The Glen Oaks Community College (GOCC) Board of Trustees held a planning retreat and regular meeting Thursday morning at the college. President Dr. David Devier and other administrators and staff provided updates on pandemic cases and measures at the college, as well as on several student funding programs provided with assistance from the State of Michigan. Devier also said Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the college’s 2021 budget at flat funding.

Watershed Voice was unable to attend parts of Thursday’s retreat and meeting but received a summary from GOCC Executive Director of Communications and Marketing Valorie Juergens.

Pandemic Update Detailed

Juergens said that to date, the number of known, positive COVID-19 cases of Covid-19 at the college has been limited to two. “Although there have been a number of students quarantined due to contract tracing and/or symptoms, there are currently only a handful of students in quarantine. The college continues to work hard to require the campus community to mask up and observe the campus safety protocols. Plans are to model the Winter 2021 semester in the same manner as this semester,” Juergens said.

Regarding the recent Michigan Supreme Court ruling which nullified most of Whitmer’s pandemic-related Executive Orders, Juergens said the “Glen Oaks Coronavirus Task Force met and has decided to continue to follow all of the safety protocols put in place as detailed in our Preparedness and Response Plans for the foreseeable future.”

Funding Programs Available for Students

In addition to receiving gubernatorial approval for the budget, Juergens said GOCC has in place three state-assisted funding programs for students.
A new program called “Futures for Frontliners,” which Whitmer announced earlier this year, provides free tuition to people who worked as frontline employees during the pandemic between April 1 and June 30 of this year. Juergens said the program “is gaining a lot of attention, with over 66,000 applicants throughout the state, and with over 250 students showing an interest in attending Glen Oaks. The state maintains additional information at Michigan.gov/frontliners.

Two other initiatives will also be funded, including the “Going Pro” program and the “Project Reconnect” program. Going Pro “makes awards to employers to assist in training, developing and retaining current and newly hired employees,” Juergens said.

The Project Reconnect program “provides Michiganders who are at least 25 years of age and have not earned a college degree ‘last dollar’ support,” Juergens said. The program enables candidates to obtain an Associate Degree or an Occupational Certificate. “It provides Michiganders everywhere a chance to “upskill” and enhance their career prospects while also growing the pool of skilled labor that employers are desperate to access,” Juergens said.

In Other GOCC Business:

During meeting action items, the GOCC Board approved the following:

• GOCC’s Five-Year Capital Outlay Plan, which covers the 2022 to 2026 period and is required to submit each year no later than October 31 by the State of Michigan. Juergens said Devier shared the plan during the morning retreat, and “information will be posted on the GOCC website very soon.’
• A three-percent salary increase for administrators, which will take effect November 1. The salaries were previously frozen as a precautionary measure against possible fiscal impacts from the ongoing pandemic.
• GOCC’s “Local Strategic Value 2020,” a state-required report that must be submitted annually by October 31.

Dave Vago is a writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.