Committee on Academic Affairs and Student Services + Board of Trustees
City Colleges of Chicago
Education
Thursday, April 8, 2021
12:30 p.m. — 4:00 p.m. CDT
Remote
This is a remote assignment. We expect that this meeting will be live-streamed at https://www.youtube.com/user/citycollegeschicago/videos. If you do not see the meeting video immediately you may be early or the board may be running late; give it a few moments and try refreshing your Internet tab.
For this assignment you will be documenting the following back-to-back meetings:
- 12:30 p.m.: Committee on Academic Affairs and Student Services
- 2:00 p.m.: Board of Trustees
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, several scheduled committee meetings have been canceled on shorter notice. We recommend checking the original posting day-of to confirm if the Committee on Academic Affairs and Student Services is still meeting.
Check the source website for additional information
Reporting
Edited and summarized by the Chicago - IL Documenters Team
Note-taking by
Megan Wadin
Expanded grant writing efforts, Malcolm X College success report, Proposed law would create an elected board
Live reporting by
Rex Tai
Expanded grant writing efforts, Malcolm X College success report, Proposed law would create an elected board
Rex Tai
@RexA_Tai
Good afternoon! Today I'll be covering the 12:30 Committee on Academic Affairs and Student Services meeting, and the Board of Trustees at 2pm. @CHIdocumenters @city_bureau
12:37 PM Apr 8, 2021 CDT
Vice Chancellor Brown went over grant submissions for FY20 and FY21, highlighting that more grants have been submitted, and more grant awards have been won. #ChicagoCityColleges https://t.co/0QOntBsb8i
Chief Strategy Officer Herrero outlined their equity-focused grant initiatives and strategies to improve educational infrastructure for black and brown students across #ChicagoCityColleges https://t.co/MBd6p8CCyg
"Resolution 1.00 confirms and ratifies a memorandum of understanding, an amendment with the City of Chicago for the use of CCC facilities for the purposes of mass immunizations or prophylaxis in the event of an emergency. Amendment allows the City to retain a contractor to ...
... staff, equip, & operate the vaccination point of distribution at Daley College, through Oct 21, 2021. Also provides the Chancellor with authority to extend in writing the term of the amendment up to April 21, 2022, or to add/remove contractors for each point of distribution"
"Resolution 1.01 seeks authorization of a memorandum of understanding b/t City Colleges, Life Span, and the CPD that includes funding to support Life Span services in support of Project Safe." City Colleges is a grant awardee of the US DOJ Office of Violence against Women" ...
.. it will connect students who have experienced domestic violence to campus & community based supports, will increase educational initiatives and provide trainees to faculty, students, staff, and law enforcement, and improve collaboration b/t City Colleges, local service ..
.. providers, and law enforcement to enhance gender based violence response.
"Resolution 1.02 seeks authorization for Olive-Harvey College to join with the City to launch a short term pilot program for 30 participants in the Spring of 2021. Participants will all be afforded a scholarship to obtain a career in cannabis certificate, a paid work-based ...
.. learning opportunity, and wrap around services including child care and transportation support. A long-term program, slated to start Fall 2021 (Still I Rise program) will provide 50 participants with the same services as the short-term pilot, along with additional ...
wrap-around services such as mentoring, work-force development, mental health services and therapy. City Colleges will contract with community partners to provide. Lasts from May 1st, 2021 to May 31st, 2023. $1.6 million for use in connection with this program."
Item 2.00 is a request to approve the April 2021 personnel report. 50 actions on this months report, including 14 new/rehires, 18 promotion, title, and salary changes, and 18 separations and retirements.
Item 3.00 includes 5 awards, totaling $2.6 million. 7 grants are for direct student support, one for each of the City's 7 colleges, and total $12,726,135. The other 7 are for institutional support and total $40,485,114.
"Item 4.00 requests the Board's authority to execute Depends upon Requirements Agreements with Courtesy Electric, Montell-McDonough Joint Venture, Mundo Electric, and Pace Systems to provide job order contracting services for electrical/low voltage work."
"Agreement 4.01 requests the Board's authority to exercise the option to renew the Depends upon Requirements Agreement with SET Environmental Inc to provide emergency environmental response services, and other non-emergency cleanup services as needed b/t 4/16/21-4/15/22."
"Agreement 4.02 is an approval request for an agreement with JP Morgan for district wide banking services. The term of the agreement is for 5 years, from July 1 2021, to June 30, 2026, with two additional options to renew for 1 year period each, or 1 additional 2 year term."
"4.03 is a contract renewal request with Fooda Inc to provide child care meals to be delivered at the following colleges: Daley, Malcolm X, Olive-Harvey, and Truman. Total cost not to exceed $500,000 a year."
"4.04 is an agreement with Touchnet Information Systems Inc to utilize their payment software to allow students to pay their tuition online through the CDC web portal. Total cost not to exceed $80,000 for one year."
"4.05 is an option to renew an agreement with US Bank National Association to provide electronic payment card services for vendor payments. This is at no cost to the district, as it is a revenue sharing rebate."
"4.06 is a renewal with Pro-Education Solutions that will close out over the remainder of this calendar year our use of their services for financial aid verification. Not to exceed $200,000"
"4.07 is for the authorization to execute an agreement with TIG that will support and maintain CCC's existing telecommunications systems, which includes all phones, call centers, communication, faxes and voicemail. Not to exceed $415,000."
"4.08 requests Board authority to execute and agreement with West Ed to provide training and equity focused continuous improvement. Between April 29, 2021 through June 30, 2022, at a total cost not to exceed $75,000."
Motion to discharge all inclusive resolutions, personnel items, resource development report, agreements, purchases and legal invoices included on today's Committee Agenda, so moved. Motion carried.
I will next cover the City Colleges of Chicago Board Meeting, which starts at 2 PM. The full agenda for this meeting can be found at ccc.edu/departments/Do…, and a screenshot is also included below. https://t.co/S2hh2o1MVh
Chair Massey calls the meeting to session. He invites Student Trustee James Thomas to give the Student Trustee report, also noting this will be his last meeting in this capacity.
Student Trustee Thomas presents a list of varied community events held across the 7 CCC campuses for the month of April, which include Cutest Pet Contest, Know Your Rights workshops, paint night, a talent show, and others.
Chancellor Juan Salgado gives his update next, starting off by praising Student Trustee Thomas for his leadership & mentorship during his tenure.
Salgado reaffirms his mission to protecting students of color across the CCC system during these times of racial turmoil, including black, Latinx, and Asian American & Pacific Islander students, the latter who comprise 7% of the total student population.
He says the "7 Strong" City Colleges can become stronger around issues of inclusion with their equity plans, Black excellence award fund, and anti-violence initiatives such as the Project SAFE grant to educate the community around gender-based violence.
Salgado also recognizes the work of the Legislative Affairs teams at CCC; he recently spoke in favor of state legislation to allow for the creation of a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education.
This would go a long way to supporting additional equity needs in Illinois by credentialing a largely women of color workforce who provide the majority of professional, high quality childcare, especially given Illinois' statewide shortages in available childcare.
Surrounding CCC's COVID-19 efforts, Salgado names a target date of July 6th for faculty & staff to return to expanded in-person instruction. Efforts are ongoing to ensure continued safety measures in accordance with Dept of Health guidelines.
He is optimistic about the upcoming academic year at CCC, in which they have adapted to pandemic circumstances in providing quality virtual education. Students will have even more options for learning next year than they ever have previously.
Chair Massey moves to the next item on the agenda, inviting speakers for public comment. The 3 speakers all share their perspectives as adjunct faculty lambasting pay inequality across CCC.
The speakers talk about their experience as adjunct lecturer teaching 8-11 courses/year, representing ~80% of a full time faculty teaching load, yet only making $25000/year. They have needed to use SNAP & Medicaid while also living in friends' apartments to avoid homelessness.
"What will students think about City Colleges when it says it is committed to alleviating poverty, but on the other hand, it also condemns a majority of educators to poverty?"
Randy Miller, the president of @cccloc_talk representing adjuncts, part-time librarians, & vocational lecturers shares how members have worked w/o a contract for 12 months. CCC has consistently rejected the union's calls for salary adjustments.
He says Chancellor Salgado has messaged that CCC needs to provide competitive salaries to attract and retain quality educators, yet CCC's actions speak otherwise. He also notes CCC admin salaries have gone up 18% yearly over the past 2 years while faculty continue to struggle.
The speakers' pleas go unaddressed as the board moves on to the next item of the agenda, the Faculty Council Report, presented by Prof. Keith Sprewer.
Sprewer begins by recognizing Student Trustee Thomas' contributions to the Board, calling for solidarity with Asian American students, & highlighting the continued push during April Community College month for advancing equity, despite the unequal history of community colleges.
He calls for the Board & CCC community to take a more active role in legislation, pointing to wins like the passage of HB 2170 on developmental education in special session. Educators are continuously on the defensive legislative & should be more vocal participants.
Relevant legislation currently in the works include a MAP grants bill & SB1832 around creating Bachelor's degrees in Early Education (referenced above by Chancellor Salgado), which he encourages CCC community members to submit witness slips in support of.
He provides updates on the timeline for a MOU around allowing in-person credit for education provided at Cook County Jail starting in Q1 of 2022, which would address a critical tenet of equity in advancing educational opportunities for the incarcerated population.
He also speaks to controversy among the Faculty Council around possible Conflicts of Interest regarding Trustee Swanson serving as both CCC BOD vice-chair & chairperson of the Partnership for College Completion.
He states there is no evidence of biased decision-making or compensation for these voluntary roles and thus no legal infarction committed, yet ethical issues are apparent and no existing policies are in place to clarify procedures around such COIs.
These also raise issues of undemocratic representation and trustees not acting in the best interests of the CCC community, given that CCC is the only community college board in the state with trustees appointed by the Mayor of Chicago, rather than elected.
The Faculty Council would thus like to inform about HB 0256, which would amend the Public Community College Act and provide for election rather than appointment of the CCC board.
Next on the agenda is the District Update, with today's focus on Malcolm X College. The presentation on their recent activities can be viewed at: chicago.documenters.org/documents/dist…
The agenda for the Malcolm X College Presentation is as follows: https://t.co/cTqYGFIQpQ
The presenters begin by discussing new innovations around the pandemic to support students and build community. A new chatbot on the website is available to answer questions 24/7, particularly around financial aid & the FAFSA process.
MXC has been focused on improving community coaching & mentorship, particularly for 3rd & 4th students at CPS high schools. These efforts have led to improved enrollment & retention of CCC students.
They've also developed programs to meet the basic material needs of financially struggling students, such as a food pantry, wellness center, and exploration of expanded student housing options: https://t.co/XOQimpLtDJ
Instructional initiatives include improving virtual lab experiences to replicate the quality of in-person instruction & more culturally relevant onboarding for new students in music, black, & Latinx studies before introducing core topics of English & Math into curricula.
Other improvements include establishing a social justice wing of the library, partnerships with institutions like @msichicago to allow students to observe heart surgery & interact with surgeons, & renovations to West Side Learning Center with more collaborative, modern layouts.
They celebrate high levels of continued nursing enrollment at Malcolm X College & the satellite West Side Learning Center. NCLEX pass rates at MXC consistently exceed the national average. https://t.co/B8vet5aylN
Two other exciting developments that both support community needs & create learning opportunities include efforts to establish an FQHC & a Child Observation Learning Center, which will aid needy patients & parents respectively while giving trainees relevant experience.
Next on the agenda are Committee Updates by Academic Affairs & Student Services, presented by Vice Chair Swanson. These updates are covered during the relevant portion of the meeting at the top of this thread.
The one board action for today concerns review of the 4/8/21 Consent Agenda, whose items can be viewed in the Board Meeting agenda document posted above. The consent agenda is approved unanimously by the Board.
The Board next moves to closed session to discuss 2C1, regarding Appointment, Employment, Compensation, Discipline, Performance or Dismissal of civic employees of public body & legal counsel for public body.
The Board returns from closed session at 3:58 PM. No actions were taken during the closed session.
With no further business, the Board of Trustees motion to adjourn today’s meeting at 4:02 PM. Thank you for tuning into my #ChiDocumenters live-tweet coverage of today’s meetings! Further info & detailed notes can be found at ccc.edu/events/Pages/A….
Attachments
Agency Information
City Colleges of Chicago
The Board of Trustees is the governing body of City Colleges of Chicago Community College District No. 508, which operates seven accredited colleges located throughout Chicago. The City Colleges of Chicago Board is comprised of seven voting members serving three-year terms as appointed by the Mayor with the approval of the City Council of Chicago. The Board includes one student trustee elected from one of the Colleges through a campus-wide election. For an overview of the Board of Trustees, including a link to where Board Reports (meeting agenda items and minutes), click here.
Documents
11/5/2020
11/5/2020
