Page 1.indd - Wingspan

4WingspanBy Will HebertCo-EditorAt a Laramie County Community College Board ofTrustees’ study session on March 7 the college presidentsaid the proposed institutional reorganization wouldhave only two reductions in force (RIF), which havealready taken place, this academic year.President Dr. Joe Schaffer said in a memorandum sentFeb. 27 his recommended changes would be addressedthrough a three-phase reorganization process that wouldlikely span two years. Schaffer said the only phase thathas a clear plan at this point is phase I because phases IIand III will require collaboration across the college.Schaffer said there will be no further RIFs involvingthe reorganization, but the college will be more scrupulouswhen filling future vacancies.“Everything else that we are going to do with thisreorganization is going to come through attrition, eitherthrough retirements, vacancies shifting of individuals aswe have opportunities,” Schaffer said. “The benefit is weare not doing anymore RIFs. The downside is when wehave a position come open, the level of scrutiny that weare going to give before filling that position is probablygoing to be higher than this campus has ever experienced.”The two RIFs were the elimination of general counselstaff attorney Tony Reyes and the international studentservices coordinator, Sara Fleenor.Schaffer had recommended the college keep one position,create one position, merge two positions into one,retitle three positions and phase out or eliminate fourpositions for institutional reorganization in the memorandumsent Feb. 27.campus newsApril 2, 2012wingspan.lccc.wy.eduOrganizational audit proposes minimal RIFsCDC reports progress to boardBy Shawn HavelCo-EditorThe Laramie County Community Collegeoard of Trustees requested representatives ofhe Children’s Discovery Center to gather morenformation about what they would like to see infuture facility after hearing the CDC’s progresseport at the March 21 board meeting.Carrie Westling, CDC manager, andtephanie Fisher, assistant manager of adminstrationand finance of the CDC, said theyould like to see a larger facility to provide morepportunities to students and the communityecause they currently have a waiting list forach class. “We are very space-bound,” Westlingaid.Westling and Fisher presented a progresseport to the trustees that outlined how the CDCas benefited LCCC and some of the programsffered. In a PowerPoint presentation, Fisherhowed the various learning opportunities theDC provides students majoring in education,sychology and nursing, among others, by proidingreal experiences for the students to applyheir knowledge and skills. “We are very proudf the collaborations we have been getting fromur faculty here at LCCC and our administratorse have been working with.”Westling also said that the CDC recentlyeceived tax exemption status because it was aab school environment, which will help savemoney for the CDC. She also said revenue issuesare not a problem because the CDC hasinstituted a $25 nonrefundable deposit and adeposit of the first month’s fee to alleviate pastproblems. She said, “In the last several monthswe have not had problems with parents payingtheir full bill.”At the Sept. 21 board meeting, the trusteesdecided to seek documentation about theprograms that use the CDC and whether theyshould contribute to funding the program afterthe CDC had accumulated a deficit of $645,000during the last decade.Several community members, faculty andstudents who used the CDC’s services expressedhow the program has benefitted their own lives.Ashley Schultz, an English teacher at EastHigh School and parent of three children includingher daughter who have gone through CDC,said: “Because of her experience here, she wentto kindergarten academically prepared, ready togo. But, more importantly, to me she was readysocially.”A graduate of LCCC’s accounting department,Tracy McEwen, said she has worked withthe CDC for service learning projects, whichinspired her to become more active at LCCC.In the past, the CDC has had low enrollmentduring the summer; however, Westling said that“phones have been ringing off the hook” for thissummer’s program.The recommendations were based on recommendationsmade in December 2011 by College Brain Trust, thecompany hired to conduct an organizational audit beforethe president was hired.Schaffer proposed the college make the followingother changes in his memorandum on Feb. 27:• Keep the position of vice president of student servicesand conduct a national search to fill it by July 1.• Retitle the position of director of public relations toexecutive director of public government affairs. Thiswill be a title change only.• Retitle the position of director of human resources toexecutive director of human resources. This will be atitle change only.• Retitle the position of dean of Albany County Campusto associate vice president of Albany County Campusand move the reporting line to the president from thevice president of instruction.• Begin phasing out the position of vice president ofworkforce and community development and integratethose programs into academics.• Eliminate the position of vice president of instructionby June 30 and establish a vice president of academicaffairs in anticipation of the June 30 retirement ofthe current vice president of instruction, Dr. MarleneTignor.• Conduct a national search for the position of vicepresident of academic affairs to hire by Jan. 1, 2013.• Appoint an interim vice president of academic affairsby July 1.• Create a position of associate vice president of institutionaleffectiveness and conduct a search to fill theposition by July 1.• Merge health sciences, natural sciences and mathematicsinto the school of health, natural sciences andmathematics. Create a position of dean of health,natural sciences and mathematics and search to fillthe position as soon as possible.• Begin purposeful investment in new faculty positions.• Invest in human resources personnel to establish astrong, centralized system of human resource management.Schaffer recommended the college address thechanges using a three-phase reorganization processthat would span two years. He said phases I and II wereintended to rectify current areas of deficiency, captureimmediate efficiencies and establish the institution’sform to meet its function.Phase III will reallocate the programs, services andhuman resources that will help LCCC capture futureopportunities and move toward becoming the leadingcollege in Wyoming, Schaffer said. He said this phasewas currently more ambiguous.Schaffer said he focused on the following prioritieswhen making his reorganizational recommendations:• Conducting a reorganization that matches form tofunction, increases efficiency and better aligns programsand services to meet the needs of students;• investing in and establishing a strong human resourcesstructure;• investing in and shifting the workforce to illustrate acommitment to strengthening the faculty while rightsizingother employee classifications to march peerand national competitors;• investing in and rectifying the most critical needs forstudent services, including student advising and studenthealth services; and improving student success.Board approves searchfor new vice presidentsThe Laramie County Community College Board of Trustees approvedthree items at the March 21 business meeting.The board voted to allow the president to move forward inchoosing a search firm to help fill the positions of vice president ofacademic affairs and vice president of student services. PresidentJoe Schaffer said he had narrowed the decision to two searchfirms, Cizek Associates and Pauly Group Incorporated. The contractwith the search firm is not to exceed $100,000.Schaffer said Cizek is more affordable and has an intimateknowledge of LCCC because it assisted with the recent presidentialsearch but is not connected to as large a network of communitycolleges. He also said although Pauly Group is more expensive, butit is well-known in the community college world and specializes insub-executive searches.The board also approved 6–1 to amend the College Brain Trust’scontract until June 30, 2013, in order to provide two six-hour workshopsto the trustees on shared governance system. CBT conductedLCCC’s recent organizational audit. However, Trustee KevinKilty was concerned about the cost that could occur becauseeach CBT workshop costs $7,500 and $234 an hour for editing andreviewing drafts of policies.Another item approved unanimously was a request to issue aproposal for legal services for the college, not just for the board.The request came about because of the changes to the college’sorganizational structure that caused the termination of collegeattorney Tony Reyes in early March.