April 18, 2009

Free College Day!

Today is the Free College Day at JCCC celebrating the college's 40th anniversary. I'm teaching a class, "Citizen Media or How to be one of those Bloggers."

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April 15, 2009

NEWS: Hodge's Power Point


Video courtesy of Cameron Fletcher of The Campus Ledger


Trustee Benjamin Hodge continued his efforts to challenge the Board of Trustees, JCCC President Terry Calaway and College Attorney Mark Ferguson on Kansas Open Meetings Act (KOMA) violations.

Read The Campus Ledger coverage of the alleged KOMA violations here (March 12) and here (April 13).

During the Petitions and Communications section of the board's monthly meeting, Hodge called for Trustees Lyn Mitchelson and Shirley Brown VanArsdale to step down from the leadership of the board. Unlike the last meeting in March, Ferguson, Calaway and the other trustees chose not to respond to Hodge.

Allotted 5 minutes to make his case, Hodge vowed to continue his PowerPoint presentation at the next board meeting. However, video provided by The Campus Ledger shows Hodge's presentation goes on for almost double the allotted time.

Before Hodge's presentation, trustees approved granting domestic partner benefits to full time employees. In 2006, the board approved adding sexual orientation to the college's non-discrimination policy and Student Code of Conduct.

Other board actions are listed in the Board of Trustee Summary posted on the college's electronic mail server, Infolist.

From: InfoList
Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 6:49 PM
To: InfoList
Subject: [infolist] Trustee meeting summary

On April 15 the JCCC board of trustees met for their regular monthly meeting, immediately followed by a budget workshop. Trustee Jon Stewart was unable to attend.

Awards and recognition

The board welcomed the president and staff members from University College of the North, Manitoba, Canada, who are on campus to look at the college’s partnership with Burlington Northern Santa Fe and other learning opportunities.
Dr. Sean Daley, assistant professor, anthropology, was recognized for the work he has done with and for Native American populations.
JCCC’s men’s basketball team and women’s half-marathon team were honored for winning national championships. The volleyball team was recognized for being second in the national tournament.
The Nerman Museum has seen an increase in visitors of more than 18 percent in the first three months of the year, from 14,495 in 2008 to 17,239 in 2009.

Actions taken

· The board approved the treasurer’s report.

· The board approved clinical affiliate agreements for students in health care professions programs.

· The board approved new classes in animation, anthropology, biology, web, English, physical education, journalism, mathematics and psychology and a new career certificate in animation and game art.

· The board approved a proposal from HMN Architects, Inc., for architectural services and associated subconsultant services for the Health Services Educational Center at Olathe Medical Center, in an amount not to exceed 5.75 percent of the guaranteed maximum price construction cost. The estimated cost for architectural services is approximately $723,750, plus usual and customary reimbursable expenses.

· The board approved the lowest acceptable bids of $36,533.70 from All Sun Plus and $99,651.75 from Alexander Open Systems for Cisco equipment to be used in the Billington Library data closets to upgrade and improve network speed and reliability.

· The board approved several recommendations regarding employee benefits.

o A flex benefit amount of $1,189.88 a month for each full-time position to be used to cover the costs of benefits within the flex benefit plan. Fixed flex credit funding does not increase from FY 2008-2009.

o A contribution equal to 7 percent of each full-time, benefit-eligible staff member’s base salary to his or her individual 403(b) account, effective June 1, 2009.

o Employee group medical insurance with BCBS of KC for a period beginning June 1, 2009, through May 31, 2010. Monthly subscriber rates will not exceed, for single, $465.15 Blue-Care HMO and $836.40 for Preferred Care PPO; for an employee and one dependent, $852.88 for Blue-Care and $1,538.18 for Preferred Care; and for family, $1,169.29 Blue-Care and $2,035.05 Preferred Care. The rates represent a 5.5 percent increase in premiums and include domestic partner coverage

o Employee group CDC managed care dental insurance with Cigna Health Care for a period beginning June 1, 2009, through May 31, 2010. Monthly subscriber rates are, for single, $24.76; for an employee and one dependent, $50.23; and for family, $77.40. These rates represent a 6 percent increase in premiums and include domestic partner coverage.

o Employee group Passive PPO dental insurance with Delta Dental for a period beginning June 1, 2009, through May 1, 2010. Monthly subscriber rates are, for singles, $32.64; for an employee and one dependent, $63.73; and for family, $113.21. These rates represent a 4.75 percent increase in premiums and include domestic partner coverage.

o Employee group vision insurance with Vision Service Plan (VSP) for a period beginning June 1, 2009, through May 31, 2010. Monthly subscriber rates are, for single, $15.32; for an employee and one dependent, $22.37; and for family coverage, $40.12. There is no increase in the rates this year compared to last year.

o Provision of employee group life insurance with Sun-Life of Canada for a period beginning June 1, 2009, through May 31, 2010. Monthly rates are $.255/per $1,000 of insurance for Basic Life, $.195/per $1,000 of insurance for Optional Life, $.02/per $1,000 of insurance for Basic and Contributory AD&D; and for dependent life insurance at a monthly subscriber rate not to exceed $3.03 per month. There is no increase in the rates this year compared to last year.

· The board also approved the annual renewal of the contract for administration of the college’s flexible spending account program with Cafeteria Plan Administrators LLC at a total annual expenditure not to exceed $55,000.

· The board also approved bids for an Internet protocol (IP) addressing system, to replace the floors in the Commons dining area, and for a project portfolio management solution for Information Services.

Budget workshop

Four trustees reviewed the college’s proposed 2009-2010 budget of $134,254,187, which is 6 percent lower than the 2008-2009 budget of $142,917,552. The budget was built on these assumptions:

We’d see a 4 percent decrease in assessed valuation from the county, a 13 percent decrease in monies from the state and a 3 percent increase in enrollment.
There will be no increase in the mill levy this year.
There will be a $4 increase in cost per credit hour for in-state students and a $10 increase for out-of-state students.
There will be no increase in staffing.
There was no increase in operation budget (except for expenses, like utilities, that are difficult to control). Capital budgets were based on need.
Students presented a proposal for a “green” fee that would be assessed students to support sustainability initiatives. One collar of the tuition increase will be used for this purpose.

The board will approve the college’s 2009-2010 management budget at the May board meeting and the legal budget in August.

Next meeting

The next meeting of the JCCC board of trustees is at 5 p.m. May 21 in the Hugh W. Speer Board Room, 137 GEB. Board of trustee meetings are open to the public. For more details, see a copy of the board packet at http://www.jccc.net/home/depts.php/000001/site/BoardMeetingInfo/JCCCBoardReports

April 9, 2009

Morales on the Trustee Election


From the Morales for JCCC Trustee website:

Family, friends and supporters:

You’ve made my campaign for JCCC Trustee one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life.

While we did not garner enough votes to secure a seat on the board, we did get almost 8 percent of all voters to support us. Thank you for making this an historic election.

Consider the magnitude of what we’ve accomplished:

In a county that is 90 percent white, 1 out of every 12 voters cast a ballot in a spring election to support a Hispanic candidate for a position on a board that since its inception has never seated an ethnic minority. What makes it even more incredible is that the candidate is also a full-time student and employee of that institution.

The almost 7,000 votes we earned convinced me to run for a seat on the board in two years. So, rest up folks because we have an election to win in 2011!

Thank you once again for your dedication to education and to Johnson County and its community college.

Your steadfast supporter,


Miguel M. Morales