News Photo by Reagan Voetberg From left to right, Trustee Lisa Hilberg, Secretary Jay Walterreit, and President Don MacMaster in discussion at the regular board meeting on Thursday night.

ALPENA — The Alpena Community College Board of Trustees voted unanimously to grant authorization to administrative personnel to make non-substantial updates to policies at their regular board meeting Thursday night.

As Dawn Stone, dean of workforce development at ACC, put it at the meeting, “It’s a policy to make policy.”

“It’s a policies and procedures update in preparation for the Higher Learning Commission accreditation, so this is kind of a spring cleaning of our policies and procedures,” ACC President Don MacMaster said.

Under the new policy, administrative personnel are allowed to make changes under circumstances including correction of outdated job titles, contact information updates, correction of typographical errors, regulatory references, and consistency across policies.

Circumstances for changes that will require prior approval from the board of trustees include substantive modifications that alter the intent, scope, or impact of a policy, changes affecting governance, budgeting or strategic priorities, updates introducing new roles, responsibilities, or procedures, and policy changes involving contractual obligations or agreements.

The board approved the change so that ACC can maintain an accurate and up-to-date Policies and Procedures Manual for the accreditation process. ACC’s accrediting body, the Higher Learning Commission, requires the institution to demonstrate that policies reflect current practices, comply with legal and regulatory standards, and support the mission and goals of the institution, according to the proposed action plan outlined in the agenda for the meeting.

Stone explained that to prepare for the accreditation process, which will take place in 2027, they have created a team to tackle each of the criteria. They have also created a steering team of executive staff and some faculty members to review policies that may need updates before accreditation.

“As we get through this process we will be bringing a significant number of policies to you for approval, and for the most part, it’s just because they’re out of date,” Stone told the board.

Stone said that the reasoning behind allowing administrative personnel to change non-substantial policies is so that simple fixes, like job title changes, can be made without waiting a month or two for the board’s approval.

“There’s no intent whatsoever to change anything of any substance,” she said.

Stone explained that the last time the Higher Learning Commission came for accreditation was in 2017, and they will be coming again in 2027. The process takes place every 10 years. She also said the commission came for an interim check-in about three years ago.

“It seems like fall of ’27 is a long ways away, and it’s really not,” Stone said. “Because we need to submit through their online system four months before they come to campus.”

Trustee Florence Stibitz was not present at the meeting.

IN OTHER BUSINESS

* MacMaster reported on a communication to lower flags for former Michigan State Senator Darwin Booher who passed away recently.

* In the faculty report, Biology Instructor Deborah Hautau talked about the success of Science Olympiad programs in the area. There will be a Science Olympiad competition for elementary students on April 5 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at ACC.

* The board voted to accept the bid from Sweet Heating for $115,900 to replace the boilers in the World Center for Concrete Technology.

* The board voted to accept the bid from Tactile VR for a three-year subscription agreement for VR goggles to be used for simulations in the nursing department. Along with implementation costs, the bid totaled $53,000. Implementation will be completed by May 30.

* The board voted to purchase extended warranties on four manikins from Gaumard for $61,310. The manikins are used in the nursing department.

* MacMaster said that finances are in a good state and that there is no real downside expense that has happened that they weren’t expecting.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.