June 2013 Board Report

Illinois Valley Community College may soon partner with Oglesby or the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office to provide an armed police presence on campus.

Tuesday night, trustees authorized administrators to pursue proposals from the city and Sheriff’s office to assign an officer to the college a minimum of 20 hours a week, a common practice at other Illinois community colleges. IVCC President Jerry Corcoran said 25 of 35 community colleges surveyed in 2011 had armed officers.

When IVCC outsourced its security to G4S Secure Solutions more than two years ago, it considered an armed presence.

“Our goal all along has been to provide as safe and secure an environment as we can for our students, staff and the public,” said Corcoran. “Having Oglesby police or our sheriff’s office working with G4S on a daily basis would be another significant safety enhancement.”

In other action, the board approved the purchase of nearly $1 million in equipment, technology and furniture for the Peter Miller Community Technology Center including:

  • Instructor audio-visual podiums from Nomad Technologies of Eden Prairie, Minn., for $296,460.
  • Furniture from Kruger International (KI) of Green Bay, Wis., for $714,866.
  • Servers, wireless controllers, consultation services, IP phones and licensing from Dell, Burwood Group, Dexon Computer and CDW-G totaling $168,243.
  • Network switches and accessories to commission the building’s HVAC system from Dexon for $34,710.
  • And, $55,625 in student planning and retention alert software for the counseling office within the William and Dian Taylor Student Development Commons. The package includes e-Advising, scheduling and retention software to help students attain degrees and certificates.

In other business, trustees approved:

  • A 2.5 percent increase for most support staff, administrators and part-time faculty.  In athletics, the board approved a freeze on head coach’s salaries and reduced pay for assistant coaches to a total of $2,500 per sport.
  • A 2.5 percent increase for vice presidents Lori Scroggs and Cheryl Roelfsema and a three-year contract and a 3 percent increase for Corcoran. The board also eliminated the Vice President for Planning and Institutional Effectiveness position formerly held by Scroggs.
  • Salary adjustments for nursing instructor Jennifer Savoia and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Workforce Development Sue Isermann. In a recent reorganization, the division of Workforce Development’s nine instructors came under Isermann’s supervision.  
  • A resolution to file a “request to intervene” with the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board in response to an appeal made by Marquis Energy LLC for the 2011 assessment.
  • Renewal of an $8.6 million capital “RAMP” request for additions and renovations to Jacobs Library and the fitness center. The project is number 31 on the state list.
  • The prevailing wage resolution for fiscal 2014 and authorization to continue payment for standard operating procedures from July 1 until the fiscal 14 budget is adopted.
  • The resignation of Dr. Jeff Anderson, Dean of Humanities, Fine Arts and Social Sciences effective July 12 and the appointment of his interim replacement, history instructor Steve Alvin.
  • The hiring of nursing instructor Karie Stecken to fill the vacancy of Chris Foster. Stecken, who earned her master’s in nursing from Olivet Nazarene University in Kankakee and her bachelor’s in nursing from Bradley University, worked as an RN clinical supervisor and staff nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital in Streator.
  • A $15,700 contract with Progressive Impressions International (Pii) of Bloomington to help the college recruit a greater share of district high school graduates. Pii will assist the college in developing personalized marketing to approximately 5,000 sophomores, juniors and seniors this summer and over the course of the 2013-14 academic year.

The board also learned:

  • The 29-33 percent of district high school graduates IVCC attracts, represent the majority of full-time students and make up approximately 40 percent of the student body, said Scroggs in a presentation to the board. Career and technical students make up 36 percent of the headcount and many attend part-time seeking AAS degrees and/or certificates.
  • IVCC extended its food service contract with Country Catering of Lostant for one year beginning July 31. “Feedback from students and staff indicate Country Catering’s menu and food quality meet our needs very well,” said Corcoran.
  • The food vending machine contract with Tri-City Vending and Foodservice has also been extended one year beginning July 1.
  • The administration made a $15,242 change order in the restroom modification project that will bring its total cost to $776,042. A $21,598 change order was made in the building C boiler room upgrade to bring that project’s total to $458,598.
  • Assistant men’s basketball coach Chris Herman has resigned after six seasons but will remain as director of Project Success. Academic technologist Janna Blaydes also resigned.
  • Bonnie Jasiek has been appointed interim-administrative assistant in the Continuing Education Center to replace 15-year employee Cherie Duke. Ryan Ziegler has been hired as shipping and receiving coordinator.
  • Illinois Valley Community Hospital has closed CampusCare at IVCC due to the low number of patients using the clinic.
  • This spring, 546 graduates earned 681 degrees and certificates; last spring, 562 graduates earned 701 degrees and certificates.
  • The July 1 restructuring of the local workforce investment system will result in four of eight Dislocated Workers Center employees being retained by BEST, Inc., including DWC director Joel Torbeck as a placement coordinator, Sally Pflibsen as a career advisor in Ottawa, Sara Price as a trade career advisor in Ottawa and Lisa Cofoid as a part-time career advisor at IVCC. Remaining staff – Randy Vecchi, Mary Beth Liss, Nicole Medawar-Wiltse and Jennifer Marini – did not apply for positions.
  • In his monthly construction update, Corcoran said the change order for work in the circle drop-off has been approved by the CDB and work will resume next week; a large sign featuring IVCC’s shield and flame logo has been mounted above the main entrance; and, the building’s grand opening will be at 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1.
  • More than 20 La Salle County ROE high school and IVCC English and math instructors attended the first “Bridging the Gap” workshop on curriculum alignment June 17. Susan Goodale worked with nine English faculty and Dan Serafini with eight math instructors to align junior and senior curricula with college-level courses.
  • A total of 19 new employees participated in the June 7 Leadership and Core Values retreat.