MCC officials sound more optimistic

Though Mesalands Community College remains cash-strapped, its executive staff and new acting president during a Feb. 21 board of trustees meeting sounded a more optimistic tone than during a testy meeting the previous week.

Mesalands earlier that day was authorized to receive $763,000 in state funds to reimplement its Jenzabar program and other moves so it can provide more complete financial statements, acting president Allen Moss said.

Moss’ appointment as acting president the previous week was met with dismay primarily from the executive staff, who wanted one of their own in that position.

However, executive staff sounded a more conciliatory tone after meeting with Moss. One of them, chief of campus operations Mark Martinez, stated in his written report last week “it was a huge boost of morale and a great addition” in appointing Moss as interim president.

“It has allowed business to reconvene in certain aspects after they were at a standstill,” Martinez wrote.

Moss also indicated the state would prop up the college financially as it cuts costs and reorganizes.

“I can say with confidence Mesalands will finish the semester and will have a next year,” Moss said during the Feb. 21 meeting, his first since being appointed to the position.

Moss, previously Mesalands’ senior executive director of concurrent enrollment and academic outreach, replaced an absent Mesalands President Gregg Busch, who turned in his campus vehicle and left town shortly after several no-confidence votes.

Busch filed for medical leave, saying in a letter to the board he was suffering from complications from COVID-19 and Parkinson’s disease. He has not participated in any board meetings since the no-confidence votes.

Busch was criticized by staff and faculty for disregarding warnings about finances and allegedly threatening to fire workers if they revealed Mesalands was being placed under state fiscal oversight in January. About $800,000 in pay raises that Busch imposed in early 2022 put the college far over its appropriations budget.

Phone messages by the Quay County Sun to Busch’s cellphone requesting comment were not returned.

Finances at Mesalands were so dire, the college once was set to run out of money for payroll in late February.

Chief of staff Duane Brooks said partly because of a recently implemented fiscal solvency plan, the college’s request for state emergency funds has dropped from $4.7 million to $3.7 million.

Brooks said the Legislative Finance Committee indicated it wanted more “draconian” cuts, though it didn’t specify how much. He said Mesalands would submit a new funding request shortly after the board meeting.

Brooks also said the New Mexico Higher Education Department also was sending a letter to the state auditor and attorney general detailing its findings from a Mesalands site visit in early February and other revelations since that time.

Chief financial officer Blanca Pauliukevicius, hired by Mesalands in August, said reinstating the Jenzabar system removes “a major roadblock” in producing financial reports, and she was “very encouraged” by recent events. She said the $763,000 from the state will be partly used to hire more staff in the financial office and pay for audit services.

In her written report to the board, Pauliukevicius said the business office has about an 18-month backlog of reconciliations and “a significant deficiency” in reporting capabilities due to poor systems implementation, understaffing and turnover in key leadership.

She also reported institutional data went missing, and that hard-copy records and file cabinets are in different areas of campus.

Pauliukevicius stated that each month’s payroll and fringe benefits had been costing over $655,000, far surpassing the monthly appropriations budget of about $384,000.

She reported payroll implementation of the ADP platform was done incorrectly and salary data wasn’t being reflected in reports. She said she contacted ADP for assistance, but the company has not responded.

Moss said he met with Mesalands’ executive team twice after being appointed acting president, then met with staff and faculty.

He praised the steps taken to right the college financially.

“I think we’re on the same page in moving the college forward,” Moss said.

Moss, answering a question from board member Tom Sidwell, said four to five Mesalands employees have left the college in recent days, and only one of those positions would be filled.

Moss said the college also would undergo a reorganization to cut more costs.

During a Tucumcari City Commission meeting Thursday, Mayor Ralph Moya expressed concern about Mesalands and said the city should offer its support.

“We cannot afford to lose that college,” he said.

City manager Paula Chacon said she reached out to the board of trustees and offered assistance.

In other business:

— Six people wrote letters for the public comment part of the meeting, many of them critical of Busch and the board of trustees and praising the executive staff during the crisis.

Several commented about the lack of public involvement since Mesalands began holding meetings by videoconference three years ago, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

One person, citing an opinion by the state’s attorney general, said Zoom meetings should be conducted as “a last resort,” and the current format was “restricting the voices of those that need to be heard.”

Board Chairman Jim Streetman later said the board’s March meeting would be at least partially in-person. He said he would have to wear a mask during the meeting because of health issues. Moss also had recommended that future meetings be partly in-person.

One commenter said a nursing instructor quit and that the college had “a zero sense of stability.” One noted the Mesalands Community College Foundation had not awarded a scholarship in five years, and its financial statements were publicly unavailable.

One labeled the financial crisis as “a circus” and that he was “embarrassed for Tucumcari and New Mexico.”

— The board approved a four-day work week in the 2023-2024 school year. Joel Kiser, chief academic officer, said 72.5% of employees in a recent survey preferred a four-day week and 80% said such a schedule was beneficial to them and their families.

— The board updated the college’s personnel handbook. Mesalands HR director Russell Irby, who requested approval of the update, said the handbook hadn’t been updated in four years. Among the changes were to the bereavement policy and the dress code, the latter which Irby said was altered “to move into the modern age.”

— The board approved a change of its next regular meeting from March 21 to March 14 due to spring break.

— Chief communications officer Josh McVey reported the college’s fall enrollment increased by 11% compared to the previous year. He said Mesalands’ spring graduation in May would be held in the Tucumcari High School’s Rattler Gymnasium.

— Julio Galindo, chief of diversity and executive director of institutional advancement, said Mesalands received $21,000 from the U.S. Forestry Service to recoup expenses the college had incurred in setting up its wild horse program.

— Mark Martinez, chief of campus operations, said the college was eyeing the closed Quail Ridge nursing home in Tucumcari as a possible site for student housing. He also stated in his monthly report that renovations on Building A are postponed due to the college’s financial situation.

— The board went into a closed executive session for 25 minutes to discuss personnel matters. No action was taken when open session resumed.