2025-2026 MELA Minutes

There was no further discussion, and a vote on the motion - 15 votes were cast; however, 14 were in favor and 1 opposed.

VI.

Open Forum 1. Explanation of MSVCC Assessment invoices/timelimes – Angel Nickens – NWCC – Asked the question of when we would receive the invoice. She mentioned that she knows that she knows that everyone is not responsible, but it comes from her budget and have to pay for it. So, she mentioned that she has to scramble to see where the spring invoice is, because it comes out at different times every year. She asked for an explanation for any reason when this is supposed to come out, or is this something that we could suggest to be notified of. Her question is about the notification of it and whether it can be put on a timeline.

Dr. Krista LeBrun, MCCB, stated that she wishes she had a better answer. She mentioned that the run-through of the assessments is tied to the Accountability Division’s audit process. The audits are typically about a year behind. Here’s the sequence:

•

The audit must be completed.

• The audit must be validated and considered “clean.” • Only then does the information move to Finance.

Dr. Krista LeBrun, MCCB, mentioned that finance then uses the validated audit data to align with the Inclusive Access spreadsheet for the appropriate semester. At that point, invoices are processed and sent. She mentioned even if she has already completed and shared the Inclusive Access spreadsheets for multiple semesters, Finance cannot move forward until the audit is finalized and cleaned. If there are disputes or corrections in the audit, everything is delayed until it is resolved. Unfortunately, she stated that she is not always notified when assessments go out. She said she typically only learns they’ve gone out when institutions begin contacting her with questions. She said she has requested notification in the past, but it has not been consistent. That said, she can reiterate to Finance and Accountability how important it is that she be notified when assessments are issued so that she can notify the group. She mentioned that same thing with the President-elect: when they send the $8,000, she has to be asked to be notified because she doesn’t already know when those funds have been sent. Denise Gillespie, ICC, asked that at some point, when Dr. LeBrun gets confirmation on the attendance language for the P&P, would the group have notification of that. She mentioned that was the only part she was uncomfortable with because she was told that is not have it works and the language was old. She mentioned that we don’t want to leave in there if it does not align with even the way they do audits. She was told there are files that go to the auditors, and then every school amends those files and then it is uploaded for audits and no one accesses the ET to obtain audit information.