July 2021 Board Report

David Mallery of Hennepin, a 16-year board member, made his resignation official at Thursday’s Illinois Valley Community College board meeting.

Mallery, first elected in April 2005, said in his letter of resignation, “It truly has been a pleasure and privilege to be an IVCC board member, IVCC graduate and parent of two students.

“While I have always intended on serving entire terms, life has altered those intentions. I anxiously await the completion of my Florida home and find it time to recognize that I will soon be unable to legally serve IVCC as an elected board member,” Mallery said.

“Thank you to the 21 peer board members who shared the board table with me over the many years … and while we may have had disagreements at times, I believe we shared a common passion for our students.”

IVCC President Jerry Corcoran said Mallery championed construction of the Student Center as chair of the board’s facilities committee.

“You always thought of students first,” Corcoran said.

In other business, the board approved a tentative $34.4 million budget, up seven percent over the previous year due to more than $3 million in pandemic-related federal funding.

IVCC has received $3.2 million from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) to address student and institutional needs resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak.

Corcoran recognized controller Kathy Ross and business office administrative assistant Nikki Van Nielen for producing the tentative budget available at https://www.ivcc.edu/businessservices/financial-budgets/FY22_Budget_Tentative.pdf.

The board will approve the budget after a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 12.

Trustees also approved:

Closed session minutes from June 10.
Payment of $11,550 in annual dues to the Illinois Community College Trustees Association for legislative advocacy, statewide honors for faculty and alumni, trustee orientation and more.
The appointment of Vice President for Business Services and Finance Matt Seaton as college treasurer effective July 31.
Renewal of student athletic insurance with Guarantee Trust Life for $24,557 and student athletic catastrophic insurance with Gerber Life for $2,990.
Four personal days and up to $1,000 per year in tuition reimbursement for 86 full-time support staff members not affected by a negotiated labor agreement.
The resignation of Dean of Humanities, Fine Arts and Social Sciences Robyn Schiffman after seven years at IVCC.
Reimbursement of $67.20 in expenses to trustees Jane Goetz and Maureen Rebholz for attending the ICCTA Convention and trustee training sessions June 4-5 in Normal.

The board learned:

420 graduates earned 520 degrees and certificates in spring compared to 357 earning 421 degrees and certificates in spring 2020.
Recently hired financial aid specialist Miguel Hermosillo has an MBA in finance and bachelor’s and associate’s in accounting.
Custodian Ben Simpson has requested a leave of absence.
Corcoran shared with the board a letter from recently retired La Salle County Sheriff Tom Templeton. Templeton said, in part, “I am writing not only to advise you of my retirement, but to thank you and the whole IVCC family for allowing me to teach at the college for 25 years.”
Daryle Wragge, a 40-year high school and college ag instructor, lauded IVCC’s ag program in a letter to program co-coordinator Willard Mott and Corcoran. “I am extremely proud of all that you and the college have done to promote, develop, and enhance agricultural education in our district. I have known for years the dynamic potential IVCC has for an outstanding agricultural department. We now are realizing it.”
An IVCC partnership with Regional Office of Education #35 and the Business Employment Skills Team (BEST) has resulted in 170 students earning their high school diplomas after having dropped out. Regional Work Study program coordinator Steve Malinsky is retiring after 49 years in education and will be replaced by recently retired Seneca High School Supt. Jim Carlson who launched the program 11 years ago.