TORRINGTON – The Eastern Wyoming College Board of Trustees approved Kwin Wilkes to the position of Vice President of Administrative Services during their regular meeting on Tuesday.
According to a press release from the college, Wilkes, from Newcastle, will replace Ron Laher, who announced his plans to retire in March, effective Nov. 30.
“Kwin Wilkes will be an excellent addition to our President’s Cabinet,” EWC President Leslie Travers said. “He is a team player and was extremely well liked and respected by his co-workers at Newcastle.”
Wilkes spent the past five years serving as business manager for the Wyoming Honor Conservation Camp. Prior to that posting, he was a vice president/partner and division manager of two office product companies in Sheridan, according to the release.
Wilkes holds bachelor degrees in accounting and Spanish secondary education from the University of Wyoming and a Master of Social Science degree from Utah State University.
“I am humbled and excited about the opportunity of joining the staff at EWC,” Wilkes was quoted in the press release. “I look forward to helping the College advance its vision for the future. Most of all, I am thrilled to be involved with the students as they pursue their education.”
Trustees also gave final approval to 10 policy changes presented during a public hearing.
Three were revisions of existing policies, Policy 1.1 College Board Purpose and Operations; Policy 1.3 Election and Duties of Board; and Policy 1.6 Audit of College Funds.
Policy 1.1, adopted in 1991, sets membership subdistricts within the Eastern Wyoming Community College District, and representation from each. The revision added: The Board of Trustees shall exercise general supervision of the District and retains full legislative and judicial authority with the Statutes of Wyoming. It also added a Governance Philosophy that includes six points to lead service to the community. It also provides for the establishment of the Office of President (which was included in another earlier policy) and delegates to the President the execution of
its policies.
Policy 1.3, Election and Duties of Board, was modified by deleting the reference to the President and its duties.
Policy 1.6, Audit of College Funds, was modified to update requirements for auditors.
New policies approved on final reading are: 2.12 Emergency Notification or Issuance of a Campus Timely Warning Notice; 2.13 Social Media Policy; 2.14 Weapons; 3.24 Whistleblower Policy; 6.1 Contracts and Agreements; 6.2 Payment to Foreign Vendors; 6.13 Requests for Public Information.
n Policy 2.12 establishes a procedure and means of notifying the campus of any “substantial safety concern” and a Decision Team, including the president and other officers, to make those decisions.
n Policy 2.13 governs employees and students, and their appropriate use of social media, while on campus. It is not limited to any one media. Guidelines and procedures in the Communications Guide are under the responsibility of College Relations.
n Policy 2.14 regarding weapons prohibits employees, students, and visitors from possessing, using or storing weapons on College property, with specific exceptions for law enforcement personnel, course instruction, and supervised storage, approved by the President.
n Policy 3.24 contains protections of the rights of whistleblower employees.
n Policy 6.1 establishes an orderly process for the approval of all contracts and agreements entered into by the College.
n Policy 6.2 creates a method for making payment to foreign vendors that ensures the withholding of proper taxes.
n Policy 6.13 addresses requests for public information and any charges. To conform to legal statutes, there will be no charges for locating and producing copies of the nonexempt records, however, there will be a $25 deposit to cover copy expenses. Over payments will be promptly refunded. Requests may be in person or by mail. A letter of request and the deposit must be mailed to the college prior to obtaining the copies. However there will be a charge for more than a nominal amount of staff time. The charge does not include the cost of fringe benefits for employees, which was stricken from the proposed policy as it was initially introduced.
Ten other policies were re-numbered. These dealt with use of college facilities, collection of debts, grant application submittal policy, use of college resources and equipment, vehicle use, credit card use, investment, information security program, animals or pets on campus, and
animal care.
Approved on first reading was Board Policy 2.16 Mandatory Events requiring specified staff participation in In-Service Training and attendance at graduation. This it to encourage participation in training sessions and graduations.
Ron Laher, Vice President for Administrative Services, reported a FY 2018 operational fund budget of $14 million. Student credit tuition and fees are behind last year, reflecting lower enrollment. Auxiliary Fund revenue to date is $847,886 or 60 percent of the adopted budget. Housing revenue is $356,500, or 59 percent collected, and 4 percent higher than last year.
In other action, the board approved granting Emeritus Status to former EWC President Dr. Richard Patterson, who retired this summer, prior to the hiring of Dr. Lesley Travers.
Acting Vice President for Academic Services Roger Humphrey gave a lengthy presentation on declining enrollment throughout the district, and actions being taken to correct the situation. He also reported on University of Wyoming transfer students from EWC, community college partnerships, and progress in tracking students who earn degrees at EWC and complete four year degrees at UW.
EWC construction projects were updated by Laher and Keith Jarvis, physical plant director, who reviewed progress on landscaping and parking lots following the completion of the
CTEC building.
Zach Smith, head golf coach and director of enrollment management, introduced the 10-man EWC golf team, praising their efforts. At this point, Trustee Board Chairman John Patrick relayed comments from county resident who are impressed with the team’s successes as well as their exceptional and welcome conduct.
Other reports were given regarding student senate activities, faculty senate, human resources, the Staff Alliance, student services, and institutional development.
