November Chronicle

Greetings! This November Chronicle addresses three specific topics:  legislative issues, periodic presidential evaluation, and outstanding accomplishments.  I would ask you to take time to read this Chronicle carefully.

LEGISLATIVE  ISSUES

• Following the 2014 elections, Republican lawmakers now control the Senate and Assembly and will be working with Governor Sandoval on the budget for the next biennium and on legislation impacting higher education.
• Issues that lawmakers are expected to discuss include tax reform and whether to extend a package of taxes due to sunset July 1, 2015, addressing Medicaid and related health issues and fixing the public education funding formula. In terms of higher education, lawmakers will review the Board of Regents’ budget priorities and we anticipate there will be legislation to authorize guns on campus.
• We have reached out to all Southern Nevada legislators and are in the process of meeting with individual legislative leaders to communicate CSN’s needs.

I want to emphasize that the elimination of furloughs is still a top priority of the Board of Regents and of mine.

More information will be forthcoming on how to get involved. Letter writing, phone calls and petitions are just some of the ways you can participate and bring attention to the issues that matter to you and your family.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have further questions or concerns, regarding legislative issues. Again, I urge you to get involved!

CSN PERIODIC PRESIDENTIAL EVALUATION

Approximately every three years, the Board of Regents conducts an extensive evaluation of a college or university’s president.  My evaluation will be conducted Dec. 9-12. Regent Kevin Melcher will chair the committee that will lead this process.  Due to limited time, the evaluation itself will take place at CSN’s Charleston campus. 

During this period of time, a third-party evaluation consultant – Dr. Carol Harter — will conduct a variety of interviews with CSN stakeholders.

The CSN community’s input is an integral element of the search process. Public comment is invited, anticipated and welcomed. The Regents’ CSN Presidential Evaluation Committee agenda will be posted on the NSHE website at www.nevada.edu and on the State of Nevada public notice website at https://notice.nv.gov/

A presidential evaluation is one of the most important tasks undertaken at the college and your input in this process is critical. As a valued member of CSN, you are encouraged to participate through the following three processes.

I. Open Forums
Open forum for CSN employees

Thursday, Dec. 11, 3-4 p.m.

CSN Charleston Campus, D 101

Open forum for CSN students

Thursday, Dec. 11, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

CSN Charleston Campus, K 101

II. Email
The third-party evaluation consultant will review e-mail letters sent prior to Dec. 8. You may send your input via email to Dr. Carol Harter at carol.harter@unlv.edu. Board policy prohibits her from accepting anonymous emails.

III. Public Comment

The Board of Regents’ CSN Presidential Evaluation Committee will meet on Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 9 a.m. and on Friday, Dec. 12, at 1 p.m. in E 327 on the Charleston campus. These meetings are open to the public and interested stakeholders are invited to provide brief remarks during the public comment periods of these meetings.

For additional questions, please contact CSN Director of Government Affairs & Communications K.C. Brekken at 702-651-7535 or kc.brekken@csn.edu.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE INSTITUTIONAL ADVISORY COUNCILS (IAC)
The Board of Regents Committee on Community Colleges approved the charges and responsibilities for community college Institutional Advisory Councils this morning. The first meeting of all the community colleges’ new IACs will take place on Feb. 4 at 9 a.m. simultaneously, and we will receive a live address via videoconference from the President of the American Association on Community Colleges Walter Bumphus, which he will deliver from the Southern NSHE office. As mentioned previously, the interim legislative Committee on Community College Governance and Funding served as the impetus for these Institutional Advisory Councils, which will advise respective institutional presidents on a broad array of issues.  In a sense, the IAC is another governing board with links to the community and to the Board of Regents.   The Chair of the Board of Regents, Kevin Page, is expected to appoint the membership of each community college’s IAC by the end of December.   CSN has proposed 15 individuals and two ex officio members, insuring that student and faculty representation to the IAC is sustained from the outset. 

LAS VEGAS LATIN CHAMBER

Congratulations to CSN Executive Director of Community Relations, Diversity and Multicultural Affairs Maria Marinch, who was recently elected to the Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors.

We are very proud to have a representative of CSN involved in this important organization and community partner. She will be inducted to the board today.

NATIONAL SPACE GRANT COLLEGE AND FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

CSN is the sub-awardee of the Nevada NASA Space Grant Consortium and received $300,580 to create a STEM Community of Practice. This CoP will link with Nevada’s other three community colleges to influence the success of women and underrepresented minorities as they pursue STEM coursework and degree attainment in the sciences.  Congrats to CSN biology instructor and Faculty Senate Chair elect Camille Naaktgeboren who is the leading this consortium on behalf of CSN!

NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

I would like to thank the Native American Heritage Month Committee, including Chair Dr. Sondra Cosgrove, for their hard work to put on this month’s engaging events. If you can make it, I hope to see you at the President’s Forum on E-Learning and Native Students on Thursday in the H Building, Rm. 205 at 2:30 p.m. and then there is also a terrific photo exhibit “Moapa My Home” in the Nicholas J. horn Theatre Exhibit Hall from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21.

NEVADA’S TOP LIBRARIAN IS AT CSN

Congratulations to CSN’s Ted Chodock! The Nevada Library Association named him the 2014 Librarian of the Year.

His work in assessing the effect of library policies and procedures on students was cited in his nomination as an example of his excellent work.

Chodock, a reference and instructional services librarian on the Charleston campus, came to CSN four years ago, following a stint at the Harvard Divinity School library. He has two master’s degrees and taught English for a period of time in Japan. CSN is fortunate to have him on board!

NEW EMERGENCY ALERT TOOL

In addition to texts and voicemails, CSN’s Emergency Notification System will now send critical alert messages right to college computers.

When CSN initiates an alert, a full-screen emergency message, such as the one featured here, will appear on all CSN computers.

Click an acknowledgment button at the bottom of the screen to close the alert and simultaneously provide acknowledgement to safety officials who originated the notification. Otherwise, alert messages will display until expiration or cancellation.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD) EXCELLENCE AWARDS

The CSN Internal Recognition Committee wants to recognize your efforts to go above and beyond the expectations that make CSN a spectacular place to work and study. CSN will be honoring up to six individuals with the NISOD Excellence Awards for teaching faculty, administrative faculty and classified staff for their contributions to the college and student success. If you, or someone at CSN that you know is deserving of this, please be sure to apply or encourage them to apply. Once you fill out the application, have your supervisor sign it (he or she will have an optional place to expand on his or her endorsement) and then email it to IRC Chair Michele Fogg at Michele.fogg@csn.edu or send it via campus mail to her sort WC 204B.  The deadline for completed application is Friday, Dec. 19, at 5 p.m. 

ANNUAL HUNGRY GAMES

Thanks to all who were involved in the tannual Hungry Games, the faculty and staff BBQ and fall festival. It was wonderful to see so many members of our CSN family and to meet so many members of their families.

Congratulations to all administrative faculty, whose team won the employee mush ball competition and took home the trophy.

Faculty & Staff Questions:

“What is the status of furloughs for the 15/16 academic year?”

As mentioned above, elimination of the furloughs is a top NSHE priority for the 2015 legislative session, but we can’t know anything for certain at this point. This is a reason you should stay aware of what is happening in the Legislature and get involved.

“What is going on with the Merit Policy?  Current status?”

I have asked the Administrative Faculty Assembly (AFA) Executive Committee to draft the portion of this policy that will affect administrative faculty, following the Faculty Senate approval of its portion of the CSN Merit Pay Policy.  The AFA Executive Committee is currently seeking input. 

 “Do we plan to re-index the salaries so that we are at 83%?  (I think this was a promise; at least that is what I have been told.)”

NSHE’s community college salary committee meets about every other year to review salary levels and re-index them pursuant to policies of the Board of Regents.  During the recession, salaries fell to about 71% of the median of university salaries.  Through the committee’s efforts and the advocacy of Carolyn Collins and John Scarborough, the index rose to approximately 78% with a goal of reaching 83%–a system target.  I am committed to the process of re-indexing on a systematic basis, and I’d like to go higher than 83%–a rather arbitrary target.

“There are rumors of Richards retiring… Is this true?”

This would be a surprise to me. 

“Does Dr. Richards have a position on the Phase 1 recommendations sent out by the chancellor from the DE taskforce?”

The Phase 1 recommendations contain general and specific recommendations regarding distance education.  In the context of Richard Katz’s 16 recommendations these are more manageable and appropriate for the system—a common LMS and registration platform appear to be useful steps forward.  Off the shelf remedial courses and math and English are more problematic since most literature in the field indicates remedial DE is not successful for most students.  If you’d like to read the entire document, either I or Jodie Mandel can provide it.  �

“What do classified staff need to know about the winter break closure? Is there an option for me if I want to work over the closure?”

CSN is reducing operations at the West Charleston, Cheyenne and Henderson campuses and closing all satellite sites Thursday, December 25, 2014 through Friday, January 2, 2015. Staff who choose to be off will need to take leave for the period December 26 – 31, 2014 and January 2, 2015.  

And yes, there are options for you if you want to work over that time period. In short, those departments that will have employees who have been designated to work or have elected to work, the management of the department is responsible for ensuring that there is a supervisory presence to provide oversight and guidance to any employee who is working.

In those cases where insufficient supervisory resources are available for those individuals who do not wish to take the winter break period off or wish to only take some time off during the winter break, arrangements will be made to reassign staff to the West Charleston campus during the winter break. Employees assigned to the Charleston campus from other campuses will be required to check in on the days worked at Charleston with the designated supervisor/administrator-in-charge at the Charleston campus.

For those planning on working during the holiday period, please complete the 2014 Winter Break Form that HR last emailed out on Nov. 6 and send it to Human Resources, (SORT CODE WC E411) no later than Dec. 1, 2014.

Please direct any questions, comments or concerns to the Human Resources e-mail box at HRcustomerservice@csn.edu

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sincerely,

Mike