Quincy Reporter

John Wood Community College Board of Trustees met May 30.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

1.  Call to Order/Appointment of Assistant Secretary

The 05.30.23 Board of Trustees meeting was called to order in the conference room, Agricultural Education Center, 37803 Street, Hwy 104, Baylis, IL 62314 at 8:30 a.m by Mr. Bob Rhea, Chair.  Mr. Rhea appointed Ms. Benz assistant secretary. 

2. Roll Call  

Ms. Benz called roll:     

NAME	AYE	NAY	PRESENT	ABSENT
Ms. Gregory				x
Ms. Greger			x
Mr. Hess				x
Mr. Sprague				x
Ms. Hawley			x
Dr. Greenwell			x
Mr. Fischer			x
Mr. Rhea			x
Voice Vote

Attendees: Dr. Bryan Renfro, Ms. Leah Benz

3. Public and/or Employee Comment - None

4. Agenda items

4.1 JWCC Mission Statement - JWCC enriches lives through learning by providing accessible educational opportunities and services at an exceptional value

Mr. Sprague joined the meeting.

The Board reviewed the mission statement and recommended no changes to the statement. The vision statement was also review and noted purpose of each.

4.2 Institutional Data - Financial data, comparison data, completion data, program data majors, IPED data, Pell data, KPI’S and Strategic Plan were included for review and direction.

4.3 Reading Material -Dr. Renfro provided reading material prior to the retreat for Board members to review.

The first reading was on five key practices for a successful transition year. They were:

#1 Conduct a Board/CEO retreat

#2 Develop a communication plan - Discussion was held on communication plans between president and board, president and students/community/staff and faculty. Different community businesses were shared for communication needs.

#3 Establish CEO’s development plan – The Board encouraged Dr. Renfro to attend a professional development activity. They fully support this initiative within the next year.

#4 Complete Mid-Year Check-in - At this retreat Board members conducted a verbal mid-year check in for Dr. Renfro thus far.

#5 Conduct First-Year CEO evaluation - Discussion was on the yearly evaluation process. Board members were asked to submit any examples of evaluations for consideration. The last evaluation tool will be shared. It was determined to plan for a November Board evaluation prior to the end of the contract. The process will begin late September, early October.

The second reading - Role of Presidents, Trustees and College Leaders in Student Success.

This reading talked about the Aspen Institute and awarding every two years a Community College Excellence award. It is based on high levels of success for students both while in college and after graduation.

The third reading - Brookings Report – Improving community college completion rates by addressing structural and motivational barriers. Discussion was held on the barriers for students at our institution to complete. Topics included transportation, funding, debt, job versus career and food were a few.

The fourth reading -How to Achieve More Equitable Community College Student Outcomes.

This reading shared lessons learned from the community college research center on guided pathways.

Pathways and the incorporation of this model was discussed at length. Board members were asked to use the current college catalog to map the courses to complete a degree. The categories included:

•  Program organization and design
•  New Student Onboarding
• Remediation and Academic Support
• Ongoing Student Advising
• Teaching and Learning

This led into the guided pathways planning, implementation, evaluation diagram included in the packet.

The fifth and final reading - The 2023 Aspen Prize.  This document highlighted the community college who received this award and why. 

4.4 Financial Information – This item was discussed with institutional data. 

4.5 Presidential Challenge of New President  

Dr. Renfro named his challenges

• Illinois higher education system – other states have a common course number system

(a uniform set of course designations for students and advisors to use in determine both course equivalency and degree)

• Emphasis on DEI in this state/region
• Trust factor in Administration
• Lack of national initiatives
• Food service on campus
• Limited data usage and comparisons to other schools 

Three top priorities to grow 

• Pathways culture approach, modernization
• Foundation/ waivers to scholarship
• Development of new programs 

Hannibal Innovation project - Dr. Renfro shared an update on this project. Discussion is still ongoing.   

Summarization

The Board summarized their take-a-ways from the day’s retreat.  

• Pathways model for the future
• Difficulty navigation of catalog
• Enrollment growth opportunities
• Foundation opportunities
• New programs
• Importance of relationships in grades 9-12 high schools
• Opportunities in dual credit/enrollment
• Legislative involvement
• Concept of food service offering
• Grant opportunities
• Operational costs
• Mission statement affirmation
• Number of undeclared majors
• Promise program in Brown County
• Innovation Center in Hannibal
• Instilling additional trust
• Reorganizational structure/ update on vice president search/ president evaluation 

4.6 Other 

Inauguration ceremony

Board training dates

These two items were deferred to the Executive Committee meeting on June 8.

5. Adjournment   

5.1 MOTION:  Adjourn the May 30, 2023, Board of Trustees retreat meeting  

NAME	AYE	NAY	PRESENT	ABSENT
Ms. Gregory				x
Ms. Greger	x
Mr. Hess				x
Mr. Sprague	x
Ms. Hawley	x
Dr. Greenwell	x
Mr. Fischer	x
Mr. Rhea	x
Voice Vote

https://www.jwcc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/05.30.23-BMR-F.docx