2025 Board of Governors Minutes

January 16, 2025

CENTRAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Board of Governors’ Meeting Minutes
January 16, 2025

Public notice of the time and place of the Central Community College Board of Governors' meeting was given in advance to the board members, college administrators and the five daily newspapers within the 25-county area. The agenda was available to the public in the college president’s office and on the CCC website, www.cccneb.edu. The college adheres to the Open Meetings Act, a copy of which is available in the college president’s office.

The meeting was held in the Administration Office Board Room at Central Community College, 3134 W. Highway 34, Grand Island, Nebraska.

All supplemental documents from this meeting are available at: https://meeting.sparqdata.com/Public/Organization/CCC.

Chair Tom Pirnie called the Jan. 16, 2025, meeting to order at 1 p.m., with 11 board members present.

ROLL CALL

Aerni – present
Borden – present
Broekemier – present
Buss – present
Davis – present
Heiden – present
Keller – present
Pirnie – present
Skiles – present
Smith – present
Werner – present

POLICY ITEMS

College attorney Katie Sharp administered the oath of office to reelected members Jason Buss, Sandra Borden and Tom Pirnie and newly elected members Michelle Broekemier and Daniel Smith.

MOVED BY BUSS, SECONDED BY DAVIS to accept Dan Quick’s resignation from the board.

Aerni – aye
Borden – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

MOVED BY SKILES, SECONDED BY AERNI to approve Lynne Werner to serve the remainder of Dan Quick’s unexpired term.

Aerni – aye
Borden – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Sharp administered the oath of office to Werner.

Pirnie announced the following slate of officers for 2025:

Linda Heiden, Chair
Linda Aerni, Vice Chair
Roger Davis, Secretary
Jason Buss, Treasurer

MOVED BY KELLER, SECONDED BY SKILES to accept the slate of officers.

Aerni – aye
Borden – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Jason Buss and Rita Skiles were appointed as Nebraska Community College Association representatives and Michelle Broekemier, Jason Buss and Dann Smith were appointed as Enrollment and Financial Audit Committee members for 2025.

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS

Heiden asked college representatives to introduce guests and staff members.

REVIEWING CLAIMS FOR NEXT MEETING

Sandra Borden will review the claims prior to the Feb. 20, 2025, board meeting in Hastings.

REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION OF CONSENT ITEMS

Heiden asked board members for items in the consent agenda they would like to move to discussion of consent/action items.

CONSENT ITEMS

Consent items included:

Agenda for Jan. 16, 2025.
Minutes of the Nov. 14, 2024, Board of Governors meeting.
Claims for the periods from 1 through Nov. 30, 2024, and from Dec. 1 through Dec. 31, 2024.
Financial reports as of Nov. 30, 2024, and Dec. 31, 2024.
Purchases:
Field Turf Installation, Columbus: The College President recommends acceptance of the low acceptable bid from Nemaha construction from Lincoln, Nebraska, for $45,317.92 to provide the labor and materials for the field turf installation on the Columbus Campus softball field.
Dawson Chiller, Hastings: The College President recommends acceptance of the low acceptable bid from Dakin for $106,325.00.00 to provide the chiller for the Dawson Building on the Hastings Campus.
Personnel:
Julie (Mullen) Davis, Kearney: The College President recommends that Julie (Mullen) Davis be offered the position of psychology faculty, effective December 1, 2024.
Financial Audit: The College President recommends approval of the financial audit of Central Community College, June 30, 2024 and 2023.
Emergency Response Planning: Central Community College will create, implement and update procedures for effective response to and recovery from emergencies. The college is committed to protecting its community members, intellectual property and facilities and minimizing the impacts of emergencies. Procedures will include creation of College and Campus Specific Emergency Response Plans that will respond to crisis situations using the principals of the Incident Command System (ICS) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS) response operations wherever appropriate. The National Incident Management System enables one or more responding agencies (college, fire, law, etc.) to initiate and conduct coordinated field response to an incident. Plans, shared with internal and necessarily responders, should include designation of emergency response teams, emergency building captains and responsibilities, emergency levels and communication, recovery and deactivation, and training and exercises.
Curriculum Items for 2025-2026 Catalog: A restructuring of the media arts program has led to a new audio production certificate, multimedia diploma and multimedia specialization.

MOVED BY AERNI, SECONDED BY KELLER to approve the claims, with the exception of payments to themselves, and also to approve the other consent items.

Aerni – aye
Borden – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

PARNERSHIP/OWNERSHIP

Arts, Sciences and Business Report

Dr. Amy Mancini gave the following highlights:

The division’s mission/vision is to nurture a collaborative and inclusive educational community through building trust, seeking and providing opportunities, and clearly communicating. Its priorities are an optimized schedule, quality instruction and AI opportunities.
In 2023-24, the division awarded a record 290 degrees, 200 diplomas and 342 certificates. That’s 41% of the college’s degrees, 30% of the college’s awards and 61% of the college's FTE.
The division met its goals of developing a cohesive program aligned to its vision and mission which meets the needs of our students and their employers; writing an updated program description, a unified set of Student Learning Outcomes, and a meaningfully aligned learning ladder; and completing a program description, student learning outcomes, seamless laddering of certificates/diplomas/degrees and course changes/deletions/additions.
Ongoing efforts include seeking advisory committee contributions, surveying area businesses and continuing faculty collaboration and consensus.

DISCUSSION OF CONSENT/ACTION ITEMS

There were no items to present this month.

REPORTS

Student Success Report

Dr. Gotschall shared highlights from his 2025 Spring Semester Welcome Back presentation for faculty and staff. He covered 2024 Fall Semester successes, Nebraska graduation trends, CCC graduate outcomes, CCC transcripts sent between October 2023 and September 2024, ACE Scholarship for Early College students, apprenticeships, and student and employee surveys.

Dr. Gotschall’s Report

Dr. Gotschall reported the following:

The obvious highlight of December was the conferring of degrees and diplomas as part of the fourth annual winter commencement with a record number of 110 graduates making reservations to attend. The fall semester ended with collegewide head count numbers up 2% but FTEs up over 4%. So far, the spring semester looks up about 2.5% with two weeks of drop/add yet to go.
Since the last board meeting in November, a successful open house was conducted in Red Cloud; Traci Skalberg, Candace Walton and I attended the Postsecondary International Network; and CCC hosted the second annual Statewide Apprenticeship Conference in Kearney, NCCA President’s meetings and Region 6 planning meetings.
December activities included the final employee service awards which allowed us to recognize several 20, 30, 35 and even one 50-year service award recipient!
I attended a legislative kick-off with four of the state legislators representing the Grand Island area to hear of their priorities and offer my support regarding information important to community colleges. Last week I sent introductory messages to each of the 10 state legislators representing our 25-county area and am optimistic of the support of community colleges that several have voiced or acted on already.
Attended a UNK chancellor’s holiday reception in Kearney.
Met with representatives from Bellevue University, signing an updated agreement to extend Bellevue-funded tuition assistance to full- and part-time CCC employees and their dependents. This is a great partnership in which we are happy to participate.
Attended CCC’s music group’s holiday performance at Stuhr Museum as well as the holiday concert in Columbus including both vocal and instrumental student performances.
Met with the Nebraska State Colleges’ Chancellor Turman to discuss their proposed new associate of general studies degree to be awarded to students who have discontinued enrollment at a state college prior to earning a bachelor’s degree or previous associate degree from a community college. The proposal will go to the Nebraska Postsecondary Coordinating Commission this spring.
Toured Aurora’s Edgerton Center to discuss possible partnerships with mobile educational training in the trades. Very impressive local resource I needed to learn more about.
Met twice with DG fuels CEO regarding possible facility and training needs as that project advances in the Holdrege region. He was interested in courses offered at the Holdrege and Kearney centers.
Working with additional CCC team members on finalizing HLC documentation and narrative to submit for our reaccreditation, which involved multiple meetings, reviews, edits and documentation compilation.
Finalized request and received written confirmation regarding the $1.5 million donation from an anonymous Kearney donor for our space in the UNK/UNMC rural health building.
Attended two Adult Education/GED ceremonies in Grand Island – very impressive and moving experience for everyone involved.
Participated in the Heartland United Way Car give-away event and the annual board nomination meeting.
Faculty negotiations started in October and continued through November and December so met regularly with administrative team on proposed terms and conditions. Hope to bring final agreement to board this spring.
Met a few times with architects regarding Grand Island housing proposal RFPs and questions from possible contractors. Hope to have a recommendation to board on next steps by March.
Appreciated the opportunity to rejuvenate over the extended semester break.
Held two collegewide welcome back webinars – slides included in the President’s Report folder. Met with faculty groups and individually with several staff on campuses.
Participated in an Open Dorse webinar to continue to learn more about impacts of name, image and likeness opportunities for student athletes and our institutions supporting these teams.
Participated in Nebraska Chamber Forum on property tax reforms.
Coordinated board replacement applications and interview for CCC board vacancy while prepping some board orientation for the three new members.

Updates from area vice presidents include the following:

2025-26 scholarship applications are going strong with 312 submitted, a large increase from last year at this time. To assist in FAFSA completion, the financial aid offices will be holding events in January and February on each of the campuses and at Kearney to assist prospective and current students and their parents complete the FAFSA. Hastings College and UNK asked to participate with us so they will be included.
The Scott Scholar program will be expanding eligible programs to include agriculture.
JBS has updated its agreement with CCC to provide tuition assistance to employees and their dependents.
Military Times named CCC Best for Vets, #1 Community College in Nebraska, #2 Community College in America, #3 public college in Nebraska, #8 public college (of 34) in Central Region. This is the 12^th consecutive year of being nationally ranked and the third year of competing against and being ranked against four-year institutions.
In fall 2024, counseling services completed 14 new student intakes, 16 crisis visits and 18 consultations and had 33 students return for services areawide. Disability services completed 82 intakes, 17 consultations, and 15 follow-up visits. Two staff members will be attending the national conference in January 2025.
Residence life retention from fall to spring appear strong on both the Columbus and Hastings campuses.
Allie Remm, career and employment specialist, completed her national Facilitating Career Development certification and was selected by the American College Personnel Association, (ACPA), Commission for Two-Year College’s New Professional Award.
Career and employment services staff members will present a roundtable, “Careers and Transferable Skills for the Humanities Major,” at the 2025 National Career Development Association conference in Atlanta this June.
A new CCC Bookstore program called Raider Ready was planned and implemented for Spring 2025, so far so good with students getting information and making decision to opt out or stay in the program designed to reduce overall textbook costs for students.
New academic recovery procedures will officially be implemented this spring with over 17 student success and enrollment management staff trained to assist with personalized interventions/coaching for award-seeking students who have fallen into academic recovery status.
Nursing applications for the Fall 2026 cohort open on January 31, 2025. A new application will be used that is more streamlined and user-friendly for students. The form has examples of necessary documents needed to meet criteria, so students can visualize how the document appears. Students are not allowed to submit application until all fields have been completed, thus eliminating several emails and files being uploaded. This should improve understanding of the first-time, first-serve time opening. All uploaded documents speak to Perceptive and are changed to a PDF form. The form is more cyber-secure as IT helped to create the document. Kudos to Donna Moore for assuming initiative to improve the process and collaborate with other college divisions to increase safety and efficiency.
Of 101 first-year students who began in Fall 2025, 95 completed the semester successfully. Of the 77 second-year students, 67 completed successfully to begin their final spring semester.
A new offering, HLTH 1240 Phlebotomy, will be held for the first eight weeks in Kearney and the second eight weeks in Grand Island. A class in Lexington is planned for this summer.
Spring EMT classes are being held on Hastings Campus; Edgar/Clay Center Fire Hall; Columbus Campus (first time to have a class on campus); Gibbon and Elwood.
The Kearney High School nursing assisting classes for Fall 24 included 22 students, with all passing; Lexington High had 11 students, with all passing; and Holdrege High had 10 students, with nine passing.

The following reports were also submitted for board review:

Enrollment Report
Grants Report
Purchasing Report

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Heiden requested an executive session to discuss personnel and legal issues at 2:04 p.m.

MOVED BY DAVIS, SECONDED BY BORDEN that the Board of Governors recess the regular meeting in order to go into executive session to discuss personnel and legal issues.

Aerni – aye
Borden – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Heiden reconvened the regular session of the Board of Governors meeting at 3:42 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT

MOVED BY BORDEN, SECONDED BY BROKEMIER to adjourn.

Aerni – aye
Borden – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Heiden declared the meeting adjourned at 3:43 p.m.

March 6, 2025

CENTRAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Board of Governors’ Meeting Minutes
March 6, 2025

The meeting was held in the Hall Student Union, Cottonwood Room, at Central Community College-Hastings, 550 S. Technical Blvd., Hastings, Nebraska.

All supplemental documents from this meeting are available at: https://meeting.sparqdata.com/Public/Organization/CCC.

Chair Linda Heiden called the March 6, 2025, meeting to order at 1 p.m., with seven board members present.

ROLL CALL

Aerni – absent
Borden – present
Broekemier – absent
Buss – present
Davis – present
Heiden – present
Keller – present
Pirnie – absent
Skiles – present
Smith – present
Werner – absent

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS

Heiden asked college representatives to introduce guests and staff members.

REVIEWING CLAIMS FOR NEXT MEETING

Jason Buss will review the claims prior to the March 20, 2025, board meeting in Hastings.

REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION OF CONSENT ITEMS

Heiden asked board members for items in the consent agenda they would like to move to discussion of consent/action items.

CONSENT ITEMS

Consent items included:

Agenda for March 6, 2025.
Minutes of the Jan. 16, 2025, Board of Governors meeting.
Claims for the period from Jan. 1 through Jan. 31, 2025.
Financial reports as of Jan. 31, 2025.
Purchases:
AMDT Equipment Auction: This project consists of selling 26 machines used in the Advanced Manufacturing Design Technology program. The College President recommends utilizing machinesused.com to publicly sell these items for the college.
Cafeteria Remodel, Columbus: The College President recommends acceptance of the low acceptable bid from BD construction in Columbus for $858,075 to provide the labor and materials for the cafeteria remodel on the Columbus Campus.
OTA HVAC Replacement, Grand Island: The College President recommends acceptance of the low acceptable bid from Mid Plains Construction Company in Grand Island for $759,350 to provide the labor and materials for the OTA HAVA replacement on the Grand Island Campus.
Personnel:
Amanda Rooker, Kearney: The College President recommends that Amanda Rooker be offered the position of nursing faculty in Kearney, effective February 1, 2025.
Duane Collins, Columbus: The College President recommends that Duane Collins be offered the position of criminal justice faculty in Columbus, effective August 1, 2025.
Laser Safety Policy: The policy is designed to ensure the hazards presented by lasers and laser systems are properly evaluated and controlled when in use by CCC programs.
Holdrege Lease Agreement: Postponed to a future meeting.
May Meeting Location Change: The location for the May 15, 2025, meeting of the CCC Board of Governors has been changed from the Holdrege Center to the Red Cloud Educational Hub.

MOVED BY BORDEN, SECONDED BY SKILES to approve the claims, with the exception of payments to themselves, and also to approve the other consent items.

Aerni – absent
Borden – aye
Broekemier – absent
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – absent
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – absent

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

PARNERSHIP/OWNERSHIP

Hastings Campus Report

Hastings Campus President Dr. Chris Waddle introduced the following presenters:

Dani Schwinn, media arts instructor, talked about the printed Hastings Campus annual report and the media arts students who produced it.
Darci Karr, chair of teacher education at Hastings College, focused on Hastings College and CCC working together to address unfilled teaching positions in Nebraska. CCC has reputable and strong career education programs while Hastings College has a reputable and strong teacher preparation program. This opportunity will allow students to attend CCC for two years and then Hastings College for two years or attend Hastings College for four years while also attending CCC part-time each semester.
Michael Saint, shotgun sports head coach, was hired in June 2024 to start the program, hoping for 10 team members and getting 14. The team competed in six fall events and, in the very last shoot, took second in trap shooting. Collectively, the team completed 210 credits with a 3.4 GPA. Team members Nick Brodsky and Schyler Schwisow demonstrated the virtual shooting ap they started using because the extreme cold weather prevented them from practicing outside. The team will be going to nationals in San Antonio in March.

Foundation Report

Foundation Executive Director Traci Skalberg reported that as of June 30, 2024, the consolidated audited financials of the CCC Foundation and the Warren and Velda Wilson Foundation sat at $50.1 million. The foundation provided $1,115,038 in scholarships and $1,569,909 in program support. She also talked about the Generations of Impact campaign, Heart of CCC employee appeal and community giving days.

DISCUSSION OF CONSENT/ACTION ITEMS

Capital Improvement Budget

Joel King gave an overview of the projects included in the capital improvement budget. The College President asked for tentative approval of the 2025-26 capital improvement budget so these projects can be started. Official approval of the budget is set for September.

MOVED BY SKILES, SECONDED BY KELLER to give tentative approval of the 2025-26 capital improvement budget.

Aerni – absent
Borden – aye
Broekemier – absent
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – absent
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – absent

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Honorary Degree Nomination

Dr. Gotschall has nominated Tom and Sue Pirnie for an honorary associate of applied science degree in recognition of their outstanding service to and support of Central Community College over multiple decades.

MOVED BY DAVIS, SECONDED BY SMITH to award an honorary associate of applied science degree to Tom and Sue Pirnie.

Aerni – absent
Borden – aye
Broekemier – absent
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – absent
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – absent

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Faculty Negotiated Agreement

Dr. Candance Walton presented the negotiated agreement between the CCC Education Association and the CCC Board of Governors for the contract year 2025-26

MOVED BY SMITH, SECONDED BY DAVIS to approve the faculty negotiated agreement for 20025-26.

Aerni – absent
Borden – aye
Broekemier – absent
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – absent
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – absent

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

REPORTS

Student Success Report

Jessica Rohan, grants director, gave an overview that showed the number of grant requests CCC made and the number it received between the 2005-06 and 2022-23 academic years, with about a 63% approval rate. She also covered the federal, corporate private sources for grants and grants that allow for indirect support for administration.

Dr. Gotschall’s Report

Dr. Gotschall reported the following:

Much of January and early February has been seeking to keep updated on the numerous federal executive orders, including the freezing and then unfreezing of federal funding sources and responding to state legislative fiscal notes and pending legislation. Overall, CCC seems in compliance with all executive orders and our federal funding has not directly been cut. We do have several federal grants pending that are uncertain of when or if they will be funded. State legislative meetings have been positive even when looking at significant budget constraints at the state level.
Participated in a community appreciation event in conjunction with the Columbus Chamber of Commerce’s Business After Hours. Highlighted the impact of students and alumni in the Columbus area.
Participated in the State Chamber of Commerce Education Policy Council meeting, attended the State Chamber of Commerce annual meetings and Hall of Fame induction. Also attended the Kearney Area Chamber of Commerce.
Attended Red Cloud Chamber of Commerce annual dinner where CCC was recognized with our “first dollar” of investment due to our new educational hub. Assisting to coordinate tours and meetings in Red Cloud of representatives from across the CCC area as part of the State’s 6 Regions-One Nebraska initiative that will support growth in childcare, housing and workforce development/entrepreneurship.
Assisted in final reviews of USDE Federal Compliance documents and Higher Learning Commission portfolios prior to submission.
Participated in the monthly Transportation Center Campaign in conjunction with the CCC Foundation. Also working with foundations on upcoming donations, board nominations and an updated agreement between CCC and the CCC Foundation.
Participated in the NCCA Board of Directors’ meeting at Southeast Community College and toured its new center for bioscience and technology.
Participated in the Heartland United Way community investment presentations making recommendations of future funding for various agencies serving Hall, Howard, Hamilton and Merrick counties.
Met with City of Lexington officials (administrator, mayor, high school) regarding desire for additional programming in Dawson County.
Participated in on-going funding requests for the Nebraska Math Readiness Project and Elevate Apprenticeship grant.
Participated in the Nebraska Manufacturing Advisory Council meeting held at Nucor in Norfolk. They asked me to remain as council secretary. Grand Island will host the next meeting as part of the State SkillsUSA contests in April.
Participated in the esports recognition of two national champion teams, including meetings with parents, coaches and guests in conjunction with a men’s basketball game.
Attended the Association of Community College Trustees national legislative summit learning about federal priorities and legislative agendas of ACCT, AACC and federal delegates.
Welcomed all CCC faculty to Data Day where they reviewed assessment of student learning data and recommended improvements based on the data collected from students, graduates, employers and faculty and administrative peers.
Participated in an etiquette and professional dinner experience with TRIO students on the Grand Island Campus.

Updates from Area Vice Presidents include:

Each CCC heavy equipment operator technician student received a $500 scholarship at the annual Nebraska Land Improvement Association Convention in Lincoln in January.
Over 30 members of the Nebraska State Chamber Leadership class participated in hands-on demonstrations and activities at the Hornady Crime House. Coordinators were criminal justice instructors Connie Hultine, John Sumsion and Jim Davis and director Michael David.
Ben Newton, sustainability director, and Taylor Schneider, energy technology instructor, represented CCC in Washington D.C. at a Higher Education Leadership Summit where CCC was recognized as the Climate Luminary Honoree in Workforce for its contribution to sustainability.
Agriculture instructor Wade Hilker took 10 Columbus Campus students to Fort Worth, Texas, to tour a USDA Research facility, Fort Worth stockyards and Fort Worth Stock Show.
Hospitality management and culinary arts students served at the Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce banquet in February.
CCC-Grand Island welding instructors John Wilmes, Michale Snell, and Brandon Piersol assisted with and judged the District FFA welding competition at Lexington High School on Feb. 1.
Agriculture faculty will be hosting district FFA contests in Hastings and Columbus. Over 580 students planned to compete in multiple competitions and state degree interviews.
CCC is a partner on a U.S. Department of Energy grant for workforce development with Northeast Community College as the lead college to expand energy education and professional development.
Updates to the Nebraska Transfer Initiative course have been updated by faculty, approved by Ed Services and the College Cabinet for inclusion in the fall 2025 catalog.
A recent meeting with University of Nebraska-Kearney business faculty led to plans for hosting career and transfer events for UNK and CCC business students.
Taylor Brase led a team of community and advisory council members to plan and host the Early Childhood Education Conference. Attendance was the highest ever, with 175 registrants.
Becky Fausett, adult education director, has joined a community safety planning team in preparation for immigration enforcement in an effort to help CCC students be prepared.
A December meeting with International Workforce Services in Aurora focused on a possible workplace literacy partnership. CCC adult education would offer ESL classes to their CDL students.
Athletic rosters and team GPAs for CCC student athletes include: men’s basketball, 13, 2.94 GPA; women’s basketball, 10, 2.93 GPA; men’s golf, 10, 3.49 GPA; men’s soccer, 29, 3.37 GPA; women’s soccer, 21, 3.02 GPA; women’s softball, 11, 3.57 GPA; women’s volleyball, 12, 3.63 GPA; coed esports, 14, 3.04 GPA; coed shotgun, 14, 3.27 GPA; and overall, 134, 3.25 GPA.
The Grand Island entrepreneurship director has been involved in several advisory board meetings and presentations at Grand Island Senior High, EV Railside committee, childcare conference, (BAIL) session and 1 Million Cups.
The Hastings entrepreneurship director is developing an EPIC Big Idea High School Competition and helping a new chiropractor business. He has been appointed to the Adams County UNL Extension Board to represent entrepreneur opportunities.
A total of 162 students applied for nursing student slots. There were 187 applicants with 25 of those applications being duplicates. This is the largest number of applicants in several years.
Libby Paro, occupational therapy assistant instructor, has earned Certified Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Specialist and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Related Service Provider certificates. They support her teaching in pediatrics, treatment interventions, activity analysis and documentation within pediatric occupational therapy.
The paramedic program is putting together a proposal for a one-year accelerated plan of study to keep up with competing academic institutions. Advisory board members, employers and students have been advocating for this similar format from CCC.
Superior High School and Brodstone Memorial Hospital are partnering with CCC to offer nurse assistant training to hospital employees who want to broaden or increase their skills. CCC, which already offers NA training at Superior High School, will now have two sections running: one for hospital employees and one for high school students.
The first phlebotomy class is being held at the Kearney Center with nine students enrolled.
The financial aid department is preparing to review about 1,000 scholarship applications and is hoping to increase the number of reviewers to read and score those applications.
Student enrollment management/registration team members are now trained to register online students in business administration, accounting, criminal justice, early childhood, environmental health and safety, information technology and quality. The registration staff then provides CCC Next Steps and askes the faculty advisor to plan the student’s program of study in Student Planner.
Luz Colon-Rodriguez and Alyson Wolfe-Nelson have completed their Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) course and are now working on their certification by completing consultation hours. DBT is a psychotherapy used to treat personality disorders, interpersonal conflicts, mood disorders and suicidal ideation.
The disability services directors met with early college staff to assist in ensuring information and access for dual-enrolled students They also are meeting with facilities staff to assess the availability and access for more ADA-accessible tables.
Sixty organizations have signed up for the annual Nurses and Health Careers Job Fair.
The CCC Online Job Board had 19 employers register and post 92 jobs while 16 resumes were uploaded in January. There were 1,049 student accounts, 1,892 alumni accounts, and 2,486 employer accounts.

The following reports were also submitted for board review:

Enrollment Report
Grants Report
Purchasing Report

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Heiden said there was no need for an executive session and requested a motion to adjourn.

ADJOURNMENT

MOVED BY BORDEN, SECONDED BY DAVIS to adjourn.

Aerni – absent
Borden – aye
Broekemier – absent
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – absent
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – absent

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Heiden declared the meeting adjourned at 2:54 p.m.

March 20, 2025

CENTRAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Board of Governors’ Meeting Minutes
March 20, 2025

The meeting was held in the Administration Office Board Room at Central Community College, 3134 W. Highway 34, Grand Island, Nebraska.

All supplemental documents from this meeting are available at: https://meeting.sparqdata.com/Public/Organization/CCC.

Chair Linda Heiden called the March 20, 2025, meeting to order at 1 p.m., with seven board members present.

ROLL CALL

Aerni – absent
Borden – absent
Broekemier – present
Buss – present
Davis – present
Heiden – present
Keller – absent
Pirnie – absent
Skiles – present
Smith – present
Werner – present

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS

Heiden asked college representatives to introduce guests and staff members.

REVIEWING CLAIMS FOR NEXT MEETING

Roger Davis will review the claims prior to the April 17, 2025, board meeting in Grand Island.

REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION OF CONSENT ITEMS

Heiden asked board members for items in the consent agenda they would like to move to discussion of consent/action items.

CONSENT ITEMS

Consent items included:

Agenda for March 20, 2025.
Minutes of the March 6, 2025, Board of Governors meeting.
Claims for the period from Feb. 1 through Feb. 28, 2025.
Financial reports as of Feb. 28, 2025.
Purchases:
Dawson Chiller, Hastings: The College President recommends acceptance of the low acceptable bid from Grunwald Mechanical Contractors of Omaha to provide all labor and material to replace the Dawson chiller on the Hastings Campus.
South Dorm HVAC Replacement, Columbus: The College President recommends acceptance of the low acceptable bid from Columbus heating and air from Columbus Nebraska for $311,000.00 to provide the labor and materials for the south dorm HVAC replacement on the Columbus Campus.
Personnel: None

MOVED BY BUSS, SECONDED BY DAVIS to approve the claims, with the exception of payments to themselves, and also to approve the other consent items.

Aerni – absent
Borden – absent
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – absent
Pirnie – absent
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

PARNERSHIP/OWNERSHIP

Health Sciences Report

Dr. Sarah Kort, dean of health sciences, and Dr. Pam Bales, dean of nursing, talked about the value and benefits of accreditation.

CCC’s health science programs – dental assisting, dental hygiene, health information management services, medical assisting, medical lab technician, nursing, occupational therapy assistant, paramedicine and pharmacy technician – are all accredited.

They said accreditation demonstrates an ongoing commitment to quality that contributes to workforce readiness, partnerships with employers, continuous improvement, program development, industry standards, regular evaluation and accountability. It also has long-term value for the programs’ three major stakeholders: students, the community and the college, all of which benefit from health science programs that produce well-prepared and confident graduates.

DISCUSSION OF CONSENT/ACTION ITEMS

Tuition, Fees, Food and Housing Rates

For 2025-26, tuition will increase from $96 to $99 per credit hour. Fees will remain the same at $16 per credit hour. Housing will increase by 1.38% with a single occupancy rate of $3,400 per semester and double or triple occupancy rate of $1,700 per occupant per semester. Food will increase for the 200-meal plan from $1,843.00 to $1,909 and the 300-meal plan from $2,163 to $2,241 per semester. Early College rates will remain the same, ranging from $0 - $99 for tuition, depending on the high school’s ability to cover instructional costs. All Early College students will pay the general fees at $16 per credit hour.

MOVED BY SKILES, SECONDED BY DAVIS to approve the tuition, fees, food and housing rates for 2025-26.

Aerni – absent
Borden – absent
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – absent
Pirnie – absent
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Employee Wages and Benefits

Joel King made the following wage and benefits for 2025-26:

Full-time classified and contracted employees retained for the 2025-26 year will be eligible to receive a wage increase. An amount up to the equivalent of 3.0% of total wages will be set aside for compensation.
Employees hired after April 1, 2025, or salaried employees who exceed the current maximum rate for their grade will not be eligible for an increase. Salaried employees who will exceed the maximum rate as a result of the increase will be adjusted to the maximum rate. Hourly employees who have exceed their maximum rate for their grade will still be eligible for an increase of 1.5% of their current rate.
Employees who eligible to receive additional vacation days due to longevity will have the opportunity to get those additional days cashed out on the month after their anniversary month.
Employees or their dependents who are eligible for free tuition have the ability, in leu of the free tuition, to opt to have $1,188 reduced from their housing charge.
Health and dental insurance premiums are estimated to increase 5.49% over the next year. This equates to an increase of approximately $540,000.
All other benefits will remain in place without change.

MOVED BY DAVIS, SECONDED BY SMITH to accept the wages and benefits for full-time salaried and classified staff for 2025-26.

Aerni – absent
Borden – absent
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – absent
Pirnie – absent
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Lexington Lease

The City of Lexington and Central Community College have updated the Dawson County Opportunity Center lease agreement to include additional innovative educational opportunities for students as well as the funding of a shared staff position.

MOVED BY DAVIS, SECONDED BY SKILES to authorize the College President to sign the updated lease between the City of Lexington and CCC.

Aerni – absent
Borden – absent
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – absent
Pirnie – absent
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Holdrege Lease

This is an addendum to a commercial lease agreement between BoSox 7 LLC and Central Community College.

MOVED BY SKILES, SECONDED BY BUSS to authorize the College President to sign the addendum with BoSox 7 LLC for the Holdrege lease.

Aerni – absent
Borden – absent
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – absent
Pirnie – absent
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Holdrege Relocation Bids

The work consists of remodeling 8,200 square feet, which includes new metal studs, gypsum board, paint, carpet, ceilings, electrical, mechanical equipment and plumbing. The finished space will have a community room, kitchenette, nursing assistant lab, classroom, front desk, work area, two offices, two live video rooms, computer lab, testing room, janitorial room and a lactation room. The College President recommends acceptance of the guaranteed maximum price of $1,950,000 from Sampson Construction to provide all labor and material to remodel the building in Holdrege for CCC’s new center.

MOVED BY DAVIS, SECONDED BY SMITH to accept the guaranteed maximum price of $1,950,000 from Sampson Construction to provide all labor and material to remodel the building for CCC’s new Holdrege Center.

Aerni – absent
Borden – absent
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – absent
Pirnie – absent
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Auto Training Center Bids

The work consists of a new single 43,000-square-foot facility for the automotive and auto body programs on the Hastings Campus. The College President recommends acceptance of the low acceptable bid from Scheele-Kayton construction for $15,197,000 to provide all labor and material to build the new training center.

MOVED BY SMITH, SECONDED BY BUSS to accept the $15,197,000 bid from Scheele-Kayton Construction for to provide all labor and material to build the new automotive careers training center.

Aerni – absent
Borden – absent
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – absent
Pirnie – absent
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Sports Field Lighting

The project consists of providing and installing a new sports field lighting system and associated electrical equipment and system supports at the soccer softball lighting system located on the Columbus Campus. The College President recommends acceptance of the low acceptable bid from Commonwealth Electric from Columbus for $522,050.00 to provide the labor and materials for the sports field lighting project.

MOVED BY SMITH, SECONDED BY SKILES to accept the $522,050 bid from Commonwealth Electric to provide the labor and materials for the sports field lighting project.

Aerni – absent
Borden – absent
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – absent
Pirnie – absent
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

REPORTS

Dr. Gotschall’s Report

Dr. Gotschall reported the following:

I met with the President’s Quality Action Council for our quarterly updates on strategic initiatives and covered some updates regarding the HLC peer visit in early March.
Met with two representatives of the Nebraska Ethanol Board about industrial processing training and classes we offer through mechatronics. A tour of the Columbus instrumentation classroom is scheduled for March and possible presentation to full board in June.
Met multiple times with Lexington administrator regarding updated lease, as well as updates to the Holdrege relocation lease.
Participated in the construction selection interviews for the Automotive Training Center.
Attended NCCA Legislative Day with board members Dann Smith and Rita Skiles, Scott Pathway Director Brett Wells and four Scott Scholars.
Participated with about 15 other CCC employees and students in a Community College virtual townhall with Rep. Mike Flood.
Attended the Appropriations Committee hearing where dual credit and CCC state aid allocation requests were discussed. Jason Buss, representing business, CCC and parents provided quality testimony in addition to multiple presidents, superintendents, students and over 70 online support comments. Biweekly NCCA president meetings are ongoing.
Hosted the HLC peer reviewers through one and a half days of in person meetings. Thanks to board members Linda Heiden, Rita Skiles and Sandra Borden for participating as well.
Participated in a Nebraska Department of Economic Development focus group meeting regarding recruiting new and returning residents to Nebraska.
Held a CCC administrative planning meeting regarding new position requests and funding levels for next year. Collegewide budget training will occur in March.
Participated in a couple of meetings regarding future student housing in Grand Island as well as the Governor’s 6 Regions, 1 Nebraska initiative promoting childcare, housing and workforce development.
Participated in a HLC peer review training for new criteria that takes effect later this year.
Participated in an Open Forum for the Grand Island Campus and Administrative Office to provide CCC updates and answer questions from faculty and staff.
Plan to attend the Phelps Economic Development luncheon in Holdrege. Continued reaching out to potential donors to support our possible Holdrege relocation and remodel.

Updates from Area Vice Presidents include:

Changes in UNL’s English requirements will cause disruptions to CCC offerings and prerequisites. After gathering information using our transfer specialists, Drs. Walton and Mancini, will be meeting with English instructors to devise a plan to move forward. Early College has been included in this discussion.
The vocal group Spectrum continued its tradition of Singing Valentines on Feb. 13. The group delivered 38 valentines and raised $1,180. Spectrum will also be performing at the Columbus Public Library for a special program on March 23 at 2 p.m.
The arts, sciences and business division leadership has started sending a “Faculty 5” update at the end of each month via email. The goal is to encourage continued personal and professional development of all faculty. Topics are personal growth, teaching and learning, library resources, campus and community, and artificial intelligence. The email contains a link to an article or video on each topic. Participation is optional, and feedback has been positive.
6 Regions, 1 Nebraska has granted $250,000 to each region. The central region is the only one focused on early childcare, creating a champions group based on the Buffalo Co. Childcare Champions. All Early Childhood champions also happen to be graduates or current students in our program.
The Valley Development Center in Red Cloud will be partnering with CCC and ECED to conduct educational parent programs.
The draft constitution for a new student organization, National Adult Education Honor Society, was submitted to student services and approved.
The adult education director has been working with a subcommittee to incorporate GED graduates into the May commencement. The team and students are excited for this opportunity to showcase the hard work of our graduates.
The golf team will be playing in its first spring tournament in March.
Softball is 5-7 with solid Region wins over NPCC. The Raiders have had eight dates altered due to weather at this point!
Shotgun sports is off to the national meet in San Antonio the week of March 17. The squad had a couple of meets prior to nationals. Most recently, at North Platte the Raiders finished first in trap and tied for second and miss the event win by one target in sporting clays. Schyler Schwisow swept the female events and took the Female HOA. Nick Brodsky took second in sporting clays after a shoot off.
Esports is competing in five events and has begun spring competitions.
Hastings Entrepreneurship had several positive articles in the newspaper in March and has been working on a partnership agreement with the city-run Hastings Museum to offer several entrepreneurial workshops this coming August-October.
All sites reporting new entrepreneurship founders that our centers are supporting.
All three campuses hosted District FFA events, each bringing in over 600 hundred high school students as well as parents, community and high school instructors to see and use our facilities.
Mechatronics (INDT) hosted the Kearney Catholic Robotics Team at the Kearney Center which included tours of the lab and center. Approximately 400 Kearney High freshmen also visited the INDT program facilities this spring.
The hospitality management program hosted an etiquette lunch for Sandy Creek High School on Feb. 26 on the Hastings Campus.
The automotive technology and auto body technology programs hosted Automotive Day on Feb. 26 on the Hastings Campus. About 110 high school students attended along with 20 industry partners showcasing their industry, job possibilities, along with program activities.
Hospitality and culinary program director Clarence Charles, and instructor Kimberly Milovac will travel with six HMRM students on a Study Abroad Cruise Experience during Spring Break.
Various classes in criminal justice will be attending court, visiting the women’s prison in Tecumseh and learning about the Hall County Emergency Communication Center.
Students from all three campuses are preparing for State SkillsUSA contests to be held in Grand Island and Hastings April 10-12.
The selection process for the fourth cohort of the Walter Scott Foundation Scott Scholars has begun. The application deadline was March 1, with nearly 60 students applying for the scholarship. Student selections will be finalized in March.
Graduating dental hygiene students attended the NDHA Legislative breakfast on Feb. 7 with faculty. In addition, students also attended some legislative sessions at the capitol.
The pharmacy tech program had its virtual reaccreditation visit on Feb. 28. The visit went well, and we received positive feedback about the facilities, overall program, administrative support, and faculty/staff.
The health information management faculty will be working on the Annual Program Assessment Report for accreditation that is due by June 23. The national RHIT First-Time Test Takers average pass rate for the academic year is 80%. The CCC HIMS program had four students take and pass the RHIT exam, which is a 100% pass rate.
Phlebotomy classes are being offered in Holdrege, Grand Island and Kearney this spring and in Hastings and Lexington this summer. We are working to add Columbus and Ord this summer.
For Cycle 1 (Fall 2025 start) of our scholarship process, we received 1,077 completed applications. This is our largest number of applications submitted to date! In addition to the completed submissions, 602 students began the application but did not complete or submit it. We are actively exploring strategies to assist students in completing the application process.
Calling campaign to drive sign-ups for registration events will begin the last week of March.
Jordan Janssen, veteran and military services coordinator on the Hastings Campus, has re-enlisted in the Nebraska Army National Guard and has been accepted into the Officer Candidate School at Camp Ashland. Congratulation, Jordan, and thank you for your service!
Steven Esquivel was named a 2025 New Century Transfer Pathway Scholar through Phi Theta Kappa. He is an active student on the Columbus Campus through PTK and the men's soccer team and has a resident assistant for South Hall. He will receive a scholarship and will travel to Nashville in April to receive his award during the American Association of Community College (AACC) annual meeting.
Columbus Career and Employment Services partnered with Adult Education to host a cover letter and resume workshop, which has led to an increase in students wanting their resumes and cover letters reviewed. Columbus reviewed 27 resumes in February.
Emergency CPR training continues to grow. Columbus has increased card issues by about 300 per year for the past three years. For the year to date, Columbus and Ord have issued 1,659 student cards; Kearney, Lexington and Holdrege, 677; Hastings 469; and Grand Island, 277.
It is estimated that almost 1,080 high school seniors will qualify for the transfer advantage scholarship as they have successfully earned 12 CCC credit hours or more while still in high school. One hundred sixteen students are expected to earn a CCC certificate and two students from the Hasting area should earn a one-year CCC diploma.
Kemnitz, Kort and Christensen met with administration at the Kearney Regional Medical Center on March 14 to discuss student recruitment, placement and scholarship opportunities. KRMC is interested in creating scholarships to support nursing students at CCC.
Janet Eppenbach was involved with the Big Give to Valley County event on March 13 and the Ord Center is a recipient for scholarship dollars for area students. Summer youth camp dates and topics are also being finalized.
Karen Mroczek and Susan Schoenhofer are coordinating the Spring Gardening event on April 22 in Columbus. This is an event that typically brings in over 150 people.
Phlebotomy classes started at the Kearney Center with nine students in the first Saturday lab on Jan. 25. The class is the first eight weeks of the spring semester. Holdrege will have a class the second eight weeks of this semester.
Maggie Brooks scheduled psychomotor testing for March 10 on the Columbus Campus and has 13 prospective EMT students testing. She has lined up eight EMS continuing education classes for March.
The Kearney E-ship Center is hosting a lunch-and-learn at the Nest Space on March 19 addressing the importance of financial statements and how to understand them.
Registrations are being accepted for the ABC’s of Child Care Conference on March 29 in Holdrege.

The following reports were also submitted for board review:

Enrollment Report
Grants Report
Purchasing Report

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Heiden said there was no need for an executive session and requested a motion to adjourn.

ADJOURNMENT

MOVED BY BORDEN, SECONDED BY DAVIS to adjourn.

Aerni – absent
Borden – absent
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – absent
Pirnie – absent
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Heiden declared the meeting adjourned at 1:59 p.m.

April 17, 2025

CENTRAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Board of Governors’ Meeting Minutes
April 17, 2025

The meeting was held in the Administration Office Board Room at Central Community College, 3134 W. Highway 34, Grand Island, Nebraska.

All supplemental documents from this meeting are available at: https://meeting.sparqdata.com/Public/Organization/CCC.

Chair Linda Heiden called the April 17, 2025, meeting to order at 1 p.m., with 11 board members present.

ROLL CALL

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS

Heiden asked college representatives to introduce guests and staff members.

REVIEWING CLAIMS FOR NEXT MEETING

Diane Keller will review the claims prior to the May 15, 2025, board meeting in Red Cloud.

REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION OF CONSENT ITEMS

Heiden asked board members for items in the consent agenda they would like to move to discussion of consent/action items.

CONSENT ITEMS

Consent items included:

Agenda for April 17, 2025.
Minutes of the March 20, 2025, Board of Governors meeting.
Claims for the period from March 1 through March 31, 2025.
Financial reports as of March 31, 2025.
Purchases:
AMDT Equipment, Columbus: The College President recommends purchasing the Milltronics VM2515 CNC Mill and the Mazak QT-Ez8 CNC Lathe from Industrial Systems and Supply, a Columbus-based vendor. The recommended equipment is used by a significant number of businesses that will be sending employees to CCC for training, and two different brands will give students exposure to two different programming languages.
Fine Arts and North Education Center Remodel, Columbus: The College President recommends acceptance of the low acceptable bid from Bierman Construction in Columbus for $489,100.00 to provide the labor and materials for the fine arts and north education remodel on the Columbus Campus.
Personnel:
Craig Hubbard, Hastings: The College President recommends that Craig Hubbard be offered the position of commercial construction faculty in Hastings, effective Aug. 1, 2025.

MOVED BY DAVIS, SECONDED BY SMITH to approve the claims, with the exception of payments to themselves, and also to approve the other consent items.

Aerni – aye
Borden – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

PARNERSHIP/OWNERSHIP

Career and Technical Sciences Report

Career and technical sciences dean Dr. Nate Allen and associate dean Dr. Alison Feeney introduced the following instructors and students to talk about their programs.

Dale Long said the heating, air conditioning and refrigeration program focuses on installation, repair and maintenance in the areas of heating and air conditioning, residential refrigeration and commercial refrigeration. Students learn the fundamentals and how to operate very tool available on campus but can expect training to continue their entire lives. During the past two years, the construction students were building a townhouse, which gave the HVAC students the opportunity to do 100 percent of the heating and air conditioning installation. When they work on the on-campus construction house, which will be moved, they only install the ductwork.
Kash Summers, a second-year HVAC student from Arapahoe, also is a leader in the program. He guides students through the house project and focuses the importance of doing something right the first time so it doesn’t have to be done again. He and his dad have a construction company in Arapahoe and his work will continue there after he graduates from CCC this spring.
Kimberly Milovac, an instructor in the hospitality management and culinary arts program, talked about a study-abroad program that involved her; Clarence Charles, HMRM program director; five students; and one graduate. The Hospitality at Sea program gave the participants exposure to different cultures both on board and on shore and allowed them to learn about culinary operations. For some of the students, it meant getting a passport and flying for the first time She said she was grateful for the mini-grant that made the experience affordable for the students.
Grace Ciancio, a first-year student from Fullerton, said it was a fantastic experience that allowed for both educational and personal growth. It was the first time she had traveled abroad and the first time she saw the ocean. Marisa Gewecke, a 2024 graduate from Geneva, had been on a cruise before but said it was an amazing opportunity to see how it all works behind the scenes and to visit with the passengers and the people on shore.

REPORTS

Student Success Report

Dr. Candace Walton shared the following highlights from the graduate outcomes report on CCC’s 2022-23 graduates:

During the 2022-23 academic year, 2,788 degrees, diplomas and certificates were awarded to 1,580 unduplicated students.
Of these award recipients, 863 continued their education, 1,007 were employed full-time and 394 were employed part-time.
The top colleges receiving CCC academic transfer students were the University of Nebraska-Kearney, 29 percent; University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 11 percent; University of Nebraska-Omaha, 9 percent; and Wayne State College, 7 percent. Students also transferred to Bellevue University, Northeast Community College, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Bryan College of Health Sciences, Iowa State University and Nebraska Wesleyan University.
Ninety-one percent of the graduates were employed full-time in CCC’s 25-county service area.
The top hourly wages are mechatronics, $37.17; nursing education (ADN), $35.57; paramedicine, $34.96; dental hygiene, $28.65; truck driving, $27.74; heating, air conditioning and refrigeration, $26.57; nursing education (LPN), $26.34; heavy equipment operator, $26.11; and diesel technology, $25.08.
Surveys showed that 96 percent of employers were satisfied or very satisfied with the graduates’ preparation, and 95 percent of graduates were satisfied or very satisfied with their CCC educational experience. Ninety-eight percent said they had achieved their educational objective at CCC.
Graduates were 48 percent female and 52 percent male. The youngest award recipient was 16 and the oldest was 72. Their ethnic makeup was: White, 68 percent; Hispanic/Latino, 27 percent; Black/African American, 3 percent; Asian/Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 1 percent; and American Indian/Alaskan Native, 1 percent.

Dr. Gotschall’s Report

Dr. Gotschall reported the following:

He attended the American Association of Community Colleges Annual Meeting April 12-16 in Nashville. The following people associated with Central Community College were recognized:

Steven Esquivel, a student at the Columbus Campus, was named a 2025 New Century Transfer Pathway Scholar. Only one scholar is selected per state.
Emily Mach, a psychology instructor at the Columbus Campus, received the Dale P. Parnell Distinguished Faculty Award.
Marni Danhauer, associate dean of community and workforce education in Grand Island, is part of a yearlong Future Leaders Fellow that has given her a variety of leadership opportunities.
Doug Pauley, associate dean of training in Columbus, and Jerry Muller, industrial technology coordinator and trainer in Columbus, gave a presentation on the iMec program. Instructors receive training on mechatronics at the Columbus Campus so they can return to their high schools and colleges to teach their own students.
Both Dr. Marcie Kemnitz, Grand Island Campus president, and Dr. Gotschall attended the conference to participate in their appointed positions on AACC commissions. Dr. Kemnitz serves on the AACC Commission on Institutional Infrastructure and Transformation and Dr. Gotschall serves on the AACC Commission on Small and Rural Colleges.

The following reports were also submitted for board review:

Enrollment Report
Grants Report
Purchasing Report

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Heiden requested an executive session to discuss personnel and legal issues at 2:07 p.m.

MOVED BY DAVIS, SECONDED BY SKILES that the Board of Governors recess the regular meeting in order to go into executive session to discuss personnel and legal issues.

Aerni – aye
Borden – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Heiden reconvened the regular session of the Board of Governors meeting at 3:05 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT

MOVED BY DAVIS, SECONDED BY SMITH to adjourn.

Aerni – aye
Borden – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Heiden declared the meeting adjourned at 3:06 p.m.

May 15, 2025

CENTRAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Board of Governors’ Meeting Minutes
May 15, 2025

The meeting was held in the Red Cloud Educational Hub, 402 N. Webster St., Red Cloud, Nebraska.

All supplemental documents from this meeting are available at: https://meeting.sparqdata.com/Public/Organization/CCC.

Chair Linda Heiden called the May 15, 2025, meeting to order at 1 p.m., with nine board members present.

ROLL CALL

Aerni – absent
Borden – present
Broekemier – present
Buss – present
Davis – present
Heiden – present
Keller – present
Pirnie – present
Skiles – present
Smith – present
Werner – absent

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS

Heiden asked college representatives to introduce guests and staff members.

REVIEWING CLAIMS FOR NEXT MEETING

Tom Pirnie will review the claims prior to the June 19, 2025, board meeting in Grand Island.

REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION OF CONSENT ITEMS

Heiden asked board members for items in the consent agenda they would like to move to discussion of consent/action items.

CONSENT ITEMS

Consent items included:

Agenda for May 15, 2025.
Minutes of the April 17, 2025, Board of Governors meeting.
Claims for the period from April 1 through April 30, 2025.
Financial reports as of April 30, 2025.
Purchases:
Center for Health and Sciences Roof Replacement, Grand Island: The College President recommends acceptance of the low acceptable bid from Tri-Cities roofing of Grand Island for $181,733.00 to provide the labor and materials for the new roof on the Grand Island Campus.
Steam Unit Heater Replacement, Hastings: The College President recommends acceptance of the low acceptable bid from Grunwald Mechanical to provide all labor and material to replace the steam unit heaters in the Hamilton Building on the Hastings campus.
Used Diesel Truck, Hastings: The College recommends the search for and purchase of a vehicle that meets the designated specifications in an amount not to exceed $40,000 for a used semi-truck for the diesel technology program.
Lincoln 300C Welders, Columbus: The College President recommends acceptance of the bid for $52,668.75 from Matheson for three Lincoln 300C welders to be used on the Columbus Campus.
Personnel:
Thomas Quinn, Columbus: The College President recommends that Thomas Quinn be offered the position of math/physics instructor in Columbus, effective Aug. 1, 2025.
Foundation Agreement: The agreement outlines the foundation’s commitment, college support services, leadership and governance, and funding for a three-year period from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2028.
September Meeting Date Change: The date of the September 2025 Board of Governors meeting has been moved from Sept. 18 to Sept. 25.

MOVED BY KELLER, SECONDED BY BORDEN to approve the claims, with the exception of payments to themselves, and also to approve the other consent items.

Aerni – absent
Borden – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – absent

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

PARNERSHIP/OWNERSHIP

Community and Workforce Education Report

Jerry McCartney, director of Red Cloud Heritage Tourism Development, spoke about the community’s revitalization efforts, which began with embracing its identity as the childhood home of author Willa Cather. Revitalization has meant restoring old buildings, building a new hotel and embracing other individuals with ties to Red Cloud such as Silas Garber, the town’s founder and the state’s third governor, and baseball players Dazzy Vance and Cy Young. In 2023, The Smithsonian Magazine named Red Cloud as one of the best small towns to visit.

Also addressing the board were Manager Ana Armstrong, who talked about the services available through CCC’s new Red Cloud Educational Hub, and Sara Stroman, health programming director at CCC-Hastings, who said 30 people were trained in CPR during the first four classes offered in Red Cloud.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Pennie Morgan stated no one had signed in for Public Participation.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Heiden requested an executive session to discuss personnel and legal issues at 1:42 p.m.

MOVED BY DAVIS, SECONDED BY SMITH that the Board of Governors recess the regular meeting in order to go into executive session to discuss personnel and legal issues.

Aerni – absent
Borden – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – absent

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Heiden reconvened the regular session of the Board of Governors meeting at 1:55 p.m.

INFORMATION

Joel King provided a preliminary review of the 2025-26 budget.

DISCUSSION OF CONSENT/ACTION ITEMS

Approval of CCPE Program Reviews

Drs. Candace Walton, Sara Kort, Amy Mancini and Nate Allen presented information on the dental assisting, dental hygiene, early childhood education and heating, air conditioning and refrigeration programs, which are undergoing their seven-year review as required by the Nebraska Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education.

MOVED BY SKILES, SECONDED BY DAVIS to approve continuation of CCC’s dental assisting, dental hygiene, early childhood education and eating, air conditioning and refrigeration programs.

Aerni – absent
Borden – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – absent

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Approval of College President’s Contract

MOVED BY BUSS, SECONDED BY DAVIS to allow the board chair to negotiate with the college president and to sign the presidential contract for the 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 contract years.

Aerni – absent
Borden – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – absent

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

REPORTS

Student Success Report

Jason Davis gave an overview of the process that went into opening the Red Cloud Educational Hub and of the opportunities now available to people in Red Cloud and the surrounding area.

Ana Armstrong shared letters she received from two students. The first was from a recent Red Cloud High School graduate who had already earned 39 college credits through the Early College classes she had taken since she was a sophomore. The second was from a 33-year-old single mother who said the educational hub saved her the time and expense of driving elsewhere and gave her flexibility when she needed to take care of sick kids. Armstrong said the educational hub gives students of all ages the benefits of both in-person and online learning.

Dr. Gotschall’s Report

Dr. Gotschall reported the following:

Participated in three graduation ceremonies where over 500 students attended. Thanks to everyone for your support of this important milestone for students and CCC.
Participated in a townhall meeting with Congressman Adrian Smith in Grand Island, small group of about a dozen attendees from economic development, chamber and business. Asked for his continued support for tax-free Pell and higher education in general given these uncertain times.
Arranged for CCC directors Jesse Barto and Carmen Taylor to present an online webinar on technical efficiencies CCC has implemented with our commercial vendors. Presentation was to the members of the Postsecondary International Network.
Facilitating multiple budget meetings as we set next year’s 2025-26 budget for operations, facilities and personnel.
Participated in several Six Regions, One Nebraska meetings to advance initiatives for workforce development, housing and childcare needs across the area. The group went to Red Cloud and toured our education hub and started the day with meetings on our Hastings Campus.
Held open forums with employees in Hastings and Columbus and virtually with outreach centers.
Attended the annual Scott Scholars Graduation weekend in Omaha. Students were amazing and I’m proud of their accomplishments and the respect CCC staff have earned with the Walter Scott Jr. Foundation team.
Attended the Phelps County Economic Development lunch and next month presented at the Holdrege Noon Rotary. Both provided opportunities to discuss our upcoming move and remodel.
Participated in a couple of meetings regarding apprenticeship expansion across Nebraska given our leadership of the federal grant. Opportunities may be available through governor’s office, Nebraska Department of Labor and/or Aksarben Foundation.
Attended the opening of the Migrant Education Center in Lexington and a couple of weeks later hosted meetings in Gothenburg, Cozad and Lexington to listen to community needs and opportunities for CCC.
Attended the annual American Association of Community College’s meeting in Tennessee. CCC honorees included student Steven Esquivel, Phi Theta Kappa Transfer Scholarship winner, and psychology instructor Emily Mach, Faculty of Distinction. CCC staff Jerry Muller and Doug Pauley presented a session on the iMec program, Community and Workforce Education dean Marni Danhauer attended as part of the AACC Future Leaders program and Dr. Marcie Kemnitz and I participated in separate commission meetings for the organization.
Attended the CCC college play held at Columbus High School for area first-grade students.
Worked through selecting national peer review colleges with the Coordinating Commission for their comparison processes that are reviewed every 10 years.
Watched the Grand Island Signing Day for students coming to CCC for selected career and technical programs. Also attended the CCC Alumni and Community appreciation event in Grand Island – great demonstrations and engagement of faculty, staff and students.
Grant follow-up meetings regarding Perkins, Nebraska Math Readiness and Apprenticeship.
Emceed the All-Nebraska PTK Team and Aksarben Scholarship Recognition ceremony at the state capitol, introducing the governor and representative from all six Nebraska community colleges.
Participated in committee and board meeting of the Greater Nebraska Workforce Investment Board meeting.
Submitted newspaper op ed across the area and participated in TV interview as part of national community college month.
Attended and spoke at the ground-breaking ceremony for the Automotive Training Center. Was available to sign paperwork following auction of CCC house constructed by students.
Attended the Buffalo County Economic Development luncheon in Kearney.
Attended an open house at the Edgerton Explorit Center as a new CCC partner on the 6 Regions: Trades-on-the-Move initiative. Working with the governor’s office on an invitation to construction companies to seek their support for the joint initiative to get more students grades 5-8 aware of occupations/careers in the trades.

Updates from area vice presidents include:

The 2025 dental hygiene class sat for their clinical boards on May 2. Dr. Wanda Cloet, program director, was pleased to announce we had 100% passing rate again.
CCC subscribes to Films on Demand, a service that enables faculty to include links to videos in both online and in-person classes.
The General Education committee created “Guidelines for Inclusion in General Education,” which were presented at Educational Services. The committee will be launching a review of general education courses and groups at other Nebraska colleges.
The Nebraska Math Readiness Project team conducted training for 20 high school teachers in the project. The day’s agenda included tips for teaching in a lab setting and opportunities for networking.
An Adult Education instructor in-service on March 17 drew 31 instructors and volunteers. Selected instructors presented to their peers on student engagement/retention and Krashen's five theories. Small groups discussed creating a safe and welcoming classroom as well as keeping students engaged in learning outside of the classroom.
Work for “Big Idea” competition across the area are underway to take place during the 2025-26 academic year. Directors working with several business founders and small businesses.
During the Nebraska Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NeASFAA) annual conference in March, Jordan Eisenmenger was recognized with the Distinguished Service Award in honor of her outstanding achievements in the financial aid profession.
In March, Counseling Services completed five new intakes, three crisis visits, five consultations, two psychoeducation sessions, and 66 individual appointments.
Since the start of the spring semester, Disability Services has completed 43 new intakes, 22 follow-up visits and 13 consultations. Director Kim Ottman continues in her role as president of WINAHEAD, preparing for the annual statewide conference in May.
Career and Employment Services in Columbus organized two large fourth-grade career days for Columbus Public Schools and Shell Creek as well as a Career Opportunity Fair which provided early career exposure and resource connections for local youth.
Student recognition ceremonies have been held across the area promoting student engagement in the classroom as well as in student organizations.
Summer planning for 2025 camps involving the residential hall in Hastings includes: HOBY (Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership), Titan Diesel Camp and Sertoma Football Camp in addition to non-residential Verizon Technology camps.
Strong participation and achievement from State SkillsUSA student participants and advisors and dozens of CCC faculty and staff that served as judges, volunteers or coordinators.
The Kearney Center has been contacted to host the Nebraska Developmental Education conference on Sept. 26.
Pam Bales and Kelly Christensen met with Dr. Kyle Meyer who is heading up the final phase of the UNMC Rural Health Education Center on the UNK campus. Dr. Meyer is helping to coordinate CCC and our needs for students and faculty in preparation for offering primarily classes in the CCC-dedicated classroom starting in 2026.
Early College Director Jamey Peterson-Jones said 1,079 high school seniors have met or plan to qualify for honors, 116 college certificates, two college diplomas, and 104 students on track to receive the Transition Advantage Scholarship (TAS). Early College instructor training will begin in June.
CWE Dean Marni Danhauer worked with Fran Davis in the institutional research office to pull data regarding the Early College iMec program enrollment and matriculation to CCC after high school graduation. Key takeaways include a 70% increase in enrollment from 2023-24 to 2024-25; close to 25% of students matriculate to CCC after high school graduation; of those that come to CCC, 47% continue their education in mechatronics amounting to 32 students in the last three years; and most of the students are from Schuyler, Lexington and Columbus high schools.
Kelly Christensen was interviewed by KRVN in a response to recent op-ed by Dr. Gotschall regarding April being Community College Month.
Janet Eppenbach served on the leadership team for the Big Give to Valley County event on March 13. CCC-Ord received a total of $1,545 from ten donors. The money raised will be designated for scholarship dollars for area students.
Two new pathways were approved by the Coordinating Commission for Post-secondary Education (CCPE) for Gap Assistance funding. They include 12 semester credits of Basic Refrigeration Certificate program, and 6 semester credits of Plastics Engineering Basics.
CWE Columbus staff conducted a successful Community Builders gathering in Clarkson on March 27. The 25 participants visited five local businesses. It was neat to see how many young entrepreneurs are taking over family businesses in Clarkson.
Karen Mroczek and Susan Schoenhofer are coordinating the Spring Gardening event on April 22 on campus. This is an event that typically brings in over 150 people. Registration looks strong again this year.
Libby Theoharis and Callie Bridges will be presenting at their national conference in April in Philadelphia, including: Short Course 122 - Transforming Education: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Enhanced Teaching in Learning in OT.
Wanda Cloet attended the American Dental Education Association meeting in Washington D.C. She served as a delegate to the ADEA House of Delegates, representing Central Community College.
Grand Island Senior High School will be bringing 17 students to tour the medical laboratory technician lab in April. They are gearing up for interest in this pathway for the Fall semester.
About 90 students sent letters and were accepted into the fall 2025 nursing program areawide.
Dental hygiene was recently awarded $1,500 for a grant (Adams County Early Dental Health Clinic Outreach). This grant will provide preventive dental services to approximately 300 children in Adams County.
We currently have 19 high schools teaching the nursing assistant course and additional high schools that have expressed interest. We are seeing growing requests for medication aide, EMT, and phlebotomy in the high schools.
Professional development remains important for keeping up to date. Some examples include: HIMS faculty Shawna Stump, Barbara Marsh and Joni Schlatz, Nebraska Health Information Management Association Annual Conference in Kearney; dental hygiene program faculty, program director and all students, Nebraska Dental Hygienists’ Association meeting at Mahoney State Park; Carol Hipke-Muske, medical assisting faculty and Michel McKinney, medical assisting program director, 59th Annual Nebraska Society of Medical Assistants Conference in Grand Island; Savannah Blanke, DENT faculty, Annual Nebraska State Dental Hygiene Meeting, and Shelly Steinkruger, DENT program director, Annual Nebraska Dental Assistants and Nebraska Dental Association meeting. Libby Theoharis, Occupational Therapy Assistant faculty, and Callie Bridges, Occupational Therapy Assistant program director, presented at a national conference with well over 400 in attendance and now are being asked to present to faculty (in their faculty meetings) across the US on integrating AI in OT curriculum. Two returning nursing faculty members graduated with advanced degrees: Amanda Rooker from Family NP and Theresa Martinez from MSN.
Hastings entrepreneurship director attending monthly Schnase 1906 District Board meetings and working on finalizing the “Terms and Agreements” and ‘User Lease Agreements” with their attorney and also designing programming for Schnase in the form of workshops and podcast development. Kearney entrepreneurship director talking with Lexington, Holdrege and Gothenburg on how to support those communities and hosting the June Kearney Chamber business and education committee at the Kearney Center.
Some examples of recent uses of the VR/XR lab in Columbus include: Sean McDonald speech classes came in to do a virtual speech; the plastic molding department led by Karl Anderson intermittently uses the Molding Demo VR activity; Emily Mach’s psychology class had their sensation-seeking VR lab using the headsets for Richie's Walk the Plank and Roller coaster simulations; the Columbus Campus showed Columbus Middle School students the dorm tours on the MultiTaction wall; Dr. Nicholas Whitney’s A&P classes came to do Awake heart on the VR headsets; and Osmary Depablos Rivera’s chemistry class came to use the app Molecule Builder and learn about molecular bonds.

The following reports were also submitted for board review:

Enrollment Report
Grants Report
Purchasing Report

ADJOURNMENT

MOVED BY SMITH, SECONDED BY DAVIS to adjourn.

Aerni – absent
Borden – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – absent

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Heiden declared the meeting adjourned at 2:37 p.m.

June 26, 2025

CENTRAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Board of Governors’ Meeting Minutes
June 26, 2025

The meeting was held in the Administration Office Board Room at Central Community College, 3134 W. Highway 34, Grand Island, Nebraska.

All supplemental documents from this meeting are available at: https://meeting.sparqdata.com/Public/Organization/CCC.

Chair Linda Heiden called the June 26, 2025, meeting to order at 1 p.m., with nine board members present.

ROLL CALL

Aerni – present
Borden – absent
Broekemier – present
Buss – present
Davis – absent
Heiden – present
Keller – present
Pirnie – present
Skiles – present
Smith – present
Werner – present

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS

Heiden asked college representatives to introduce guests and staff members.

REVIEWING CLAIMS FOR NEXT MEETING

Rita Skiles will review the June and July claims prior to the Aug. 21, 2025, board meeting in Grand Island.

REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION OF CONSENT ITEMS

Heiden asked board members for items in the consent agenda they would like to move to discussion of consent/action items.

CONSENT ITEMS

Consent items included:

Agenda for June 26, 2025.
Minutes of the May 15, 2025, Board of Governors meeting.
Claims for the period from May 1 through May 31, 2025.
Financial reports as of May 31, 2025.
Purchases:
Website Redesign: The College President recommends accepting the proposal for $280,190 from Stamats for the redesign of the college website.
Wheelchair Lift Replacement, Columbus: The College President recommends accepting the bid from Access Elevator Inc. of Omaha for $35,306 to dispose of the current unit and install the new unit.
Personnel:
John Roschewski, Kearney: The College President recommends that John Roschewski be offered the position of business administration faculty in Kearney, effective Aug. 1, 2025.
Lawrence McKenzie, Columbus: The College President recommends that Lawrence McKenzie be offered the position of accounting/business administration faculty in Columbus, effective Aug. 1, 2025.
2026 Board of Governors meeting dates.
Open Meetings Act: The College President recommends acceptance and acknowledgement of the changes to the Open Meetings Act that went into effect May 30, 2025.
NCCIT Settlement Agreement: The settlement with the Nebraska Community College Trust is for a claim submitted by CCC for a broken water main and flooded mechanical room in the Platte Building at CCC-Hastings.

MOVED BY PIRNIE, SECONDED BY SMITH to approve the claims, with the exception of payments to themselves, and also to approve the other consent items.

Aerni – aye
Borden – absent
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – absent
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

PARNERSHIP/OWNERSHIP

Student Success and Enrollment Management Report

Dr. Kevin Hartshorn, dean of student success and enrollment management, and Brandon Stalvey, associate dean at the Grand Island Campus, outlined the registration and orientation process for new students at CCC.

The process begins with connecting with potential students at high schools and college fairs, inviting them to Campus Visit Days so they can see what CCC has to offer and encouraging them to apply. Contact with potential and incoming students continues by email, text and phone.

In the spring, New Student Orientation and Registration (NSOR) sessions are held to welcome and prepare incoming students. During the session, they will register, meet with their advisor, learn about resources and help start making connections with the larger campus community. Virtual registration and orientation are available for course-only and online students.

The combined NSOR is a shift from recent years when registration and orientation were held separately. It was discovered that a substantial number of students weren’t showing up for summer orientation after registering in the spring. By holding orientation on the same day as registration, students get the information they need to make a smooth transition into college life and be successful at CCC. A printed NSOR book is then given to students for follow-up questions and reminders of what was covered during the day.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Isaac Elessar, president of student government at CCC-Grand Island, expressed concerns about Raider Ready, the college bookstore’s delivery system for books and other course materials. Dr. Gotschall said he would respond to these concerns and report back to the board.

DISCUSSION OF CONSENT/ACTION ITEMS

College President Permission for July Purchases

Because the CCC Board of Governors won’t meet in July 2025, the board hereby authorizes Dr. Matthew Gotschall to approve any needed action items from June 26 through Aug. 21, 2025. He will provide the board with a summary of all actions taken under this authority at the Aug. 21, 2025, board meeting.

MOVED BY AERNI, SECONDED BY BUSS to authorize actions by the College President to approve any needed action items from June 26 through Aug. 21, 2025.

Aerni – aye
Borden – absent
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – absent
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

General Operational Budget Tentative Approval

Tentative approval is requested for the operational budget of $73,857,434. Final approval for this budget will be acted upon on at the September 2025 meeting, following a public hearing.

MOVED BY SKILES, SECONDED BY SMITH to give tentative approval for the $73,857,434 operational budget.

Aerni – aye
Borden – absent
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – absent
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

REPORTS

Student Success Report

Brian McDermott and Francesca Davis from the institutional research office shared information from the 2024 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data (IPED) Feedback Report. CCC uses a custom comparison group that includes the five other community colleges in Nebraska as well as 10 colleges in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri with similar characteristics to CCC. When compared with the IPED peer group, CCC has:

Higher enrollment of White and Hispanic students.
Significantly more diplomas and certificates
Higher graduation rates for most ethnic groups.
Higher full- and part-time retention rate.
Higher graduation rate with lower transfer out rate.
Slightly lower enrollment of Black or African American students.
Lower tuition and fees than peer groups.

Dr. Gotschall’s Report

Dr. Gotschall reported the following:

Participated in the Construction Kick-off at the Holdrege Center where the $100,000 donation from Phelps Memorial Health Center was announced along with a great showing of community supporters to celebrate the regional investment.
Several meetings regarding the Central Regions, 6 Region/1 Nebraska Trades on the Move initiative to partner with Edgerton Explorit Center to institute a mobile training lab for middle-school youth throughout Nebraska. Still seeking outside funding to implement.
Participated in the Greater Nebraska Workforce Development meeting representing educational providers.
Attended the 2025 Aksarben Stakeholders’ meeting where sessions centered around Nebraska’s BioEconomy, specifically the sustainable aviation fuels plant in Phelps County and the fertilizer plant in Gothenburg. Both are planned as multi-billion-dollar investments that will employ individuals needing additional workforce training and education beyond high school.
Participated in strategic planning meetings for the CCC Foundation and hosted an initial CCC strategic planning meeting for the development of Central’s 2025-2030 Strategic Plan and major initiatives.
Participated in some introductory meetings with a new organization CCC was invited to join – Alliance for Innovation & Transformation (AFIT), a group of approximately 60 community colleges from across the United States.
Visited CCC-Ord and met with chamber executive and owners of the building GLVA.
Participated in the NCCA quarterly meeting and multiple meetings with the NCCA presidents and executive director as legislative, and post-legislative events occurred.
Accepted invitation to serve on a Department of Labor panel at the Governor’s Summit on Ag & Economic Development in August.
Attended the Susan T. Buffett Annual Research Meeting where results of scholarship funding for students were discussed and data shared on other STB-funded higher education initiatives, including a proposed new Nebraska College Access Network (NeCAN) on which CCC has a steering committee representative.

Updates from area vice presidents include:

The occupational therapy assistant (OTA) program held its advisory board meeting on May 27. They had a great turnout that included membership from: a current and past student, one of who is employed at a local therapy clinic as well as representatives from a handful of other clinical partners.
OTA director Dr. Callie Bridges and instructor Libby Theoharis have been invited to present their “AI in Education” session to the University of Findlay’s Department of Occupational Therapy and GO Physical Therapy, following the success of their presentation at the national occupational therapy conference. Their session was attended by over 420 participants.
Dental hygiene program director Dr. Wanda Cloet received the Educator of the Year Award from the American Dental Hygienists’ Association This award recognizes individuals who demonstrate exemplary dedication and innovation in their dental hygiene roles. She will be presented with the award at the ADHA Annual Conference in October 2025 in California.
Approximately 35 EMT students completed and passed the NREMT psychomotor exam this spring across the college. This number includes 10 high school students from Wood River and Grand Island high schools, both of which offer the EMT program. Many of these students have also passed their written exams and are in the process of becoming licensed to practice. The college received excellent feedback from the high school students who tested at CCC, particularly regarding the high-quality equipment available. EMT classes that were taught at Grand Island Senior High School (GISH) will be moved to CCC-Grand Island beginning this fall.
Beginning this fall, the nursing assistant and medication aide courses at GISH will continue to be offered in a trimester format, as successfully implemented this past year. This expanded scheduling model allowed an additional 52 students to enroll and complete these courses annually, bringing total annual enrollment to approximately 152 students.
The medical laboratory technician (MEDT) program and partnership at GISH continues to thrive, having completed its second year offering the 13-credit phlebotomy certificate. Students complete part of the coursework online and attend hands-on lab sessions at CCC. This fall, seven to nine students are expected to be welcomed into the next cohort. These 13 credits seamlessly ladder into the MEDT AAS degree, providing a strong foundation for early college students interested in pursuing a career in the medical laboratory field.
During last month’s Nebraska Juvenile Justice Association (NJJA) annual conference in Kearney, CCC’s new introduction to peer support course and the 15-credit peer support advocate certificate were highlighted during the “Be the Change You Want to See” breakout session. Following that recognition, two individuals completed the application and registration process for the human services program the very next week.
The Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT) curriculum is being finalized this summer for a planned launch in Fall 2026. This is a set of two new courses that align with updated Nebraska licensure standards and national certification requirements, expanding on EMT training with advanced airway management, IV therapy, and limited medication administration. Designed to enhance emergency care in rural areas, AEMTs help fill the gap between EMTs and paramedics. Currently, CCC is the only college in the state offering the curriculum and the only training agency offering it as college credit.
Hastings Fire and Rescue has received an education grant and is planning to pay for several students to take the EMT courses this fall.
Through the Nursing Pinning Ceremony survey, the program discovered that 44 graduates were hired by the college’s main clinical partner facilities, including Mary Lanning, CHI-St. Francis, CHI-Good Samaritan, Bryan-Kearney Regional, Columbus Community Hospital, Bryan-Grand Island Regional.
Nursing Completion Rates for the 2024-25 year was 84.6% for the second-year cohort and 82.8% for the first-year cohort.
The fine arts department is continuing to be promoted on Saturday afternoons at the Community Building in downtown Columbus in the launch of “Artful Afternoons” hosted by the City of Columbus. This open event gives the public a chance to create art with each other and CCC personnel to promote fine arts programs. In July, CCC is showcasing a sculpture made by the welding department. Whitney Hank has taken the lead on this initiative in partnership with faculty colleagues.
The Columbus Campus is working with the City of Columbus on a new project, “Senior to Senior,” which will bring senior citizens and graduating seniors together in an art collaboration. CCC will be a sponsor for this event.
A successful expansion has the molding department collaborating with the XR lab in virtual molding simulations. CCC’s XR lab is showcased in a video interview with Mold Making Technology. We will continue to expand this project with the help of Karl Anderson.
Grand Island entrepreneurship is partnering with the City (Laura McAloon) and EDC (Mary Berlie) for a tradesman skill cohort in the fall. Each will receive $3,000 to elevate their business.
The Schnase 1906 District is officially open in Hastings. The CCC entrepreneurship director is assisting with finalizing the terms and conditions and lease agreement documents with the Schnase Board and attorney so that the 12 office spaces can be leased.
Conversations with UNK transfer administrators and education faculty will culminate in new teacher education pathways for CCC students transferring to UNK.

The following reports were also submitted for board review:

Enrollment Report
Grants Report
Purchasing Report

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Heiden requested an executive session to discuss personnel and legal issues after a short break at 2:02 p.m.

MOVED BY SKILES, SECONDED BY BUSS that the Board of Governors recess the regular meeting in order to go into executive session to discuss personnel and legal issues.

Aerni – aye
Borden – absent
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – absent
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Heiden reconvened the regular session of the Board of Governors meeting at 2:25 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT

MOVED BY BUSS, SECONDED BY SMITH to adjourn.

Aerni – aye
Borden – absent
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – absent
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Heiden declared the meeting adjourned at 2:26 p.m.

August 21, 2025

CENTRAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Board of Governors’ Meeting Minutes
August 21, 2025

The meeting was held in the Administration Office Board Room at Central Community College, 3134 W. Highway 34, Grand Island, Nebraska.

All supplemental documents from this meeting are available at: https://meeting.sparqdata.com/Public/Organization/CCC.

Chair Linda Heiden called the Aug. 21, 2025, meeting to order at 1 p.m., with nine board members present.

ROLL CALL

Aerni – present
Borden – absent
Broekemier – absent
Buss – present
Davis – present
Heiden – present
Keller – present
Pirnie – present
Skiles – present
Smith – present
Werner – present

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS

Heiden asked college representatives to introduce guests and staff members.

REVIEWING CLAIMS FOR NEXT MEETING

Michelle Broekemier will review August claims prior to the Sept. 25, 2025, board meeting in Grand Island.

REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION OF CONSENT ITEMS

Heiden asked board members for items in the consent agenda they would like to move to discussion of consent/action items.

CONSENT ITEMS

Consent items included:

Agenda for Aug. 21, 2025.
Minutes of the June 26, 2025, Board of Governors meeting.
Claims for the period from June 1 through July 31, 2025.
Financial reports as of June 30 and July 31, 2025.
Purchases: None
Personnel:
Brian McDermott, Hastings: The College President recommends that Brian McDermott be offered the position of quality technology instructor on the Hastings Campus, effective August 1, 2025.
Gary (Chris) Junker, Hastings: The College President recommends that Gary (Chris) Junker be offered the position of electrical technology instructor on the Hastings Campus, effective August 1, 2025.
Samanga (Sam) Amarasinghe, Hastings: The College President recommends that Samanga (Sam) Amarasinghe be offered the position of business administration instructor in Hastings, effective August 1, 2025.
Animal Use and Presence Policy: Service animals may accompany students, employees, and visitors with disabilities to all Central Community College (CCC) events, activities, and locations. Local, state and federal laws regulate the use of service animals at CCC locations and/or events. Animals associated with a college-related program of study (e.g., livestock) or research laboratory activity are allowed.

MOVED BY SKILES, SECONDED BY SMITH to approve the claims, with the exception of payments to themselves, and also to approve the other consent items.

Aerni – aye
Borden – absent
Broekemier – absent
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

PARNERSHIP/OWNERSHIP

Faculty Resource Center and Learning Support Services Report

Abie Ott, FRC educational planning director and LSS interim supervisor, highlighted the following:

The LSS department provides technical and trouble-shooting support for Canvas, the college’s learning management system, and serves as a technical resource for faculty members.
The FRC supports teaching and learning by providing faculty with one-on-one or group consultations, workshops and professional learning sessions, program and curriculum design and college-wide assessment.
The New Educator Workshop is a collaboration of the FRC, LSS and HR. It covers such a wide range of topics that include CCC’s negotiated agreement and benefits; inclusive learning; student and disability services; assessment, grading, registration and financial aid advising; and the Library Resource Centers.

The presentation featured feedback about the New Educators Workshop. In a written message, Chelsea Richards, associate dean of arts, science and business at the Hastings Campus, expressed appreciation for being included as a new administrator, which allowed her to gain a sense of the CCC community and culture. Two other participants addressed the board in person:

Denise Kozel, electrical technology instructor at the Grand Island Campus, started teaching several months before participating in the workshop. She said the first thing she learned was how badly she needed the workshop, which taught her different strategies for reaching students. She said it has helped her triple enrollment in her own program.
Samanga (Sam) Amarasinghe, a business administration instructor at the Hastings Campus, said the workshop has given him solid ideas for getting students interested and motivated so they can not only earn academic credentials but can also do the work.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Delphi Greene, a student on the Grand Island Campus, expressed ongoing concerns about Raider Ready, the college bookstore’s delivery system for books and other course materials.

DISCUSSION OF CONSENT/ACTION ITEMS

FTE/REU/RAE Report Acceptance

Kim Pearson from Dana F. Cole & Company, Certified Public Accountants, presented the Statements of Reimbursable Full-Time Equivalent Student Enrollment and Reimbursable Educational Units report. The company has issued an unmodified audit report for Central Community College, the best rating it can award, for the years ending in 2024 and 2025.

MOVED BY SKILES, SECONDED BY BUSS to accept the 2024 and 2025 Statements of Reimbursable Full-Time Equivalent Student Enrollment and Reimbursable Educational Units as presented by Dana F. Cole & Company

Aerni – aye
Borden – absent
Broekemier – absent
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

REPORTS

Dr. Gotschall’s Report

Dr. Gotschall gave a recap of the 2025 Fall Welcome Back presentation he made to college employees. He also reported the following:

We received official word of Higher Learning Commission (HLC) reaffirmation of accreditation so next comprehensive visit will be 2035. Federal Compliance was also accepted, all with no sanctions, monitoring reports or additional visits. We will have a mid-term checkup and other reports to submit during the next 10 years, but overall in great shape so thank you for your involvement as board members and support of the faculty, staff, students and administration throughout this process.
State audits for enrollment were completed and financial with results to be presented to you this month and this fall. We also received the certified allocations from our two state aid funds: A 3.5% increase in community college future fund and a slight increase in “regular” state aid that also reflects our share of the additional $5 million the legislature allocated for dual credit tuition reductions. Final budget will be presented in September but should be only minor changes from the tentative budget you approved in June. Under my report include amounts distributed to CCC as well as the other five community colleges who had enrollment changes ranging -2.69% to +12.63% with CCC coming in at +3.14%.
We received positive news this summer about two federal grants we thought in jeopardy, but TRIO and Adult Education, have both been funded. We do have a new requirement of confirming citizenship or qualified alien status of adult education students. This will take some additional work on our part and secure storage of that personal information.
During the summer, I served on an apprenticeship panel with Nebraska’s Commission of Department Labor at the Nebraska Governor’s Summit Ag and Economic Development; participated in NCCA Strategic Planning Board meeting and several NCCA presidents’ meetings and an Aksarben Foundation meeting regarding apprenticeships; co-emceed a Columbus Days event; gave the welcome at a U.S. Department of Energy community college grant meeting that CCC hosted; led a 40+ member CCC Action Summit; and attended the State Chamber Federal Legislative Summit; Association for Innovation and Transformation national conference and Proteus farmworkers annual awards luncheon, 6 Regions 1 Nebraska planning and implementation meetings, UNL President Gold’s reception at Stuhr Museum, UNK/UNMC building update meeting, Hastings and Grand Island CCC retiree events, Sam Cowan’s funeral, business training meetings with Bosselman Enterprises and Fiserv, Grand Island Senior High curriculum meeting, CCC new educator orientation, PIN Executive Board Meeting, Nebraska Diplomat’s meeting; and Nebraska Manufacturing Advisory Council meeting.

Updates from area vice presidents include:

CCC students who placed in the SkillsUSA national convention this summer in Atlanta were Joseph Fickenscher of Axtell and William Grosch of O’Neill, gold medal in mechatronics; Chase Ostdiek of Blue Hill, silver medal in heavy equipment operator technology; Keaton Connelly of Grand Island, fourth in auto body; Wyatt Kreutzer of Kearney and Hunter Trumble of Aurora, 11th in advanced manufacturing design technology; and Corey Tilley of Hastings, 18th in automotive technology. All seven students had earned a gold medal at the state contest in April.
An annual meeting was held to discuss usage with Labster, a supplement for science lab courses offered via distance. In 2024-25, there were 1,202 Labster licenses with 12,035 simulation plays. Twenty-four instructors use Labster in 11 courses with 72% of the usage is in biology. Students rate Labster very positively in 90% of plays.
Three full-time business administration instructors were hired this summer.
The Library Resource Center supervisors began training on the new catalog system, and the initial data pull of information from the old system has been completed. Digital resources expanded with the addition of Libby (audio and e-books for checkout) and Kanopy (online movie streaming).
The adult education program ended the year with its highest performance ever. Classes began again on August 4.
CCC had 53 student-athletes recognized by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA)for academic achievement during 2024-25. This surpasses the previous record of 42 honored student-athletes in 2023-24.
Five Raiders teams earned NJCAA Academic Team of the Year honors for posting a combined 3.0 GPA or better: volleyball, 3.58 GPA; men's soccer, 3.54 GPA; softball, 3.50 GPA; women's basketball, 3.20 GPA; and women's soccer, 3.20 GPA. The National Junior College Athletic Association Esports (NJCAAE) honored six CCC student-athletes for their academic performance during the spring 2025 semester.
A skills trade cohort will start in October, thanks to a partnership with the CCC entrepreneurship center, Grand Island Economic Development Council and the city of Grand Island and a $3,000 mini grant from GIEDC and the city. The cohort will help up to 10 businesses with two or fewer employees learn how to grow and hire.
The CCC-Hastings entrepreneurship center created a new program called Tuesday Muse Day for entrepreneurs and business leaders at the new Schnase building in downtown Hastings and a podcast called “Sink or Swim.” The CCC-Columbus entrepreneurship center is working to have regular visits by the Center for Rural Affairs. CCC-Kearney is working on a Big Idea Buffalo County competition and CCC-Ord is connecting with Ord Public Schools on building out their School to Work program by matching students to business sponsorships or apprenticeships with CCC.
CCC-Grand Island hosted Boy Scout’s Merit Badge University, July 25-27. CCC employees who participated were John Willmes for welding; Michael David, John Sumsion and Jim Davis for criminal justice; Amy Santos, Carla Uhlir and Kerri Dey, who helped with medical check-ins; and Ben Newton, who facilitated a badge course.
CCC nursing dean Pam Bales met with two critical care access hospitals (Broadstone in Superior and Cozad Community Hospital) to discuss clinical space. No decisions have been made at this time. A meeting in Lexington is planned later this month.
Dental assisting students completed their final clinical rotations, attended the CODA-required Dental Assisting Clinical Seminar and received their coronal polish certifications. All students are currently employed.
Occupational therapy assistant (OTHA) students completed 14 cognitive assessments; practiced blood pressure on residents in two nursing homes; completed therapy groups to assistive living and memory care individuals in the community; and participated in a two-day Physical Agent Modalities seminar. OTHA also sponsored a Getting It Write summer camp where 25 kids were assisted on sensory motor, behavior, and handwriting skills.
CCC and Grand Island High School representatives met to discuss medical laboratory technician (MEDT), EMT, nursing assistant and medication aide classes. They decided to have GISH EMT students come to campus for class, so they have more opportunities to use CCC’s equipment. So far, 15 students have applied for the MEDT pathway.
Hastings College announced three new majors in environmental studies, skilled and technical sciences education, and agricultural education. Their press release credits their partnership with CCC for the STS and agriculture ones.
The annual Super Tech competition, which features the best entry-level diesel technicians in Nebraska, was held July 17 on the Hastings Campus. Schuyler Eatherton, a CCC diesel technology student, placed second in the student competition.
Workshops for high school instructors and guidance counselors were held this summer by mechatronics instructor Dan Davidchik; media arts instructor Dani Schwinn; agricultural science instructor Jeff Buescher; culinary arts instructors Clarence Charles, Dylan Krings and Courtney Rempe; and the criminal justice department.
The Family and Consumer Sciences Teachers of Nebraska awarded the Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts program their Partnership Award on June 10 in Kearney.
The third annual Titan Diesel Camp June 2-3 drew 24 Nebraska and Iowa high school students. They participated in hands-on learning activities in the diesel technology and heavy equipment areas at the Hastings Campus and toured the Case IH Combine plant and the newly opened Titan Machinery store in Grand Island.
CCC received $100,000 from the state Perkins grant to assist in funding a cobot welding system for the new welding facility in Grand Island.
Criminal justice instructors Dr. James Davis and Duane Collins passed FAA 107 drone exam this summer to receive Remote Pilot Certification to authorize them to fly drones for commercial and educational purposes.
He remembered former board member Sam Cowan, who died Aug. 2, as a great servant to CCC. Prior to serving on the board from 2009 through 2024, he taught at CCC-Columbus in the 1990s and was the recipient of the campus’ Faculty Member of the Year Award.

The following reports were also submitted for board review:

Enrollment Report
Grants Report
Purchasing Report

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Heiden requested an executive session to discuss personnel and legal issues after a short break at 2:22 p.m.

MOVED BY SMITH, SECONDED BY BUSS that the Board of Governors recess the regular meeting in order to go into executive session to discuss personnel and legal issues.

Aerni – aye
Borden – absent
Broekemier – absent
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Heiden reconvened the regular session of the Board of Governors meeting at 2:56 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT

MOVED BY KELLER, SECONDED BY WERNER to adjourn.

Aerni – aye
Borden – absent
Broekemier – absent
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Heiden declared the meeting adjourned at 2:57 p.m.

September 25, 2025

CENTRAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Board of Governors’ Meeting Minutes
September 25, 2025

The meeting was held in the Administration Office Board Room at Central Community College, 3134 W. Highway 34, Grand Island, Nebraska.

All supplemental documents from this meeting are available at: https://meeting.sparqdata.com/Public/Organization/CCC.

Treasurer Jason Buss called the Sept. 25, 2025, meeting to order at 1 p.m., with seven board members present.

ROLL CALL

Aerni – absent
Borden – absent
Broekemier – present
Buss – present
Davis – absent
Heiden – absent
Keller – present
Pirnie – present
Skiles – present
Smith – present
Werner – present

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS

Buss asked college representatives to introduce guests and staff members.

REVIEWING CLAIMS FOR NEXT MEETING

Dann Smith will review the claims prior to the Oct. 16, 2025, board meeting in Columbus.

REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION OF CONSENT ITEMS

Buss asked board members for items in the consent agenda they would like to move to discussion of consent/action items.

CONSENT ITEMS

Consent items included:

Agenda for Sept. 25, 2025.
Minutes of the Aug. 21, 2025, Board of Governors meeting.
Claims for the period from 1 through Aug. 31, 2025.
Financial report as of Aug. 31, 2025.
Purchases:
Physical Education Roof Replacement, Columbus: The College President recommends acceptance of the low acceptable bid from Dynasty roofing from Grand Island for $71,477 to provide the labor and materials for the replacement of the PEC roof on the Columbus Campus.
Phelps Building, Phase 2, Hastings: The College President recommends acceptance of the low acceptable bid from Scheele-Kayton construction for $1,350,000 to provide all labor and material to remodel the Phelps building on the Hastings Campus.
Personnel: None
Sandra Borden Resignation: The CCC Board of Governors accepts the resignation of Sandra Borden from the board because she has moved out of the district. The board thanks her for her service.
Edgerton Agreement: The CCC Board of Governors authorizes the College President to sign the cooperative agreement with the Edgerton Education Foundation.
Grand Island Residence Hall Architect: The College President recommends acceptance of Wilkins ADP with the high score of 1,490 for the design of student dorms on the Grand Island Campus.
CCPE P-20 Agreement: The CCC Board of Governors authorizes the College President to sign the CCPE P-20 agreement with Foresight Law + Policy.
Red Cloud Sublease: The CCC Board of Governors authorizes the College President to sign the commercial sub-lease agreement with Discover Red Cloud for the Red Cloud Educational Hub.
CCC Education Association Letter of Intent: The CCC Board of Governor recognizes the Central Community College Education Association as the bargaining agent for full-time faculty for the 2027-28 contract year.

MOVED BY BROEKEMIER, SECONDED BY SMITH to approve the claims, with the exception of payments to themselves, and also to approve the other consent items.

Aerni – absent
Borden – absent
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – absent
Heiden – absent
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Scott Miller stated no one had signed in for Public Participation.

DISCUSSION OF CONSENT/ACTION ITEMS

Board Action on Budget Items

Joel King presented the following budget items for approval.

A resolution that the 2025-26 property tax request be set at $15,311,532.33.
An additional 1% budget increase of restricted funds as shown on the 2025-26 Budget Form LC-CC.
A budget of expenditures and revenues as represented within the State of Nebraska 2025-26 Basic Budget Form.
That Central Community College retain the right to levy an amount up to the shortfall of the appropriations as certified by the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education in accordance with 85-1517(2)a.
A property tax request of $15,311,532.33.

MOVED BY SKILES, SECONDED BY SMITH to approve all the budget items.

Aerni – absent
Borden – absent
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – absent
Heiden – absent
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

REPORTS

Dr. Gotschall’s Report

Dr. Gotschall reported the following:

I have participated in several follow-up meetings regarding the Central Region: Six Regions, One Nebraska initiative focusing on three priority areas of Workforce/Entrepreneurship, Housing and Child Care. As of mid-September, the Central Child Care Champions have created 16 new licensed in-home child care businesses (most were operating unlicensed or staying at home with their own kids) and 174 NEW licensed child care spots in the Central Region since January along with $40,000 in stipends infused into those new businesses. An agreement between CCC and Edgerton Explorit Center was recommended to the board today to advance the Workforce Initiative to get more trades career exposure into high schools statewide.
Last week, Kelly Christensen, Beth Klitz and I attended the annual Postsecondary International Network on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. I presented on CCC initiatives and Kelly presented on the iMec program. One college has followed up regarding more information on iMec and much was learned about international education opportunities and challenges, artificial intelligence for educators, higher education funding, applied research, organizational culture, and involving indigenous populations and traditions in modern facilities and educational programming.
Participated in a success kick-off event for the Scott Scholars program welcoming over 55 new and returning students to the program.
Participated in the Foundation’s event honoring donors of CCC’s shotgun sports, met students and donors. Also participated in Foundation strategic planning events.
Participated in the All-College Faculty Senate welcome and spent time at each of the campuses and centers (with the exception of Ord) during the first two weeks of classes.
I was interviewed during the Nebraska State Fair and my wife and I were in charge of the CCC booth during afternoon of Memorial Day. Very happy with the dozens of CCC employees who assisted at both the State Fair and Husker Harvest to promote the college and reconnect with alumni and our community stakeholders.
Met with website designers and reviewed initial plans and recommendations for our upgrades.
Listened in on the architect interviews for the CCC-Grand Island housing project and reviewed final budget documents prior to hearing notices and board meeting.
Presented at a Grow GI meeting regarding our workforce initiative of 6 Regions and was asked to speak to approximately 100 4-H extension educators during an annual training about adapting to change and remaining flexible in ever-changing times.
Met with new UNK Chancellor Schnoor, gave him a tour of the UNK Center and discussed continued and new partnership opportunities. Reached out to UNL contacts about proposed elimination of the education administration department and impact on community college leadership programming they have and are doing in the state and region in addition to K-12 administration offerings.
CCC was notified of a nearly $1 million National Science Foundation grant to expand our iMec training format to adult education students over the next few years.

Reports from area vice presidents include:

Business and education programs are both meeting with UNL and UNK on revised 2+2 pathways.
Live Video classes in early childhood were launched this fall with students attending in Lexington, Kearney, Red Cloud and Ord.
Libby, ebooks and audio books have been very popular with checkouts far exceeding expectations. Librarians will be looking at the best way to meet patron demand and expand the digital collection.
Student checkout computer demand exceeded supply, so waitlists and additional resources were deployed to seek to meet need while balancing need of students having own devices.
A new ESL class was started in Cozad with nine students enrolled.
Try outs for e-sports have been completed with 19 students selected to compete in four titles. Fall competition begins next week.
Volleyball and men’s soccer have both been ranked in the top 25 nationally so far this fall with strong female soccer performance as well. Fall golf and shotgun sports have started with softball and basketball teams beginning fall workouts. In total 144 student athletes including 33 international students representing 14 countries.
CCC athletics partnered with wellness committees, student activities, counseling and prevention, and the Veterans and Military Resource Center across the college to stand together and break the stigma around suicide and mental health. The Raider Awareness Walk included walkers from across the college area.
The Grand Island entrepreneurship center is busy with several new childcare providers seeking assistance with their new in-home businesses. 1 Million Cups is still going strong with an average of 25 attendees per week. Ten small trade business are being sought to upscale their business with six weeks of classes starting Oct. 2 in Grand Island
Hastings entrepreneurship is working with five new business founders and with the community and workforce education department for workshops on AI.
Kearney entrepreneurship already has 15 submissions for Big Idea presentations.
OTHA instructor Libby Theoharis and OTHA program director Callie Bridges will be presenting to an OT doctoral program in September via WebEx. The program (University of Findlay) is a private institution in Ohio, which offers both a doctor of occupational therapy and a master of occupational therapy degree. This guest invitation came after they presented at a national conference earlier this year.
UNMC’s Diagnostic Medical Sonography (DMS) program has reached out to the health sciences division offering and seeking volunteer opportunities for CCC students who might consider participating as a Standardized Patient (SP) to gain experience in the sonography lab. There are one to two students to volunteer for each of the sonography labs (three labs per week for approximately two to three hours).
Work is ongoing with Mary Lanning to review and update the partnership agreement for the RAD (radiologic technology) program.
The program directors from the five accredited HIM programs in Nebraska met on Aug. 26 for the Nebraska Consortium. The Nebraska Health Information Management Association (NHIMA) Board of Directors will meet with CCC students in all of our programs on Sept. 24 via Zoom. It is a chance to network with our board and share their experiences with our students.
Semester has had a successful start for nursing. There is a larger student population specifically in the second-year cohort. That cohort is sitting with 93 second-year students and 81 first-year students.
Fall nursing rotations have been set up with several critical access hospitals including ones at Superior, Cozad and Lexington.
CCC has been approached about colocation of a community partner to the Red Cloud location. Agreement is being reviewed.
CCC hosted a Fall Early College Coordinators meeting on Sept. 24 on the Columbus Campus with over 40 counselors/administrators attending.
National Electrical Code Review workshops will be held on all three campuses and in Kearney. A fall industrial maintenance series will also be held in Hastings, Columbus and Kearney.

The following reports were also submitted for board review:

Enrollment Report
Grants Report
Purchasing Report

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Buss said there was no need for an executive session and requested a motion to adjourn.

ADJOURNMENT

MOVED BY SMITH, SECONDED BY BROEKEMIER to adjourn.

Aerni – absent
Borden – absent
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – absent
Heiden – absent
Keller – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Buss declared the meeting adjourned at 1:48 p.m.

September 25, 2025, Budget Hearing

CENTRAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Budget Hearing Minutes
September 25, 2025

The budget hearing was held in the Administration Office Board Room at Central Community College, 3134 W. Highway 34, Grand Island, Nebraska.

Treasurer Jason Buss called the September 25, 2025, budget hearing to order at 11:02 a.m., with five board members present. He asked for a roll call.

ROLL CALL

Aerni – absent
Borden – absent
Broekemier – absent
Buss – present
Davis – absent
Heiden – absent
Keller – present
Pirnie – present
Skiles – present
Smith – absent
Werner – present

Buss requested that members of the audience register with Scott Miller if they wanted to address the board during the public participation segment. No one registered.

Joel King presented the 2025-26 budget to the board and answered board members’ questions. The budget documents are available at: https://meeting.sparqdata.com/Public/Organization/CCC.

ADJOURNMENT

Buss declared the budget hearing adjourned at 11:33 a.m.

October 16, 2025

CENTRAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Board of Governors’ Meeting Minutes
October 16, 2025

The meeting was held in the Rooms 176/177 at Central Community College, 4500 63rd St., Columbus, Nebraska.

All supplemental documents from this meeting are available at: https://meeting.sparqdata.com/Public/Organization/CCC.

Vice Chair Linda Aerni called the Oct. 16, 2025, meeting to order at 1 p.m., with seven board members present.

ROLL CALL

Aerni – present
Broekemier – present
Buss – present
Davis – present
Heiden – absent
Keller – present
Pirnie – absent
Skiles – present
Smith – present
Werner – absent

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS

Aerni asked college representatives to introduce guests and staff members.

REVIEWING CLAIMS FOR NEXT MEETING

Lynne Werner will review the claims prior to the Nov. 20, 2025, board meeting in Grand Island.

REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION OF CONSENT ITEMS

Aerni asked board members for items in the consent agenda they would like to move to discussion of consent/action items.

CONSENT ITEMS

Consent items included:

Agenda for Oct. 16, 2025.
Minutes of the Sept. 25, 2025, Board of Governors meeting.
Claims for the period from 1 through Sept. 30, 2025.
Financial report as of Sept. 30, 2025.
Purchases:
Scholarship Platform, Collegewide: The College President recommends awarding the scholarship platform contract to NextGen for $74,000. This selection aligns with CCC’s goals of improving efficiency, enhancing the user experience, and supporting continuous access to scholarship for students throughout the academic year.
Personnel:
Jason Davis, Areawide: The College President recommends that Jason Davis be offered the position of dean of student success and enrollment management, areawide, effective Nov. 1, 2025.
Approval of New Board Member: The CCC Board of Governors committee of Linda Heiden, Tom Pirnie, Diane Keller and Dr. Roger Davis recommends that Trevor Lee of Gibbon be appointed to ﬁll the remaining term of Sandra Borden.
Nebraska Community College Association 2026 membership renewal for $77,041.44.

MOVED BY SMITH, SECONDED BY SKILES to approve the claims, with the exception of payments to themselves, and also to approve the other consent items.

Aerni – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – absent
Keller – aye
Pirnie – absent
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – absent

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Scott Miller stated no one had signed in for Public Participation.

PARTNERSHIP/OWNERSHIP

CCC Foundation Report

Executive Director Traci Skalberg highlighted the following:

As of June 30, 2025, the CCC Foundation has combined assets of $53,310,850.
In 2024-25, $1,215,264 went to scholarships and $5,165,558 went to projects and facilities impacting CCC students.
Events this past year included a groundbreaking for the Automotive Careers Training Center in Hastings, a kickoff for the Holdrege Center construction project, the 35^th Annual Pro-Am Golf Tournament, and a Community and Alumni Appreciation Event.
The foundation has started a strategic planning process with reviewing its mission, vision and values that will lead to a new three-year strategic plan.
New board members are Barry Meyer, Landmark Implement, Hastings; Dave Long, Mary Lanning Healthcare, Hastings; Doug Fargo, Retired CFO, Grand Island; and Byron Hansen, Precision Financial Group, Kearney. Jeff Anderson of Hastings and Kevin Brostrom of Grand Island have retired from the board.

Columbus Campus Annual Report

Welding instructor Landon Hunt, along with students Edger Alarcon of Schuyler and Kyle Olmer of Columbus, gave an overview of the Slama Stove Project, which took them to Togo, Africa. In addition to installing 11 stoves, they toured local welding businesses and met with local community members and village elders. One of the students said the trip was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: “It’s not everyday you can say you went to Africa.” Hunt said students are in the process of building 10 more stoves. Dr. Kathy Fuchser, Columbus Campus president, thanked Dr. Chris Waddle, Hastings Campus president, and Dr. Nate Allen, dean of career and technical sciences, for their support in making this project a reality.

Hunt also is an advisor for the campus SkillsUSA mechatronics team of Joseph Fickenscher and William Grosch, who competed in and won at the National Skills and Leadership Conference in Atlanta, Ga.

Whitney Hank, XR Lab coordinator, talked about the Extended Reality Lab and efforts to get more programs involved in using the lab. She talked about how the VR Molding Expert, Nano and Virtual Speech applications are helping students have expanding immersive learning experiences.

Dr. Fuchser gave kudos to agribusiness instructor Wade Hilker for his volunteer work of bringing new life to 16 plant containers for the City of Columbus. The city said he created something that people can enjoy every day.

REPORTS

Student Success Report

Fran Davis and Ankamma Reddy Kolli presented the following information from the 2024-25 enrollment report:

The 2020 census listed Nebraska as having a population of 309,986. The estimated population in 2024 was 313,000, reflecting growth of 3,014 or 0.97%.
CCC’s enrollment of 21,416 includes 18,686 students from inside CCC’s service area, 2,188 Nebraskans living outside the service area, and 331 out-of-state students.
The 18,686 students living in CCC’s service area reflect the college serving 10.69% of its target population.
The educational goals of the 10,166 credit students were career and technical award, 3,025; academic transfer, 1,352; course only (includes Early College), 5,262; and job skills/vocational, 527.
The top five majors of credit students were: academic transfer, 1,352; business administration, accounting and logistics, 698; associate degree in nursing, 245; criminal justice, 217; and welding technology, 206.
The Adult Education program had 2,510 ABE, ESL and GED students in 2024-25. The students came from 51 countries and spoke 48 languages other than English. Eighty-five students passed the tests to obtain their GED high school diploma.

Dr. Gotschall’s Report

Dr. Gotschall reported the following:

The Kearney Center was host of the Annual 6 Regions/One Nebraska meeting for the Central Region with approximately 50 community members from across our area represented. To date, the group assisted with creating new licensed childcare opening for at home childcare, implemented some housing studies and CCC, Edgerton, and other partners expanding a Trades on the Move project for K-12 youth to learn more about construction trades.
Several CCC administrators participated in the Grand Island Public School Foundation annual fundraiser.
CCC-Grand Island hosted the statewide Nebraska Transfer Initiative meetings with representatives from all of the Nebraska community and tribal colleges, state colleges and university. Good progress continues to be made on seeking to streamline courses for better transfer.
CCC is part of a consortium of colleges and universities in Iowa and Nebraska as a finalist for a National Science Foundation grant. Representatives will be attending Iowa State for interviews prior to final selection by the federal government. This would help expand Central’s iMec program for more schools across the Midwest.
Will be attending the Aksarben annual fundraiser and recognition event as part of their new scholarship commitment and collaboration in expanding apprenticeships across Nebraska.
CCC has been active in a new statewide initiative that the Governor announced on Oct. 14, highlighting over $7 million in state dollars to promote apprenticeships in cooperation with the state chamber, Nebraska Manufacturing Council and all six Nebraska community colleges.
Second meeting of faculty contract negotiations also occurred Oct. 14 and progressing as planned.
Preliminary results from the State Board of Nursing visit in October were positive with over 90% of students recommending CCC’s nursing program, and faculty surveys were also positive.
Hosted the President’s Quality Action Council meeting, gaining support for the proposed revisions to the CCC mission, vision, values, major initiatives. These will be included in a college-wide survey to all employees soon.
Participated in vacancy promotion and interview for new Board member – thank you Diane, Tom, Roger and Linda H for participating as the interview team.
Participated in the CCC Foundation Board meeting and Hastings Retiree Brunch this week.

Reports from area vice presidents include:

A RFP request was sent out in July looking at a potential new scholarship management platform. AwardSpring contract is set to expire in November 2026 so it was the right time to look to see if there was a better platform to utilize. A recommendation to change platforms is being brought forward based upon that review and RFP process.
The Veterans Resource Center reports we have 159 total military-connected students this fall (after free add/drop) so we had a great recovery effort and we’re above the 142 average for the term.
SVAB testing on Grand Island Campus continues to provide services to both students and military prospects. Fifteen tests were given in September, bringing the total of tests given since June 1 to 69. Three prospects from the September number stated they want to start college as soon as they return from basic and advanced individual training and have said they will register with CCC.
Since the start of fall semester, counseling services has completed 29 new intakes, five crisis visits, nine consultations, and 90 individual appointments.
Disability services staff have completed 51 new intakes. Additionally, there have been six follow- up visits and five consultations. There are 644 Active Access Plans. There is marked increase of students with significant medical and mental health needs, which require increase outreach, research and collaboration to support effectively.
Over 180 people participated in the October Diesel Day event to learn about the industry.
One hundred registrations have been received for the CCC-GI Criminal Justice in Action in mid-October.
CCC-Hastings is hosting an Industry Exploration Day in mid-October with over 60 registrations and 11 programs participating.
In September, admissions staff attended 17 NACRAO college fairs. In October, they have five College Fairs planned. On Oct. 1, admissions hosted 320 students from Columbus Middle School.
The Columbus Academic Success Center reported in September that it had 21 Skill Builder visits, 37 tutoring sessions, 14 writing coach sessions, and four supplemental instruction sessions.
In Grand Island, the career and employment services office has had 12 new employers register for the online job board with 78 jobs approved for posting to our students and alumni.
Grand Island’s Phi Theta Kappa honorary gained 26 new members and hosted a blood drive.
The CCC-Hastings Food Pantry team placed a large back-to-school order. With Linda Wiltrout’s help, a TRIVENT matching funds grant was secured for the Oct. 15–Nov. 15 Food Drive. The goal is to collect 500 items to receive a $500 donation to the CCC Foundation.
The Fifth Annual Winter Commencement will be held on Friday, Dec. 12, at 2 p.m. at the Columbus Campus. The Collegewide Commencement Team has planning underway.
Shelly Steinkruger (DENT), Karen Smallwood (PHRM), Angie Eilts (MEDT) and Carol Hipke-Muske (MEDA) attended the UNK career fair on Sept. 24 in Kearney.
CPR classes continue to be in very high demand within the community, averaging 10-15 classes per month. The Red Cloud Hub is back on the schedule for CPR this month as well. The MA class in October is full with a waitlist, and NA classes continue to be at capacity.
The newly approved sublease in Red Cloud was signed with the Willa Cather Foundation vs Discover Red Cloud group since the Foundation handles the groups finances.
Two groups considering subleasing space in the Holdrege Center are still on track for opening prior to Spring 2026 semester.

The following reports were also submitted for board review:

Enrollment Report
Grants Report
Purchasing Report

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Aerni said there was no need for an executive session and requested a motion to adjourn.

ADJOURNMENT

MOVED BY SMITH, SECONDED BY DAVIS to adjourn.

Aerni – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – absent
Keller – aye
Pirnie – absent
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – absent

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Aerni declared the meeting adjourned at 2:14 p.m.

November 20, 2025

CENTRAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Board of Governors’ Meeting Minutes
November 20, 2025

The meeting was held in the Administration Office Board Room at Central Community College, 3134 W. Highway 34, Grand Island, Nebraska.

All supplemental documents from this meeting are available at: https://meeting.sparqdata.com/Public/Organization/CCC.

Chair Linda Heiden called the Nov. 20, 2025, meeting to order at 1 p.m., with 11 board members present.

ROLL CALL

Aerni – present
Broekemier – present
Buss – present
Davis – present
Heiden – present
Keller – present
Lee – present
Pirnie – present
Skiles – present
Smith – present
Werner – present

POLICY ITEM

College attorney Katie Sharp administered the oath of office to newly appointed member Trevor Lee.

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS

Heiden asked college representatives to introduce guests and staff members.

REVIEWING CLAIMS FOR NEXT MEETING

Michelle Broekemier will review the claims prior to the Jan. 22, 2026, board meeting in Grand Island.

REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION OF CONSENT ITEMS

Heiden asked board members for items in the consent agenda they would like to move to discussion of consent/action items.

CONSENT ITEMS

Consent items included:

Agenda for Nov. 20, 2025.
Minutes of the Oct. 16, 2025, Board of Governors meeting.
Claims for the period from 1 through Oct. 31, 2025.
Financial report as of Oct. 31, 2025.
Purchases:
Toro Groundmaster, Grand Island: The College President recommends the purchase of the mower for $67,402.30.
Cold Storage Building, Grand Island: The College President recommends acceptance of the low acceptable bid from Cleary Building Corp. for $64,570 to provide all labor and material for the cold storage building on the Grand Island Campus.
Personnel: None
Claims reviewers for 2026
Holdrege Center naming rights. The following are the naming rights proposed by the Central Community College Foundation for rooms and spaces at the new Holdrege Center:

Community Classroom 106 – Phelps Memorial Health Center
Grand Main Lobby 101 – Phelps Memorial Health Center
CNA Nursing Lab 121 – TBD, this space still available
Classroom 123 – Dale and Betty Murdoch
Computer Lab 118 – Roy W. & Mary L. Pearson
Live Video Room 114 – Embecta
Live Video Room 115 – In Memory of Gregory Heiden, given by Linda Heiden and Family
Office 111 – Becton DickinsoOffice 113 – Phelps County Development Corporation

MOVED BY WERNER, SECONDED BY SKILES to approve the claims, with the exception of payments to themselves, and also to approve the other consent items.

Aerni – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Lee – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Scott Miller stated no one had signed in for Public Participation.

PARNERSHIP/OWNERSHIP

Grand Island Campus Annual Report

Michael David, criminal justice program director, spoke about the Hornady Crime House and how it has evolved from its original concept as a supplemental activity for criminal justice students to enhance their education. CCC students from Grand Island, Columbus, Hastings and Kearney all use the inside and outside of the house to learn how to investigate crimes. In addition, officers from police departments, sheriff offices and the state patrol have all used the house for training as have canine units. Workshops have been held for high school students, civic groups and other organizations.

He mentioned the accomplishments of several students, including Asia Mason, who will graduate in December and was one of the program’s first apprentices with the Grand Island Police Department and has received a conditional offer to work there.

DISCUSSION OF CONSENT/ACTION ITEMS

Financial Audit Report

Kim Pearson from Dana F. Cole & Company, LLP, shared the opinion from the independent audit. The opinion on both the financial statements and compliance testing is unmodified, which is the best result of an audit.

MOVED BY DAVIS, SECONDED BY SKILES to accept the financial audit report.

Aerni – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Lee – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Authorization for College President to Approve Actions in December 2025

Since the Board of Governors doesn’t meet in December, Joel King asked for this authorization so Dr. Gotschall could address an issue if it might arise during the month.

MOVED BY BUSS, SECONDED BY SMITH to authorize the College President to approve actions during December 2025.

Aerni – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Lee – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

REPORTS

Student Success Report

No report was given.

Dr. Gotschall’s Report

Dr. Gotschall reported the following:

Attended Aksarben Ball as guest of Aksarben for our work with scholarship programming and planned apprenticeship expansion across the state.
Attended the annual fundraiser for the Grand Island School Foundation and the Legacy dinner of the Greater Grand Island Community Foundation where the Hornady family was honored.
Participated in multiple CCC Foundation strategic planning meetings as well as a two-day retreat.
Participated in multiple 6 Regions/1 Nebraska meetings related to Trades on the Move, Childcare and Housing.
Attended legislative hearing on LR261 looking at unfunded tuition waiver mandates from the state for various student groups attending higher ed. Also was invited and participated on a panel with Sen. Ibach in Lexington regarding workforce development. Attended meeting with Sen. Lippincott.
Attended Platte Institute Annual Meeting in Lincoln regarding legislative updates and priorities.
Hosted meetings regarding training opportunities for JBS and the new Gothenburg Fertilizer plant.
Participated in HLC peer review training and will be participating in a mid-cycle review of another College in early December.
Attend Governor Pillen’s tailgate event and the two days of the NCCA annual meeting.
Attended meeting with the Suzanne & Walter Scott Foundation regarding current and potential new programming.
Participated in a special meeting for Presidents by the Higher Learning Commission and was interviewed as part of Nebraska’s new P-20 study.
Participated in planning meeting for the Postsecondary International Network (PIN) of which I continue to serve as treasurer with CCC Foundation holding both checking and savings accounts.
Central Community College has been named to The Princeton Review's Guide to Green Schools list for 2026. Based on real student feedback, this list celebrates the schools that go above and beyond to show their commitment to sustainability
In mid-October, I was recognized as one of two 2025 Impact Award winners of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Educational Administration Department due to impact in higher education. Nice ceremony with family in attendance.

Reports from area vice presidents include:

Completed 2+2 Transfer Pathways to UNK for elementary education, SPED, early childhood education, and middle grades education. Finalized agreement should be approved in November.
Science faculty have begun collaborating on online and hybrid classes that have traditionally only been offered in person..
Met with representatives from the Nebraska National Guard regarding coursework for recruits including personal health and body conditioning. We also discussed improving the credit for prior learning process for service members.
Plans have begun for the annual Early Childhood Conference held in Grand Island each February. Last year, we had record attendance and are hoping to expand that this year.
On October 5, 19 students were inducted into the National Adult Education Honor Society. The ceremony in Grand Island was attended by 106 people.
The CCC Shotgun Sports team shot at the ICCAC Conference Championship in October, competing across multiple disciplines over three days. The awards included trap, fifth place out of 11 teams; doubles trap, fourth place; skeet, third place; super sporting: fourth place; doubles skeet: third place; and sporting clays, third place Kallista Joy, Logyn Jarman, Austin Holtzen and Nick Brodsky earned ICCAC All-Region honors. The team concluded the season with the Bobcat Invite when they captured second place in sporting clays and first place in trap within the Two-Year College Division. Bryce Schuster posted the Raiders' first-ever perfect 100 straight in trap competition.
Men's soccer is waiting to see if they will be selected for an at-large bid to the national tournament in Wichita. They played the fifth-toughest schedule according to the Massey ratings and were in the most competitive region in 2025. Out of the 10 teams in our region, six were ranked in the national top 20, making it one of the most competitive regions in the country. The last seven games of the season were against NJCAA D2 Top 20 Opponents (5-1-1 record). Out of those seven games, six were against opponents in the Top 10 at some point in the rankings (4-1-1 record).
The Grand Island Entrepreneurship Center hosted the Big Idea contest in early November with great turnout. It also started and taught the trades cohort classes on Thursday evenings. This is in partnership with GIAEDC as we are using LB840 dollars to give out $3,000 at the end of the cohort. There are 14 businesses attending with two CCC students that are HVAC and will be starting their own companies once they have graduated.
The Hastings entrepreneurship director is continuing the “Sink or Swim” podcast. The last three interviews were with the Perrys, Joy Ride Pedal Company; Mikaela Krueger, Optika; and Jeb Brant, Shelter Insurance. He also started a second podcast series with Randy Chick of the Hastings CRA titled “Downtown Revitalization” on Spotify.
Big Idea Buffalo County was a huge success for year one with over 175 attendees and positive feedback. The winner was Ana with Gunnar’s Place, a daycare that will focus on providing care for children with disabilities or medical needs. Second place went to Alex with Renegade Removal, which focuses on dog waste removal but is expanding to indoor pets; and third place went to Kara with Social Cart, a rentable cart with different set up options for cold/warm food.
Ord Entrepreneurship is working with the CCC culinary department to explore dual-credit and/or accreditation classes in Ord to start a workforce pipeline of restaurant employees in the Valley County region. An instructor who is willing to assist has been identified. Planning an Ord site visit in November to view potential teaching space.
Successful productions of CCC theater, concert and band events occurred in November with a holiday concert planned for December.
Amy Santos (PARM), Angie Eilts (MEDT), Shelly Steinkruger (DENT), Michel McKinney (MEDA), and Kerri Dey (PHRM) attended the Cambridge career fair on Oct. 8. Eilts, Steinkruger, Dey, Shawna Stump (HIMS) and Carol Hipke-Muske and Michel McKinney (MEDA) attended the Career Exploration Fair in Kearney on Oct. 15. They were able to talk to many potential students.
MEDT’s hematology classes, taught by Janet Rasmussen, have been participating in the Cell Bowl 2025 sponsored by The Lab Lady Gill, a professor from the College of Southern Maryland. The six-week competition has regionals, playoffs and second-chance events. Student groups from medical lab programs across the country are quizzed on identifying cells from the body, including white blood cells, red blood cells, etc. As of Oct. 27, CCC’s MLT Raiders are in the JV Second Chance Playoffs event. This is the second year in a row our students have stayed in the event and made it to junior varsity.
The HIMS program faculty is working on new standards for CAHIIM accreditation. The first phase of the standards is due in spring 2026.
The CCC paramedicine faculty had an all-EMS instructor training development day on Nov. 8 in Grand Island. In addition to simulations, they trained on the new manikins, which include one adult male, one adult female, one child, one infant and one isimulate cardiac monitor to each campus for EMT training.
Wanda Cloet, dental hygiene program director, was presented with the ADHA Educator of the Year on Oct. 4 in Long Beach, Calif.
The CCC nursing is preparing for annual admission week, which is slated for seven days in late January. Due to concerns over the years of having students submit criteria paperwork to obtain the first seat, this year we will pilot a lottery system. There will be an increase of 10 students admitted to the Kearney Center for a total of 40 students which matches the number of students admitted in Grand Island. Columbus will attempt to sit 20 students depending on the number of qualified candidates.
CCC was contacted by the city administrator in Superior about a location for an education hub and more research will be done to study the possibility.
The Holdrege Center hosted the Regenerative Agriculture Conference on Nov. 11 with close to 100 in attendance.
Crystal Ramm and CCC are working with the City of Ord to maintain and expand the pollinator garden. Fundraising is planned to buy more seeds and plant materials.
Corey Hatt reported that he attended the NATM (state math conference) session on Oct. 3 and the NETA fall conference session on Nov. 3 and provided the NMRP Greater Nebraska Monthly Debrief on Sept. 25.
On Sept. 30, Dan Gettinger led a CCC group meeting with Gothenburg High School about expanded programing including iMec, education, para and early childhood education. Cozad High School is interested in expanding Early College programs with more follow up planned. Dan also hosted a table at the Gothenburg Chamber after hours to share information.
Planning and progress has been made with the relocation of the Holdrege Center with work underway to finalize construction. Preparation for data and A/V has been discussed along with furniture needs both in terms of items on order and what needs to be moved.
The iMec program reported offering 13 sections with 218 students taking the courses in 21 high schools. CCC also presented a session at the National Science Foundation conference in Washington, D.C., this past month.
With the government shutdown, the Federal Register hasn’t been released. This is needed to create/update the required documents for verification for 2026-27. We allow about a month for students to complete verification before starting to award financial aid for the next academic year. This gives them the opportunity to submit the required documents and still be in the first awarding round. With the delay, we will wait until after December to start awarding the 2026-27 academic year.
The Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Committee, which is focused on changes to federal loans advanced by the 1 Big Beautiful Bill Act, has reached an agreement. A couple of pertinent items within this act will affect our student population. The first is that we will be required to prorate loans based upon enrollment intensity. This means that a less-than-full-time student will not be eligible for the full loan amount. The full impact of how we will need to implement this has not been released but will go into effect July 1, 2026. The other item will be the ability to limit loan borrowing based on student cohorts. In prior years, we have not been able to decline a student on a federal loan. If they had eligibility, we had to allow them to borrow. With the new guidance, we will be given flexibility to limit borrowing. We are working with IR on data gathering to potentially propose procedures related to how we may approach limiting loan borrowing.
The financial aid department hosted sessions at Grand Island Northwest and Lexington high schools on how to apply for financial aid. So far, those sessions have increased applications four-fold from last year.
Since the beginning of fall classes, the counseling services office has completed 30 new intakes, 13 crisis visits, 24 consultations, and 177 individual appointments.
Academic Success Center director Angie Araya attended the International College Learning Center Association Conference Oct. 20-24. The focus of the conference was on artificial intelligence and how to utilize it within college learning centers.
CCC disability services reports 665 active access plans with students.
Six students and two advisors attended the 47th Annual National Leadership Conference on Student Government held at the end of October in Kansas City, Mo.
A total of 355 diploma and/or degree students have been invited to participate in winter commencement on Dec. 12 at CCC-Columbus. Forty individuals who have earned a GED have been invited to attend the ceremony.

The following reports were also submitted for board review:

Enrollment Report
Grants Report
Purchasing Report

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Heiden said there was no need for an executive session and requested a motion to adjourn.

ADJOURNMENT

MOVED BY SMITH, SECONDED BY BUSS to adjourn.

Aerni – aye
Broekemier – aye
Buss – aye
Davis – aye
Heiden – aye
Keller – aye
Lee – aye
Pirnie – aye
Skiles – aye
Smith – aye
Werner – aye

UNANIMOUS “AYE” VOTE – MOTION CARRIED

Heiden declared the meeting adjourned at 1:57 p.m.