NCMC Trustees OK Early Bond Repayment

North Central Missouri College trustees approved plans for early repayment of the Barton Campus bond issue during a meeting on Tuesday evening.
With approval of the early repayment, trustees plan to use $167,145 from the amount budgeted this year for the bond payments, with another $171,799.28 coming from bond fund reserves held by UMB Bank. An additional $200,000 from the proceeds of the sale of Whitley property near Columbia will also go toward the repayment and college reserve funds of $573,314.11 will also be used.
The remaining principal on the bond issue is $1,080,000, with remaining interest of $351,865 and administrative fees of $22,472 for a total of $1,454,337 left to be paid on the bond issue. With the decision to pay the bonds off early, the college will realize a gross savings of $342,078.61 and a net savings of $279,078.61 when estimated interest lost on the reserves used are considered.
Associate Vice President of Business and Finance Tyson Otto said the college has the ability to save a considerable amount of money and noted that the bonds became “callable” in June. He noted that the sale of the Whitley property was what prompted him to bring the option to the board, with those proceeds available to use for such a project. With total cash reserves of around $8 million, he said, he is very comfortable with trustees taking this action as it still leaves a “healthy fund balance.” The repayment is scheduled to take place on Nov. 15.
Green Hills Head Start
Green Hills Head Start Director Dr. Beverly Hooker told the board that the program’s change of scope application has been turned down by the Administration for Children and Families/Office of Head Start. The changes listed in the original application included closure of the Hamilton Head Start Center, effective with the current school year; redistribution of five center-based child slots to other program center sites with ample waitlists; conversion of eight Head Start center-based slots to Early Head Start home-based child slots, increasing the EHS services in six of the nine Head Start counties; and reducing the funded enrollment from 227 to 223 federally-funded slots.
Dr. Hooker said a revised plan will soon be implemented and does not involve child slot conversion, funded enrollment decreases or a federal application for approval. Those revisions include redistribution of all 17 child slots formerly assigned to the Hamilton Center (which is closed) to the other eight Head Start centers in the project area, and submission of a written request to the Regional Grants Management Officer for disposition of the modular unit at Hamilton. Dr. Hooker said requests for conversion of Head Start-to-Early Head Start slots and a funded enrollment reduction may be included in the continuation application due in November. In discussing the closure of the Hamilton site, she cited staffing difficulties as well as low recruitment of students as being the main issues.
In other Head Start action, the board declared several items as surplus property, including the modular classrooms at Brookfield (where a new building is to be constructed) and Hamilton. The items will be disposed of per federal requirements and NCMC policies. Head Start personnel items included the approval of the employment of Amber Lamp as the teacher assistant for Trenton/Chillicothe and Taylor Turner as the Daviess-Grundy County home visitor. The resignation of Cassandra Gulley as the Brookfield “B” Center teacher assistant was accepted.
Personnel
In NCMC personnel items, the board accepted the resignation of Denise Guile as assistant bookstore manager, effective Sept. 6, and hired Elissa Zorn of Cameron as a full-time instructor in the nursing department. Her nine-month contract will pay her $47,470 and she was also hired as a clinical instructor prior to her nursing instructor duties, which will begin on Dec. 3. She will be teaching classes on the main campus, as well as in Maryville and Bethany.
Hired as part-time clinical instructors were Kaylee Nelson of Parnell; Lauren Stewart of Chillicothe; and Suzi Sykes of Tina. They will all be paid $250 per clinical day.
Doug Franklin and Brandon Gibler, both of Trenton, were hired as adjunct instructors, teaching fire courses at Trenton, beginning Fall 2018. Others hired as adjunct instructors include Dr. Debora (DJ) Champagne of Independence, who will teach sociology classes; Paul Johnson of Clarksdale, who will teach accounting courses; and Amanda Ozenberger of Fillmore, who will teach medical technology courses. They will primarily be teaching courses at the North Belt Campus in Country Club.
Other Business & Reports
Trustees also approved the purchase of three welders from Praxair of Chillicothe at a total cost of $11,913 and a new organizational chart, updating the chart with new positions.
In other business, trustees:
• saw the oath of office given to Dr. NiCole Neal, who has filled a vacancy on the board due to the resignation of Steve Busch.
• heard a report from Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Tristan Londre, who said the college is seeking a National Science Foundation grant that would provide $250,000 over a three-year period. He also reported that a meeting has been held with officials from Northwest Missouri State University to strengthen the ties between the two institutions in regard to the nursing and education programs. He said an articulation agreement has been signed with Columbia College in regard to the Child Development program.
• recognized Maryellen Harman, history/western civilization instructor, who is the college’s recipient of the NISOD Excellence in Teaching Award.
• heard a report from Associate Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Dr. Kristen Alley, who updated the board on efforts to provide counseling on campus. She also said that changes have been made to the offerings at the student cafeteria based on feedback from last year’s survey. She said the new offerings have been well-received and noted that efforts are being made to allow students to use their meal cards at the Cross Hall coffee shop.
• were introduced to new staff members Melissa Spencer, who is involved in recruiting and career services, and Ronna Owens, who is a library assistant.
• held an executive session to discuss personnel, legal matters and real estate, with no announcement made.
The board plans to hold its next meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 30 in the Frey Administrative Center. That is a change in the regular meeting day as well as the regular time.