Alpena Community College President Don MacMaster

ALPENA — The Alpena Community College Board of Trustees on Wednesday gave President Don MacMaster a highly effective rating for his yearly president’s evaluation.

The board highlighted five strengths for MacMaster from the past year: student enrollment, relationships with legislators, the communication between the college and board, his strong work culture, and the progress made on 20 goals MacMaster set last year.

“The important thing about an evaluation is what the president is doing in terms of guiding the institution (that) aligns with what the trustees and the board of the governing body wants,” MacMaster said. “This is a way to keep that alignment in place so, if I’m off track, they can get me back on track.”

ACC was the only community college in the state this spring that recorded an increase in contact hours, a measure of the number of classes being taken. The college’s contact hours went up 1.04% compared to spring 2018.

MacMaster laid out 20 goals for himself last year, including increasing the fund balance, passing the college’s millage in the fall, making progress on the Van Lare Hall renovation project, improving outreach at the college’s Oscoda campus, and beautifying the look of both campuses. The goals were based on priorities within the college.

“There’s been significant progress,” board Trustee Lisa Hilberg said about the goals.

MacMaster, who has been the college president since 2015, moved from Step Three to Step Four on the salary schedule. He will make $146,833 next year.

“I think the effect of the evaluation was very positive and I feel good about it,” MacMaster said. “At this point in my career, this has been challenging in a positive way. The college is an important part of the economic health of the community. The staff all work hard and are inspirational to work with and it’s gratifying to have that. I enjoy my work.”

Julie Goldberg can be reached at 989-358-5688 or jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jkgoldberg12.