Cabinet Members:
President Mike Richards
John Bearce, Interim Director of Institutional Research
K.C. Brekken, Communications Manager
Thomas Brown, Chief Campus Administrator, Cheyenne
Art Byrd, Vice President, Student Affairs – absent
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
Penny McCollum, Campus Site Administrator, Henderson Campus
Joan McGee, Chief Campus Administrator, Charleston Campus
Larry Mason, Interim Vice President, Diversity & Cultural Affairs – absent
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 – absent
Guests: J.T. Creedon, Clarissa Erwin, Dan Morris, Laura Yavitz
The meeting was called to order by Dr. Richards at 9 a.m.
The notes of the April 12, 2010 cabinet meeting were approved.
Dr. Richards pointed out some important upcoming dates including Commencement on May 17 at the Thomas & Mack at 6:00 pm, and summer sessions beginning on June 7.
Nate Waugh introduced his successor as Student Body President, J.T. Creedon. Dr. Richards welcomed him and thanked Nate for his service over the last year.
Clarissa Erwin distributed statistics and gave a short presentation about the CSN Library’s web page. The Library’s main page is the 6th most accessed page, behind registration, student login, catalog & schedule, CSN Baseball, and faculty & staff email. In April there were more than 35,000 visits to the site. The statistics also indicated that CSN students use the library resources extensively in their studies, with over 247,000 materials accessed in April alone. Clarissa clicked on the streaming digital video collections for the cabinet members and demonstrated the ease of access to high quality research materials. The videos accessible through the site are from a variety of sources such as PBS, The History Channel, and Universal Newsreel. They have been copyright cleared and can be embedded into lessons by instructors (in their entirety or selected segments) for on-line courses through Angel. There are currently thousands of titles available. The link is below:
http://www.csn.edu/pages/209.asp
John Bearce and Laura Yavitz explained the content and results of the Decision-Making Survey used by the ad-hoc Organization Structure Committee. Three of the questions on the survey were open-ended and John and Laura grouped the responses according to subject. Fifty percent of the comments on the survey were positive, 29% were negative, and 21% were neutral; comments about supervisors, however, were 92% positive. Overall the survey reflected a great deal of job satisfaction. The comments indicated the following areas of concern:
CSN’s need for streamlining processes
Poor or inconsistent communication through middle management
The need for CSN to implement technological efficiencies
A climate survey will most likely be presented to all employees within the next year to further clarify and address areas of concern.
K.C. Brekken distributed the new Facts-In-Brief tri-fold brochure with updated Fall 2009 FTE data in it. The pamphlet is a great tool that gives a snapshot of CSN particulars for student demographics, tuition, fees and other revenue information as well as traditional and online class statistics. It is posted online at http://www.csn.edu/uploadedfiles/Administration/Institutional_Research_and_Planning/Reports/Data_Pubs/CSN09-10FactCardFinalLo-res.pdf
K.C. told the group that Convocation would take place at the Texas Station on August 23. Complete details will be forthcoming. K.C. is also working with Taylor Gray on some updates to pages on the CSN web site, and working on making the Red Rock Review available in our Bookstores soon. Currently they are in several Barnes & Noble stores. Shredding day at CSN took place on May 7 and was a great success.
Thomas Brown has been meeting with Search Committees and with Human Resources to re-visit CSN’s Affirmative Action and Diversity goals with great success. The meetings have improved the understanding of all involved with our hiring process. The Cheyenne campus has hosted many events over the last couple of months, so it has been a busy place. Most notable were the diversity celebrations and the Science & Technology Expo. The events were well-attended.
Cat Maihen gave an update on Classified Council’s activities for the past few months. In March, CAPE along with state agencies hosted a semi-annual workshop. The topic was Preventing Identity Theft, and was very enlightening. In April, Classified Council had a booth at the Technology Expo and had quite a few visitors. On May 27, the annual Classified Employee Recognition Luncheon will be held on each of the three main campuses.
Information about specific locations on campus will be provided via email in the next week or so. June will bring elections for the nine seats available on the council. Nomination forms will also go out in the next week. July 1 begins the new members’ terms.
Dave Morgan reported that Vartouhi Asherian would begin her term as AFA Chair on June 1. The last meeting for Dave’s term would be the one this month (May). The next meeting of the AFA after that, however, will not take place until September, so Vartouhi may not have much to report to cabinet before that.
Mark Rauls reminded cabinet members that Bill Kerney begins his term as Faculty Senate Chair on June 1, with Tracy Sherman from Cardio Respiratory Sciences as the chair-elect. Mark is hopeful that the Academic Integrity Policy will be in place by then as well as the Administrative Drop for Non-Attendance Policy.
Mugunth Vaithylingam reported that a PC refresh timeline has been established for faculty and staff. In Fall, OTS will be fine-tuning servers and installing necessary updates. At the Legacy of Achievement Gala, OTS was instrumental in Microsoft’s purchase of a table. Mugunth looks forward to cultivating the relationship established between Microsoft, CSN and SunGard.
Nate Waugh gave his year-end report from Student Government. Some highlights of the 2009-2010 Year included: Creating the ASCSN Student Government Work for Your Textbooks Program, which allows students who volunteer on campus to be eligible for up to $200 in textbook vouchers. Creating a CSN Student Honor Code in an effort to create a culture of achievement, integrity, and responsibility at the College of Southern Nevada Co-sponsoring the CSN Golf Tournament helping raise over $50,000 for student scholarships Sponsoring the African American, Asian-Pacific Islander, and Native American Heritage Month activities and scholarship breakfasts. These events assist CSN and the community learn about the cultures that make our country great. It is appropriate that CSN host these events because our institution is the most diverse in Nevada. Co-sponsoring with UNLV and NSC, a lobbying trip to the Special Session of the Nevada Legislature.
Dr. Richards commented that the Student Mixers with the various local Chambers of Commerce have been wonderful. The mixers are great venues to bring CSN to the community and promote legislative advocacy. Dr. Richards also had praise for the Foundation and especially for the Legacy of Achievement Gala this year. It took place at the M Resort on April 24, and next year will probably be somewhere new. Dr. Richards was approached by a past honoree of the Gala who informed him that most of the people in the room would not miss the opportunity to attend it each year because it is ―the best fundraising event in Las Vegas.‖ The event was well-attended again this year. Each year the Gala raises about $300,000 for scholarships—that is about $1M every three years. The CSN Foundation does a marvelous job with this event.
Dr. Richards told everyone that the State Legislative Counsel Bureau would be on the Cheyenne Campus on May 11 with several legislators for a tour of the facility. They will discuss Capital Improvement Projects and the budget for the next biennium. Dr. Richards also reminded everyone that there is a primary election in June, and that early voting begins May 22. He asked that the cabinet members get involved, encourage participation from their various departments, and put the best people in office. Nate Waugh said he is working on approval to make CSN campuses voting sites. There is a good possibility that it will happen.
Meeting adjourned at 10 a.m.
Next meeting scheduled June 14, 2010.