A few updates this week, as we are at the midpoint of the fall semester:

Board Meeting

Each October, prior to the monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees, we have the wonderful opportunity to recognize employees who have reached milestones of service with East Central College.

This past Monday employees with five, 10, 15, 20, and 25 years of service were honored. I was struck as the awards were handed out that our work is as good as the people who serve as faculty and staff. And on that measure, we stand tall. Our employees are dedicated and passionate about our mission, and many have been expressing that through their work for many years.

The following employees were recognized:  25 years – Kevin Dixon; 20 Years – Jennifer Chitwood, Cynthia Cubas and Sue Henderson; 15 Years – Tom Fitts, Jennifer Judd, Bethany Lohden and Wendy Pecka; 10 years – Matt Cooper, Megan Elbert, Curtis Elliott, Deanne Fiedler, Karen Griffin, Becki Heimann, Cheryl Ladage, Paul Lampe, Dennis Pohlman, Peggy Reeves, Josh Stroup and Charles Warmack; 5 Years – Carol Bailie, Dan Burkett, Eric Clapper, Ehren Curnutte, Cole Halfaker, Amelia Heisler, Lisa Kang, Barb Kuelker, Nathaniel Mitchell, Phil Pena, Kelly Rinne, Jerry Poepsel, Nanette Sayles, Dave Steffens, Denise Walker and Kathleen Wright.

On behalf of the board, allow me to say “Thank You and Congratulations!” once again for your dedication to ECC and our students.

Also at the board meeting, a couple of significant items were presented to trustees. One is a proposed revision to our scholarship policy and procedures. Vice President Shelli Allen presented the proposal. The intent is to provide additional tools to reach students through scholarships. Among some of the changes would be awards for part-time students, scholarships to encourage completion, and opportunities for students beyond those who come to us through the traditional high school path. The change would also increase the value of institutional scholarships to cover tuition and general fees.

A final proposal will be presented to the board next month. If approved, the plan would go into effect for the 2018-19 academic year.

Drs. Tia Robinson and Russ Henderson updated the board on efforts to expand our work with high schools through dual credit. I believe this to be an area of growth for ECC and we will continue to find ways to enhance opportunities for high school students who are capable of college work. Reaching more of these students before graduation is a critical means of meeting our mission in the community.

HLC Visit

As you know, a team from the Higher Learning Commission will be on campus next Monday and Tuesday, October 16-17. This is part of the process that ultimately leads to reaffirmation of accreditation. A schedule will be distributed this week, and we look forward to having the team visit ECC. The work that has gone into preparations for the visit is much appreciated, and I know it will pay off when the team arrives Monday.

Mizzou

I had the opportunity last week, along with other presidents and chancellors of Missouri’s community colleges, to meet with the administration at the University of Missouri. The system has a new president, Mizzou has a new chancellor, and there is clearly a renewed emphasis on working with community colleges to better serve our transfer students.

The meeting was encouraging. There has been a decision to allow transfer English Composition I to serve the writing intensive requirement at Mizzou. There are plans to establish a transfer center to focus on our students who matriculate to the university. And there appears to be a genuine interest in hearing from us as we have ideas about serving our students upon transfer. There are many leaders in key roles at the University of Missouri who are community college alumni. They understand the importance of this work.

There will be more to come, but I left hopeful that there is a genuine commitment to our students and I look forward to seeing that commitment pay off with tangible results in the future.

The new Leadership Council recently met for the first time, the beginning of a group that I anticipate will prove tremendously beneficial for East Central College.

Comprising the leaders of the college’s employee groups, members of the administrative team, and me, the Council will have the responsibility for identifying important strategic issues and developing plans for addressing them.

One specific function will be to aid in the development and changes to college policies and procedures. Another will be to bring to the table issues or concerns that affect the institution. And a third role will be one of communication. This is a two-way process, both bringing information forward from across the campus, and communicating to employees the work of the Leadership Council.

By having this broad spectrum of campus leaders at the table, we will have the synergy and collaboration necessary for good planning, shared governance, and quality improvement.

Our faculty and staff are our biggest assets. The commitment and expertise of our colleagues form the foundation for the work that goes on at East Central. The purpose and structure of the Leadership Council is to marshal that commitment and expertise in a way that enables these leaders to move the institution forward.

The Leadership Council is not a replacement or duplication of existing committees. Nor is it intended to replicate the work of the Strategic Planning Committee that will soon convene.

Instead, the Council will serve a unique role as a working group addressing the important, overarching issues and decisions that are critical to our success. At any one point in time, the Council will likely be focused on a small number of important issues. Each will take time, energy, creativity, and thoughtfulness.

The Council will certainly serve as a sounding board and provide advice. But even more meaningful will be its ability to identify both issues and solutions.

I look forward to working with this group and appreciate the energy and dedication that each member is bringing to the Council.

Members include: Kim Aguilar, Shelli Allen, Joel Doepker, Tom Fitts, Linda Follis, Wendy Hartmann, Sarah Havens, Sue Henderson, Karen Klos, Stacy Langan, Tia Robinson, Phil Pena, and Tracie Welsh.

One of the tenets of any organization committed to quality improvement is to use data, not intuition. Our Mission states that “as a learning organization, the College will preserve and enhance its commitment to continuous quality improvement. As a planning institution, the College will make decisions informed by data.”

I was reminded of the importance of data upon reading a book written by a high school classmate. He went on to the U.S. Naval Academy and later went through the Top Gun program for elite naval aviators. His account of the training and preparation that he went through was fascinating. And his description of landing on an aircraft carrier for the first time was gripping.

One doesn’t land a multimillion-dollar aircraft at high speed on a target that’s bobbing and weaving in the middle of the ocean without good data. And one doesn’t successfully do that hundreds of times without being able to respond appropriately to the conditions in real-time.  The life of my friend, and those on the deck of the carrier, depended on accurate and timely data being clearly communicated.

My friend and classmate went on to Wall Street, and in his book, he speculates what might have happened before the Great Recession if those in business and finance used data and training in the fashion of naval aviators. As you might guess, he thinks things would have gone much differently.

At East Central, we have made progress over time in the collection and use of pertinent data that reflects our performance as a college.

I am pleased that we have taken another significant step in this process as we unveil a data dashboard for East Central College.

You will see measures related to enrollment, retention, completion, quality, developmental education, distance learning, and affordability.

The dashboard provides a clear look at current data compared to the prior year. It also includes a benchmark on many measures, how we’re trending from year to year, and how we compare to the benchmark.

Moreover, as you click on any one of the measures, you can take a deeper dive into the data and see detailed performance over time.

We may not be landing a fighter jet on an aircraft carrier, but we have the high calling of serving students, and this dashboard better enables us to assess headwinds, tailwinds, crosswinds, and more. With this tool, we better see not only how we’re doing, but where we want to be in time.

The dashboard is dynamic. We will adjust measures and benchmarks over time, and we will be better prepared to tell our story to stakeholders as a result of this information.

I’m indebted to the Institutional Research office for bringing this to fruition. Bethany Lohden and Dana Riegel work hard to provide data across the institution. The dashboard was developed as the result of an AQIP action project, and in addition to Bethany and Dana, the others involved with its development were John Hardecke, Nanette Sayles, Bethany Herron, Marcia Bailey, and Linda Follis. This is good and meaningful work that will benefit the institution. Thank you!

Take a look at the dashboard. Become familiar with our performance and our benchmarks, and be thinking about how this can be used to not only have the data at hand, but to analyze it, act upon it, and continue to improve the work we do.

Note: The book to which I refer is Top Gun on Wall Street, by Jeffery Lay

I want to take this opportunity to update you on the monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees. The board met last night, both for purposes of setting the annual tax levy, as well as the regular agenda.

The tax rate adopted by the board will remain unchanged from last year, at 37 cents per $100 of assessed valuation for operating funds, and 8.41 cents for debt service. The good news is that the assessed valuation of the district has increased by nearly 3.5% over last year. This is an indication of the economic recovery that is occurring, and will result in positive revenue for the budget.

Now that the semester is under way, we will evaluate the three primary sources of revenue (state aid, tuition, and local taxes) and develop a recommendation concerning raises for faculty and staff. I am hopeful a recommendation can be developed by the October 2 meeting of the board.

I am pleased to report that ECC has received another federal grant, this time for the purchase of a chilled water system for our HVAC program. The board approved the purchase of the system in the amount of $47,960.31, which will be funded 100% by a grant from a USDA Rural Business Development Grant. This equipment enables us to continue with our expansion of HVAC into commercial and industrial applications. The HVAC lab in the Business and Industry Center makes it possible for us to train students in a field that is increasingly in need of new employees. Congratulations to all involved with securing the grant for the purchase.

Dr. Tia Robinson and I spent time outlining the process involved with our upcoming visit from the Higher Learning Commission. The timeline, criteria for accreditation, and the 8-year cycle for reaffirmation were discussed with the board. As I mentioned during in-service and repeated last night, I am confident of our ability to meet the criteria for accreditation and look forward to having the team here October 16-18. We also cited the work of the HLC task force, which has been working on the evidence since this past spring.

In other action, the board reaffirmed policies concerning Conflict of Interest and Personal Financial Disclosures. These policies cover trustees as well as the president and chief financial officer. State law requires the policies to be reaffirmed every two years.

Medicare Part C insurance was approved for retirees. The college will renew with United Healthcare for the Medicare Advantage plan. There is no cost to the institution. Premiums of $10 per month, paid by retirees, are unchanged from the current plan.

In personnel items, the board approved the appointment of Joseph Hovland as culinary arts instructor, and approved the adjunct faculty for the fall semester.

I appreciate the engagement of the board in the governance of the institution. Their commitment is critical to the institution, and their leadership and direction form the foundation for our continued success.

The start of the academic year is always special, and this year will be even more memorable because it coincides with the solar eclipse. This once-in-a-lifetime event will be spectacular, as we are right in the path of totality. Hundreds of thousands of people, perhaps over a million, are expected to be coming to Missouri alone to witness the event.

So when the fall semester starts on Monday (more on the campus eclipse events below), we will witness a rare event. Some who have witnessed previous eclipses have said the experience was life altering. I would argue that we may not have an eclipse every year, but that we do experience an equally momentous event each and every start of the academic year.

Many of the students who will arrive Monday are first-time college students. Many are the first in their families to attend college. The first day of college is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and it is likely to be life altering. Students will come to us in hopes of transferring on to a four-year institution. Their goal is a bachelor’s degree or beyond, and their work here will prepare them for that next step in their academic career. Others come with dreams of going to work, armed with an associate degree in a career or technical field. They will continue the long history of living here, going to college here, and going to work right in our community as nurses, machinists, EMTs, technicians, and more.

Still others come with only a commitment to make a better future, even if their specific plans have yet to be developed. But they have taken the hardest step.

Some have only been out of the classroom a few months since graduating from high school. Others have been away for years or decades. Some have only known academic success. Others have always struggled in the classroom.

All are coming full of hope and optimism, and likely a bit of fear and trepidation. We have an opportunity to meet them, challenge them, support them, and celebrate with them.

Nothing could be more important, especially now.

The events in this country and around the world have shown us in stark terms the importance of education, and the dangers of its absence.

We need, now more than ever, individuals with an understanding of history, appreciation for differing ideas, respect and civility, a commitment to embracing the diversity that makes us strong, and the courage to challenge those who would appeal to the worst among us with messages of hate, racism, bigotry, intolerance, and fear. We need leaders at every level who are committed to a better community, a better world.

That work can and must be done on our campus. We have a responsibility to prepare our students for the next step in their education and for their careers, but even more importantly to play a meaningful role in our community.

So we should meet our students with equal amounts of hope and optimism. We may have a little fear and trepidation about our ability to meet our obligations to teach and support these students, but we also know that this work is vitally important.

Life altering indeed.

The campus comes to life Monday morning. We’ll be ready and excited, because lives once again will be changed. The eclipse will come and go. But the work that begins Monday morning will last a lifetime.

Eclipse Notes—The college will be open Monday, August 21, for the start of the fall semester. There will be no classes between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in order to allow faculty and staff to experience the eclipse. Traffic is expected to be heavy in our region. Parking lots for faculty and staff will be designated, with some of the outlying lots available for the general public. There will be food trucks on campus, eclipse glasses available while supplies last, and other activities. Many thanks to Linda Follis and Paul Lampe for coordinating this project. In Rolla, classes also will be cancelled between 11 and 2. Due to the unpredictability of traffic congestion, we will be monitoring the roads closely. As with instances of inclement weather, if circumstances necessitate any further changes to the schedule, we will notify students, faculty, and staff as soon as possible.

As we approach the start of the 2017-18 academic year, I am excited about the coming year and eager to tackle the work that’s in front of us.

This is a momentous time for the college. In the coming year we will host a team from the Higher Learning Commission for our Comprehensive Quality Review. That will be the priority this fall, as we demonstrate to the team the breadth and depth of our work at East Central. We’ll begin the commemoration of the college’s 50^th anniversary. Moreover, we will redouble our efforts to serve our students and other stakeholders in exemplary fashion. I think often about the vision and foresight of those who brought the college to life in the 1960s, and I want to make sure we are both fulfilling that vision and providing the foundation for the college’s next 50 years. While there is plenty of work to do, I am confident and optimistic about the future of our institution.

I want to outline a number of things that will be further addressed during the Welcome Session this Tuesday morning in the theatre. I would like you to be thinking about these initiatives and plans so that together we can work to bring them to fruition.

2017-18 Goals

First, allow me to share the goals I’ve set for myself with the Board of Trustees. While I am obviously accountable to the board, I feel strongly that I am accountable to you as colleagues and stakeholders. The goals listed here are not only mine, but I think they reflect the goals that should guide the institution in the coming year. They include:

1. Prepare for the Comprehensive Quality Review by the Higher Learning Commission, successfully host that visit, and achieve reaffirmation of accreditation.
2. Continue work related to recruitment and retention of students (enrollment management), with a goal of achieving head count and credit hour growth.
3. Continue work that has occurred with high school partners to expand and enhance the college opportunities available to students via dual credit, dual enrollment, and other offerings.
4. Develop a new strategic plan that is more succinct, cohesive, and reflective of the institutional priorities as they have evolved since the adoption of the current strategic plan.
5. Develop a plan to enhance employee salaries, with a long-term goal of being competitive locally and within the St. Louis market.
6. Expand and enhance the visibility and engagement of faculty and staff as representatives of the college.
7. Enhance the quality, modes and flow of communication with the board, faculty, staff, and other stakeholders.
8. Enhance opportunities for faculty and staff to be meaningfully involved in institutional decision-making.
9. Kickoff the 50^th anniversary celebration of East Central College, beginning in April, 2018 with the anniversary of the district’s formation.

This is an ambitious list, but one that is important for East Central College. The goals listed here represent the immediate priorities for the coming year. Allow me to elaborate on a couple of these goals, in preparation for Tuesday.

Leadership Council

One of the priorities (Goal 8 above) is to ensure that we have broad and robust input on institutional decision-making. Beginning this fall, I will be forming a Leadership Council to serve as the primary body for this purpose. Comprising the leadership of administration, faculty, and staff, the Leadership Council will provide a venue for identifying and solving the various issues and challenges facing the institution, and ensure that there is a platform not only for communication, but more importantly for good and thorough deliberation and decision-making for ECC. I am excited about this initiative and look forward to the value it will bring to the college.

Strategic Plan

As listed in Goal 4 above, it is time to develop a new Strategic Plan for ECC. I’ve come to believe that the current plan is too cumbersome and not focused on key strategic priorities. In addition, since the plan was developed we have seen the landscape of higher education change, the local challenges shift, and we have had changes in key institutional personnel. I think we would benefit from a tightly focused plan that articulates the key strategic initiatives over the next 3-5 years. This will involve both internal and external input, and meaningful assessments of where we are today, and where we would like to be in the future.

Communication

As part of Goal 7, over the summer I have worked with External Relations to develop a link on the web page which will house weekly communication from me that will focus on issues, discussions, decision making, planning, and other matters pertinent to East Central. While only one element of effective communication, I do think it will serve as a useful tool for keeping all of us informed about matters at the college. This letter will actually serve as the first entry for the blog, but only the first. There will be times it will be focused entirely on ECC issues. At other times, it will deal with larger issues and how they affect ECC. In all cases, the purpose will be to provide a tool by which information can be widely shared.

In addition, changes in the course schedule will make it possible throughout the year to hold all-staff meetings to further enhance the flow of information across campus. These meetings, at least two each semester in addition to in-service week, will allow us to focus on key issues in a more interactive way than the blog described above.

Salaries

As you know, action on salary increases was deferred until fall. This will enable us to assess all sources of revenue before making a recommendation to the board regarding increases for 2017-18. I remain hopeful we will be able to develop a recommendation to recognize the work of our faculty and staff. As noted above (Goal 5), the longer view on this matter is developing a plan to bring our salaries in line with our peers, especially within the St. Louis region. I look forward to working with the employee leadership and the administrative team to tackle this issue and develop a plan to better recruit and retain the faculty and staff needed to serve our students and other stakeholders.

Looking Forward

The goals listed above provide a framework for the year, and obviously some will take priority at different times. The final prep for the HLC visit is the most obvious example this fall. But they are all important, for both the near- and long-term. Many are interrelated, even dependent on each other. Addressing each of them in a meaningful and effective way will serve to put the institution on the path toward the next 50 years and beyond.

As always, I’m interested in your feedback and perspective and encourage you to reach out as you prepare for the work ahead in 2017-18.

See you next week!

Jon