November 2012 Board Report

The Illinois Valley Community College board adopted an $11.5 million tax levy Tuesday that will result in an estimated total tax rate of .3584, an increase of 1.7 percent over 2011.

“This is due to a decrease in EAV, not because of a higher tax levy,” said Cheryl Roelfsema, Vice President for Business Services and Finance. A schedule was presented which showed that the college’s tax rate has decreased by approximately 25 percent over the last 10 years.

Anticipated tax extensions for tax year 2012 are up $16,888 over 2011 but $122,865 less than 2010. IVCC anticipates a 1.5 percent decline in assessed valuation for an estimated EAV of $3,085,804,367.

IVCC will submit the levy to the county clerks at the end of December. With an increase of less than five percent over 2011, it will not require public notice or a public hearing, Roelfsema said.

IVCC President Jerry Corcoran updated trustees on Peter Miller Community Technology Center construction saying the plan is to have the center fully enclosed and heated within a week. Corcoran added the geothermal field and detention pond have been seeded, trees have been planted and stone cropping installation is complete.

Zinc panel installation and the composite facade installation will begin in about one week. On the second floor, mechanical, electrical and plumbing work continues and east-end drywall is 65 percent complete. The new maintenance building concrete floor, stoops and approach have been poured and three walls of the last addition are in place.

“The project remains on schedule,” said Corcoran, “everything is going well.”

In other action, the board approved:

• The resignation of English and Writing Center instructor Tara Ptasnik effective at the end of the fall semester. Ptasnik has accepted a position at Madison College in Madison, Wis.
• The resignation of Robert Mattson, director of institutional research and the hiring of nursing instructor Samantha Whiteaker, a former staff nurse at OSF St. Joseph Medical Centers in Bloomington and Pontiac and the former Ottawa Regional Hospital.
• A three-and-a-half-year agreement with Sauk Valley Community College to continue providing truck driver training, a service IVCC has offered at Sauk since 2006. In addition, the board approved a truck driver training advanced proficiency certificate that will allow graduates to bring enhanced skills to employers.
• A health insurance proposal effective fall 2013 that will require student athletes to carry primary insurance, which may include a parent’s insurance. IVCC will cover up to a $1,000 deductible and a maximum 20 percent after the deductible.
• A proposal from Total Administrative Services Corp. of Madison, Wis., for flexible spending accounts for the plan year beginning Jan. 1. The college sought bids after Aflac informed IVCC they would no longer administer those types of plans. A total of 27 employees use the college-sponsored medical savings account and one employee uses the dependent care reimbursement account.
• A resolution recommending the filing of a complaint to the La Salle County Board of Review regarding La Salle Nuclear Power Station’s $488,250, 000 assessment for tax year 2012.

The board also learned:

• The fall voter registration drive registered 224 voters. Drive organizer Mike Phillips recognized Joanne Jalley, Sherri Popurella, Kathy Sramek, Tracy Morris, Sue Mertel, and the local Tea Party group coordinated by Jim Jarka for working the drive. Since 2002, the college has registered 2,300 voters.
• “Haiku Horror Stories,” a new book available from Amazon.com for Kindle and soon available in hard copy, was written by IVCC receptionist Carey Burns with illustrations by cashier Jill Hejl.
• Ali Braboy of Dalzell has had her abstract submission chosen for a roundtable discussion of the topic “Reopen the Book to Fantasy Worlds” at the Sigma Kappa Delta national conference in Portland this spring.
• Early Childhood Education instructor Diane Christianson and psychology instructor Jill Urban-Bollis presented a workshop at last month’s meeting of the Illinois Community College Faculty Association on “Education Candidate Dispositions: Assessing Professional Dispositions and Behaviors in Career Programs.”
• English instructor Mark Brown recently participated in a program at Heartland Community College in celebration of National Novel Writing month. Brown read from his short story “The Iron Door.” He also participated in a radio show entitled Poets' Voices which airs on Peoria station WAZU, 90.7 FM.
• Sue Isermann has been reappointed to the NCI Works Board, a testament to her expertise and contributions to the workforce development community. She will also be a panel presenter at an Illinois Community College Board forum and will discuss how she and her team applied quality improvement principles to achieve greater equity and access within IVCC’s wind technology program.
• A total of 42 individuals participated in last month’s Continuing Education department “Road Scholar Program” entitled “Exploring Central Illinois on the River.”  Highlights included presentations on river ecology, Native American culture and a program by “Save Our American Raptors.”
• The fall play, “The Snow Queen,” written and directed by Dr. David Kuester, played three sell-out performances last Saturday at the Hegeler Carus Mansion.
• Students participating in the Area Career Center’s CEO (Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities) program heard the “Value of Higher Education” presentation in the board room Nov. 15.