Board of Trustees Meeting Update

The recent board of trustees meeting saw students and faculty voice their concerns over the recent Reduction in Force notices.

Board Chairman Pete Lewis said all interruptions of the meeting will result in those individuals being asked to leave the meeting.

“A board meeting is a meeting of the board members to hear people and make policies,” Lewis said.

The ASGRC Student Government presented the 522 budget for the boards approval. The board reviewed the budget and unanimously approved it.

A new state policy was also brought up during the meeting allowing the Board of Trustees to meet with faculty and students on campus.

The classified staff reported to the board about how they were told not to participate in the protests or they would be fired.

The faculty report to the board was about the Reduction in Force (RIF) notices that went out to faculty. The presenters offered alternative sources of revenue that the college could use and why the RIFs would not save the college money. They also asked for detained reports on why the programs were chosen.

Afterwards, the board allowed for public comments. Most of the comments concerned the Occupation Therapy program RIF notice and why it should be allowed to remain.

Mark Millbauer, the former United Faculty Coalition president, made an appearance to speak with the board, He said President Eileen Ely was trying to get rid of full-time faculty members in the “meanest, most cold hearted way.”

Millbauer said the college should be using early buyouts to reduce the number of full-time faculty if they need to reduce the budget.

The meeting ended with chants from the students about the cuts.