March 19, 2013 Minutes of Regular Meeting

Members Physically Present

Dennis N. Thompson, Chair
Larry D. Huffman, Secretary
Michael C. Driscoll
David O. Mallery
James A. Narczewski
Everett J. Solon
Britney Burkart, Student Trustee                                   

Members Present Telephonically

Melissa M. Olivero, Vice Chair

Members Absent

 

Jerry Corcoran, President
Cheryl Roelfsema, Vice President for Business Services and Finance
Lori Scroggs, Interim Vice President for Learning and Student Development
Walt Zukowski, Attorney

MOMENT OF SILENCE

Dr. Corcoran led a moment of silence in memory of Bob Mueller, who taught English at LPO and IVCC for 38 years and passed away on March 5, 2013.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

It was moved by Dr. Driscoll and seconded by Dr. Huffman to approve the agenda, as presented. Motion passed by voice vote.

PUBLIC COMMENT

None.

CAMPUS UPDATE – ENROLLMENT, RECRUITMENT, AND FINANCIAL AID

Mark Grzybowski, Director of Admissions and Records and Patty Williamson, Director of Financial Aid highlighted some of the efforts that have been made in Enrollment, Recruitment, and Financial Aid through the formation of the Enrollment Task Force.  The admissions personnel have increased their presence in the community by conducting special promotional events.  A Social Media Marketing Committee has been organized to reach out and engage students through IVCC social media sites.  A prospective-student-tracking process has been created to simplify the application process for students by breaking it down into smaller and more manageable steps.  Work on retaining Early Entry to College (E²C) students through personalized acceptance letters, promoting IVCC as a viable option for continuing their education, and highlighting cost savings by attending IVCC and transferring their coursework are all initiatives to increase enrollment. A webpage devoted solely to cost savings for students by attending IVCC was developed.  Financial Aid has been tracking funding issues and the affect it has on IVCC students.  Student communication for financial aid issues has been increased through the use of emails, postcards, and newsletters.  The creation of FAFSA Fridays (financial aid application assistance), increased usability of the WebAdvisor system, and Financial Aid newsletters have been developed to assist students in tracking their financial aid progress.  A financial aid extension contract has been developed to help late decision-makers enroll.  In regard to the Pell Grant, for two summers the government instituted a second PELL grant but that ended this past summer and IVCC saw a significant drop in summer enrollment.  The fall and spring semesters have been stable. 

CONSENT AGENDA

It was moved by Dr. Huffman and seconded by Ms. Burkart to approve the consent agenda, as presented. Motion passed by voice vote. 

The following items were approved in the consent agenda:

Approval of Minutes – February 7, 2013 Special Board Meeting and February 19, 2013 Board Meeting

Approval of the Bills - $1,321,664.11

Education Fund - $949,599.78; Operations and Maintenance Fund - $138,323.94; Operations & Maintenance (Restricted Fund) - $123,330.40; Auxiliary Fund - $45,667.47; Restricted Fund - $37,709.07; and Liability, Protection and Settlement Fund - $27,033.45

Treasurer’s Report

Personnel

Approved the stipends for the pay periods ending February 9, 2013 and February 23, 2013

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Dr. Corcoran reported the construction of the Community Technology Center continues to move along as planned. Mechanical/electrical/plumbing insulation and painting is in progress. Some of the first floor drywall will be completed soon, and stairwell framing and light installation has begun. Geothermal pumps 1 & 2 start-ups took place on March 18, boilers and boiler pumps start-ups are scheduled for March 29, and water source heat pump start-up will occur around April 1. On the east campus, the addition to the auto and welding facility is progressing nicely and the new maintenance building is ready for occupancy—in fact, the contractor is waiting on the weather to move forward with adding gravel to the driveway and then maintenance will begin moving in. The circle drive drop-off area will close around April 1. The March 8^th Career Day Expo held at IVCC was a terrific success. This program benefits hundreds of students in the area thanks to the partnership that exists between the College and Starved Rock Associates for Vocational and Technical Education, Illinois Valley Building and Construction Trades Council, and the Illinois Valley Labor Management Committee. Dr. Corcoran thanked Danielle Stoddard and IVCC’s partners in education (Jeannette Maurice and Mary Stouffer both from SRAVTE) on a job well done. Chris Herman has advised Dr. Corcoran that the FY12 performance report for Project Success has been received and his staff did an outstanding job of meeting all performance objectives such as persistence rate (81%), good academic standing (88%), graduation (56%) and transfer rates (59%).  Overall, 162 participants were well served which places IVCC in a great position for all future grant-writing competition. Cynthia Cardosi, Diane Scoma, Theresa Bowen and Mr. Herman were commended for their hard work on behalf of our Project Success students. Marianne Dzik advised Dr. Corcoran of several updates within the English, Math and Education division:

• Students from the Honors Program and Sigma Kappa Delta along with sponsors Kim Radek, Nora Villarreal, and Adam Oldaker attended the play JULIUS CEASAR at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater on February 27.
• Cindy Schultz was in charge of organizing the region’s high school math competition held at IVCC on February 23.  Seven high schools and approximately 180 students participated.  IVCC faculty and calculus students assisted.
• On March 1, the English Department hosted the annual Writing Competition.  Randy Rambo chaired this event and was assisted by English instructors.  Six high schools participated with 15 students taking part in the essay competition and 16 students in the journalism competition.

The February 23^rd Irish Night program was a success thanks to Fran Brolley, Donna Swiskoski and Sue Monroe. The feedback from those in attendance was fabulous. Dr. Corcoran thanked those who supported the IVCC Foundation’s top annual fund-raising event.  And finally, both IVCC’s women’s and men’s basketball teams had very successful seasons. The Lady Eagles ended with a 22 – 9 record and Arnisha Thomas was named Arrowhead Conference MVP.  The men’s record was 18 – 11 and Alec Schwab was a National Junior College Athletic Association All-American nominee. Dr. Corcoran congratulated Coaches Cinotte and Canale and their assistants on their ability to recruit locally and win consistently.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Dr. Huffman indicated the Audit/Finance Committee meeting will be held on Monday, April 1 at 5:30 p.m. in the Board Room.

Mr. Mallery attended the ICCTA Board of Representatives meeting held in Lombard on March 8 and 9.  He noted some community colleges are raising tuition and using it to offset capital improvements.  Lake County has looked into a variable rate on tuition and is concentrating on high cost programs.  Kaskaskia indicated that 70 percent of the high school students in their district who attend college choose Kaskaskia.  Spoon River keeps their tuition at 1/3 of Western Illinois University’s tuition.  ICCTA is raising their dues by 2 percent largely due to the City Colleges refusing to pay their dues.  ICCTA also approved a loan to the Presidents Council to continue their operations and meetings.  The Governor has recommended a 6.1 percent decrease in state community college funding in FY2014.  In regard to the Affordable Care Act, a labor group from Oakton College presented their case and believes some colleges are acting too soon in reducing part-time faculty loads.  The IRS is having a meeting on April 23 on the look-back period.  The deadline date for the nomination of ICCTA awards (Paul Simon Student Essay Contest, Outstanding Full-time Faculty, Outstanding Part-time Faculty, and Business/Industry Partnership) is Friday, March 29, 2013.  Monetary Award Program (MAP) applications were suspended on March 1.  The Illinois Student Assistance Commission reported a waiting list of 170,000 students for MAP grants.  The strategy is to continue lobbying for MAP by sharing stories of people, case by case. Mr. Mallery reviewed legislative issues that were discussed at the meeting.  HB 943 and SB1692 deals with FOIA requests, which would include foundations and athletic programs.  ICCTA was opposed to these bills because of the impact it would place on the foundations and athletic programs.  There are two bills in regard to the back-door referendum which will reduce the required signatures from 10 percent of the voting population to 5 percent.  This could make it easier for someone to collect the appropriate number of signatures to require a referendum.  HB 2746 deals with a property tax freeze for three years.  Property tax freezes are tied to the state university retirement.  ICCTA opposes this bill.   ICCTA has proposed a better solution for the pension plan.  SURS has adopted and agreed to a pension proposal which Mr. Mallery distributed.  The plan is a stand-alone plan and would meet the goal of the State.  The State would be completely relieved of its funding for the pension plan.  Some legislators believe this would be a diminishment of benefits and would not pass the constitutionality test.  Dr. Huffman would like to see 10 to 12 years of fazing in for the college to pick up the funding responsibility.  He would propose consideration of giving the community college the ability to levy a tax for the purpose of funding the pension plan.  Lobby Day is May 1 in Springfield.

PURCHASE REQUEST – LATERAL FILE CABINETS FOR COMMUNITYTECHNOLOGY CENTER

It was moved by Dr. Huffman and seconded by Dr. Driscoll to authorize the purchase of lateral file cabinets for Phase 1 of the Community Instructional Center from Henricksen, through the Illinois Public Higher Education Cooperative, at a cost of $14,498.36.  Motion passed by voice vote.

2013 ICCTA OUTSTANDING FACULTY AWARD NOMINATION – ABHIJEET BHATTACHARYA

It was moved Mr. Solon and seconded by Mr. Mallery to nominate Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Economics Instructor and the 2013 recipient of IVCC’s Stephen Charry Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence, for the Illinois Community College Trustees Association’s Outstanding Faculty Award.  Motion passed by voice vote.

2013 ICCTA OUTSTANDING PART-TIME FACULTY MEMBER AWARD NOMINATION – CATHI NELSON

It was moved by Dr. Huffman and seconded by Ms. Burkart to nominate Cathi Nelson, Part-time Instructor and Peer Tutoring Coordinator, for the Illinois Community College Trustees Association’s Outstanding Part-time Faculty Member Award.  Motion passed by voice vote.

TRUSTEE COMMENT

None.

CLOSED SESSION

It was moved by Mr. Narczewski and seconded by Dr. Huffman to convene a closed session at 8:08 p.m. to discuss 1) the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body; 2) pending litigation; and 3) closed session minutes.  Motion passed by voice vote.

After a short break, the Board entered closed session at 8:13 p.m.  On a motion by Dr. Huffman and seconded by Dr. Driscoll, the regular meeting resumed at 9:21 p.m.  Motion passed by voice vote.

CLOSED SESSION MINUTES

It was moved by Mr. Mallery and seconded by Dr. Huffman to approve and retain the amended closed session minutes of the February 19, 2013 meeting.  Motion passed by voice vote.

OTHER

At the January meeting a concern regarding the possibility of having armed security at the College by a majority of the staff at a staff in-service was discussed.  The administration discussed this with the Student Government Association and met with G4S.  One option, instead of armed security, would be to have security officers trained in the use of tasers and pepper spray on two shifts which would cost an additional $25,000 per year.  One armed security officer on campus, five days per week, two shifts would be an additional $84,000 a year.  LaSalle-Peru Township High School has an armed LaSalle police officer on campus who serves as a resource officer, working with students that need direction.  Jim Narczewski noted that having armed security does not guarantee that lives will be saved, but it may make people feel better.