November 30, 2023

Bakersfield College Foundation
Board of Directors Meeting

Thursday, November 30, 2023 @ 3:00 PM
Bakersfield College Campus Center, West Wing, 2nd Floor, Rm. 218
1801 Panorama Drive Bakersfield, CA 93305

Present: Ariana Joven, Billie Jo Rice, Calvin Yu, Deanna Blaise, Erica Menchaca, Frank Wooldridge, Jeff Bell, John Pitre, Ken Byrum, Lauren Skidmore, Octavio Escobedo, Paul Pavletich, Romeo Agbalog, Sarabjeet Singh, Steve Watkin, Tom Ming

Absent: Connie Perez-Andreesen, Derek Jeffery, Derek Yurosek, Karen Zuber, Marko Zaninovich, Megan Person, Norma Rojas-Mora, Rick Kreiser, Ryan Hansen

Staff: Cheryl Scott, Kylee Gregory-Gutierrez, Susan Hubbell, Alyssa Cross, Courtney Carter

Guests: Jennifer Achan, Caitlin Davidson

Meeting Minutes

  1. Call to Order – Paul Pavletich called the meeting to order at 3:01 p.m.
  • Roll Call – Kylee Gregory-Gutierrez took roll call and confirmed there was a quorum.

  • Public Comments Statement – The public comments statement was read by Paul.There were no public comments received.

  • Approval of Agenda – Motion – There were no amendments to the agenda. Jeff Bell motioned to approve the agenda. Romeo Agbalog seconded. All were in favor, none opposed. The agenda for November 30, 2023, is APPROVED.

  • Approval of Meeting Minutes from August 24, 2023 – Motion – There were no amendments to the meeting minutes. Lauren Skidmore motioned to approve the minutes. Jeff Bell seconded. All were in favor, none opposed. The meeting minutes for August 24, 2023, are APPROVED.

  • Basic Needs / Renegade Nexus Presentation – Caitlin Davidson presented on BC’s Basic Needs Center, Renegade Nexus. She shared the history and focus areas of the program, along with statistics for the 22-23 academic year.

  • Investment Report – Ira Cohen gave an overview of the financial market. Inflation and interest rates continue to rise. The election year will have little impact on the market. Harlan Spinner presented the investment report. As of 11/24/23, the total portfolio is currently $54,221,929.19. Cash is 3.51%, fixed income is 23.86%, equity is 56.89%, and non-traditional is 15.74% of the portfolio.

  • Accept Final Audit for Fiscal Year 2023 – Motion – Calvin Yustated that there were no findings in the audit for fiscal year 2023. The audit was submitted before the November 15th deadline. Deanna Blaise motioned to approve the audit. Ken Byrum seconded. All were in favor, none opposed. The final audit for fiscal year 2023 is APPROVED. 

  • Quarterly Financial Review – Calvin Yu presented the quarterly financial review. As of 9/30/23, the total revenue was $321,776, the total expenses were $1,378,545, and the total net loss was $1,056,770. As of 11/28/23, the UBS portfolio is $56,680,835.

  • Discussion to Fill Board Vacancies – There were three recent resignations from the board, leaving three vacancies to fill. There are 25 total board members, 19 community members, and 6 BC representatives.

  • Consideration of Renegade Innovation Fund Application – Motion – Alyssa Cross presented the applications that were approved by the finance committee. The two applications approved were the public health/behavioral sciences for $3,250 and the automation and industrial robotics for $8,000. Needed to be approved by the full board was the geology/physical science application for $17,593.66. Sarabjeet Singh motioned to approve the geology/physical science application. Octavio Escobedo seconded. All were in favor, none opposed. The Renegade Innovation Fund application for geology/physical science of $17,593.66 is APPROVED.

  • Acting President’s Update – President Watkin presented his report to the board. Bakersfield College has been selected as a Champion of Higher Education by the Campaign for College Opportunity, receiving two prestigious recognitions: the 2023 Champion of Higher Education for Excellence in Transfer and the 2023 Equity Champion of Higher Education for Latinx Students. He shared a recap of recent ribbon cuttings for the new Delano Learning Resource Center, BC Veterans Plaza, and the Regenerative Agriculture Education Center. President Watkin also shared that BC ranked 11th on the list of the top 100 4-year colleges and universities for Hispanics.

  • Executive Director’s Report – Cheryl shared a recap on the BC Alumni BBQ, Back to BC Golf Tournament, and the groundbreaking for the new agriculture sciences building. She gave an update on scholarships. There has been a total of $424,783.47 in scholarships disbursed since August 2023. 720 scholarship applications have been submitted since October 1, 2023 compared to 556 applications submitted in 2022 at this time of year. Alyssa and Jenae have been holding scholarship application workshops to increase the applications submitted. Cheryl also announced the honorees for the 2024 Sterling Silver. Honorees include California Resources Corporation, Jeffrey and Amy Bell, Dolores Salgado, and Community Action Partnership of Kern.

  • Other Business / Adjournment of Meeting – With no other business brought forward, the meeting was adjourned at 4:12 p.m.