Minutes 08/09/2005

A special meeting and retreat of the Maricopa County Community College District Governing Board was scheduled to be held at 8:00 a.m. at the District Support Services Center in Tempe, Arizona, pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.02, notice having been duly given.

PRESENT

GOVERNING BOARD

Don Campbell, President
Linda Rosenthal, Member
Ed Contreras, Member
Jerry Walker, Member
Scott Crowley, Member

ADMINISTRATION

Rufus Glasper, Chancellor
Teresa Toney, Governance Manager
Becki Currey, Acting General Counsel
Gloria Smith, Governing Board Assistant

CALL TO ORDER

The special meeting was brought to order at 8:15 a.m. by Governing Board President Don Campbell.

I. ACTION

1. APPROVAL OF COSIDERATION OF EMPLOYMENTS, RESIGNATIONS, RETIREMENTS, AND TERMINATIONS – Approve recommended personnel actions as presented.

MOTION NO. 9328

Mrs. Rosenthal moved for approval of the recommended personal actions as presented. Motion approved 5-0.

2. ADJOURNMENT OF SPECIAL BOARD MEETING

MOTION NO. 9329

Mrs. Rosenthal moved for adjournment of the special board meeting. Motion approved 5-0.

President Campbell adjourned the special meeting of the Governing Board at
8:17 a.m.

Remarks by Chancellor Glasper:

Dr. Glasper commented that according to the Board’s calendar, it was necessary for the Board to meet to discuss policy housekeeping, governance policies, board self-evaluation, monitoring reports, the Chancellor’s evaluation, as well as other topics relevant to board operations to ensure that policies are up-to-date. Dr. Glasper handed the meeting over to Teresa Toney, Manager of Maricopa Governance.

Remarks by Teresa Toney:

Ms. Toney welcomed everyone present to this meeting intended to conduct an annual policy housekeeping review. She explained that the agenda would include a review and discussion of Governance Policies (Governance Process), Board Operations, Board Self Evaluation, General Policy Housekeeping, Monitoring Reports, and discussion of future retreat topics. She inquired if Board Members wished to include any other items. No additional topics were suggested.

Ms. Toney commented that Board Members had previously suggested conducting board self-evaluation and had provided some examples with the retreat materials. One response was received. It was generally agreed that this process would be a good one to conduct, especially in view of the upcoming third party consultant visit in November.

Manner of Governing/Code of Conduct

Mrs. Rosenthal called attention to Page B-2, Governance Process, Manner of Governing. She suggested the addition of the term “values” to the last sentence of item #2. Mr. Walker recommended that the policy be changed to accommodate respect for those members who were opposed to the current policies with respect to sexual orientation. The following comments were made regarding this issue:

• Recommendation that the policy be placed on the agenda for a vote.
  
• Sections B-2 and B-9 address Manner of Governing and Code of Conduct for elected officials and how their actions impact the organization and employees. The Chancellor noted that Mr. Walker had recently engaged in inappropriate conversations with employees at East Valley campuses regarding his goals to replace two board members and have the Chancellor fired. The Chancellor stated that the Board has a formal method of evaluating his performance and that any Board Member that may have a concern with regard to performance should follow that mechanism as established in the Board’s own policies.
  
• Public service behavior should call for taking the higher road and not feeling required to respond to all comments at a lower level. There are many perspectives in Maricopa County and Board Members are entitled to have a personal opinion in their private lives.
  
• The different values and different opinions are taken into account by all five board members. This community college district has been built up during the past forty years into a very successful system. It is up to the public to express their disfavor if their wishes aren’t being carried out. Professional conduct is to be expected.
  
• Mrs. Rosenthal requested that she be permitted to work with Mr. Crowley on revising the code of conduct policies. They were reminded that the revisions should hold up against state statutes.
  
• Concern was raised that revision of the policies could wind up just being words if there was no way to enforce them. It is important that the policy reflect a way to enforce the policies.
  
• Mr. Walker offered to return to the Chandler-Gilbert campus to apologize, however, he still felt he had the right to speak to issues. It was recommended that offensive comments made by employees be brought to the attention of the Chancellor for him to handle rather than having Mr. Walker respond to them directly.
  
• Self evaluation was suggested, discussed, and agreed upon.
  
• Hearing the voices of those we serve is a good practice. A civility clause has been incorporated into board operations policy to ensure that the appropriate decorum is displayed by all.
  
• It was voiced that reaffirmation of the non-discrimination policy be made at the next board meeting. Mr. Walker indicated that he would make a statement of opposition to this.
  
• Mr. Crowley indicated that he would be starting a Bachelor’s Program and would probably be missing a few meetings. He requested that election of board officers be moved from January to June to coincide with the legislative session. It was brought up that state statute requires elections be done in January, however, this would be researched. The Board was reminded that it has no policy on the terms of succession. The practice of office rotation is customary and the rotation could be changed.

Citizen’s Brochure/Guide

Ms. Toney called attention to the two citizen’s information pieces that had been drafted. It was agreed that these were a good idea and that they should also be placed on the web.

Public Records Requests

There has been an escalation in records requests over these the last couple of years. With reference to public records requests, Ms. Toney indicated that no barriers may be presented in making records accessible to the public. Reasons for the requests may not be asked.

Self-Evaluation Assessments

Self-evaluation was discussed. It was agreed that board members would complete the two assessments included in the retreat notebook and return to the Board Assistant for compilation. The results would be a good vehicle for discussion and possibly reveal how things can be collectively resolved. Board members would get a copy of their own evaluation, as well as the compilation without the names of board members.

General Policy Housekeeping

Ms. Toney indicated that proposed changes to the Governance Policies will be distributed twice; first as an Information Item in November, with adoption proposed for December. It was suggested that wording for executive sessions be added to the kinds of meetings listed as held on page B-11. Discussion was also held pertaining to rules of order and that a second is not required when a motion is made, however, consistency must be followed. It was suggested that a notation be made on the agenda It was also discussed that abstentions must be voiced; silence during motion’s approval will not be noted as abstention. It was also noted that the President should call for abstentions.

Monitoring Reports

Ms. Toney called attention to the formatting of the monitoring reports. She commented that it was the purpose of the monitoring reports to show how the policies were being monitored and evaluated to see if the organization was doing what it said it was doing. It was recommended that the wording be revised to state that not only were the reports being distributed but that they were also being discussed. The November 8 Governing Board Retreat is intended to review the annual monitoring. Because there is a conflict with the November 8, a new time for this retreat will be explored.

Next Retreat

The next retreat is scheduled for October 31 (dinner) and November 1 (all day) at the University Club. A third party consultant will conduct the retreat. Board members will be contacted directly by the consultant for phone interviews. On the evening of October 31, board members will be asked to complete an assessment. The intent of having a consultant come in will be to assess board operations, the role of the chancellor, and assess board/chancellor relations. In view of changing demographics, it is felt that a third party assessment would be a good idea. Dr. Glasper will be meeting with him in Seattle on an informal basis.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 10:36 a.m.

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Scott Crowley
Governing Board Secretary