September 27, 2019 Minutes SSE Board of Directors
Minutes
SONOMA STATE ENTERPRISES, INC.
Minutes
September 27, 2019MEMBERS PRESENT:
Ms. Grace Anderson
Mr. Arden Childers
Dr. Kyuho Lee
Mr. Neil Markley, Ex-Officio
Mr. Robert Martinez
Mr. Gordon McDougall
Dr. Judy K. Sakaki
Dr. John Urbanski
Ms. Megan Varnadore
Ms. Amanda Visser, Ex-Officio
Mr. Daniel Yoeono
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Ms. Joyce Lopes
Dr. Jeffrey Reeder
Dr. Wm. Gregory Sawyer
Dr. Lisa Vollendorf
OTHERS PRESENT:
Mr. Tyson Hill
Ms. Nancy Keller
Mr. Bobby LaCour
Ms. Jessica Way
19.00 Call to Order
Mr. Markley called the meeting to order at 9:40 a.m.
19.01 Seating of the Board and Introductions
Mr. Markley welcomed new Board Members.
19.02 Committee Appointments
Committees were seated, as attached, with no objections.
19.03 Approval of the May 3, 2019 Minutes
The minutes from May 3 were provided to the Board via email prior to the meeting. Mr. McDougall moved to approve and Ms. Varnadore seconded the motion the May 3 minutes. The minutes were approved unanimously with no changes.
19.04 President’s Report
Dr. Sakaki discussed the new housing move-in process that took place this year, with a central location for check-in. The opening of the Fall semester went very successfully. She also shared that one of our students, Anthony Tercero, won an award for outstanding achievement from the CSU Board of Trustees.
19.06 Associated Students Report
Mr. Yoeono talked about the Associated Students’ resolution for a bee pollinator habitat to be created in front of Ives. The Stevenson remodel as well as the Chancellor’s evaluation of Dr. Sakaki are also items being reviewed. Additionally, they are evaluating whether they agree with the CSU’s new fourth year of quantitative reasoning requirement.
19.07 Report from SSU Vice President for Administration and Finance/Chief Financial Officer and Chair of SSE Board of Directors
Mr. Markley explained that the Board of Directors agenda format has changed, pairing down the number of reports to save time and be more efficient. We will utilize the time saved for other important agenda items. We will include reports from Culinary, the Bookstore, and others such as Conferences and Events throughout the year. We hope that these reports will be informative and help the SSE board keep engaged with the SSE departments.
19.08 Chief Operating Officer’s Report
Mr. Markley shared that the University enrollment has been challenged. SSE is financially impacted by the decrease in enrollment on meal plan revenue and cash sales. This drop in enrollment was factored into our budget this past Spring and will continue to be monitored as time goes on. If the drop in enrollment continues, this could have a detrimental impact on SSE. The University is taking steps to rebound enrollment, including hiring a new admissions director.
The Bookstore’s sales are up over last year, attributed to stronger sales of learning material. We have been working with the campus to develop a program where students can purchase books, but not pay until add/drop in order to increase access to textbooks at a time that can be financially difficult for students. Other campuses have had success with similar programs. We are waiting on an IT integration to get the program up and running.
A smoothie robot is coming to campus soon. The smoothies are healthy - all are gluten free and some are vegan. We will participate in a six month trial, with no cost up-front, other than infrastructure, in which we keep 20% of the revenue. After the trial period we can decide whether to purchase the equipment ourselves.
The Tapingo mobile ordering contract is still with Procurement. We hope that by Spring, if not sooner, we will have mobile ordering available at some of our dining locations.
19.09 Chief Financial Officer’s Report
Ms. Visser mentioned that the University Budget office has asked all self-support organizations to come up with a 5 year financial plan. The Finance committee will be working on this in the upcoming year.
19.10 Conflict of Interest Presentation Non-Profit Integrity Act, Compliance and Insurance
SSE Counsel Jeremy Olsan called in to review the Non-Profit Integrity Act. Mr. Markley asked Board Members to sign the letter and return to him for our records.
19.11 ACTION ITEM: Acceptance of the 2018/2019 Audited Financial Statements
Bobby LaCour from our audit firm Aldrich presented disclosures and highlights from the audit. Mr. LaCour noted that our audit contained an unmodified opinion, which is the highest level of assurance given by auditors. No material weaknesses were observed. Management left the room so that the Board could have a closed executive session with the auditors. Mr. McDougall moved and Ms. Varnadore seconded the acceptance of the 2018/2019 audited financial statements. The Board unanimously approved.
19.14 Other Non-Action Items
None
Meeting was adjourned at 11:30 a.m.