Board Report – December 2007

Report from Lane Community College President Mary Spilde
To the Lane Community College Board of Education
December 12, 2007

It’s hard to believe this is the final report for this calendar year. It’s been a busy but productive year and a good fall term. I want to note that Tony McCown was in Washington DC this week and is traveling home as we speak; Paul Holman is having heart surgery and should be back at it in the next week or so.

I want to acknowledge the passing of Lyle Swetland, who was a founding board member at the college and served as our Development Director as well.

Last Saturday, I joined our Phi Theta Kappa students in the Springfield Parade – the oldest and coldest! We were awarded second place overall and the Tuxedo award for the best portrayal of fantasy. We were the Lane elves! Our students did a great job, and our float was well received as we moved along. Thanks to Dee and Josh for their leadership, faculty Steve Webb who drove the truck and Clive Wanstall who made the whole thing fun. Here’s a clip of the video taken at the parade.

I would like to introduce Jeff DeFranco from the Springfield School District to tell you about an exciting project the school district has been hosting here at Lane: The Gift of Literacy.

Later this evening you will receive a recommendation to approve the 2006-07 audit report. As you know, it is a “clean” audit. However, it is also clear that we must continue to address our revenue shortfalls. Last year we spent more than we took in, and obviously we cannot continue this. In the budget process last year we cut additional funds to address that shortfall and put ourselves in the position of balancing our budget for this year. We must make decisions this year that assure we balance the budget in future years as well. In the January meeting we will recommend a projection that will guide our decisions for the FY 09 budget.

I spent a few days in Washington in November at the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) board and commission meetings. We met with the Assistant Secretary of Labor, Emily DeRocco, and the Assistant Secretary of Education, Troy Justeson, who is a community college graduate. Both are trying to do as much as possible to position community colleges in the short time they have left in office. We spent some time on the hill while the reauthorization was being marked up and did accomplish some positive things for community colleges. I shepherded an AACC resolution on Sustainability through the Commission and Committee process, and it was passed by an AACC board.

On November 30, the Veterans’ Resource Center was officially opened. You will recall that Sergeant Ben Heir talked to you about this earlier this year. Congressman Defazio was present and made a few remarks. This is a positive addition to our services for veterans.

I have continued to meet with donors regarding the Opening Doors Campaign, and we continue to be very well received. The Foundation has recruited hosts to invite friends and colleagues to the college to hear about the campaign. We have conducted five of these cultivation events to date.

Later in the meeting you will hear the results of our community perception study. I have the 1999 study executive summary for you.

Finally, thanks to those of you were able to attend one of the community conversations. I will send a summary to you by the end of the week. We are currently identifying dates for winter term, and I have possible dates for you to review. Please let Donna know about your availability for any of these dates.

Happy Holidays, and please remember to pick up your homemade shortbread from my office.