June Board Meeting Highlights

Members of the Board of Trustees took a moment before the meeting began to take a new group photo, including the recently added eighth member of the Board, David Stanley.

Under Awards and Reports, Cowley President Dr. Michelle Schoon provided a College update.

Zachariah Cooper has been made the Director of Sumner Campus. Cooper has a Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Education from Kansas State University and a Master’s Degree in Career Technical Education from Pittsburg State University.

The Business and Social Science and Career and Technical Education Departments have changed leadership, with Meredith Mahoney and Daniel Brooks being appointed as the new department chairs.

Additionally, Dr. Schoon shared that Cowley College was awarded a JIIST (Jobs for Innovative Industry Skills Training) Grant from the Department of Commerce for $41,044 with matching funds provided by the college. The grant will go toward supporting new welding booths at the Sumner Campus.

Schoon also stated that this month, Cowley held the GED Graduation on June 6th where 28 students earned their Kansas high school diploma. The Winfield Correctional Facility Graduation was held on June 13th and saw 18 welding certificates, 8 electromechanical maintenance certificates, and 21 students earned their Kansas high school diploma.

In other news, The Enrollment Management Team gave a presentation led by Stefani Jones, Director of Enrollment Management and Student Success, and Abby Morris, Director of Marketing. They discussed the tools used and the changes made to increase and track enrollment numbers.

Trustee Dr. Alan Marcotte and Dr. Schoon attended the PTK Luncheon/KACC Quarterly Meeting on May 30th - June 1st at Butler Community College in Andover, where legal issues and audits were at the forefront of the conversation. Marcotte noted presentations on municipal land audits, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and public-private partnerships among others.

Under Administrative Reports, Cowley College awarded 377 diplomas for the Spring 2024 term and is projecting 58 diplomas for the 2024 Summer term. The Tiger Learning Center concluded its second year with 1057 sessions, representing a 40% increase from 2022. Rossana Papa became the first Cowley recipient of the Betty Jo Graber Award as the top female student-athlete in the NJCAA. She received this honor on June 6th, 2024, at the fourth annual NJCAA Foundation Awards Event in Charlotte, NC.

No public comments.

The Board held a pair of executive sessions totaling 20 minutes to discuss faculty professional negotiations including David Andreas, Dr. Michelle Schoon, and Holly Harper. No action followed the executive session.

Upon returning to open session, the Board reviewed the proposed 2024-2025 Operating Budget of $24,821,587, voting to approve the budget 8-0.

Under Standing Committee Reports, Trustee Bob McGregor provided a recap of the June 10, 2024 Trustee Finance Subcommittee meeting and requested approval to renew the .75 Capital Outlay Mill (approved 6-1 with1 abstention) and the Mulvane Industrial Technology Center lease (approved 8-0). Trustee Dr. Alan Marcotte provided an overview of the revisions to the Board Policies 114.00 - Performance Appraisals, 165.00 - Sick Leave - Full-Time Non-Faculty Employees, and 433.00 - Satisfactory Academic Progress for Federal Aid Recipients, presented at the June 12, 2024 Trustee Policy Subcommittee meeting.

Under consent agenda (approved 8-0), the Board approved the May 20, 2024 Board meeting Minutes, Financial Reports, Bills and Claims, Board Policies 114.00 – Performance Appraisals, 162.00 – GLBA Information Security, and 164.00 – Cyber Security,and the following personnel transactions: 

Separations

• Joe Clasen, Technical Education Workforce Liaison, effective May 30, 2024 (position reclassified)

Faculty

• Alison Nittler, Accounting Instructor, at an annual salary of $47,300, plus fringe benefits, based on classification “C” of the faculty Master Agreement, effective August 1, 2024

• Bethany Stewart, Business Instructor, at an annual salary of $52,500, plus fringe benefits, based on classification “C” of the faculty Master Agreement, effective August 1, 2024

Staff

• Jared McGuire, Winfield Corrections Program/Winfield Site Coordinator, at an annual salary of $44,000, plus staff fringe benefits, effective June 10, 2024

• Cindi Rowe, Financial Aid Specialist, at an hourly rate of $19.12, plus staff fringe benefits, effective June 3, 2024

Under Procurement, The Board approved the purchase of laundry equipment from Jetz Service for $30,451.96 by a vote of 8-0. Administration has terminated the laundry equipment lease agreement with Jetz Equipment effective July 31st, 2024 and instead chose to purchase laundry equipment from Jetz Equipment to significantly reduce long-term expenses.

Chair Bazil requested the Board approve the proposed contract for legal services with J.T. Seitz - Seitz Law Office, LLC, as presented including a retainer fee of $416.67 per month and the hourly rate of $225.00. The Board approved this action (7-0 with 1 abstention) and moved on to the Designation of Official Publication and Meeting Dates for 2024-2025.

2024-2025 Board Meeting Dates

• Monday, July 15, 2024, 6:00 pm – Short Community Room, Sumner Campus

• Monday, August 26, 2024, 6:00 pm – McAtee Dining Center, Main Campus 

• Monday, September 16, 2024, 6:00 pm – McAtee Dining Center, Main Campus

• Monday, October 21, 2024, 6:00 pm – SEA Center, Mulvane Campus

• Monday, November 18, 2024, 6:00 pm – McAtee Dining Center, Main Campus

• Monday, December 16, 2024, 5:00 pm – McAtee Dining Center, Main Campus

• Tuesday, January 21, 2025, 6:00 pm – McAtee Dining Center, Main Campus 

• Monday, February 17, 2025, 6:00 pm – McAtee Dining Center, Main Campus

• Monday, March 10, 2025, 6:00 pm – Winfield Allied Health Center 

• Monday, April 21, 2025, 6:00 pm – Short Community Room, Sumner Campus

• Monday, May 19, 2025, 6:00 pm – McAtee Dining Center, Main Campus

• Monday, June 16, 2025, 6:00 pm – McAtee Dining Center, Main Campus

These dates were approved by a vote of 8-0. The Board approved the use of Union State Bank, RCB Bank, Sunflower Bank/Wichita, and Carson Bank/Mulvane as official depositories of the College and the use of all qualified institutions in the County for the investment of idle funds by a vote of 8-0.

The Board then recessed into another pair of executive sessions totaling 30 minutes regarding the President’s employment contract, including David Andreas and Dr. Michelle Schoon. No action followed the executive session.

Under Other Business, Trustee Bob McGregor shared kudos to Holly Harper for her work as project manager on the new Tyler Technical Education Center project and mentioned the recent successful completion of the punch list walk-through with Conco Construction and Agora Architecture. Additionally, Trustee McGregor addressed questions the College has received regarding the future use of Ireland Hall. The College is focusing on moving our programs out of Ireland Hall and into the new building, reviewing costs for upgrades, along with work required for those upgrades. No plans for the future use of the building exist at this time.

With no other business to be discussed, Chair Bazil declared the meeting adjourned at 8:34 pm.

For more details, see the agenda or visit https://cowley.edu/about/administration/board/index.html.

Hunter Ferguson | Integrated Communications Specialist
Cowley College
125 S. 2nd Street
Arkansas City, KS 67005
hunter.ferguson@cowley.edu