Lane Community College held its monthly board meeting on Nov. 2. Following the usual formalities such as attendance and agenda, the Board of Education opened the floor to hear from the public, as many had shown up with prepared statements regarding proposed policies on the agenda.
The public, including many members of the faculty, were disgruntled at the possibility of the board passing some proposed policies..
The particularly concerning policies that were brought up for the night were as follows: OCCA BP 3900 Speech- Time, Place, and Manner, OCCA BP 3715 Intellectual Property, and OCCA BP 3710 Securing of Copyright. The Time, Place, and Manner policy was up for revision, as there is already a version in place on campus. The proposed revision suggested expanding restrictions to everyone on campus, including students, employees, employee unions, and any person affiliated with LCC, therefore imposing a new level of censorship at the campus and any affiliated space.
Furthermore, the Intellectual Property and Copyright Policies that were also on the agenda for revisions were suggested to be in conflict with Article 18 of The Collective Bargaining Act with faculty, which protects intellectual property rights. These three proposals instigated statements from all directions.
The LCCEA (Lane Community College Education Association) and LCC OER (Open Educational Resources) wrote, “It is unclear why there would be a proposal that the Board adopt a policy that could violate a contract with an employee group.” And continued, “it would send the wrong message and could be legally questionable for the Board to adopt a policy that would violate a collective bargaining agreement if implemented.”
With these statements, the LCCEA and LCC OER made their position on the proposal quite clear. Jim Salt, who had prepared a statement regarding the policies, spoke of “tremendous and public conflict” that would occur if the policies were implemented.
Following plenty more statements urging against these policies, the chair announced that implementation of the policy had been discussed earlier in the previous month, but had been tabled. The board agreed that better understanding of the repercussions was required before any actions were taken.
After the clarification on the policy proposals, the meeting continued as scheduled and moved on to other matters on the agenda such as the modification and approval of the contract with Lease Crutcher Lewis for the construction of the Advanced Technology Hub in Building 12.
The college is currently in the process of developing this project, and has been since early February. It was awarded a pre-construction sum of $1,908,820 for CM/GC Services related to the construction of the project upon the modifications of the contract with Lease Crucher Lewis.
The Board also approved the Bond Fund contribution of $40,000 to Lane County for the South Lane Clinic being built at the LCC Cottage Grove Center. Upon completion of the project, residents of South Lane County and Northern Douglas County will have access to comprehensive healthcare services provided by a Federally Qualified Health Center.
The board meeting continued with some closing presentations from the international program, the culinary program, student government, and review of investment budgets from Dr. Stal.
These presentations informed the Board of opportunities that are provided to all students at LCC, such as the international programs offering visa interview support, and the culinary program partnering with the community to help solve hunger problems locally. And a small presentation on the lack of filled custodial positions on campus, and possible solutions for this arising problem. The next Board meeting will be on Nov. 30 at 6:00 p.m. in Building 3 room 216.
