October 2004 Board Meeting Report

Illinois Valley Community College Board of Trustees accepted the bid of $65,118 for Innerface Sign Systems, Inc. of Liburn, Georgia for the purchase and installation of an exterior digital sign for the college at the meeting Wednesday night.

This exterior sign, based on the architectural lines of IVCC’s buildings, is the concept of IVCC sophomore Andy Simko. Simko worked closely with IVCC officials to locate this lighted sign at the entrance of Orlando Smith Avenue. The IVCC student organizations have agreed to allocate $30,000 of the student activity fees towards the purchase of this sign.

"The sign project was conceived when I was sitting at the stoplight just outside the college entrance. It seemed to me that corner was vacant and I had something important to do on campus that day and could have used a reminder. I thought a sign would help other students to remember important events, build college pride and encourage community members to attend events the college is hosting. As student trustee this seemed like a worthy project to devote my time to," said Andy Simko.

The administration reviewed for the board, the summary of comments received from the community following the Nursing Forum hosted by IVCC on Sept. 27. Jean Goodnow, president and Harriet Custer, Vice President for Academic Affairs presented to the board the opportunity to enter into a competitive grant with the Department of Labor requiring a cash match commitment of $187,500 over two years by the deadline date of the grant submission Nov. 2.

"I fully recognize the short time frame we are facing here with this grant deadline date of Nov. 2. This grant is one avenue in which we intend to move aggressively toward the expansion of not only our nursing program, but continue to address the growing health care needs of our community at large. We understand 10-12 total grants will be awarded and are looking for the necessary funding match in order to proceed." said Goodnow.

Dr. Goodnow will bring the college’s recommendation of the initial plans for the expansion of the nursing program to the November board meeting.

The board approved the college calendars for the academic years of 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 as presented by the IVCC calendar committee, chair Robert P. Marshall, Vice President for Student Services. The calendars exceed all Illinois Community College Board requirements in terms of the required instructional days. The major difference noted in the calendars is a seven-week summer session, which will provide a break of one week between the end of the summer session and the start of the fall semester for students and faculty. This break also allows for an extra week of registration time for the fall semester. Contact minutes for the summer classes will be adjusted to meet the required times.

With calendars on the agenda, the board adopted the resolution to prepare a tax levy for calendar year 2004 to be collected in calendar year 2005. IVCC’s plan is to present a tentative tax levy for approval in November and finalize the district’s levy in December.

The board learned from Goodnow that through a partnership with the Illinois Community College System Foundation (ICCSF), McKendree College will provide scholarships valued at $10,000 per year ($20,000 over two years) to two outstanding students from every community college in the State of Illinois. The Foundation award is derived from McKendree’s academic scholarship fund but is delineated as $8,500 for the Foundation Scholarship and $1,500 for a McKendree Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) award for a total of $10,000 per academic year. PTK is the community college honor society. All its members who enroll at McKendree College receive the $1,500 award whether they are selected Foundation scholars or not.

At the August board meeting, the board approved the recommendation for the administration to reject the only bid, which was over budget, for the security cameras and proximity readers project. The project was re-bid and the board approved the bid from D. M. Mattson, Inc. from McLean, Illinois for the total project cost of $226,170.

The board received updates on the annual community college performance report of fiscal year 2004 as submitted to the Illinois Community College Board and was presented with the college’s financial plan for 2006-2010.

The board authorized the business office to accept the bid from Vissering Construction of Streator, Illinois for completion of the new welding lab. The final phase of work to be done on this project will amount to $61,300, to be paid for from a one-time special appropriation for the state of Illinois.

The athletic department has been authorized by the board to enter into a 36 month lease with Country Vehicle Leasing, Bloomington, IL for one 14 passenger shuttle bus and one 25 passenger shuttle bus for an annual payment of $19,824.

The board approved the articulation agreement with Starved Rock Associates for Vocational and Technical Education in graphic design technology.

The board had asked the administration to review the salaries of part-time faculty at IVCC. Harriet H. Custer, Vice President for Academic Affairs, recommended the board to approve a salary increase of $25 per credit hour for part-time faculty beginning in the spring 2005 semester.

"IVCC’s average salary for part-time faculty is currently at the average for our peer colleges and still somewhat below the community colleges contiguous to IVCC. An increase of $25 per credit hour will bring us to the average of contiguous colleges, thereby making us a more competitive in hiring part-time faculty," said Custer.

This year is the last year of a four-year contract for IVCC’s cash farm lease. The current lease is due to expire on December 31, 2004. The board authorized the business office to seek bids for the operation of the college farm property.

For Sheridan Correctional Center, the board authorized the initiation of negotiations with the American Federation of Teachers Local 1810 and the reinstatement of the members of the instruction staff for fiscal year 2005 with the received signed copy the contract with the Illinois Department of Corrections. In addition, IVCC approved a new full-time faculty position of Warehousing, Shipping and Receiving at the Center through Illinois Department of Corrections funding.

The administration recommended and the board approved the new full-time position of Safety Service Officer for fiscal year 2005. Funding for this position is included in the liability, protection, and settlement fund.

"The college will also recognize significant savings in reduced overtime costs. There are many instances of the full-time day shift officer being required to work overtime to assist during late afternoons when the current staffing is not adequate to cover activities on campus," said Ken Sangston, director of safety services.

The board approved the following appointments:

  • Kim A. Stahly,. Community Relations and Marketing Administrative Assistant.
  • Colleen A. Aeppli, Cooperative Work Training Coordinator at Sheridan Correctional Center
  • Frances A. Whaley, Librarian

The following bids were also approved by the board of trustees:

  • Bid of $13,300 for Spectum Industries, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin for student computer desks.
  • $30,000 for computer printing supplies from: Chicago Laser and Computer Service, Lansing, Illinois; Dartek.com, Naperville, Illinois; Blackhawk, Inc., Eagen, Minnesota; Insight Public Sector, Inc., Tempe, Arizona; Cardinal Cartridge, Elmhurst, Illinois; Connecting Point, Peru, Illinois and CDW Government, Inc., Vernon Hills, Illinois.