Barton Community College’s Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to extend President Carl Heilman’s contract for another year.
Before board members voted on the extension, they met in executive session for 45 minutes to discuss the performance of an employee. When they returned to the open meeting, Board President Mike Johnson indicated the employee being discussed was Dr. Heilman.
“We had a broad discussion about our president,” Johnson said. “The board is very pleased with the performance of our president.”
Dr. Heilman is entering his 13th year as president of Barton.
“It’s been, overall, a very good 13 years for the institution,” Johnson said. There have been challenges, he added, but, “we’ve got the right person at the helm to guide us through those challenges.” The vote was unanimous among trustees present. Trustee John Moshier was absent and trustee Mike Minton left the meeting before the conclusion of the executive session.

EduKan exit
In other business, Heilman updated the board concerning Colby Community College and Garden City Community College’s plans to exit EduKan, a consortium that was founded by six area community colleges in 2002 to bring online education to western Kansas. The other original members are Barton, Pratt Community College, Dodge City Community College, and Seward County Community College and Area Technical School.
Colby and Garden City still plan to leave the consortium, Heilman said, but the details of the exit agreement are still being hashed out.

Insurance
The trustees voted to renew property, casualty, workers compensation, and other insurance proposals as presented from Conrade Insurance Group, for a total of $273,349. Mark Dean, vice president of administration, said the final cost will be adjusted up or down by the end of the year based on a few unknowns. These include the cost of audit premiums and a modification to the workers compensation premium. This is due to one college employee working from home in Washington state; that state requires an in-state insurance provider.
Asked if the cost of employing people in other states is prohibitive, Dean answered, “It can be a deterrent, but sometimes that’s your only option.” In other cases, valued employees have been allowed to continue working for the college after they moved away. The college has employees in 22 states and must work with the requirements of each state.

Dean noted that Barton’s insurance provider EMC canceled the college’s policy after the dining hall at the Camp Aldrich Conference Center burned down in 2014. That year, the college joined the Midwest Higher Education Compact and it has seen a steady decrease in insurance costs through membership in this consortium.
This is true even though the college’s property valuation has increased from $85.36 million in 2010 to $120.4 million in 2018. Last year the college also added law enforcement liability when the campus could no longer ban firearms on campus and trustees voted to train and arm security officers. Law enforcement liability cost $5,247 when it was first added on July 1, 2017, and this year it will cost $4,461.
The total insurance cost was $276,002 in 2010, peaked at $374,073 in 2013 and was $276,943 in 2017.
“It’s been a good deal for us,” Dean said of membership in the consortium. “We’ve added valuation and coverages.” Without the membership, he estimated, the cost would be closer to $400,000. Sixteen of the state’s 19 community colleges are now members, he said.

Meeting at a glance

Here’s a summary of what happened at Tuesday’s Barton Community College Board of Trustees meeting:

• President Dr. Carl Heilman presented information on EduKan.
• Dean of Institutional Effectiveness Charles Perkins and other administrators provided an update on strategic planning.
• Property insurance renewals were approved.
• The board approved paying the KanREN bill for $169,446. KanREN is a consortium that serves as the Internet Service Provider to its members, which include educational institutions, libraries and other community anchor institutions.
• The board approved a contract for Brittany Fanshier, instructor of nursing, and hired Lori Shomber as a payroll specialist. Both will work on the Barton County campus.
• There was a 45-minute executive session for discussion of the performance of President Heilman. After the board returned to open session his contract was extended for another year.