Here is the promised update on the February 10 board meeting.

• This is the first board meeting I twittered. Check it out at www.twitter.com/aaronklein.
• The budget and technology PowerPoint presentations are posted.
• We did our regular evaluation of the College President in closed session beforehand. My feelings about Leo’s leadership at the college are well known, but it struck me before when writing my part of the eval that we are one of the only public agencies NOT whining or panicking about money in this fiscal crisis. Our balanced budget policies have worked.
• The budget presentation shows that as well. 10.5% reserves, so we have a lifeboat in this fiscal hurricane that is still getting worse, from what I can tell. Still balanced, with a $100K surplus. Through hard work, we have achieved the fiscal discipline to preserve the institution for our students, and continue increasing access to college. That’s exactly what we needed to do, and we need to thank VP of Finance Doug Smith and his team for their hard work!
• Technology briefing demonstrated the goals we achieved in 2008, and what the team is tackling in 2009. CTO Gary Moser has led an absolutely flawless implementation of new enterprise software to manage the entire institution (unbelievable that they didn’t have that before — it was like flying a 747 blindfolded). E-mail accounts for all Sierra College students are rolling out this Spring — that’s a huge milestone, too.