Master Plan Steering Committee Meeting Summary – 10/29/08

Attendees:

Steering Committee Members:
Regent James Bishop
Dr. Michael Bull
Mr. Ray Calvert
Mr. Rodney Clements
Mr. Gary Colberg
Ms. Laverne Cooper
Mr. Duane Harris, Chair
Mr. Michael Hodges
Ms. Pat Hodnett-Cooper
Ms. Dianna Murphy
Ms. Jessica Ramirez
Mr. Ashton Stripling
Mayor Bryan Thompson
Dr. Andrea Wallace
Mr. Tony Wege
Mr. David Zimmerman

Absent: Derrick Heck, Director Connie Patrick

CCG Staff:
Valerie Hepburn, Interim President
Tom Saunders, VP Business Affairs
Cynthia Atwood, AVP, Planning and Risk Management

Consultants:
Eva Klein

Meeting Summary:

Chairman Harris called the meeting to order and introductions were made. Regent Jim Bishop was thanked for his vision in bringing the college to this point in transformation of the College.

Updates on Transformation Progress from Dr. Hepburn and Mr. Saunders:

1. The objective of the College of Coastal Georgia Strategic Master Plan is to be both academically strategic as well as looking at how the physical plant can support it.
2. On the academic side of the house, 4 new baccalaureate programs have been approved. Faculty and college administrative leadership job positions will be advertised in The Chronicle of Higher Education this week.
3. The technical college transition is on track to move the technical programs to the Career Academy in summer 2009 with classes ready to begin in the fall 2009 term. That will free up some space on campus.
4. Approval has been received from the Board of Regents for the planning and design of the Health Sciences building. Perkins & Will won the A&E selection. This project is at the top of the funding list with the Board of Regents. The Chancellor has indicated that there may be a chance to increase the dollar amount on the building. $15.8M has been approved for the design and equipping of the new center.
5. The four new programs have made it through staff approval at SACS (CCGA's accrediting body) and will be on the agenda for their December meeting.
6. We are awaiting the BOR to negotiate the contracts with the project manager (Carter) and Perkins & Will (architect & engineering firm).
7. The Coffin building (PE Building) has a 2nd story added and the pool has been filled in being replaced with a health and fitness area. Six new classrooms, eight faculty offices
   and a multipurpose room are being added also and should be completed by the beginning of February 2009.

Perspectives from Steering Committee Members:

1. Cindy is continuing to give campus tours. The lake seems to be a little known secret that even former students didn't know about.
2. The buildings are unattractive and in need of repair.
3. The staff, students and faculty made a very positive impression on those who have had the
   tour.
4. The campus proximity to the hospital offers a wonderful opportunity for collaboration.
5. Cindy reviewed the key words and strategic questions input from the prior meeting questionnaire.

Focus on the Master Plan Development Process:

1. Eva Klein has a team of 5 people including 2 architects. She has spent 35 years in higher education. Her company is the only consulting practice that for the past 25 years has been interested in the connections between institutions and their communities/regions. They are interested in mixed campus models, workforce development issues and all that deals with 21st century education. The Master Plan team includes Dr. Joe Carter, who has 45 years experience in higher education and formerly was the Chief Business Officer of Western Carolina University; Bill Morlock, architect and real estate developer; and Aaron Schwarz and Christine Albright, leaders in higher education from Perkins Eastman, master planning specialists based in NY.
2. Eva Klein and Associates will develop a Strategic Master Plan that leans heavily into strategies up front, business and financing implementation elements on the back end and physical plans in the middle.
3. Ms. Klein offered an explanation of her handout detailing Scope of Work and timeline.
4. The final product will be a product of the committee’s decisions, not her recommendations.
5. The next meetings will be 8 - 9 hour meetings to be worked out between Dr. Hepburn and Ms. Klein.
6. The Strategic Master Plan will be delivered with a framework/financing/business plan. It will tie together everything from vision, programs and strategies all the way to the business model and financing approach and land/master plan to create a complete Strategic Business Plan. All of these things must be looked at together. There must be a balance between high aspirations tempered with reality and order of priority.

Brainstorming:

1. Superintendent Michael Bull would like to meet with Dr. Hepburn, Ms. Klein, and Mr. Colberg with the hope of planning in concert for the new Brunswick High School that will be built across the street from the college where the Jane Macon Middle School is located. His goal for the high school is the same as the college goal - to build around what the academic needs are. A meeting would allow the opportunity to pull it all together. There is still time to design how the new high school buildings will be designated.
2. At the first planning session, strategies and programs (law enforcement, culinary, health services etc.) will be discussed and how to transition from high school to college to health care and how to make system lash ups happen. The second session will talk about the physical campus buildings and scenarios. The third session encompasses the business implementation and funding of the master plan.
3. In response to Ms. Klein's question asking if there is an economic development strategy in place now, Mayor Thompson told of a Coastal Comprehensive Master Plan that is almost complete that focuses on balancing the growth along the coast. It is available for viewing on the Coastal Georgia RDC website.
4. Another site offering information on the Career Academy is www.glynn.k12.ga.us. It includes everything but the direction of the new high school. Each middle school in Brunswick has a theme (arts academy, human science, international baccalaureate and the newest, leadership). The new high school master structure can still be tweaked according to what the academics are. The idea of having a bridge or tunnel between the new high school and the college was mentioned. A Performing Arts Center (an auditorium) is part of the plan. It may be a good idea to bring in the Chamber education group for their input about planning for a Performing Arts Center.
5. There are two threads of discussion regarding the new high school and the college. One is program fits, the other is a high end Performing Arts Auditorium and what might work. That, in turn, begs for an urban development civic plan component. Everything should knit together the college, the high school and the health care center along the Altama corridor. This is an opportunity to bring the planning committees of each entity (the college, the high school and the health care center) together for cooperative planning. This is a fortunate set of circumstances.
6. CCGA’s quality enhancement focus could be service learning and entrepreneurship which has a link to all of this.
7. Mayor Thompson will give Ms. Klein a map of the neighborhood identifying specified areas (residential, commercial, church, schools etc.)
8. On-campus focus group sessions will be held tomorrow.
9. It is important to know where committee members see the college being a player academically, maintaining and enhancing our strategic advantage as an access institution. Thought needs to be given to the questions, “What would blend with that image to draw people from the 12 county area? What meets the workforce needs here but blends with the community and creates an opportunity for us to have a niche that differentiates us from every other institution in the state”?
10. What are the baccalaureate programs that would serve the needs of this region? The following provides an overview of discussion:
    • *ADN - BSN
    • *Teacher Education
    • Allied Health fields - expand X-ray tech to include radiology tech covering CT, PET, MRI
    • Dual degree - BSN & forensic science
    • Physician's Assistant
    • Med Tech
    • Graduate degree options
    • Business administration (healthcare admin, finance, accounting, sales & marketing, customer service, information technology, entrepreneurial education, co-op programs (FLETC), HR professionals, and contract specialists (needed in federal government). International business would be of value to the GA Ports Authority.
    • Maritime Academy (harbor pilots) is a Bachelor of Science Degree and there is none south of New England.
    • Logistics and Supply Chain Management also.
    • Core Liberal Arts
    • Hospitality
    • Culinary arts
    • Criminal Justice
    • Creative arts
    • Psychology (School guidance counseling requires a Master Degree)
    • Entrepreneurship in the Arts
      
      
11. Maybe our niche is offering excellence in the first 60 hours of general education core curriculum. That does matter in the master plan. In order to accomplish that, the best faculty cannot be added only at the back end but must also populate the core. The physical plant design provides the opportunity for learning communities and engagement in years one and two, not just three and four.
12. Ms. Klein suggested that to achieve that some rapid research on innovative models that are out there should be done. That may enable the committee to selectively develop a vibrant set of courses. Tie all of that together to make that CCGA’s hallmark. We could specialize on the base and emphasize innovation in the core.
13. Mayor Thompson will arrange for the Integrated Arts Group Needs Assessment to be shared with Ms. Klein so she can get an understanding of what kind of grounding there is.

Schedule for Future Meetings:

• The December 10th meeting will remain a 3 hour meeting.
• Ms. Klein’s November trips will be for tours and interviews.
• The January 20th meeting will consist of a full day.
• There will be two full day meetings after January; one will be the last week in February and the other in early April.
• No definite decision was made on how to handle the 3 subsections meetings. One session could address the programmatic component, the physical plant component and the business and implementation component or each topic could be handled in 3 separate sessions.