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February 2013 Board Report

Following a restructuring of Illinois’ Local Workforce Investments Areas (LWIA), Illinois Valley Community College will no longer be a Dislocated Workers Center hub – ending a nearly 30-year arrangement – IVCC trustees learned Tuesday.

Under the consolidation plan presented by Pam Furlan, executive director of the Business Employment Skills Team (BEST), part of Workforce Area No. 4 (Carol, Ogle, Whiteside and Jo Daviess counties) will be combined with all of No. 12 (Bureau, LaSalle, Lee and Putnam counties).

IVCC’s nine DWC employees, whose positions were contingent upon a contract with BEST, will be terminated with regret effective June 30 but will have an opportunity for employment within the restructured LWIA.

“Each of these individuals has done a fine job of representing the college while capably serving their constituents,” said IVCC President Jerry Corcoran. “They are professionals and I will miss them. The good news is we’ve been told that DWC clients will not experience any disruption in services.”

DWC staff said the program began at IVCC in 1984.

In other business, the board followed the recommendation of its audit-finance committee and increased tuition beginning this summer session.

In anticipation of declining state funding, lower property values and a two percent drop in credit hours, trustees approved a10 percent increase. The $9.22 increase – from $84.38 to $93.60 – and a 1 cent hike in the universal fee, bring the cost of one credit hour at IVCC to $101. The state average for combined tuition and universal fee was $107.89 in 2013.

High school students enrolled in Early Entry College courses will pay $46.80 per hour, one-half the tuition rate and no universal fee.

 “In 2002 the community college system received $313 million from the state for 5.9 million credit hours,” said Corcoran. “In 2013, our system is receiving $288 million for 7 million credit hours. That is what is driving the financial challenges we face today.”

The committee also approved fee changes on 226 courses: increases on 164 courses, decreases on 48, adding fees to four existing courses and adding fees to eight new courses. In addition, the committee approved tuition and fee increases for truck driver training totaling $545 and bringing total program costs to $3,963.

In other business, the board approved requests for purchases (RFPs) and bids for equipment and technology for the Peter Miller Community Technology Center totaling over $1 million. Training equipment will be purchased for eight programs: computer networking, industrial electricity, wind, manufacturing, CAD/Drafting, electronics, industrial maintenance and HVAC.

An additional $546,000 in equipment has been acquired through the capital campaign. The building will also showcase an estimated $500,000 in “Smart classroom” equipment for rooms and labs.

IVCC will work with Krueger International through the Illinois Public Higher Education Cooperative to determine PMCTC furniture and fixture needs.

In other business, the board approved:

  • The purchase of $14,711 in welding instructional materials from the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology.
  • Tenure for instructors Keith King, biology, Adam Oldaker and Nora Villareal, English, and Jennifer Savoia, nursing and the appointment of Amy Smith as director of institutional research. A graduate of Scott Community College in Bettendorf, Iowa, and the University of Iowa, Smith was a research analyst at Heartland Community College in Normal.
  • Accepted with regret the resignation of nursing instructor Christine Foster at the close of the spring semester. Foster will return to work as a nurse practitioner in Naperville.
  • Designated the 2014 fiscal year as July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014; assigned President Corcoran to prepare the tentative budget and approved the budget calendar.
  • The 2014 trustee budget and printing fees for students in Jacobs Library, the Learning Commons and the Ottawa Center’s open lab. Students will be charged 5 cents for black-and-white copies and 25 cents for color. The $13,762 in equipment needed to manage the system will be offset by the fees.
  • Hiring Identity Theft Loss Prevention for information security consulting at a cost of $7,300.
  • Inactivation of the AAS in sustainable horticulture, the AAS in landscape maintenance and the certificate in horticulture effective May 18. The action was based on “unsustainable enrollments,” said Corcoran. Horticulture program coordinator Lauri Carey will continue teaching transfer agriculture or horticulture courses as well as adding biology courses to her load.

 

The board learned:

  • Marketing specialist Kim Stahly resigned effective Jan. 23 from the community relations office. Stahly of Streator was a 14-year IVCC employee.
  • Non-tenured faculty renewed for 2013-14 are Mary Black, lab instructor in developmental math, Christine Blaydes, CNA, Carmen Hartford, biology, Shane Lange, automotive technology, Jared Olesen, sociology, Anthony Ruda, fitness center and Samantha Whiteaker, nursing. 
  • In his monthly construction update, Corcoran reported zinc panel installation is progressing well on the south side of the PMCTC and installation of both elevators has begun. Drywall and soffit, electrical rough-in, painting, lights, diffusers and sprinkler trim could be completed over the next several weeks. On east campus, the addition to the auto and welding facility and new maintenance building is going well. Substantial completion on the maintenance building is set for March 8. 
  • The LPN program’s 100 percent pass rate (23 of 23 up from 96 percent the previous year) on the 2012 NCLEX compares favorably to the state average 85 percent and national rate of 84 percent. IVCC’s RN pass rate of 90 percent (56 of 62, up from 86 percent) compared to the state’s 91 percent rate and equaled the national pass rate.
  • The IVCC Foundation’s ninth annual Irish Night is Saturday at the LaSalle Knights of Columbus. Doors open at 6:30; the Larkin and Moran Brothers of Chicago will play from 7 to 11 p.m. Admission is $15 in advance or $20 at the door.
  • For the first time, IVCC hosted the IHSA Girls Class 1A Basketball Sectional Feb. 11 and 14. Over 1,250 fans attended to see Putnam County, Annawan, Newark, and Hinckley-Big Rock compete for the championship won by Annawan.
  • IVCC’s Dr. David Kuester, Norm Engstrom, Don Zellmer, Betsy Klopcic, Jenna Stinson, Donna Stone, and the Improv captains and team, in cooperation with Follies Theatre Productions, presented a workshop for 120 students and teachers at Peru Catholic recently. PC students will write stories featuring a character or characters with disabilities and Horizon House staff will review the stories before IVCC’s creative team turn them into performances for the school. Student authors will be recognized.
  • The annual Career Day Expo, sponsored by Illinois Valley Building and Construction Trades Council, will be March 8 in IVCC’s automotive technology building.
  • Welcomed new trustee Everett Solon of Streator who was appointed to a two-year term Feb. 7.