BOARD UPDATES PRESIDENT SEARCH AND STUDENT LIFE

Despite stormy weather outside, the room was filled for the Nov. 15 MHCC District Board meeting, held at the Sandy City Council chambers.
The board discussed a plethora of issues, from the Mt. Hood presidential search to current student programs. Key points of the board’s discussion are summarized below.

President Search Update
Diane McKeel, MHCC board member and presidential search chair, announced that the finalized search committee will be listed on the college website (which now has happened – with 15 members listed). The committee wants to engage the surrounding community as Mt. Hood looks for a successor to Debbie Derr, and has set up a survey along with public and student forums to gather feedback to help guide it.
A special student forum will be held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 5 in Mt. Hood’s Town & Gown Room.
Two community forums also will be held on Tuesday: one runs from noon to 1 p.m. in the Visual Arts Theatre on the main MHCC Gresham campus, and a second will be 6:30 to 8 p.m. at David Douglas High School (Room 168 in the North Campus of DDHS, on Southeast 135th Avenue near Southeast Stark Street.)
The survey, along with additional information and search updates, can be found at: mhcc.edu/PresidentialSearch/

Disability troubles
Community member Ellen Greenlaw encouraged board members to rent wheelchairs and said if they spent a day rolling around campus, they would understand the danger and difficulty of poor accessibility, as she has herself.
Greenlaw suggested installing more ramps and elevators, and said changes might increase support for any proposed bond measure. The board acknowledged the difficulty of disabled students and said it would discuss and consider accessibility needs around campus. Board Chair Tamie Arnold apologized to her for the inconvenience and said it was the first time the issue had (recently) been brought to the board.

Subaru U approved
The board approved adding a two-year program and expanding its partnership with “Subaru University,” a spinoff from the automobile company. This gives Automotive Technology students at MHCC the opportunity to work with Subaru of America and start their post-college career with the company. The technology program has worked with Subaru for the past 30 years, and if all the college’s requirements are met, the Subaru U limited-entry, Associate of Applied Science degree program would provide specialized training and hands-on training at Subaru dealerships.
The new program won’t require additional faculty, equipment, or tuition and will use existing classrooms and lab space.

Funding private music lessons
Music degrees at four-year colleges require individual voice or instrument lessons. Previously MHCC approved creating a $316, two-credit course for these lessons, which allows students’ financial aid to cover costs of the standard 10 private lessons. However, as Mt. Hood partners with Western University, which requires 20 private student lessons, Janet McIntyre, MHCC dean of performing and visual arts, petitioned on behalf of the music department to double the course fee, so students could receive financial aid for all the required lessons.
The motion was approved to increase the course fee effective immediately, starting this Winter Term 2018.

Advocate Staff