WVU at Parkersburg

Board of Advisors

August 13, 2007

The meeting was called to order by Board of Advisors Chairperson, Linda Dickirson. Those present were: Linda Dickirson, Jackson County Representative; James Hayhurst, Jr. Executive Vice President United National Bank; Joe Campbell, Senior Vice President Wes Banco; Tony Playtis, Environmental Health Coordinator E.I. Dupont; George Kellenberger, Chamber of Commerce President; Curtis Miller, President Curtis Miller Insurance, Ed Crisp, Faculty Representative; Violet Mosser, Staff Representative; Jennifer Hitt, Student Representative; Marie Foster Gnage, President WVU Parkersburg, and Patsy Bee Executive Assistant to the President. 

Absent were: Jim Mylott, Executive Director Mid Ohio Valley Regional Council, Joyce Okes, Program Coordinator Workforce Investment;  Robert D’Avria, Consultant YMCA of the USA; William Niday, Superintendent Wood County Schools; and Gregory Smith, President Blue Cross/Blue Shield;

Special Guest: Gregg Smith, WV Council for Community and Technical College Education.

Call to Order

Mrs. Dickirson called the meeting to order and presented the agenda.

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the Board meeting held on May 14, 2007was approved upon a motion by Mr. Hayhurst and second by Mr. Kellenberger.

Action Items

• Election of Chair and Vice Chair for 2007-2008.  On behalf of the nominating committee, Mr. Miller nominated Linda Dickirson to serve as chair, and Jim Hayhurst to serve as vice chair of the WVU Parkersburg Board of Advisors. Mr. Campbell moved that nominations be closed.  Mrs. Dickirson and Mr. Hayhurst were elected by the Board to serve as chair and vice chair for 2007-2008.

• Early Education Certification Endorsement.  Cindy Kelley, Chair of the Education Division, submitted Early Education Certification to the Board for their endorsement.  She noted that the full report on the certification was presented to the Board at the May 14 meeting.  Mrs. Kelley provided a curriculum summary sheet regarding the specialization approval and course descriptions.  Mr. Miller made a motion to approve the Early Education Certification.  Mr. Campbell seconded the motion.  The motion passed. 

Mrs. Dickirson welcomed Mr. Gregg Smith, WV Community and Technical College Council member.  She also recognized Mrs. Judy Higgs, Interim Dean replacing Dotty Welch who has taken a new position at Zane State College, and she welcomed the new student representative Jennifer Hitt to the Board.

Mrs. Dickirson announced that a letter of resignation had been received from Board member Trudy Seita.  President Gnage will review some possibilities for a new appointment.  Mrs. Dickirson also requested a resolution be prepared and sent to Mrs. Seita.

Dr. Gnage announced that a schedule has been set for breakfast meetings with Legislators.  The schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, September 26, 2007 9:00 a.m. President’s Conference Room

Wednesday, October 31, 2007 9:00 a.m. Room 113 – Jackson County Center

Wednesday, November 28, 2007 9:00 a.m. President’s Conference Room

Dr. Gnage also invited Board members to the Early Childhood Center Fund Raiser scheduled for August 26 at 3:30 p.m. in the Caperton Center Atrium.

Mrs. Higgs noted that orientation will be held this evening at 5:30 p.m. and over 300 students are expected to attend.

Mr. Kellenberger announced that “Leadership by Disney” will be presented on the WVU Parkersburg Campus on October 18.

Dr. Gnage announced that the meeting would move to the auditorium where Board of Advisors will have the opportunity to meet faculty and staff  as they begin the fall semester.

BOARD MEETING MOVED FROM COMMUNITY ROOM TO AUDITORIUM FOR IN-SERVICE PRESENTATIONS:

Chairman’s Opening Remarks: 

Mrs. Dickirson welcomed everyone and introduced Board members, and a visiting member of the WV Council for Community and Technical College Education to the faculty and staff.

President’s Opening Address.

“Great morning to all of you.  To the Board of Advisors, to Faculty and Staff, and to our students, here’s to a successful semester.  Here!  Here!!

My thanks to our Board Chair and Board of Advisors members and for letting us combine some parts of our opening in-service program with your meeting.  Members of our Board present today include Mrs. Linda Dickirson, Chair, Mr. Jim Hayhurst, Vice Chair, Mr. Joe Campbell, Mr. Tony Playtis, Mr. Curtis Miller, Mr. George Kellenberger, Faculty Representative Ed Crisp, Staff Representative Violet Mosser, and Student Representative, Jennifer Hitt.  We also have with us today, Mr. Gregg Smith, who is a member for the WV Council for Community and Technical College Education.  It seems that this is the “first” of the week.  We usually have this kickoff on the fourth day.  Last week’s first was a Web Cast with President Elect Mike Garrison and within that a web question for a web cast.  And, since West Virginia University at Parkersburg by any name (PCC) has always been about firsts all is good.

I want to thank our faculty and staff who were here working diligently through the summer with the end result of an 18.7% increase in FTE and a 3% increase in student headcount.  We welcome back our faculty who chose to take the summer to regroup—whether at leisure, at study, or at work in another venue.  We welcome one administrator to the faculty ranks. 

Board members, I want to tell you a bit about the folks who are here today in their roles as faculty, staff, and administrators.  As we concluded the academic year, we celebrated service to the college.  At least five (5) celebrated 35 years:  three of them are still here.  One reached 30 years; 5 reached 20 years, 5 celebrated 15 years, 6 were recognized for 10 years; and 9 were recognized for at least five years.  One faculty member retired after 40+ years and will be returning to teach as an adjunct.   If we did a “greater than” survey, we would capture those who are en route to reaching one of the notable milestone numbers.  This is commitment to West Virginia University; this is commitment to the students; this is commitment to learning and higher education.  Plaudits to all of you.

I applaud the accomplishments of faculty and staff, their roles in the education and retention of students, their awards, professional development and their promotion and tenure.  Our thanks to Connie Dziagwa for keeping our accomplishments in the public eye—on our own intranet and WVU’s, and in the various news media in the area and in the state.  It is important to be visible.

Each year I must be a little more creative as I remind you of the importance of your commitment to the Strategic Plan.  How many of you know that you have a copy?  If you don’t know, raise your hand anyway and get a copy of it later.  Thanks to the work of the Planning Council, the Plan’s objectives have been reviewed and revised—the objectives, not the goals. You’ll want to pick up a copy of the Plan labeled “Updated Spring 2007.” Later on, I am going to ask you to again help us with the objectives with a déjà vu exercise that we did about this time three years ago.  Let me say this:  we have bragging rights. WE have accomplished; and there are others out there copying our strategic plan format.

I want to talk briefly about those goals within the strategic plan in terms of major accomplishments and a challenge to us all.  Later this week, I, the President’s Cabinet, and some front line administrators will be in retreat and will be using Kouzes’ A Leader’s Legacy to frame our discussion of leadership with great emphasis on questions such as “what are our assets?  Are we making the best use of ours assets?”  These are questions for all of us.  Now, for a look at our goals….
Recruit highly qualified diverse faculty and staff, and provide an environment that encourages retention.

• Most of the faculty offices have been “revived.”
• We now have an Adjunct Faculty Resource Room, professional development funds for adjuncts, an increase in credit hour rate of pay, and are working on making them feel that we know how important they are to the college and the students.
• A salary increase for this year will be announced in September if not earlier.
• Retention:  faculty who came to us within the last three years, please raise your hands.
• New faculty and staff—since January:  Please stand.  Welcome to the college.
• Faculty who have been awarded promotion and tenure, please stand. 

What we must challenge ourselves to do:  continue to work on increasing the salaries of faculty and staff; continue to identify professional development opportunities for faculty and staff; use faculty and staff as formal and informal mentors of new faculty and staff; diversity—in its broadest sense—still needs some work.  Board of Advisors, salaries for faculty and staff and the 20% rule must be a part of the discussion with our legislative delegation.

Meet or exceed enrollment projections made in Spring 2004 (2% each year).

• Enrollment continued to increase for academic year at the rate 2% or above.
• The Enrollment Management Plan was rewritten to focus more strategically on continuing the increase trend.
• Corporate and Community Education published its first schedule and diversified its programming.
• An Engagement hour was instituted:  one hour on Mondays and Wednesdays.  While it continues to be a bone of contention with some of you, it is good to have students understand the importance of co-curricular activities and the retention that comes with involvement at the college beyond class-taking.  I think we all agree that we want our students to have an opportunity to have the “whole” college experience.
• The Honors College is certainly progressing and is making good connections with leadership programs.  Thank you to Gregg Busch and the Honors Council. 

What must we challenge ourselves to do:  think outside the box—outside of our comfort zone—manipulate that schedule so that it best addresses the access needs of adult students, develop more online courses/programs, advise and mentor students both in and outside student organizations.  Dare to be different in how we offer courses—modularize.  Dare to make coming to college at WVU Parkersburg more exciting.  Recruit with our recruiters—there aren’t as many students out there as there used to be, and every college is going after them.

Value and embrace the application of technology to improve access, enhance instruction, support student services and facilitate communication and information sharing.

• Student email access is improving.
• Many student support services are being offered on line including library, advising, tutoring.
• We have contracted with WVU OIT for the management and support of technology.
• More students see online course taking as an option and we saw an increase in online enrollment.

What should we challenge ourselves to do: increase the number of courses/classes offered on line never forgetting the importance of quality and integrity; enhance the support services being offered to the point that all students see using them as a must for success; ensure that WVU OIT supports effectively our communication with students singly and in groups, and bless ourselves with a degree audit system so that students will get a double dose of advising.    

Provide a comfortable, safe, aesthetically pleasing, and student-centered atmosphere that will encourage learning and intellectual interaction.  The campus will exemplify our commitment to excellence and cultivate a feeling of pride and ownership.

• The trees, the landscaping, the façade make a great first impression about our college.
• Many of our spaces make the statement that we care about where our students receive services and learn.
• The emergency communication system has made a national splash both for us and the company who designed the system.  Michelle Bissell and Dave White deserve the credit for submitting the “project” for national competition.  The outcome is an award, a story in a national magazine, in a state newspaper—and in our local papers.  The system is a part of the completed Safety Plan.
• Much has been accomplished in the area of facilities improvement.

What should we challenge ourselves to do:  ensure that everyone knows what to do in emergencies—safety test; we all have to remind the legislators and the community of our need for their support in the expansion of the Jackson County Center, the Child Development Center, the Applied Technology Building, renovation of science labs and classrooms, infrastructure and deferred maintenance; we need to support all efforts that encourage social responsibility and civility.  We MUST finish our Facilities Master Plan.

Build public and private sector relationships to acquire new resources and revenue streams for college operations (programs, capital projects and general operations).

• The Community and Technical College System office has provided opportunities for program development and support:  Pharmacy Technician, Nursing program
• A McDonough grant allowed us to get an architectural rendering for the Child Development Center.
• I am sure that Jenny Keup will tell you about some of the results of WVU at Parkersburg Foundation efforts.

What should we challenge ourselves to do:  We must identify partners both public and private in order to complete the programs and capital projects planned—whether foundations or individuals; we must write grants without dependence on having a grants writer; we must give.  All of us can help in all of these areas.

We must continue to stretch….. We all know the business of education is serious business as the competition among higher education institutions both for students and resources heightens.  We all have to be totally engaged in moving the institution forward in order to be successful in addressing the challenges.  The accomplishments are done and will be remembered as long as…yesterday.

Now to the SWAT test.  We are making you a gift of a pencil for the completion of the two questions posed on the card given you:  What about WVUP makes me most proud?  What can we do to make a great institution greater?  Your responses will be most helpful to me and to the Planning Council.

Thank you, Board of Advisors, for your continuing support.  Thank you, faculty and staff, for your commitment to education and to the success of our students. 

We will have a great semester!!!!!”

Reports
Academic Affairs -  Rhonda Richards, Executive Dean for Academic Affairs reported on how to do the best we can under our current budget.  She suggested reviewing programs, writing grants for academic programs, and improving online programs.  She announced that to better serve the students of WVU Parkersburg student services and the academic area will be merging together by sharing adjoining offices in the current Dean of Students complex.  Renovation of that area will begin soon.

Student Services -  Mrs. Judy Higgs, Interim Dean for Student Services announced new staff and space changes in the records office.  She noted that enrollment looks good for the fall semester noting that freshman orientation has had excellent participation with 100 students participating at the Jackson County center, 260 participating last week on campus and another 300 scheduled for this evening.  There have been 484 award letters sent out in Financial Aid, and Academic Advising has counseled over 200 students.  She announced that Chancellor Brian Noland will be the guest speaker at Convocation on Monday, August 29, and that Student Engagement Programs will be held on Wednesdays at 11:00 am and some evenings.  She also announced that faculty will be provided with electronic rosters this year.

Corporate  and Community Education -  Mary Beth Busched, Interim Dean for Corporate and Community Education, reported on staff changes, Summer Academy, Corporate and Communication Education programming and the WorkKeys program.

Facilities and Grounds -  Dave White, Director of Facilities and Grounds  reported on facility renovations and provided information on the paging system, safety orientation, drivers safety program, and employee safety orientation.

WVU at Parkersburg Foundation – Jenny Keup, Executive Director of the WVU at Parkersburg Foundation reported that for 2007-2008 the Foundation has approved $40,000 in faculty development, $10,000 in staff development and $5,000 for adjunct faculty development.  They were able to assist six new honors students for a project in Mississippi; provided assistance for 13 students to visit several locations; and provided assistance to Phi Theta Kappa.  She announced that two new scholarships have recently been approved and two new members of the Foundation Board are Mayor Bob Newell and Marvin Boyce both former WVU Parkersburg students.

Next Meeting

The next meeting of the WVU at Parkersburg Board of Advisors will be held on Monday, November 12, 2007 in the Community Room at WVU Parkersburg.

Adjournment

With no further business to be discussed, Mrs. Dickirson thanked faculty and staff for allowing them to participate in the WVU Parkersburg In-Service.   She moved that the meeting be adjourned.  Mr. Campbell seconded the motion.  The meeting was adjourned.

                                                                        Respectfully submitted,

                                                                        Patsy J. Bee

                                                                        Executive Assistant to the President

________________________________

Linda Dickirson, Chair