Chapter 3358:17-1 | Members and Officers of the Board; Responsibilities

Rule 3358:17-1-01 | Members of the board and their duties and responsibilities.

• Effective: March 21, 2015

(A) Composition.

The board of trustees' duties and responsibilities are based on authority found in Chapter 3358. of the Revised Code. The board of trustees shall consist of nine qualified electors residing within Washington and Morgan counties.

(1) Appointees.

(a) Trustees are appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Ohio senate.

(b) The term of office for each trustee shall be six years.

(c) If there is a vacancy, such vacancy shall be filled by the governor with the advice and consent of the Ohio senate.

(d) No new trustee may be appointed who is a member of any board of education.

(B) Duties and responsibilities.

The board members have authority only when acting as a board of trustees legally in session with the powers granted in Chapter 3358. of the Revised Code. No member or employee of the board of trustees shall have the power to act in the name of the board outside of board meetings unless authorized to do so by the board of trustees.

It will be the duty of the board of trustees to;

(1) Represent the people of the entire Washington-Morgan state community college district in providing community college programs that best serve the needs of the citizens within the limits of the budget;

(2) Attend all regular and special board meetings. If a board member fails to attend at least three-fifths of meetings in any two-year period, his position on the board shall be forfeited;

(3) Trustees shall not deliberate, vote or otherwise involve themselves in a college contract or other official action when the trustees have interests, financial or fiduciary that are prohibited under section 102.03 of the Revised Code. Trustees having prohibited interests under section 102.03 of the Revised Code shall disclose that such prohibited interests exist to the secretary or chair of the board and shall abstain from any deliberations or votes on that contract or official action;

(4) Establish policies, procedures, rules, and regulations for its own governance and for control and governance of the Washington-Morgan state community college district;

(5) Select and appoint a president of the community college and conduct annual performance evaluations of the president;

(6) Review and approve the recommendations of the president regarding the appointment of full time faculty, strategic team, administrators, and professional staff positions and the establishment of salary and personnel policies;

(7) Elect a treasurer, who is not a member of the board, to serve at its pleasure;

(8) Review and approve financial matters including the annual budget, capital expenditures relative to facilities or major repairs, modifications and replacement to established facilities;

(9) Review and approve areas of curriculum;

(10) Establish schedules of fees and tuition for state residents and out-of-state residents;

(11) Authorize persons to sign payroll and operating checks;

(12) Grant appropriate associate degrees to students successfully completing the community college programs and certificates of achievement to those students who complete other programs;

(13) Keep the people of the Washington state community college district intelligently informed of the purpose, value, and condition, of program and course offerings of the state community college;

(14) Conduct a board self-evaluation no less than bi-annually on odd numbered years, at the first regular meeting of each calendar year for the purpose of monitoring and discussing board processes and performance;

(15) Each calendar year, a board annual calendar shall be developed. The board annual calendar shall be established in the month of November and brought before the board for approval at the December meeting and posted on the college's website. The calendar may be updated periodically at the discretion of the board.

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: –
Amplifies: –

Rule 3358:17-1-02 | Officers of the board and their duties.

• Effective: March 21, 2015

(A) Officers

A nominating committee shall be appointed by the chair at the November meeting for the purpose of nominating officers. The officers of the board of trustees shall consist of a chairman and a vice-chairman. The president of the college shall serve as secretary to the board.

(1) Election of officers.

Election of officers shall be held at the first regular meeting of each calendar year, and each elected officer shall hold office for the period of one year or until his or her successor shall be duly elected or qualified. The vote of a majority of all trustees then in office shall be necessary to elect an officer of the board.

(2) Removal of officers.

Any officer of the board may be removed at any time, either with or without cause, by resolution adopted by the board at any meeting of the board, the notice of which having specified that such removal action was to be considered.

(3) Election of the chair.

Each voting trustee shall be eligible for election as chair of the board. The chair shall be elected to a one-year term, and subject to the review provided by this paragraph, the incumbent, if eligible under his or her term as trustee, may serve a second and a third year. Before the end of the first year, and as applicable, before the end of the second year of the term of the chair, the board committee on trusteeship shall conduct a review of the chair, and after consultation with the members of the board, shall recommend to the board whether the chair should be the only candidate for election as chair for the next year.

(B) Duties of officers.

The duties of the officers of the board shall be as follows:

(1) Duties of the chair.

The chair shall preside at all meetings of the board of trustees, appoint or provide for the election of individuals to serve in advisory capacities for special objectives on an ad-hoc basis, and perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law or action of the board of trustees. The chair shall review and approve meeting agendas provided by the college president.

(2) Duties of the vice chair.

The vice-chair shall preside at meetings of the board of trustees in the absence of the chair, and perform such other duties as may be assigned to him/her by the board of trustees.

(3) Duties of the secretary.

The secretary of the board shall be the custodian of and responsible for the official books, records, and all transactions of the board, and such books, records, and transactions shall be open to public inspection in accordance with Ohio law. The secretary shall be the custodian of the college seal and cause its imprint to be placed whenever and wherever appropriate; and shall sign, execute and deliver in the name of the college any documents as authorized by the board. The secretary shall keep the minutes of all meetings of the board and of committees of the board and shall see that all notices are duly given in accordance with the provision of these rules. In addition, the secretary shall perform such other duties as from time to time may be assigned to him or her by the board or by the chair.

(4) Presiding officer, chairman and vice-chair absent.

In the absence of the chair and the vice-chair, the board shall by majority vote, choose a chair pro tem.

(5) Duties of the treasurer.

The treasurer shall be the fiscal officer of the college and shall receive and disburse all funds of the college under the direction of the president and the board. No contract of the board involving the expenditure of money shall become effective until the treasurer certifies that there are funds of the college otherwise unappropriated sufficient to provide therefore. The treasurer shall keep the accounts of the college in the manner required by law or requested by the Ohio board of regents or by the state department of education, the board or the president.

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: –
Amplifies: –

Rule 3358:17-1-03 | Committees of the board.

• Effective: March 21, 2015

Standing committees.

The Washington state community college board of trustees has three standing committees. Each committee has three members from the full board serving with one individual serving as chair. The members of the committees are appointed by the chairperson of the board. The president of the college and the appropriate staff as recommended by the president serve to support the work of the committee. The frequency of meetings is determined between the president and the committee chair. The standing committees are:

(A) Finance.

The finance committee reviews and monitors the budget development process, and advises the college administration prior to a budget being brought to the board for approval.

(B) Facilities.

The facilities committee annually reviews the college facilities plan, and provides advice on the overall capital maintenance of the physical plant.

(C) Marketing and public relations.

The marketing and public relations committee reviews the college marketing plan, and advises on strategies related to overall marketing of the college and effective public relations.

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: –
Amplifies: –

Rule 3358:17-1-04 | Meetings of the board.

• Effective: March 21, 2015

(A) Meetings.

The board of trustees will normally meet once a month throughout the calendar year. In the event there should be no pressing business to transact, any regular meeting may be omitted by common consent of the majority of the board members.

(1) Regular meeting.

The regular meetings of the board of trustees shall be at the Washington state community college on a date and time to be determined at the first regular meeting of the board each calendar year. The chairman may change any date, time and/or place of any regular meeting by giving a five-day written notice to each member of the board, or board members may make such change by agreement at the prior regular meeting and giving a five-day written notice to each board member absent at such prior regular meeting.

(2) Special meeting.

Special meetings may be called by the chairman or at the request of not less than three members of the board of trustees. Written notice of such special meetings shall be given to each member at least three days prior to the date of said meeting, stating the time and place of such meeting and the purpose or purposes for which the same is called. Any trustee may waive such notice and by attendance at any special meeting, shall be deemed to have waived notice thereof.

(3) Emergency meetings (a subset of "special meetings")

In the event of an emergency requiring immediate official action by the board, the chair or a majority of the members of the board may convene to consider action of specific items for which the meeting was called. All news media, or people who have requested notice of the meetings, shall be immediately notified of the time, place and purpose of the meeting. In giving the notices required by this section the board secretary may rely on assistance provided by any member of the board of trustee's staff and any such notice is complete if given by such member in the manner provided in this rule.

(B) Quorum.

A majority of the board shall constitute a quorum, but a majority vote of its whole membership shall be required to act on any matter. Should a quorum not be present, a roll call shall be made and a notation made for the record of those absent and present.

(C) Order of business.

The normal order of business shall be as shown. The board may, however, alter the order of business by common consent of the members in order to accommodate the time schedule of guests or individual members of the board:

(1) Call to order;

(2) Roll call;

(3) Adjustments to agenda;

(4) Recognition of guests;

(5) Diposition of minutes of previous meeting;

(6) Open discussion with public;

(7) Treasurer's report;

(8) Administrative staff reports;

(9) President's report;

(10) Old business;

(11) New business;

(12) Executive session;

(13) Adjournment.

(D) Rules of Order.

Robert's rules of order shall be taken as the authority in the transaction of business should a specific procedure not be defined elsewhere by the board of trustees, the Ohio board of regents, or state statute.

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: –
Amplifies: –

Rule 3358:17-1-04.1 | Open meetings.

• Effective: March 21, 2015

(A) All regular, special, emergency and committee meetings of the board of trustees shall be held in accordance with Ohio law governing public meetings. The act requires all public officials to take official actions and to conduct all deliberations upon official business only in open meetings, unless the subject matter is specifically excepted by law. The act is to be liberally construed with these goals in mind.

(B) Any person may determine the time and place of all regularly scheduled meetings and the time, place and purpose of all special meetings; persons so indicated will be placed on a list for future notification of meetings by:

(1) Writing to the following address: Washington state community college, 710 colegate drive, Marietta, Ohio 45750.

(2) Calling the following telephone number during normal business hours: 740.374.8716.

(C) Any representative of the news media may obtain notice of all special meetings by requesting that such notice be provided. A request for such notification should be addressed to: president, Washington state community college, 710 colegate drive, Marietta, Ohio 45750.

The request shall provide the name of the individual media representative to be contacted, the mailing address and telephone numbers where the media representative may be contacted.

(D) The board secretary shall maintain a list of all representatives of the news media who have requested notice of such special meetings pursuant to this action.

(E) In the event of a special meeting not of an emergency nature, the board secretary shall notify all media representatives on the list of such meeting by doing at least one of the following:

(1) Notifying such representatives by telephone no later than twenty four hours prior to the special meeting; such telephone notice shall be complete if a message has been left for the representative, or if, after reasonable effort the board secretary has been unable to provide such telephone notice.

(2) Informing such media personally no later than twenty-four hours prior to the special meeting.

(F) The board secretary shall maintain a list of all persons who have requested, orally or in writing, notice of all meetings of the board of trustees at which specific subject matters designated by such persons are scheduled to be discussed. Any person may have his or her name placed on such a list and paying a reasonable fee to receive such notice. The board secretary shall, follow the notification rules as described for a regular meeting.

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: –
Amplifies: –

Rule 3358:17-1-04.2 | Executive sessions.

• Effective: March 21, 2015

There are six valid reasons for holding an executive session. The vote to go into executive sessions must be a roll call vote.

(A) The motion and vote must specify the purpose(s) of the executive session, i.e., "To consider the purchase of property." If the specified purpose is to discuss one of the personnel - related matters governed by division (G)(1) of section 121.22 of the Revised Code - listed in paragraph (A)(1) of this rule - the public body must specify which of the listed purposes it is going into executive session to discuss, i.e., "To discuss the dismissal of an employee." The motion need not name the person who is to be discussed. It is not sufficient to move for executive session to discuss "personnel." The motion or vote should specify one or more of the purposes set forth in paragraph (A)(1) of this rule.

(1) To consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion or compensation of a public employee or official, or the investigation of charges or complaints against a public employee, official, licensee, or regulated individual, unless the employee, official, licensee, or regulated individual requests a public hearing by division (G)(1) of section 121.22 of the Revised Code.

(2) To consider the purchase of property (both real and personal, tangible or intangible), or to consider the sale of property (either real or personal) by competitive bid if disclosure of the information would give a competitive advantage to the other side by division (G)(2) of section 121.22 of the Revised Code.

(3) Conferences with the public body's attorney concerning pending or imminent court action by division (G)(3) of section 121.22 of the Revised Code. Court action is "pending" if a suit has been commenced; court action is "imminent" if it is on the point of happening or impending.

(4) Preparing for, conducting, or reviewing collective bargaining strategy by division (G)(4) of section 121.22 of the Revised Code.

(5) Matters required to be kept confidential by federal law, federal rules, or state statutes by division (G)(5) of section 121.22 of the Revised Code.

(6) Specialized details of security arrangements where disclosure of the information to be discussed in executive session might reveal information that could be used to commit, or avoid prosecution for, a violation of the law by division (G)(6) of section 121.22 of the Revised Code.

(B) Restrictions on the use of executive sessions.

(1) Provisions allowing executive sessions are to be strictly construed in favor of openness.

(2) The public body has the burden of demonstrating that one of the statutory exceptions allows the executive session.

(3) Only deliberation upon the excepted subjects can be held in executive session. Decision - making must still be carried out in public.

(4) Even where non - excepted matters are so "intertwined" with matters allowed to be discussed in executive session, the non - excepted matters may not be discussed in secret.

(5) A court may look beyond the expressly stated reason for holding an executive session in order to find an implied or circumstantial violation.

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: –
Amplifies: –