The Board of Education held their regular monthly meeting on May 15, which can be watched here. 

This month, there were discussions regarding contract negotiations, this year’s commencement ceremony, new General Education Outcome standards, and a bond that will go to taxpayers in the form of a levy in November. 

The board consists of seven elected members of the public, members of the Executive Team and other leaders from around campus.  

The elected board members, opening with a Land Acknowledgement in respect to the Kalapuya heritage of the area, then moved into employee board member’s reports. 

Employee union contract negotiations

Faculty Associations president Steve Wolfe informed the board members that several more articles had been Tentatively Agreed to, or TA’d, in regards to faculty contracts. There is one more executive meeting planned for June as well. 

Wolfe said, “I’m happy to report that that seems to be going smoothly – as smoothly as can be expected this time.”

President of the Classified Employees Association Aaron King gave similar remarks, notifying the board that 13 articles in total have been TA’d in regards to their contract negotiations. 

King said of the negotiations, “We’re making really good progress. But, the best things in life are on the other side of difficult conversations. And so there are still a lot of difficult conversations [we’ll need to have]”.

Both the Faculty and Classified Association’s contracts expire June 30. 

2024 Commencement Ceremony

Executive Dean of Student Services Ryan West notified the board of the logistics of the upcoming commencement ceremony. This year, Chemeketa has changed the structure of the ceremony, having students register for time slots rather than having one large ceremony for all students at once. West said this structure made it possible for Chemeketa to not have to limit attendance to the ceremony. 

This year there will also be a tent between Building 7 and 8 that’s been dubbed The Gathering Place where refreshments will be served and students, staff and board members will be able to mingle between time slots. 

General Education Outcomes

Faculty members Julie Peters and Jeremy Trabue gave a presentation describing a pilot program launched this spring term designed to better measure the learning outcomes of students who have completed a General Education degree. 

These new GEOs are the culmination of three years of efforts with a team of faculty from various disciplines within the general education transfer division. Trabue said, “These GEOs articulate what we hope all of the students who have completed any transfer degree, so they’ve gone through our [general education] curriculum, what they know and can do.” 

While the state has its own set of GEO’s, these Chemeketa specific GEOs, “represent skills that our transfer partners and employers around the nation say that they want from college graduates. So, they are written to be inclusive and comprehensive,” said Trabue. 

Describing the new assessment structure, Trabue said, “So it’s a student self-assessment of what they’ve learned and their progress.” The GEO’s will measure six skills outside of typical area specific knowledge student’s gain when pursuing a general education degree, including: curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, communication, competence, and compassion.

It is also an accreditation requirement for the college to have and assess GEOs.

“These new GEOs and the plan to assess them were created by this representative faculty group…and I’m very proud of our process that worked in consultation with key administrative leaders but also with faculty groups across the campus…it was very important to not just come up with a product, but to model a better process of shared governance, internal communication, and by doing that we’re also hoping we’re addressing those accreditation requirements, and in this case even accreditor’s recommendations that we’re moving the school forward on those fronts.” 

While the college previously had GEOs in place, there was a lack of assessment that garnered a recommendation from the college’s accrediting body to include this going forward. 

“This process, I feel confident saying, has brought us into compliance with our accreditor’s requirements, and will advance our accreditation standing,” said Trabue. 

Winemaking and Tasting Room Management certifications of completion

The board heard reports from Winemaking instructor and Program Chair Johnny Bose and Hospitality and Tourism Division Chair Eric Abei about two new proposed certificates within their divisions. 

“…There’s a need from the industry for more skilled labor,” said Brose. As things are now, students interested in the winemaking program must complete enough general education courses to obtain an associate degree. But, with this new Winemaking certificate of completion, students only have to complete approximately 36 credit hours of honed coursework. 

Abei said of the Tasting Room Management certificate of completion, “I’m happy about this because it does a couple things for both programs, and the industry most importantly.” 

For this, students will only need to complete 16 credit hours of coursework to obtain this new proposed certificate. 

Both certificates were recommended by the Wine Studies Advisory Committee and are seeking approval from the board in the June Board of Education meeting. 

Budget Committee member openings

Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs David Hallet notified the board that multiple zones are up for selection of new budget committee members this summer. Members from zones one, three, five and seven will end their terms on June 30. 

The college is seeking approval for the selection process and timeline from the board in the June meeting so the college may meet the required deadline in July to have legal notices publicly posted regarding the position vacancies. 

2024 General Obligation Bond Measure

College President Jessica Howard and Aaron Hunter, vice president of College Support Services/chief financial officer, gave a presentation to the board regarding a proposed draft resolution for a 2024 General Obligation Bond Measure for capital projects. The resolution, if approved in the June board meeting, would then be presented to Oregon voters during the November election in the form of a tax levy. 

Howard said the GO Bond is, “designed to benefit the community, secured by the full faith and credit and taxing power of the issuer, in this case, the college, which functions as a local government in our state,” and that funding from the bond, “can be used for capital costs including construction, improvement, remodeling, furnishing, equipment, maintenance or repair,” for the college. 

The college last had a GO Bond Measure passed in 2008, which provided $92 million for building and renovations. These funds have since been utilized for the Yamhill Valley campus in 2011, the Brooks Center in 2011, Salem campus Building 8 in 2011, and Buildings 20 and 21 in 2015. That bond measure is set to expire this year. 

If the new bond measure is passed, it is predicted that Chemeketa will receive upwards of $140 million to be utilized in the next 15 to 20 years. 

Some plans for the proposed bond include renovating Salem campus Building 7 so that it may be utilized as a Disaster Resource Site for the community at large, creating a Trades Center in Salem campus’ Building 33, and updating trades, health services and emergency services teaching spaces at the Brooks Center 

Howard said of the planned spending, “We’re framing the capital projects in relatively broad terms. This is deliberate and will allow the college to adjust variations in construction costs and changing educational needs.”

Various board members then gave reports regarding personnel, the budget status and investments amongst other things. 

President Howard then took the time to recognize staff members that recently won awards for their deeds as community college employees. 

Ryan West, executive dean of student services, was recognized with the Distinguished Service Award from the Western Association of Financial Administration for the trainings he has provided to the organization and beyond. Dr. Peter Davis received the Oregon State Schools award for his tremendous and impactful work supporting LGBTQIA2S+ individuals. Also, Marshall Roach received the 2024 WL Pierce education leadership award.          

The Board of Education will hold its next public meeting on June 18 and 6:00 p.m and can be viewed via Zoom or in Building 2 on the Salem campus.