GOVERNING BOARD RETREAT
MAY 17, 2005
MINUTES


A retreat of the Maricopa County Community College District Governing Board was scheduled to be held at 1:00 p.m. at the Business & Industry Center in Mesa, Arizona, pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.02, notice having been duly given.

PRESENT

GOVERNING BOARD

Scott Crowley, Secretary
Linda Rosenthal, Member
Ed Contreras, Member
Jerry Walker, Member
ABSENT: Don Campbell

ADMINISTRATION

Rufus Glasper
Pete Kushibab
Teresa Toney

CALL TO ORDER

The retreat was called to order at 1:30 p.m.

DISCUSSION

The agenda called for discussion of the following major issues:

Dr. Glasper called attention to the agenda for this afternoon's retreat in that some of the items had been covered already at the May 13, 2005 Special Board Meeting.

Teresa Toney distributed packets containing a complete set of board policies and explained that they were being made available at this time for review prior to the upcoming annual review scheduled for August. Board members were asked to review for any needed changes. Ms. Toney mentioned that the policy governance process is the meat and includes the Board Code of Conduct on page B9 which the board may wish to address or enhance by way of adding a self-evaluation reference or expansion in terms of board roles. Mrs. Rosenthal commented that at one time the policy included provision for board self-evaluation at the same time that the Chancellor evaluation took place. Mr. Crowley suggested the possibility of doing a S.W.O.T. Analysis which measures strengths and weaknesses and offers opportunities to build upon. It was asked if this needed to be made public and Mr. Kushibab voiced that there was no law to challenge. Any employee performance evaluation is private, however, anything that would be prepared will be a public record. This would be a collective position paper that is a reflection of the board. Ms. Toney commented that she had samples of what other board have done and would put together a suggested tool. Members discussed concerns over individual assessment and group assessment.

Homework: Return recommendations to Gloria Smith by July 8 in preparation for July meeting.

BOARD POLICIES

Dr. Glasper recommended that travel and parking regulations, liquor service for Foundation and Culinary Arts events be reviewed each year.

BOARD MEMBER ROLES

Mr. Walker commented that sexual orientation is not protected under federal law.

Mr. Kushibab commented that there is nothing illegal about including sexual orientation in our non-discrimination policy. It is not illegal for it to be included. Many public entities include this. This has been included purely as a policy decision and is subject to review.

Mr. Walker stated that federal law prohibits discrimination based on religion and he feels he is being discriminated against.

Mrs. Rosenthal responded that in 1992 the Board voted to include this in the policies and if Mr. Walker wanted to recommend changes, the Board needed to put it on the agenda and vote on it. Mr. Walker requested a review of court decisions up through the Supreme Court.

Dr. Glasper commented that board policy includes sexual orientation and asked board members to respond with items that they want to change and then the Board will follow its own process. Mr. Contreras suggested that Mr. Walker come up with some basis or fact to discern why he feels that this policy is in violation of his rights and asked Mr. Kushibab to research any court decisions similar to this. He recommended that the Board vote on this issue and after this becomes policy, Mr. Walker will need to accept that decision. The adopted policy needs to be upheld.

BOND, DOWNTOWN PROPERTY, BACCALAUREATE, ACADEMIC FREEDOM, & GCC

Dr. Glasper informed the Board that here was $190,000,000 in the bank in U. S. Treasury bills, as recommended by Tim Bauman the investment consultant they are using. Land acquisition for GateWay will be discussed on May 24 in executive session. He also informed the Board that there was a bid on the Stauffer Warehouse at a price of $2 million. Dr. Glasper also updated the Board on the search for downtown property and that property on 17th Avenue for a Rio site is being looked at. Other sites are being looked at also by Lionel Diaz, Dr. Leyba, and Dr. Giovannini. There is a meeting with Mayor of Phoenix and a four-block region is being considered for a community college location. Bill Simms is being used as a consultant to locate and develop land within a reasonable amount of money. The partnerships with the City of Phoenix and ASU were discussed.

The baccalaureate bill did not make it out of the Senate. They are trying to resurface it based on parts Governor supports and what we do not support. Forums with each employee group are being scheduled to talk about this issue and then presenting to ACCA in June. Mr. Contreras would like a better handle on the costs and returns of this program.

With reference to Academic Freedom, the Kehowski and the incident that Mr. Walker has involved in, Dr. Glasper cautioned the Governing Board that it would behoove them to think about how they would like to involve faculty so that the same mental model is being followed. Mr. Walker encouraged the Governing Board to opine academic freedom. Mr. Walker brought up the occurrences at GCC (Kehowski), CGCC incident involving women's underwear, and EMC English 102 assignment and indicated they were inappropriate.

Mrs. Rosenthal recommended holding a study session with employees on Academic Freedom to open up dialogue on this issue.

Dr. Glasper informed the Board that both finalists in the GCC Presidential search had removed their names. Mrs. Blackman had received an offer from Dallas Community College District and Mr. Nieves has indicated he had family issues that prevented from accepting the offer. A special meeting had been scheduled for this week with the search committee to discuss how to proceed.

ADJOURNMENT

The retreat adjourned at 3:15 p.m.

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Scott Crowley
Governing Board Secretary