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NEWS & EVENTS

February 23, 2015

President’s February 2015 Report to the OCC Board of Trustees

Dr. Jon Larson

Since several presentations were deferred at the January meeting because of an impending snow storm, they are again included in this report.

Finance and Administration

College-wide enrollment for the current Spring semester is down over 4 percent as compared to last Spring.  A similar downturn was experienced in Fall 2014, which leaves the College with a substantial revenue shortfall this fiscal year.  Immediate steps need to be taken to reduce expenses; the following cost reductions will be implemented college-wide:

  • Reservists – The use of reserve workers will be permitted by exception only.  Effective March 2, 2015, no reservist will be permitted to work without the expressed permission of the area Vice President.  Vice Presidents will make exceptions based on funding source and other considerations.  Human Resources has been instructed to remove all reserve position postings, and new reserve postings must be authorized by the area Vice President.  In order to monitor usage going forward, Vice Presidents will receive bi-weekly reports detailing the hours worked by reservists.
  • Travel – College-funded travel will be limited to essential trips.  Travel Authorizations that have already been approved should be reviewed by the area Vice President to determine necessity.
  •  Events – Events held on campus that do not involve students or generate revenue/enrollment will be eliminated or scaled back.  College Relations will review requests for events and work with area Vice Presidents and Facilities with the aim of reducing expenses.
  • Vacancies – All vacancies will be subject to review by the President’s Leadership Team to determine if the need can be filled with existing resources or part-time help.  Only essential positions will be posted.

As we approach FY16, further expense reductions may be necessary and PLT members have been asked to recommend additional cost-saving measures.

Security

The federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act) requires all U.S. colleges and universities to publish an annual security report that must contain three years of crime statistics along with specific campus security policy statements.  The OCC Security Department works with the Vice President of Student Affairs and other campus officials, as well as with local law enforcement agencies, to compile statistics for the annual report.  The Security Department is responsible for preparing and distributing the Clery Report for Ocean County College, which is posted on the College website:

www.ocean.edu/about-us/campus-life/about-campus-security/

The Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act, or Campus SaVE Act, is a 2013 amendment to the federal Jeanne Clery Act that increases requirements regarding the response to and prevention of sexual violence in higher education.  This Act is an example of the ever-increasing statutory and regulatory compliance requirements being placed on institutions of higher education on both the federal and state level.

In order to stay current, OCC is an active member of the New Jersey College and University Public Safety Association (NJCUPSA).  Mr. Robert Kumpf, Director of Security, is currently serving as President of NJCUPSA.  This organization has been keeping safety an integral part of campus life for more than 40 years and now consists of over 40 schools, with 1,800 police and security professionals protecting over 350,000 students.   CUPSA has met these challenges head on by increasing the number and types of professional development opportunities it offers.  CUPSA continues to place a strong emphasis on training; one such example is the meeting Mr. Kumpf recently attended with an Assistant Prosecutor from the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office where the Title IX/Criminal investigation issue was discussed.

Mr. Kumpf will present and discuss OCC’s Clery report at Monday’s meeting.

College Relations

  • As you know, the College Relations Department manages the College’s marketing initiatives.  Over the past few years, digital advertising and e-mail marketing have proven to be powerful, cost-effective tools to promote OCC.  Both mediums are used to recruit new students as well as to retain current students.  During Monday’s meeting, Ms. Jan Kirsten, Executive Director of College Relations, will highlight some examples of OCC’s marketing messaging and discuss current marketing strategies.
  • New Athletic and Student Life Vans – As our students travel throughout the county, state, and region, they will be riding in OCC vans wrapped in impressive branding designed by College Relations Coordinator of Publications, Mr. Scott Bruinooge.  The photos on each van highlight the accomplishments of our student athletes as well as our fantastic alumni.  The vans will be positioned in Parking Lot #4 on Monday for all to view.
  • Save the Date – The dedication of the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts to honor Jay and Linda Grunin will take place at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 25, in the Grunin Center Theatre.  A new website, grunincenter.orgwill also be launched on February 25.  The site will publicize upcoming Grunin events, such as the Jazz Festival, and contain links to purchase tickets online.

Facilities

The architect selection process for the Health Sciences Building has been underway for the last several months.  The selection committee members were:

  • Mrs. Linda Novak , Trustee
  • Mr. Jerry Dasti, Trustee
  • Mr. Matthew Kennedy, Associate Vice President of Facilities
  • Mr. Mike Bruno, Associate Director of Facilities and Planning
  • Mr. Leonard Mannino, Manager of HVAC
  • Mr. Mark Bowcock, Manager of Purchasing, RPPS

The committee interviewed five finalist firms, and a contract recommendation based on the overall highest score in value, skill, and team assembly is being presented for approval by the Board of Trustees on Monday.

Records Management

Ocean County College is obligated to comply with the State of New Jersey, Division of Archives and Records Management program, also known as DARM.  This retention program requires each county college in New Jersey to maintain certain public records, both created and received.  No required record can be destroyed prior to the retention date and without authorization from DARM.

Last year, Ms. Charlene Braun, Administrative Specialist, was assigned the task of organizing the College’s records vault.  She has worked diligently with departments on the maintenance of critical records and the disposal of records.  Ms. Braun has disposed of over 1,600 boxes of records to date.

Recently, Ms. Donna Carbone, Manager of Accounts Payable and Cash Management, joined the effort and is developing a plan to handle the records in a standardized fashion.  It is imperative that a standardized process be implemented to ensure that all necessary information is clearly labeled on all boxes entering the vault.  Taking this one step further, a template label has been created.  This label will be filled out by the department with the required information and will be placed on the front of the box to ensure that it is accurately stored and maintained for the retention period.

Information Technology

  • IT has successfully upgraded the Virtual Desktop Environment to the latest stable version of VMware and has worked with the vendor, Dimension Data, to reassign consulting hours remaining from the Gateway Building implementation to upgrade the software of our Virtual Desktop infrastructure.
  • IT and Payroll are conducting a pilot for Web Time Entry to collect, track, and manage employee time and attendance.
  • Technology upgrades were finalized in the Russell Building in twelve classrooms to match the state-of-the-art classroom technology standards throughout the campus.
  • The College’s contract with the portal provider, Campus Cruiser, expires on June 30, 2015.  In preparation for the end of the contract, OIT continues to move services to other solutions.  Most of the new solutions are low or no cost; when complete, the transition will reap significant budget savings.

Auxiliary Services

The Grunin Spotlight Series presents Chanticleer on Tuesday, February 24.  Chanticleer was named Ensemble of the Year by Musical America in 2008 and is known around the world as “an orchestra of voices” for its seamless blend of twelve male voices ranging from countertenor to bass and its original interpretations of vocal literature, from Renaissance to jazz, and from gospel to venturesome new music.

Planetarium

  • The Robert J. Novins Planetarium celebrated Valentine’s Day with two Pajama Parties with nearly sold out attendance.
  •  “Laser Country” is being introduced as part of the popular laser shows.  This show is dedicated to some of the greatest country hits of all time.  With music by artists such as Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, Garth Brooks, and Carrie Underwood, the shows will appeal to all generations.

Human Resources

  • Ocean County College is hosting its first virtual job fair to fill Adjunct Assistant Professor positions for the upcoming Summer and Fall semesters.  The fair is designed to bring qualified teaching professionals and College Deans together in a live online environment while eliminating the cost and inconvenience of travel.  Candidates wishing to participate in the job fair are invited to submit applications online by visiting the College’s website at:  https://career.ocean.edu  between February 24 and March 16. Applicants who are deemed a match with upcoming opportunities will then be asked to participate in the fair during the week of March 16 through March 23.

Student Affairs

  • Athletics
    • As you know, OCC was honored to serve as host for the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Women’s Division III National Soccer Championship Tournament, held November 13 through 16, 2014.  Eight of the best women’s soccer teams from around the country came to OCC for eleven games during the four-day tournament at the OCC Stadium.
    • The OCC Vikings won the Region XIX Championship, which earned the team a spot in the National Tournament.  The Vikings finished in fifth place in the Tournament and received the Team Sportsmanship Award.  Brookdale Community College won the championship.

Ms. Ilene Cohen, Executive Director of Athletics and Judicial Affairs, who served as the Championship Tournament Director, deserves accolades for her outstanding leadership in planning and hosting this prestigious event.

  • In addition to many of the Viking soccer players being recognized for their efforts during the regular season, Head Coach AJ Trump and Assistant Coaches Tracy Cole and Alyssa Morris were named Region XIX Coaching Staff of the Year.  Congratulations are extended to them.
  • And, we are extremely proud of OCC Women’s Soccer player Marykate Sullivan, who was selected as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Scholar All-America Player of the Year.  She was selected the top scholar-athlete of all junior college women’s soccer players in the country regardless of division.  Marykate received the award on Saturday, January 17, at the NSCAA All-America Luncheon in Philadelphia, at which over 1,400 people were in attendance.  She was also honored as an NSCAA All-American at the luncheon.  In her two years as a Viking, Marykate has been named an All-American in each season and holds a perfect grade point average of 4.0.

Student Transcripts

In the past two years, the Registrar’s Office has processed manually and mailed almost 40,000 student transcripts, both official and unofficial.  Because of the volume of student requests, it can sometimes take several days before a transcript can be made available.  In fact, at peak times of the year, overtime work by staff is required to meet the demands and deadlines for transfer and graduating students.

During these two years, the cost to process transcripts has been close to $30,000, of which $10,000 was for transcript paper and $20,000 for postage.  That amount excludes employee overtime expenses and does not reflect the amount of time expended by staff to fulfill transcript requests.

The Registrar’s Office hopes to soon implement a new digital, electronic transcript process, which will dramatically reduce the turnaround time; instead of waiting five to seven days to receive a transcript, a request will be processed online in only three to five minutes.  This new system will not only reduce costs and human resources, it will, most importantly, be a great service to OCC’s students.

Academic Affairs

  • Academic Affairs has begun to implement its Arts on Campus project, thanks to a generous gift from Mr. Tom Zorojew.  The Arts on Campus project intends to highlight the talent of current OCC students, to beautify our campus, to inspire future OCC students, and to provide rich artistic experiences for our community members. The first display in the Library Tower Room will remain for the rest of the calendar year.  Exhibits will be displayed throughout the campus on both a short-term and permanent basis.  Each year, a panel of faculty will select the best student artwork for the exhibit.  As the project is expanded, community artists will also be invited to display their artwork on campus.
  • A new pilot program is underway that allows higher-level remedial English students to try college-level English while being remediated.  Four English faculty members will work very closely with the Tutorial Center to provide additional support and assistance to those students participating in the pilot. This effort will be replicated should the pilot prove to be successful.
  • The first three students in the A.A.S. degree in Dental Hygiene and the A.A.S. degree in Occupational Therapy Assistant, which were developed in cooperation with the School of Health Related Professions at Rutgers University, have completed the program requirements and are graduating.  Ocean County College and other New Jersey College Partners provide foundational content in social sciences, communication, science, humanities, and English, while the professional content of the programs to meet the standards for accreditation is delivered by Rutgers.
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