KCTCS Board of Regents
Board of Regents Meeting Minutes
May 30, 2024
1:00 p.m. EST
Via Teams
- CALL TO ORDER
Chair Martin called the special meeting to order on May 30, 2024 at 1:01 p.m. EST.
Attendance
Chair Barry Martin (Present)
Vice Chair Keith Hamilton (Absent)
Secretary Brianna Whitten (Present)
Mr. Rusell Cox (Present)
Ms. Karen Finan (Present)
Mr. Christopher Girdler (Absent)
Ms. Kimberly Greene (Present)
Mr. Joseph Heerdink (Present)
Ms. Layah Hodges (Absent)
Ms. Alexandra Martin (Present)
Ms. Candace McGraw (Present)
Ms. Kelly Rabinowitz (Absent)
Mr. James Lee Stevens (Present)
Mr. Marty Sutherland (Present) - APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Regent Finan made a motion to approve the minutes of the March 14, 2024 Board of Regents meeting. Regent Heerdink seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. - CHAIR’S REPORT
Chair Martin stated the meeting is intended to be informational only. - SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 179 PROCESS OVERVIEW
Dr. Quarles introduced Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 179 and the eleven areas that KCTCS is tasked with reviewing. Five workgroups have been established to review the different areas. The workgroups are made up of College Presidents, and faculty and staff across the system. Dr. Quarles informed the Board that peer teams are being engaged along the way and all KCTCS employees are invited to provide feedback. The Project Management Office will also be launching a SharePoint site so everyone can track progress. - HIGHER EDUCATION OVERVIEW
Dr. Paul Friga, AGB Consulting, provided an overview of the higher education landscape. Dr. Friga outlined the forces impacting higher education today, such as changing student needs and shifting public perception of the value of college. He discussed the oversupply of seats in higher education, the demographic cliff, and the decline in higher education funding which has led to closures and consolidations. Dr. Friga then provided several case studies of mergers and consolidations.
Dr. Quarles notified the Board that a quick response research team has been established that can focus on SJR 179 questions and data requests. - CONNECTICUT STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Dr. John Maduko, President of Connecticut State Community College outlined the process for consolidating Connecticut’s twelve community colleges into a singly accredited institution. Dr. Maduko made clear that there was a lot of resistance throughout the process. He provided examples of challenges such as significant enrollment decline and overly centralized processes, and examples of successes such as one student information system (one admission application and one FAFSA application) and strong financial reserves. - DALLAS COLLEGE
Dr. Tony Newberry presented on behalf of Dr. Joe May. Dr. Newberry stated that while there are no examples of whole state systems becoming singly accredited through SACSCOC there are several examples of clusters of colleges becoming one, such as the Dallas County Community College District. Seven independently accredited colleges were combined into one unified accredited institution in approximately 18 months. The consolidation was not motivated by finances but to better serve students and communities. It was noted that there were seven hundred layoffs, but they added three hundred career coaches to focus on student needs. The system set aside ten million for unspecified costs, most of which was used for severance packages for the layoffs and eight million for specific costs around infrastructure. - ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRUSTEES
Jee Hang Lee, President/CEO of the Association of Community College Trustees provided an overview of higher education governance. It was noted that the KCTCS Board of Regents is the only governing body of higher education in the country with ½ votes. Mr. Lee described the different models of community college governance including governing, coordinating, and advisory boards and the different methods of trustee selection such as appointed, elected, and ex-officio. Mr. Lee then provided detailed information about the following systems: Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees, Louisiana Community and Technical College System Board of Supervisors, Alabama Community College System Board of Trustees, North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges, Ivy Tech Community College State Board of Trustees, Virginia State Board for Community Colleges, and Tennessee Board of Regents. - GOVERNANCE AND ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE WORK TEAM
Dr. Scott Williams, OCTC President provided an update from the Governance and Organization Structure work team. Dr. Williams stated that the work team’s approach has been focused on what is best for students and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The work team started with a list of pros and cons that were presented to the President’s Leadership Team (PLT). The work group and PLT agreed that maintaining the status quo was unsustainable and that KCTCS might want to consider single accreditation with or without consolidation. Dr. Williams then discussed the advantages and disadvantages of pursuing single accreditation. The next step is to conduct research to determine the viability of single accreditation. Dr. Williams reiterated that no decisions have been made and the work team will not be making any decisions. The work team will be collecting research and data to provide to the decision makers. - ADJOURNMENT
Regent Finan made a motion to adjourn. Regent Heerdink seconded the motion. The motion passed by consensus and the meeting adjourned at 4:09 p.m. EST.
