October Cabinet Notes

Cabinet Notes

October 12, 2009 

Cabinet Members:

President Mike Richards

John Bearce, Interim Director of Institutional Research

K.C. Brekken, Manager of Communications

Thomas Brown, Chief Campus Administrator, Cheyenne

Art Byrd, Vice President, Student Affairs

Patty Charlton, Senior Vice President for Finance & Facilities

Darren Divine, Interim Vice President, Academic Affairs

Richard Hinckley, General Counsel – absent

Bill Kerney, Faculty Senate Chair-Elect – absent

Penny McCollum, Campus Site Administrator, Henderson Campus

Joan McGee, Chief Campus Administrator, Charleston Campus

Larry Mason, Interim Vice President, Diversity & Cultural Affairs

Jacque Matthews, Executive Director, Foundation

Dave Morgan, Chair, Administrative Faculty Assembly

Mark Rauls, Faculty Senate Chair

Cat Maihen, President, Classified Council

Mugunth Vaithylingam, Chief Information Officer

Nathaniel Waugh, Student Government President

Anne Zemek de Dominguez, General Counsel

Guests: Christian Schreiber, SunGard Information Security Officer 

The meeting was called to order by Patty Charlton at 9 a.m. 

The notes of the September 14, 2009 cabinet meeting were approved with minor corrections.

Patty reminded the cabinet members of an IT security presentation at 3:00 pm in D-101, and encouraged everyone to attend.

Patty reviewed some important upcoming events including the ACE OWHE Nevada Network Conference on Friday, October 16 at the Cheyenne campus, the Campus College Party on the Henderson campus October 24, and no classes on October 30 (Nevada Day) and November 11 (Veteran’s Day). Some items were added to the calendar as well: International Education Week, November 16 – 20 and the CSN Foundation Celebrity Golf Tournament on November 24. 

Mugunth Vaithylingam introduced SunGard’s Information Security Officer, Christian Schreiber. Christian spoke to the group about the security challenges in higher education and some of the easiest ways to prevent security breaches. His main focus with SunGard is to identify threats and develop ways to mitigate the data breach risk. Nevada defines a breach as unauthorized disclosure of personal information. The cost to an institution after a breach occurs is high and includes direct and indirect costs. The direct costs are comprised of mailings, fines, costs of upgrades to systems, and public relations. Indirect costs are more subtle and time-consuming, such as media scrutiny, inquiries from alumni, the general public and legislators. One of the college’s best defenses against breaches is common sense. Using complex passwords and changing them often is a good practice. Keeping up-to-date on system upgrades and patches is also recommended. Other common sense practices are locking your computer when you are away from it, not writing down passwords, and not giving sensitive information through email e.g., credit card numbers, social security numbers, birthdates, passwords. A more in depth look at IT security is planned for today at 3:00 pm in D-101. 

Jacque Matthews presented the details of the Holiday Fundraiser/Party at the Las Vegas Hilton. Tickets can be purchased from the CSN Foundation for $5 per person (limit 2 tickets per employee). The ticket is tax deductible and every penny of the money will go to support CSN students and academic programs. The ticket will also enter the employee into a drawing for a $500 Gift Card for Southwest Airlines. In addition, each employee is asked to bring a non-perishable food donation to the event, and at the end of the evening Three Square will gather the food donation and distribute it to families in need. Checks for tickets should be made payable to CSN Foundation and sent to W32E by November 30. Jacque also encouraged everyone to spread the word about the annual Golf Tournament, which will take place at Dragon Ridge Golf Course on November 24. The goal is to have 144 players. Last year’s tournament raised about $50,000 for CSN’s Athletics Programs. 

CSN Effectiveness Council

Joan McGee reported on the Strategic Planning Forums held at all three campuses during the last few weeks. There were about 60 participants at the forums, and the strategic planning survey to employees is still open. Some of the preliminary outcomes of the forums and survey indicate a desire for a campus climate annual survey including the learning centers, a need for K-12 input, and concerns about the budget. Some have recommended that the scope of the strategic plan should be limited to 3 years, because of the legislative sessions and the impact the outcomes of those sessions have on CSN. Also being considered is an evaluation of the Board of Regents’ expectations of a community college to identify ways CSN, in light of the current financial situation, can best meet those expectations. The core themes identified in our accreditation requirements are Access, Quality, and Diversity. One of the Strategic Planning Committee’s charges is to determine how these themes apply to all areas of the College. Joan also reminded everyone that the committee will develop a draft of the Strategic Plan—there will be opportunity for more input. 

John Bearce updated the group on the progress of the iNtegrate project. The Bio/Demo information that CSN worked to clean up is live as of September 8. Some additional incremental conversions will follow. UNLV and TMCC, the pilot institutions, went live with their Admissions systems this week. CSN will go live in 2010. John said that all of the modules are in the testing phase now, except Student Records, which still has some opportunities. Currently being tested are the Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) and Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) which will bring comprehensive and relevant data analysis capability to each institution. 

John also gave an update on Institutional Research data and shared enrollment numbers. CSN’s FTE as of Friday, October 9 was 21,937—up 4.48% over last fall. Overall enrollment is up, but the Apprentice Program shows a sharp decline. The largest decline in that area is in the construction trade and reflects the current economy. On October 15, the official count after purges will be reported to the State and Federal Government.

K.C. Brekken reported the Fire Station groundbreaking ceremony went very well. She thanked especially the O&M Department for their help, and the company that set up the tent twice, when the wind brought down the first one.

Patty Charlton gave the highlights from Finance & Facilities. The Human Resources department is working with the System Office to review benefits details regarding the newly effective Domestic Partnership legislation. She also reminded everyone that the new health insurance plan year begins November 1. New rates, coverage, and deductibles will be effective on that date. The Grant Thornton Company will be completing its on-site visit with the Financial Services office this week. The company serves as CSN’s external auditors. The Facilities department is working on a number of projects around the campuses.

Among them:

  • Underground drainage on the Charleston campus and half street improvements along Torrey Pines for the Fire Station/Instructional Center – ongoing through the academic year. 
  • The Ralph & Betty Engelstad School of Health Sciences Building construction is in progress and on schedule – to be completed during the Summer/Fall 2010.  
  • Fire Station 6/Instruction Center groundbreaking ceremony was September 30 – construction prices are being finalized and work will get underway in the next several weeks once contracts are executed 
  • Cheyenne Science Lab renovation – architect selected 
  • Gowan street improvements are completed  
  • Henderson campus expansion – public request process will begin in the next several weeks to select an architect. Facilities Management staff and departments will work with the architect selected in the planning for more space for Student Services, Cashier’s Office, Student Government and Food Services  

Darren Divine spoke briefly about stimulus dollars for green technology initiatives at CSN. An MOU with Southwest Gas is being discussed for HVAC, and hybrid technology for our automotive programs. Other methods to make CSN more green and control campus utility costs are also being considered. Some green technology may be implemented into our existing buildings in the near future. 

Dave Morgan reported that representation in the AFA is nearly complete – just one representative seat remains unfilled. The AFA employee of the month program will begin in November with its first award. The program is modeled after the Classified Council program, with a parking space and electronic recognition planned for now, but the AFA hopes to develop the reward further. The Executive Committee is considering procedural changes to the bylaws which have not been revisited since 2006. Dave reported great attendance for the September meeting. The new online and teleconference meeting options presented were well-received, and new equipment is being considered for electronic voting capability. Bake sales are planned for Cheyenne campus on October 13th and Charleston campus on October 20th. The next AFA general meeting will be held on October 23 in H-107 on the Charleston campus. 

Mugunth Vaithylingam told the group that OTS is working on permanent solutions for help desk tickets with high occurrences. The goal is to reduce the number of tickets being created. OTS is readying the servers for Spring semester also. The next Technology Expo will be coordinated with CAPE and will include more faculty workshops. Also being revisited is the relevance of certain vendor booths at the expo. The objective is to keep technology as the focus of the event, and not have vendors just for the sake of having vendors. Dr. Richards commented on the success of the recent OTS retreat, and thanked Mugunth for the improvement in service the college is already seeing. Goals for improvement were set with 30- 60- and 90-day timeframes.

Marc Rauls said Faculty Senate has a couple of new policies – one for Tenure and one for Faculty Evaluations. In November, the policies to be discussed are Academic Dishonesty (proposed last spring), and adjustments to the Add/Drop Policy. This next meeting on November 6 will be held in I-108, and Chancellor Klaich will attend. Everyone is invited.

Nate Waugh highlighted the current news from Student Government. Eight senators were sworn in on October 6, another senator was appointed to the Cheyenne campus. ASCSN is beginning the conversion of documents/archives into electronic format. Also, Student Government is experimenting with new methods of marketing. A ‘Did you know?’ campaign and college Spirit Weeks are a couple of ways ASCSN is trying to develop awareness on campus. Nate also shared some upcoming events: 

  • Spirit Week, October 12-16  
  • Antonia Juhasz, ‘The Tyranny of Oil,’ October 14  
  • Mid-Term Resources Fair, October 20-22  
  • Magic Schoolhouse Festival – a safe Halloween event coordinated by PTK and ACCSN on October 30  
  • Meeting on November 6 – Chancellor Klaich will attend

Anne Zemek de Dominguez reported a busy month for the legal counsels. The System Office is working with legal counsels from each institution to create a central resource students can utilize for various areas of concern. Bart Patterson will oversee the group as NSHE Vice Chancellor for Legal and Administration.

Joan McGee asked for volunteers to fill water balloons and perform other set-up tasks for the October 24 Henderson Campus College Party. She will also send the results of the ‘Great Place to Work’ Survey via ‘All’ e-mail, that details CSN’s answers to the questionnaire. CSN did not win the contest, but there was very good feedback from employees.

Dr. Richards told the group he and Richard Hinckley have been working to secure the land for the Northwest Campus, and get the details in writing. Another undertaking Dr. Richards has been working on with the VP’s, is setting budget priorities for 2011. Dr. Richards also attended a Latin Chamber of Commerce event at which CSN was honored as a Friend of the Latin Chamber.

Meeting adjourned at 10:45 a.m. 

Next meeting scheduled November 9, 2009.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.