GCC approves preliminary audit , gets marketing update

By MEGAN HUGHES

[email protected]

Ironwood - The Gogebic Community College Board of Trustees approved its most recent preliminary audit as presented on Tuesday evening.

Josh Sullivan, a Traverse City CPA with Rehmann Robson LLC, presented the report. He expressed appreciation to the GCC team for its work in helping the audit come together.

"Overall, when you look at the statement deposition, there was a decrease in overall assets of around $500,000," he said. "However, you also have a decrease of liabilities of about $3,000,000, for an overall increase in net position of around $2,000,000. It's good to see a positive number there. Almost double what it had been in the previous year."

Sullivan expects that the final audit will be available by the end of the week.

In other news, the board also received an update from Kari Klemme, GCC's marketing strategist, and Kim Zeckovich, director of admissions/marketing and community research.

Zeckovich and Klemme spoke about the college's current marketing efforts and how they are distributing advertisements to hit various age group markets, with tactics ranging from sponsoring high school yearbook programs, to online marketing on social media, to more traditional media, such as billboards and newspaper advertising.

"Our digital marketing efforts this year - we have really tried to amp up, streamline and really be focused on this because we can measure it, see if it's working, if it's not working," said Klemme. "What we have done in the past is we have four or five different TV stations that we would work with,, and we would have a little bit here, and a little bit there. We would spread it throughout. With digital, you can use one company, and you can have them reach all those same areas, so that is what we decided to try this year, and it is working out really well."

She added, "We can log into a dashboard, see how the campaigns are running, and they are checking in with us. ... Right now ... we are working through targeted display ads, youtube ads, OTT ads (streaming television) and streaming ads."

Additionally, the school is doing targeted email blasts, which include more than 60,000 emails sent during July and August to prospective students.

Zeckovich and Klemme said that advertisements for the college are most effective via repeat exposure. Hence, that encourages their team to seek such avenues to reach more groups through more means.

The two women pulled up the data that they are able to readily view with their online advertisement representative, which allowed them to track trends in viewership on their website.

Zeckovich spoke about the more traditional advertisement media, including letting the board know that starting in December, they also will advertise on billboards in Chassel, Houghton and South Range.

"We are trying to reach various markets," said Zeckovich.

Zeckovich also updated the board on Ashley Lynott, the duel enrollment early college coordinator, and her efforts to work with area high school students.

"She has already been working with them on early degree plans, whether its early college, so that junior year, senior year, and one additional year at Gogebic, or just with the general dual enrollment students, to show them the money they would save by coming here right after graduation," said Zeckovich.

In a separate issue, the board also voted to approve a payment procedure regarding a sewer line installed on Douglas Boulevard.

In 2018, the college installed a sewer line, and its cost was to be split between the properties purchased from the college built by its building trades program.

Now, a new home is being built on a connecting property, and according to legal counsel, the college has a right to charge for the use of the line.

The board voted that, if any additional properties that were not one of the original four properties and were owned by the college at the time of the pipeline installation, were to be built into that line, that they would pay the college a percentage of the mainline, to help recoup costs.

According to the policy, "the college would, at some point, make up their costs and the property owners would all be at more of an equal level financially."

The board also:

- Learned in a personnel update of two new hires at GCC: Jon Ocker as an electric line technician instructor and Jessica Manier as the director of TRiO and accessibility services. There are currently six applicants for the open position as director of Ski Area Management position, and related interviews are expected within the next month.

- Voted to approve a memorandum of understanding with the public schools of Calumet, Laurium and Keweenaw as presented.

- Approved an easement to the property adjacent to the Pat O'Donnell Civic Center to better define the responsibilities of the college and the city as it relates to the shared parking lot.

- Voted to approve the increase from grades 3 to 4 the salary of the executive assistant to the president.

- Approved the second reading of Board Policy Series 111 and 491 and the second reading of series 501.

- Heard the Houghton update.