May 14, 2012
Cabinet Members:
President Mike Richards
K.C. Brekken, Director, Communication & Events
Constance Brooks, Director, Government Affairs & Diversity Initiatives
Thomas Brown, Senior Advisor to the President
Patty Charlton, Senior Vice President for Finance & Administration
Chemene Crawford, Interim Vice President for Student Affairs
Darren Divine, Vice President, Academic Affairs – absent
Richard Hinckley, General Counsel
Shellie Keller, Chair, Administrative Faculty Assembly
Rob Telles, President, Classified Council
Jacque Matthews, Executive Director, Foundation
Joan McGee, Chief Campus Administrator, Charleston Campus
Charles Milne, Faculty Senate Chair-Elect – absent
Aimee Riley, President, Student Government
Josh Ruter, Interim Campus Manager, Henderson Campus
Tracy Sherman, Faculty Senate Chair
Mugunth Vaithylingam, Chief Information Officer
The meeting was called to order by Dr. Richards at 9 a.m.
The notes of the March cabinet meeting were approved.
Dr. Richards reminded everyone about important upcoming dates, including the first Reflection of Success event at the Texas on Friday, May 18, Commencement on Monday, May 21 and the Formula Funding Committee special meeting on May 23.
Dr. Richards introduced the new Faculty Senate Chair-Elect, Darin Dockstader, and welcomed him to Cabinet.
Joan McGee reported that she has met with everyone who is in a leadership role regarding the Strategic Plan. The updates to the deliverables are due on July 1 for compilation. Joan will meet once more with those leaders to clarify issues after all the updates have been made, and then bring the report to the cabinet members in August. The progress report will be a key component of the October 15 accreditation site visit.
K.C. said there has been a lot of good press for CSN among the various news networks on the Legacy of Achievement Gala. The Gala was discussed on Channel 3, Fox News Network, the Ralston Flash and on George Knapp’s blog. The Reflection of Success event on Friday is still lacking a few volunteers, and those employees willing to help should contact Michelle Word. K.C. also gave an update on the Commencement ceremony to take place on Monday. The latest numbers indicate over 2,300 students are eligible to participate in the ceremony—the largest number of graduates ever. Included in this group are the first graduates earning a degree in Sustainable Energy.
Chemene Crawford distributed the Spring 2012 Student Affairs Newsletter containing highlights from Deans, updates in the various departments, important dates and more.
Shellie Keller reported positive feedback from the AFA regarding the participation in their meetings from Human Resources, Dr. Richards and Patty Charlton. Stephanie Hill will be a guest at the next meeting as well, to discuss student success initiatives. AFA has been partnering with NASCAR on Fridays for fundraising. AFA members work in concessions to raise funds for worthy causes.
Jacque Matthews said the Legacy of Achievement Gala went very well this year. The event raised $300,000 and the Honorees, who all had personal ties to CSN, were exceptional. The scholarship challenge amounts were met and exceeded as well. The Las Vegas Review Journal will print a 4 page insert again on June 6 to highlight CSN alumni. The 4th Annual CSN Golf Classic will take place on June 15. The committee to plan the event is doing an excellent job; only two more teams are needed to sell out. The tournament will occur at the Badlands Golf Club. Proceeds will benefit CSN Athletics.
Joan McGee has been busy representing CSN by attending numerous mixers, fundraisers and meetings on the College’s behalf and by participating in community service events all around the Las Vegas Valley. She will also be assisting with the Reflection of Success festivities on May 18.
Aimee Riley told the group being a part of the Cabinet as Student Body President was a very broadening experience and it was good to sit down with the College decision-makers regularly. She thanked the administration for the opportunity. Dr. Richards also thanked Aimee for her service the past year. Travis Brown, the newly-elected Student Body President, will begin his term and attend the next cabinet meeting in June.
Josh Ruter updated everyone about Henderson campus improvements. A rebate from Nevada Power should be paid soon as a result of the solar panels on the B Building. Also in B a new chiller was installed. The A Building renovations are contingent upon funding, but he is hopeful. In July the Boulder City site will belong to the City.
Tracy Sherman said it would be her last cabinet meeting. Charles Milne will take over as faculty senate chair, but they will both be working on several policies through the summer. Dr. Richards thanked Tracy for serving as chair the past year.
Mugunth Vaithylingam reported the lowest number of login issues ever. The load balance went well—much better than at other institutions. He reported that all VOIP conversions are complete. OTS is working with certain departments on call trees. OTS also sent out instructions for faxing long distance and is working on fax receiving ability for smart phones. OTS is working with a new vendor (Cox) and doubled the College’s bandwidth at a low price. Apple gave a discount for the first time in addition to a buy-back program—another first for them. The Help Desk is now processing self-serve tickets. You can email the help desk at help.desk@csn.edu . Faculty and staff computer refreshes are on track with 300 new computers and 100 classrooms refreshed this year. The RFP for Smart Classroom upgrades saved about $300,000. The project will upgrade auditoriums, lecture halls and 54 classrooms by the fall semester.
OTS has a newsletter, Get Connected, that includes great information each month. You can bookmark this page http://blog.csn.edu/ots for updates, videos, and all the latest news from OTS. Mugunth said that the Tech Connect conference for faculty and staff has raised over $50K in scholarships over the last 2 years. The event has had 469 attendees, 39 vendors and has offered about $32K in free training. In addition, there are prizes raffled totaling over $5,000 in merchandise. The attendee survey indicated 87% were very satisfied and 90% will attend again next year. The optional comments in the survey about Tech Connect were also very positive.
Mugunth made a presentation and led a discussion on IT security.
Dr. Richards said the Formula Funding committee will meet on May 23 and will focus on two reports in particular—HSI (Hispanic Serving Institution) status and the Fresh Look Task Force. Patty Charlton will give an update on the meeting outcome at next Cabinet in June.
Dr. Richards said the meeting with the CSN Foundation Trustees was excellent. The Trustees were introduced to Funding Formula information and the impact the formula has on CSN.
The summer will include many activities to begin CSN’s responsibilities as an Achieving the Dream institution. Janice Glasper will report on our progress at the next cabinet meeting.
Today begins a program review of Financial Aid by the Department of Education. The representatives will be with us for the whole week to audit disbursements and processes in Student Financial Services and the Registrar.
Rob Telles reminded everyone of the Classified Luncheon on May 24, and also Classified in-service offerings the week of May 29-June 1.
Meeting adjourned at 9:40 a.m.
Next meeting scheduled June 11, 2012.
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