The Board of Trustees met on Monday, January 11. As we wrote in November, we want to keep the college informed about the Board’s work in support of Evergreen, so plan to provide a brief summary following each regular meeting.
On Monday, George’s president’s report touched on several topics. He discussed the acquisition of the building that houses the Evergreen’s Tacoma Program and plans for a celebration there on May 21. He noted the series of campus discussions about racism through the fall and continuing this quarter. He spoke about the hiring of a new Civil Rights Officer for the college, Lorie Mastin, and plans to better publicize the avenues for reporting incidents of harassment. George described a productive meeting with the Thurston County Commission and its staff, who recognize the contributions that Evergreen makes to the county, the contributions that our students make as interns, and are eager to help the College address issues associated with outdated zoning of the college’s land. He described the upcoming Climate Symposium, which includes numerous panel discussions, two keynote addresses, and a welcome by Governor Inslee. Finally, he distributed a summary of his schedule of activities since our previous meeting.
We then turned to Residential and Dining Services (RAD). Sharon Goodman, Director of RAD and Recreation and Athletics, described efforts in RAD to the residence halls, many of which were originally built in 1971. Jeanne Rynne, Director of Facilities, described how the college had come to hire Mahlum Architects to develop a new master plan for Housing and Dining. Kurt Haapala and Anne Roderer from Mahlum described their experience and the scope of their planned work. Last week, they met with groups of students, staff, and faculty to learn more about the college and our needs. Depending on what they learn about Evergreen, they may recommend renovating the existing residence halls, replacing them with new buildings, or some combination. The residence halls are in that group of college buildings for which state capital construction dollars can’t be used — the Campus Activities Building (CAB) and the Campus Recreation Center are also in this group. Consequently, any major projects involving the residence halls will require some other source of financing. We briefly discussed ways in which the College might borrow money for projects like this at favorable interest rates and the possibility of partnering with local developers. Mahlum will be exploring these and other options. We will receive their recommendations in Spring quarter.
Our Director of Government Relations, Colleen Rust, spoke about the 2016 legislative session, which was beginning on the same day that we met. This is expected to be a short legislative session. The two-year budget that the legislature adopted last year has been in effect only since July. Budget making this year should focus on issues that have emerged since then (like paying the costs of fighting last summer’s wildfires), new issues that have emerged since July (like a large legal judgement that the state will have to pay), and work that didn’t get finished in the 2015 session. This last category includes responding to the state Supreme Court’s judgement that the state is not meeting its constitutional obligation to fund basic education in the K-12 system.
Colleen described Governor Inslee’s budget proposal, which was published last month, and the Council of Presidents’ legislative agenda, which Evergreen is supporting. She then described some bills that are expected to get some legislative attention this year. These include legislation focused on the cost of textbooks, financial literacy programs for students, budget transparency, and online advising.
We also expect to hear legislative discussion of a proposal to provide one-year of free community college to Washington State students. The state of Tennessee recently adopted a similar proposal. As encouraging as it is to see the legislature focus on sharing more of the cost of students’ education, we have concerns about this proposal that we hope can be addressed. Evergreen draws many excellent students from community colleges. We think we are the best choice for community college students who want to transfer to a four-year institution and earn a liberal arts degree. But students who begin their post-secondary education at a community college are much less likely to earn a bachelor’s degree than students who start at a four-year college. If the first year of community college is free, we think the same deal should apply to four-year colleges. Finally, it is not clear how the state would pay for this new initiative. We feel strongly that the state should not provide a free first year if it is funded with cuts in the grant programs provided to low-income students through all four years of college.
Jeff Beaulac from the Geoduck Student Union presented the legislative priorities of the GSU and the Washington Student Association. These concern issues of homelessness, affordability, the ability to use EBT cards (food stamps) on college campuses, educational opportunities in state prisons, and decoupling S&A fee changes from changes in tuition.
Finally, Steve Trotter, our Executive Director for Operational Planning and Budget, noted that this would likely be his last board meeting before his retirement this spring. Trustees thanked Steve for his long service to the college and for the care and integrity with which he prepared budget decisions for the Board’s consideration.
Over lunch, we met with members of the college’s Diversity and Equity Standing Committee. We heard from Wendy Endress, Vice President for Student Affairs; Members of the Faculty Heesoon Jun and Carolyn Prouty; Felix Braffith, Director of TRiO Student Success Programs; and Greg Mullins, Academic Dean for Instructional Support and Library & Media Services, about the long history of the college’s sometimes sporadic efforts to create a more inclusive academic community, about a few of the many issues that remain to be addressed, and about the committee’s sense that conditions nationally and locally are such that Evergreen now has a real opportunity for a sustained effort and real progress. We also had the opportunity over lunch to hear briefly from Gyasi Ross, an Evergreen graduate and guest who later that afternoon kicked off the Winter quarter speaker series.
In the afternoon, we heard from Vice President for Advancement Amanda Walker about fundraising progress. The matching gifts from the Gates Foundation that we have received for the past few years have all been received. Even without that source, we remain on track for our fundraising goals this year. The big news from her report was the receipt of a new charitable lead annuity trust that will bring $2.25 million to Evergreen over the next several years.
In the Chair’s report, Fred Goldberg spoke about his interest in improving the college’s relationship with the local community, including the city and the county. He encouraged George to continue the good work he has begun in this area and suggested a meeting with the Washington Center for the Performing Arts. Improving community relationships and partnerships might strengthen the College in many ways, providing better access to mental health resources to students, for instance, encouraging mentorship relationships with alumni and local leaders, encouraging entrepreneurship among our graduates, creating Farm-to-Table connections for the Organic Farm, or kayak rental at Evergreen’s beach. Fred expressed an interest in improving the campus transportation system, perhaps through a bike share program. Fred also noted recent state rule-making providing equitable access for transgender people to restrooms and locker rooms and asked College staff to pay attention to these issues. Finally, he expressed interest in creating more recreational opportunities for students to build upon the College’s location on Puget Sound.
Our student Trustee, Emily Dunn-Wilder, reported on her work since the last meeting. Among the points she emphasized was the desirability of reviving the Geoduck mascot costume. She also reported on the Evergreen branch of the Thurston County Foodbank which she said serves 40-80 families each week, including students, staff, and community members. She suggested that the program could use more support from the College. Finally, she reported on the work of the College’s Food Systems Working Group. She said that Evergreen is a leader in food systems issues among colleges, but often does not get the recognition that it should.
Faculty representative Sandy Yannone discussed several faculty issues and concerns, including the value of work-study financial aid to students and to the College, recent faculty discussions on race and equity, a faculty resolution condemning the Islamaphobia that surfaced following violence in Paris, ongoing faculty work on the curriculum, concerns about faculty equity issues reflected in the recent collective bargaining, and national conversations about how colleges respond to sexual harassment and sexual violence.
For the Geoduck Student Union, Jeff Beaulac reported on how recent immigration raids in the region are negatively affecting students who are undocumented or have family members who are undocumented. Tyler Bieber reported on the GSU’s interest in planning a concert series, revising Super Saturday, and converting all restrooms in the CAB to gender-neutral restrooms. He noted the group’s concern about the prospect of parking fee increases. Finally, he described several ballot initiatives that propose new student fees, including proposals for fees to provide independent funding for the GSU and fee options that would provide more funding for academic programs.
The meeting adjourned at 4:00.