Board of Trustees hold meeting at BCC

Written by: Sumedha Majumdar
The Board of Trustees meeting that took place May 14 at BCC was on par with your typical trustee gathering. It addressed a variety of pressing issues concerning the college and its students. The meeting was scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m. in B201 but was delayed because the Executive Session, which ran long. The Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Paul Chiles, presided over the meeting, which was attended by the six members of the board and a few faculty members. Jean Floten, the President of BCC, was also present at the meeting. The issues in focus were the recently prepared budget, the increase in tuition fees as indicated by the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges, and the recent student government elections. The graph that compares the student enrollment at the school for the years 2006-2008, shows that enrollment this year has been considerably high compared to that of last year or the year before. Also, the Quarterly Financial Reports for the year 2007-2008 were presented before the board. This is the current-year budget for BCC approved by the Board of Trustees in June 2007. Throughout the year, college staff presents the quarterly budget reports on the status of all college funds, identifying budget adjustments made during that quarter. The intention of the report as stated is, “…to analyze revenue and expenditure patterns against expectations, to identify emerging trends to see if they will have any bearing on future budgets and to provide a record of adjustments and changes that differ from the budget plan, approved by the board in June 2007.” So far, things have been looking pretty good with the high numbers of enrollment for the summer, winter and spring quarters. The tuition revenue is said to have exceeded the estimates. This report was prepared and presented by Laura Sanders, Vice President of Administrative Services. The other issue discussed was the recent rise in tuition fees, which is effective fall quarter, 2008. The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) recently approved the 2 percent increase in resident tuition and fees. According to the reports, the tuition increase for 1-11 credits is 0.6%, for 12-14 credits the increase is 0.7%, and for 15 credits and above the increase is 0.8%. The tuition increase for the Applied Baccalaureate Degree Programs is 5%. The same increase is also applied at the regional universities. This report was also prepared by Laura Sanders and was approved by the board, thereby complying with the terms set by the SBCTC. Also, the Board of Trustees approved the Associated Students Government’s Services and Activities (S & A) budget after getting the green light from the State of Washington. The S&A Budget Committee is comprised of five students, one faculty member and one administrator representative. The committee is said to have prepared a recommendation for the year of 2008-2009 that will be presented for future action at the Board of Trustees meeting scheduled on June 11, 2008. Thomas Pritchard, Interim Dean of students, prepared the report. Seven hundred and twenty-seven students participated in the Student Government elections this year. At one point, there were free giveaways of Jamba Juice smoothies on campus encouraging students to vote. This year BCC had a record high turn out at the polls. There are two new proposals that will be addressed at BCC’s next meeting. The first is a quarterly Student Environmental Sustainability Fee (SESF) assessed to each student as proposed by the Associated Student Government and the Student Science Association. The fee would be one dollar for up to ten credits effective this fall quarter 2008. 67% of students supported this fee. The second proposal is to formally change the title of Vice President of Student Affairs and Pluralism to the proposed “Vice President of Equity and Pluralism.” 82% of the voters supported the change and 18% refused. This report was prepared and presented by Jacob Peltier, President of the Associated Student Government of Bellevue Community College.