The State Fair Community College Board of Trustees met Tuesday for a meeting that centered on financial discussions and opportunities for the future.
At the college’s June 28 board meeting a balanced budget of $53,134,176 was approved. As a part of that budget, the Board voted Tuesday to approve all the loan and lease payments due in fiscal year 2017 to be paid as designated:
• Heckart Science & Allied Health, $686,000, SFCC Facilities Corporation.
• Truman Regional Education Center/CIinton, $199,000, TRCDC.
• Lake Ozarks Campus, $146, 000, Corporate Group.
• Library Learning Center/Boonville, $31,000, City of Boonville.
• Equipment Lease/Purchase Agreement TRANE, $460,000, Bank of America.
• Equipment Lease/Purchase Agreement/Ellucian, $348,000, Ellucian.
• Department of Economic Development, $115,000 Energize Missouri Loan.
• Copiers, $29,000, Marco.
• Mailing Equipment, $6,000, Pitney Bowes.
An unexpected highlight for the college is its pending fall enrollment. Final numbers are not in but currently SFCC is seeing an increase in numbers over this time last year.
“Although we know the final numbers are not in, we projected for a 4 percent decrease,” SFCC President Dr. Joanna Anderson told the board. “If our numbers are up I will be elated.”
SFCC has been provided an opportunity to showcase the campus Aug. 10 when CMT (Country Music Television) will present a free concert at the Fred E. Davis Multipurpose Center. The concert will feature Courtney Cole with BlueStem appearing as the opening act.
“MCCA and CMT are presenting the concert as a way to educate students and empower them to further their education,” said Dr. Joe Gilgour, Dean of Student Services. “This is an excellent opportunity for us to showcase SFCC and other community colleges throughout the state.
“We have a special connection as the lead singer for the opening act, Trenton Scott, is one of our graduates,” Gilgour added. “We’re hoping that that and the fact that it’s the night before the State Fair opens will bring a big crowd, this is only the second time that CMT has done this so we are excited to have this opportunity.”
The evening’s activities will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a Resource Fair where visitors can learn about Missouri’s community colleges. The concert will begin at 6:30 p.m. Tickets to the concert are free and can be picked up at the student services center at SFCC or reserved online at www.missouricolleges.org.
Prior to the board meeting the board heard a report from representatives from the firm of Patron Insight regarding the possibility of a potential tax increase to fund plans being considered by the College.
“We still have a number of factors to consider before we determine the direction we will take in the future regarding any proposed ballot measures,” Anderson said after the meeting.
In other actions the board:
• Approved a revision to Policy 3330. This revision will keep Board policy compliant for federal funds. The policy deals with the value to SFCC and its constituency in seeking federal funds for special that are compatible with the college’s philosophy mission and goals.
The board policy states the policy of the college, in accepting federally-funded projects, is that all approved federal projects shall include, in some form, College funding either in matching or in-kind.
“The board voted to require that all activities paid with federal funds require a review of eligibility by the vice president for Finance and Administration to ensure that sub-awardees and contractors for goods and services have not been debarred or suspended from receiving Federal funds.”
• Authorized the Vice President for Finance and Administration to write off $309,695.92 as uncollected balances for the fiscal year.
That dollar amount is less than the $314,246.69 the college wrote off last year, according to information presented by Gary Sorrell, vice president for Finance and Administration. Sorrell commented that the college continues to try to collect all uncollected debt and has collected more than $213,900 this year on previous debts.
• The board voted to accept the proposal from Wenger Corporation of Owatonna, Minnesota for a Soundlok Upgradeable Room to include fan ventilation in the amount not to exceed $34,650 for a 13-foot by 9-foot by 9-foot pre-fabricated practice room including one four-foot door.
Pricing will be adjusted by 3 percent based on National TCPN (The Cooperative Purchasing Network) and includes delivery and installation. The funding source is the Stauffacher funds used as part of the Title Ill Endowment Challenge Grant.
• The board voted to create a centralized location for dining services trash and grease to be picked up by qualified services reducing risk of staff injury.
The accepted bid is an itemized procurement contract with Gordian Group called Job Order Contracting (JOC). The company created this in conjunction with the purchasing cooperative NJPA and their general contractor is RCI.
The college has worked with the two groups to create a scope of work and proposal which includes two brick columns and cedar plank fence, plus gates that will be steel frames with cedar planks. The location will be on the west side of the kiln building at Stauffacher.
The cost of the accepted bid from the Gordian Group is $14,824.97 and a project budget of $17,000 was approved by the board. The funding source for this project is from unrestricted cash reserves.
