Board hears program, finance reports

By Nicholas Ketchum
Staff Writer

The Board of Trustees ap­proved a number of resolutions at their Sept. 25 public meet­ing, including this year’s state-required “Local Strategic Value” plan, a five-year Capital Outlay Plan, recommendations for hir­ing new personnel, and a new board member to the Washtenaw Middle Technical College.

All trustees were present at roll call and throughout the public portion; promptly moving through their scheduled business following the initial housekeep­ing. The Board also heard pre­sentations from students, faculty, college leadership, and an inde­pendent financial auditor.

The agenda included new fac­ulty introductions, a faculty-led presentation showing progress in the “STEM Scholars” program, a student presentation outlining efforts to gain recognition as a “voter friendly campus”, general updates regarding Washtenaw Middle Technical College, a recap of this summer’s on-cam­pus International Labor Union Instructor Training event, a resolution to approve the hiring of various recommended personnel, a resolution to approve a five-year capital outlay plan, a resolution to award contract bids, and a resolu­tion to approve year-end financial statements.

STEM Scholars

Susan Dentel presented up­dates for the STEM Scholars pro­gram, and presented a video to the Board. She reported on the 2018 summer intensive and in­troduced four students enrolled in the program.

Voter initiative

An initiative to get the stu­dents on campus to vote, the Voter Democracy Project, pre­sented progress to the board.

Matea Pejic, project lead, re­ported they have registered 294 students, which is 10% of their intended goal of registering 2500 students.

Upon submission of a final report by Pejic in March, WCC will be award a “Friendly Voter Campus” by the nonpartisan or­ganization Campus Vote Project.

New voter registration cut-off date is Oct. 9.

Local strategic value

A large portion of proceed­ing was consumed by discussion related to the “Local Strategic Value” document, which demon­strates how the college complies with Michigan Public Act 265. By state law, the college is required to file the document with the state.

A comprehensive update of WCC programs, initiatives, events, and partnerships was giv­en by a panel of department vice-presidents speaking in turns.

President Bellanca thanked the panel and staff for their work in producing and presenting the Local Strategic Value document.

Year-end financial statements

Accountants for the col­lege reported that WCC is in good financial health, with higher-than-forecasted revenues, which resulted from unexpectedly abundant property tax receipts.

The college currently has a net surplus and plans to use the extra funds for completing some deferred maintenance. One trust­ee wondered if some of the extra funds could also be used toward student needs.

Washtenaw Technical Middle College

Updated facts and figures regarding enrollments and pro­grams were presented to the Board. The presentation pointed out fast institutional growth; the fastest in the county. The school reports success in preparing stu­dents in math and science, with transfers to well-known and repu­table universities.

Capital outlay plan

The Board held on further discussion on the matter until next month’s meeting.

Personnel hiring recommendations

The Board approved the hir­ing of personnel recommended for various positions. The Board also approved a new board mem­ber for the Washtenaw Technical Middle College.

Next meeting

The Board decided to re­schedule next month’s meeting for Oct. 30. starting at 6:00 p.m.

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