Smith Building Roof Replacement Project Closeout. This project is now complete and we will release the retainage in 30 days upon board approval. Jeremy Ogle made a motion to approve the closeout and it was seconded by Brad Griffin.

Troy also presented the request for a Transcript Fee Change. We moved to Parchment for transcript service so students can get transcripts faster. Due to this, the fee will need to change from $5 to $8. Erin Muck made a motion to approve and it was seconded by Linnea Fletcher. All were in favor and the motion carried.

Troy Jasman also presented the NJTP Financings. Troy talked about the New Jobs Training program and we don’t have any issues or concerns.

Terry reported on the Community Colleges for Iowa Report. The board will meet later in the week. Will have an update next month.

Terry Murrell gave a President Report. Terry invited the board to attend the holiday reception on December 21 at 11:00 in the Overlook Café.
Enrollment is currently up 13% right now. It will probably level out a little before enrollment.
PTA program was on probation because of test passing rates dropped below a level. We are now above the rate and are on full accreditation unto 2030.

Erin Muck made a motion to adjourn and it was seconded by Jeremy Ogle. All were in favor and the motion carried.