December 10, 2020 Planning Committee Meeting

The Planning Committee of the Board of Trustees of Illinois Valley Community College District No. 513 met at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 10, 2020 in the Board Room (C307) at Illinois Valley Community College.

Committee Members Physically Present

Committee Members Virtually Present

Jay K. McCracken, Committee Chair

Amy L. Boyles

Committee Members Absent

Everett J. Solon, Board Vice Chair 

Board Members Physically Present

Jane E. Goetz, Board Chair

Others Physically Present

Jerry Corcoran, President

Deborah Anderson, Vice President for Academic Affairs

Cheryl Roelfsema, Vice President for Business Services and Finance

Bonnie Campbell, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs

Others Virtually Present

Mark Grzybowski, Vice President for Student Services

Matt Suerth, Director of Institutional Research

The meeting was called to order at 5:35 p.m. by Mr. McCracken.

PUBLIC COMMENT

None

BOARD POLICIES

The committee members reviewed policies with proposed revisions highlighted.

Policy 2.6 –   Alternative Credit
New language added credit for Prior Learning to include portfolio assessment for work experience, technical/vocational training, industry certification, licensure, registry, or other learning experiences such as training evaluation, continuing education units or other competency-based equivalency reviews. Ms. Campbell noted that the added language is to streamline the process for students to gain credit for prior learning. The overall idea is to remove barriers for students and provide an incentive to complete.

Policy 2.8 –   Chronic Communicable Diseases
A statement was added to the policy that the college will follow all recommendations as set forth by the Center for Disease Control and/or Illinois Department of Health, i.e. the wearing of face masks is recommended and will be required on campus.

Policy 2.22 – Required Placement Testing (Academic Placement)
Language regarding required placement testing was removed. New language was added for placement in English and math courses to be completed through multiple measures. It was proposed that the subject for the policy be changed to Academic Placement.

Mr. McCracken commented that the proposed changes to the policies were appropriate. The committee recommended that the proposed revised Board policies be shared with the full Board, as presented.

STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT

Proposed new language was added to Item #20 of the code about adhering to recommendations set forth by the Center for Disease Control or Illinois Department of Public Health (i.e. wearing facial coverings during the Coronavirus pandemic which are required when on campus). Dr. Corcoran noted that the updated Student Code of Conduct would be presented as an information item at the January Board meeting.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION UPDATE

An update was provided by Mark Grzybowski, Vice President for Student Services. The goal of the DEI Committee is to collect feedback from all college stakeholders during the construction of the DEI Plan. Mr. Grzybowski noted that the guide was first circulated to the IVCC Board of Trustees in early November. Currently it is being distributed to administration, faculty and staff. Prior to the winter break the collective responses from the stakeholders will then be shared with Dr. Paul Gorski, an educator who specializes in educational equity and justice. Dr. Gorski and his team have been invited to guide IVCC through the next steps of creating the institutional DEI plan at the January 2021 all-staff Development Day. Mr. Grzybowski noted that the DEI Committee sincerely appreciates IVCC Board of Trustee support of this initiative and valuable feedback that has already been provided.

ICCB PROGRAM REVIEW REPORT

Dr. Deborah Anderson provided highlights of the Community College Program Review Report submitted to the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB).  Dr. Anderson informed that certain programs are reviewed each year and over a course of five years every program is reviewed. The following programs were reviewed in FY 2020:  the academic discipline of the Humanities and Fine Arts; student and academic support services of Disability Services, Counseling and Advising, the Library; cross-disciplinary instruction area of Adult Education and English as a Second Language; Career and Technical Education programs of Agriculture and Agronomy, Renewable Energy, Nursing (RN and LPN), Nursing (CNA), and Marketing and Retailing/Merchandising. Dr. Anderson noted that program reviews include information and data about their need, cost-effectiveness, and quality to demonstrate their continued viability. Highlights from the external program review included:

  • Humanities and Fine Arts struggled with declining enrollments, creating a need to better match course and section offerings with enrollment.
  • Disability Services actively accommodates approximately 155 students per fiscal year. Changes since the last review contain the addition of automated tracking services, the implementation of summer orientation, the utilization of more electronic and digital resources, and the addition of the well-being portal YOU@IVCC.
  • Counseling and Advising implemented additional services since the previous review including a counseling syllabus, improved orientation and retention processes, counseling podcasts and student wellness fairs, and degree audit and student planner software.
  • The Library added more group study space containing an Active Learning Area since the previous review. The Library experienced a decline in gate count numbers from an average of 1,857 people per week in 2014 to an average of 686 people per week in 2019. Library spaces will be updated to meet the study needs of patrons as IVCC develops its Student Success Center.
  • The Adult Education program has developed career pathway flowcharts allowing students to transition from HSE and ESL into CTE and other pathways. Since the previous review an average of 24 HSE completers transitioned to IVCC through the First-Class-Free program.
  • Agriculture has been reinstated at IVCC during the current review cycle. Labor market data indicates need for the program. The program has developed industry partnerships and scholarship opportunities. IVCC has initiated a two-phase Agriculture Complex construction project and Phase I, a 6,000 square-foot storage facility, was completed in 2020. Phase II consists of instructional and lab space for the program.
  • Nursing (RN/LPN) will update its curriculum during the next review cycle in preparation for its ACEN visit. Innovations since the last review include the development of a remediation program to address the needs of students with unsuccessful HESI scores. NCLEX pass rates over the review cycle averaged 91 percent.
  • Nursing (CNA) anticipates increasing need over the next five years indicating IVCC may consider additional sections to meet this demand. Pass rates for licensure for the past five years averaged 87 percent.

Areas and programs scheduled for review in fiscal year 2021 include: the academic discipline of Social and Behavioral Sciences; Student and Academic Support Areas of Business Services, Athletics, Student Activities; and Career and Technical Programs of Engineering Technologies, Manufacturing, Early Childhood Development, Maintenance, Automotive, and Truck Driver Training.

NATIONAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE BENCHMARK PROJECT (NCCBP)

Dr. Anderson noted that the NCCBP report indicates how IVCC compares with participating community colleges across the nation on key performance metrics. Institutional Research will submit its report on the results of this year’s survey after the first of the year. Dr. Anderson provided highlights from the survey’s Report of National Aggregate Data.

  • IVCC completion rates ranks the college in the 83rd The persistence rates at IVCC compare favorably to national institutions. Fall-to-fall persistence is 55.26 percent, ranking the college in the 88th percentile.
  • The college’s academic support services compare favorably based on our Noel-Levitz and CCSSE results, placing the college in the 88th and 83rd percentiles respectively. IVCC also ranks well nationally on satisfaction with service in Admissions and Financial Aid (78th percentile), Safety and Security (76th percentile), and overall service excellence (76th percentile) based on the college’s most recent Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory results.
  • Areas for improvement include the most recent CCSSE benchmark results in Academic Challenge (20th percentile) and Active and Collaborative Learning (16th percentile).

Mr. Suerth commented that there was a decline in the number of colleges participating in the NCCBP this year because of COVID and, therefore, the numbers are affected due to this lack of participation. Mr. McCracken thanked Dr. Anderson for the report and Mr. Suerth for his insight into the reported results.

HIGH SCHOOL TO IVCC FEEDBACK REPORT

Dr. Anderson reported on the summary of the progress of the 2019 cohort of high school graduates who attended IVCC during the 2019-2020 academic year. The cohort is comprised of graduates from the district’s high schools: Bureau Valley, DePue, Earlville, Fieldcrest, Hall, Henry-Senachwine, LaMoille, LaSalle-Peru, Marquette, Mendota, Ottawa, Princeton, Putnam County, Seneca, Serena, St. Bede, Streator, and Woodland. Dr. Anderson noted that results of individual high schools were shared with district superintendents and high school principals during the summer of 2020.

  • Total term enrollments for the 2019-2020 academic year were 977: 19.6 percent of enrollments occurred during the summer 2019 term; 90.3 percent occurred during the fall 2019 term; and 83.9 percent occurred during the spring 2020 term.
  • Students were placed based on the results of their ACT, SAT or ACCUPLACER standardized test scores. Fifty-six or 5.7 percent students placed into developmental reading.
  • Of the 357 students who were placed in English courses, 7.8 percent were placed into developmental English classes; 12.9 percent were placed into developmental classes and progressed to college-level course work during the academic year; and 79.3 percent placed into college-level course work.
  • Of the 330 students who were placed in math courses, 12.4 percent were placed into developmental math classes; 5.5 percent were placed into developmental classes and progressed to college-level course work during the academic year; and 82.1 percent placed into college-level course work.
  • The average ACT composite score was 21.3 and 154 students submitted ACT scores.
  • The average SAT composite score was 980 and 954 students submitted SAT scores.
  • Seventy-four students in the cohort submitted both ACT and SAT scores.
  • Based on students’ performance in selected classes during the fall 2019 term, the average cohort success rate was 82.92 percent. Course success is defined as a grade ‘C’ or better.

OTHER

None

ADJOURNMENT

Mr. McCracken thanked everyone involved for the outstanding work and reports. Mr. McCracken requested a motion to adjourn. Motion made by Dr. Boyles and seconded by Ms. Goetz to adjourn the meeting.

Roll Call Vote: “Ayes” – Dr. Boyles, Ms. Goetz and Mr. McCracken. “Nay” – none.  Motion carried.

Mr. McCracken declared the meeting adjourned at 6:10 p