Creston— The Southwestern Community College (SWCC) board of directors met on Tuesday, July 10, 2018, at 5:30 p.m. in the college’s Administration Center for their regular board meeting.
The board approved the hiring of Marilyn Kinsella, of Creston, as a nursing instructor for the 2018-19 academic year. Kinsella comes to SWCC from Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston where she has been a nurse on the medical/surgical floor since 1998. In addition, Kinsella was a clinical instructor for the college from 2000-2007, providing guidance and monitoring for SWCC nursing students as they completed training in the hospital setting. Kinsella will begin her duties at the college in August.
The SWCC board approved the resignation of Dennis Downing, carpentry and building trades instructor. Downing has been a carpentry instructor at the college since August 2011.
Bill Taylor, SWCC vice president of instruction, spoke to the board regarding the college’s ongoing partnership with the Union County Development Association (UCDA) and requested approval of a contract to construct a home on UCDA-owned property at 409 West Filmore in Afton. Taylor said with this contract in place, the college will be able to provide required lab experience for students without incurring the expense and risk associated with building a spec home. The project has a limit of $135,073. Any additional expenses would require the mutual consent of both parties. With the contract in place, the college incurs expenses related to the project during the construction period, with the UCDA reimbursing the expenses within 60 days of completion of the home. Following Taylor’s explanation, the board approved the contract.
Taylor then went on to discuss the college’s building partnership contract with the Decatur County Development Corporation (DCDC) high school carpentry and building trades Career Academy program with Clarke, Central Decatur, Lamoni, and Mount Ayr high schools. According to Taylor, this will be the third year for this joint project. With this agreement, a home will be constructed during the 2018-19 school year on DCDC-owned property in Lamoni. DCDC will pay for all materials associated with construction of the home. After listening to Taylor’s report, the board authorized the SWCC administration to enter into a Building Partnership Contract with DCDC as presented.
Tia Samo, SWCC chief financial officer, spoke to the board regarding a contract addendum with Consolidated Management, Inc., the college’s food service vendor for the Spartan Café. Samo told the board Consolidated Management has offered an unrestricted capital investment of $20,000 in exchange for an additional two-year automatic renewal addendum to the current contract. The current contract allows two successive two-year periods following the June 30, 2018, expiration of the initial term. SWCC has elected to exercise the first successive period of July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2020. There is one remaining automatic renewal in the original contract through June 30, 2022, and this addendum will add another to end on June 30, 2024. Samo said the $20,000 will be paid in two payments. The first $10,000 will be paid before November 1, 2018, and the second $10,000 will be paid before November 1, 2019. According to Samo, there are no payback provisions in the addendum. Following Samo’s presentation, the board approved the Consolidated Management contract addendum as presented.
Discussion then moved to the electrical technology program. Taylor stated the college has interest in providing hands-on learning projects for the college’s electrical technology students. In a memo to the board, Dr. Barb Crittenden, SWCC president, said with this request the college does not intend to compete with local electrical contractors, but strives to provide quality, hands-on experience for students. In recent months, Taylor has presented similar contracts to the board for approval. Taylor requested authorization by the board for the college president to sign future agreements such as this to facilitate arrangement in a timely manner. He said any agreements signed would then be identified in the monthly Communications and Counsel monitoring report in an effort to keep the board informed. Taylor pointed out this is the same manner in which the Educational Services Agreements with area K-12 institutions are handled. The board proceeded to authorize this request.
During the discussion of monitoring process, a short discussion took place concerning the progress of the college’s computer system transition. The initial move to the new system took place during the 2017-18 winter break.
Jerry Smith, SWCC board member from Osceola and Iowa Association of Community College Trustees (IACCT) representative, talked briefly to the board about IACCT’s recent meeting.
Following adjournment of the meeting, college administrators took the board members on a tour of the 2017-18 carpentry and building trades house project.
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