ESCANABA — Faculty members updated the Bay College Board of Trustees on a presentation about faculty outreach initiatives in support of Bay students. The presentation was recently given to members of the Michigan Education Association (MEA).

Political science instructor Molly Campbell and English instructor Nanci Love spoke about this presentation during the board’s meeting Wednesday.

“We are here on behalf of the faculty association and the Michigan Education Association,” Campbell said. Both Campbell and Love are board members for the Bay College Faculty Association (BCFA), a teachers’ labor union which is affiliated with the MEA.

According to Campbell, Love was invited to give a presentation on poverty and economics at the MEA’s Professional Issues in Higher Education Conference on Oct. 26, 2018 in East Lansing. As she was unable to attend this event, she and Campbell developed a presentation together and Campbell went to the conference to share it.

The presentation focused on efforts to help Bay students meet their financial needs — including the Bay College Student Food Pantry. The pantry, which is open to all Bay students, was introduced in November 2017.

The use of the pantry has been growing since its introduction. From Nov. 8, 2017 through May 31, 2018, 127 unduplicated students used the pantry; from June 1, 2018 through Oct. 15, 2018, 207 unduplicated students used it.

Campbell noted the pantry is run by Bay students, which has helped to make the students using it more comfortable.

“They like that, and there’s a little bit of privacy in that for the students,” she said. TRIO students, as well as a volunteer student from Business Professionals of America, are involved with the pantry’s operations.

According to Campbell, the pantry’s success was a major reason why Bay was chosen to present at the conference.

“They actually not just invited Nanci to come down and talk about this — they invited (the Bay College Student Food Pantry) to be their Social Justice Project for that conference,” she said. As a result, 51 food items, $145 in monetary donations and a large bag containing dozens of bath and shower items were given to the pantry by attendees of the conference.

Other Bay initiatives listed in the presentation included financial aid, the Career Closet, the Student Emergency Fund, Delta Area Transit Authority bus discounts, student meal plans and the college’s use of open educational resources.

In addition, the BCFA’s efforts in support of on-campus initiatives were discussed. Efforts started with the association’s purchase of a freezer for the Bay College Student Food Pantry in December 2017.

Along with its annual commitments to Bay’s Outstanding Graduate Awards and scholarships, the BCFA is working to support improvements to Bay’s campus. Recently, this has led to the union’s payment of $3,200 for solar charging stations in Bay’s courtyard.

“We paid for the two solar charging stations outside, which are so way cool,” Love said.

Love also said that steps have been taken to ensure that the BCFA will continue to support improvements at Bay.

“We codified it into our … bylaws,” she said.

In other business, the board:

– approved revisions to its credit card policy on second reading.

– agreed to consider revisions to its bylaws as being approved on first reading. While bylaw revisions had already been approved by the board on first reading, further revisions had been made to the bylaws since then.

– voted to accept revisions to its student residency policy on first reading.

– okayed 2019’s committee assignments for board members.

– welcomed new EMT/Paramedic Program Director Trevor Quinlan to Bay College.

– thanked board members Stephen Davis and Terri Mileski, who recently observed their first anniversary on the board.