Potential bills before this year's state legislature dominated the discussion at the Board of Trustees Jan. 12 meeting.

With the new Democratic majority in the legislature and the continuing state budget crisis, it was decided that the trustees would form a legislative task group comprised of trustees Bruce Benson, Maria Garcia Berry and Sean Tonner. The three scheduled a meeting for Monday, Jan. 17 with Interim President Ray Kieft to delve further into the significant legislative issues facing higher education in general and Metro State in particular. To read more about this year's legislative session, which opened Jan. 12, go to
http://www.mscd.edu/~collcom/@metro/tw@metro_vol2/legis_twv2011905.htm

Tuition Increase
In other matters, Interim Vice President for Administration and Finance Natalie Lutes presented models for the college's fiscal year 2005-06 budget assuming 5.5 percent and 9.5 percent tuition increases.

Kieft said that, in fact, Metro will need a minimum 5.8 percent increase due to AHEC's lack of funding for controlled maintenance. Dean Wolf, AHEC executive vice president, had reported at the Nov. 10 BOT meeting that Auraria does not have the dollars it needs for major repairs, such as to the Plaza Building roof. He asked the board to consider raising tuition or putting a $40-per-semester increase in student fees to a vote of the students.

Lutes' presentation was the first step in providing information to the trustees for their consideration of a tuition increase.

PaceSetters
Karen Raforth, interim vice president for student services, gave a presentation on the PaceSetters scholarship program. Now in its third year, the program's purpose is to provide first-generation college students with financial, academic and social support. PaceSetter scholars receive five-year scholarships to cover tuition, books and fees.

"Something is going right in this program," said Raforth, whose figures showed that the participation in a special cohort such as the PaceSetters program improves persistence, GPA and completion rates. However, Raforth suggested that certain changes be made in the program, notably that participants meet minimum college qualifications for assessment scores and the admission index, and that the scholarship time frame be reduced from five years to four while allowing for summer semester enrollment.

Watch for a more in-depth article about the Pacesetters program in a future edition of This Week @Metro.

Other News
Kieft introduced Head Coach Danny Sanchez and players Kylee Hanavan and Ymara Guante of the national championship women's soccer team. Sanchez has been named NCAA Division II Coach of the Year and Guante has been selected Player of the Year by the National Association of Soccer Coaches. In addition, Guante and Hanavan are All-Americans.

Kieft also announced that trustee Adele Phelan will serve as an advisor to the NCA Self-Study Task Force.

Due to time constraints, a presentation on the Cooperative Education Internship Center and full-time temporary faculty had to be postponed. Following adjournment of the public meeting, the board went into Executive Session.

Trustees meet with administrators
Prior to the meeting, board members met with college administrators in the first of several informal sessions that are to be held with college employees and students.

According to Yvonne Flood, chair of the Council of Administrators, more than 40 people braved the morning's icy roads to attend the meeting, which was held from 8-9 a.m. in the Atrium of the Administration Building. "It was a good opportunity for us to get to know the trustees a little better," Flood said, "and to get their perspectives on issues outside of the regularly scheduled public meetings. I hope to have another session for administrators this summer or early next fall."