October 2011 Board Report

Strong enrollments at Illinois Valley Community College’s Ottawa Center prompted board members to approve a permanent Ottawa Center coordinator position Tuesday.

This fall, in just the Center’s second year, enrollment rose to 566 students taking more than 3,000 credit hours.

IVCC President Jerry Corcoran said the facility has also begun to function as a site for community activities such as the Regional Office of Education’s drop-out recovery program, a testing site for City of Ottawa civil service exams, Northern Illinois University’s RN to BSN program and IVCC’s adult education and continuing and community education programs.

Jeannette Frahm of Streator has been the acting Ottawa Center coordinator since the facility opened in fall 2010.

In other business, the board approved termination of the contract to provide child care services at Ace Hardware’s Princeton facility. Beginning Nov. 1, Ace will contract with Princeton’s Zearing Child Enrichment Center. Zearing has agreed to hire the seven part-time and eight full-time employees making up IVCC’s Learning Ladder staff.

“Over the past decade, IVCC has enjoyed a wonderful relationship with Ace and the Learning Ladder has provided an outstanding early childhood education opportunity to hundreds of children as well as field experiences for countless students in our ECE and education programs,” said Corcoran.

The board also approved:

  • The purchase of Lab-Volt wind turbine training equipment from Advanced Technologies Consultants of Northville, Mich., including $117,355 for a nacelle trainer and electric hub trainer and $87,677 for power distribution training equipment. In addition, the college will buy $38,118 in power generation training equipment from Hampden Engineering of Longmeadow, Maine. There are 21 students in IVCC’s renewable wind energy technician program.
  • Tenure for instructors Mark Brown, English composition, and Abhijeet Bhattacharya, economics. “The awarding of tenure is typically one of the highlights in a faculty members’ career,” said Corcoran. “Mark and Abhijeet are great examples of the quality of our faculty and we have high expectations for each of them.”
  • Chapman and Cutler LLP of Chicago as bond counsel and First Midstate Inc. of Bloomington as the investment banker for $5 million in general obligation bonds to finance part of IVCC’s match for construction of the $30.5 million Community Technology Center (CTC).
  • Preparation of the 2011 tax levy. The levy, which calls for a slight decrease in the tax rate based on an estimated 1 percent increase in the EAV, will be presented to the board Nov. 15 and finalized Dec. 20. 
  • The reorganization of the Jacobs Library staff to create a professional public services librarian position. The position salary, will, in part, be offset by the retirement of library technical assistant Jan Vogelgesang of La Salle effective Nov. 30.
  • Ceiling and lighting improvements for classrooms in buildings D and E for an estimated $184,450. The work will improve acoustics in the rooms and reduce heating and air conditioning costs.
  • Repairing the deck off the Fireplace Lounge at an estimated cost of $15,000.
  • The $439,825 bid of JB Contracting of La Salle to replace aluminum feeder wire and branch panels in buildings D and E.
  • The purchase of 26 printers for classrooms and labs, part of a four-year replacement cycle, from CDW Government for $35,804. 
  • Release of an excerpt from closed session minutes from the Feb. 16, 2011 meeting pertaining to the retirement of a college employee.

Board members learned:

  • Representatives from the University of Illinois Extension visited campus Oct. 5 to continue discussions about the Extension’s regional office locating at IVCC after the CTC opens in late 2013. The regional office, covering Bureau, La Salle, Marshall and Putnam counties, serves up to 60,000 individuals a year.
  • Sarah Glascock of rural Streator has been hired as assessment center coordinator. Glascock worked at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, the previous seven years as director of campus programming.
  • Of the resignation of piano instructor Mary Schallhorn of La Moille.
  • IVCC graduates and employees were recognized at the recent North Central Illinois Works! banquet in Mendota. Graphic design technology graduate Ted Anderson of Tiskilwa and nursing graduate Jennifer Uzella of Granville won individual achievement awards. Dislocated Workers Center employees Jennifer Marini and Mary Beth Liss were recognized for 10 years of service and Lisa Cofoid for 15. Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Sue Isermann was recognized for five years of service to the Works board and DWC director Joel Torbeck for 10.
  • IVCC’s 39th annual College Night Oct. 12 attracted an estimated 420 guests and 45 colleges and universities. More than 300 scholarship recipients, donors and guests attended the 15th annual IVCC Foundation Scholarship Recognition Reception Sept. 22 in the gym.