CMC board of trustees adds two new seats, approves purchase agreement for CMC Salida campus
On Oct. 21-22, the Colorado Mountain College Board of Trustees met for two days of events at CMC Glenwood Springs and CMC Aspen that included a regularly scheduled meeting, work session and a joint meeting with the CMC Foundation Board of Directors.
During the trustee meeting, trustees unanimously voted to add two new at-large trustee positions to the board. Currently, one resident from each of the following counties is elected to the board: Eagle, Lake, Pitkin, Routt, and Summit. Additionally, one resident from east Garfield County and one from west Garfield County is elected by voters to serve. Salida has been represented by a non-voting trustee liaison since 2020.
The trustees, who in January 2023 won the Nason award for board leadership from the Association of Governing Boards as one of the highest performing boards in the country, have discussed growing the board’s size for several years, with the goal of ensuring broader representation from the college’s district.
“The CMC Board of Trustees is a high functioning, collegial and productive group of citizen volunteers,” said CMC President Chris Romer of Eagle County. “Adding two new members to the board will allow us to better represent the diversity of the college’s tax district while adding to the collective wisdom of the board with additional backgrounds, ideas and experiences.”
Trustees will recruit and appoint two new board members who will serve until November 2025, at which time they will be required under Colorado law to run for office.
Additionally, trustees approved a lease-to-purchase agreement with the Salida School District to acquire the historic Kesner Building in Salida, the current home of the CMC Salida campus, for $3.6 million.
“Securing a permanent home for CMC in Salida will allow the college to continue to deliver on its promise to the voters in Salida,” said CMC President Matt Gianneschi. “Enrollment at the campus has been on a steady upward trajectory, with major gains in high school concurrent enrollment, associate degrees and a bachelor’s degree, and classes in skilled trades. Our close partnership with the Salida School District benefits the entire Salida community.”
The CMC Salida campus served more than 600 people during the 2023 – 2024 academic year, 187 of whom were high school students taking concurrent enrollment classes. 194 took part in community education classes. CMC Salida offers in-person classes in anatomy and physiology, biology, emergency medical technician, microbiology, nurse aid, statistics, wilderness first responder, and more. The campus also offers three classes in the skilled trades this semester including basic construction and automotive brakes. A high school business internship program has been particularly successful, with more than 100 local businesses participating to prepare students for the workforce.
Trustees also approved:
- Revisions to board policies
- Appointments for various board officer positions
- Creation of a radiology technician laboratory and relocation of a detention pond at CMC Vail Valley at Edwards