In its first meeting of the 2008-09 academic year, Metro State’s Board of Trustees voted earlier today to approve new deadlines on the Pay-for-Performance faculty compensation initiative and to take a public position on a number of ballot initiatives. The meeting, held in TIV 320, followed immediately after Metro State’s Welcome Back Ceremony (see http://www.mscd.edu/~collcom/artman/publish/welcomeback_twv6090308.shtml).

Pay-for-Performance timeline revised
Following a presentation by Provost Linda Curran on the current status of the Pay for Performance committee work, the board voted to grant a modification in several Handbook deadlines pertaining to the Departmental Evaluation Guidelines that underlie the faculty performance evaluation piece of the Pay-for-Performance plan.

The new deadlines are as follows:

Curran described a process whereby the criteria for "exceeds standards" in departmental annual evaluations would "dovetail" with criteria for Level I P4P awards.

Trustee Lucero stated her concerns that this "dovetailing" take place in time for faculty to know on what criteria they will be evaluated in spring 2009. Curran agreed that the P4P committee would make every effort to inform faculty as quickly as possible.

Board takes stance on ballot initiatives
The board took positions on a number of items expected to appear on the November 2008 ballot.

Amendment 46: The board voted unanimously to oppose Amendment 46, which would prohibit state entities from considering race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in employment, public education and business contracts. Board member Mark Martinez said, “Given the unique mission and nature of Metro State and the role it plays in this community (e.g., educating more students of color than any other four-year college), it’s important that we come out against Amendment 46,” as the College continues to serve a diverse student body.

Amendment 50: The board voted to support Amendment 50, which would allow the local gaming communities of Black Hawk, Cripple Creek and Central City to vote on expanding their gaming offerings. Any increases in revenues from the changes would flow 78 percent to the community college system and 22 percent back to local communities.

Initiative 113: The board voted unanimously to support Initiative 113, also known as the Scholarship Fund Initiative, which would end property-tax exemptions for the oil and gas industry and direct 60 percent of new revenues to the proposed Colorado Promise Scholarship Fund. (See http://www.mscd.edu/~collcom/artman/publish/promise_twv6080608.shtml for more information.)

Initiative 126: The board voted to support Initiative 126, known as the Savings Account for Education (SAFE) initiative, which was sponsored by Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff and State Treasurer Cary Kennedy. The initiative would overhaul conflicting fiscal provisions in the state’s constitution by lifting some of the spending restrictions of the 1992 Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights and repealing Amendment 23’s mandated spending on Pre-K through 12 education. Metro State President Stephen Jordan said, “I believe, in the long term, this proposal, of all those (on the table), has the greatest possibility of providing longer-term sustainable funding for higher education.”

Election of Officers
Board officers for the 2008-09 were elected unanimously: Adele Phelan will continue to serve as chair, and Rob Cohen will serve as vice chair. Chair Phelan said, “Thank you all. Rob and I will do our best to do the work of preeminence.”

Master Plan Update
Facilities Planner Sean Nesbitt provided an update on the Auraria campus master planning process and the work of the Metro State Neighborhood Planning Committee to develop a master plan for the neighborhood and a program plan for the first building of the Metro State neighborhood (see http://www.mscd.edu/~collcom/artman/publish/neighborhood_twv5040908.shtml for more information on the committee).

The committee, which has been meeting with consultants from studioINSITE and the architecture firms AndersonMasonDale and Sasaki, has been working to address how to develop the Metro State neighborhood over the next 20 years.

The program plan for the first building of the Metro State neighborhood, under development since June, would centralize key services of the College, including the President’s office, Academic Affairs, Student Services, and Institutional Advancement. The program plan addresses such issues as what will be in the building but does not get into any physical design. A potential timeline for the first building laid out by architect Andy Nielson would have the program plan finalized this fall, the building designed over the course of 2009, bidding and construction beginning January 2010, and construction on the first building completed by Sept. 2011. Nielson added that any timeline would be contingent upon several BOT decisions on budget and timeline.

Three potential concepts were presented, as well as preliminary cost estimates. The board discussed contingency costs and other issues. The architects agreed to incorporate trustee comments and work with the Metro State Neighborhood Planning Committee to put together a final plan for review at the November BOT meeting.

Benefits extended to domestic partners
President Jordan reported that the Colorado Higher Education Insurance Benefits Alliance (CHEIBA) had made a decision to extend employee benefits to domestic partners. Benefits will be extended effective January 1, 2009. The Metro State Board of Trustees had voted in May to support the extension of the benefits, as had the faculty senate and all other employee groups of the college earlier in the semester.

Other news
The board will hold a retreat on Sept. 11-12 in Colorado Springs.