September 2021 Board Report

Newly appointed trustee Bill Hunt of Oglesby was welcomed by the Illinois Valley Community College board Thursday.

Hunt was appointed at a special meeting a week earlier to fill a nearly two-year vacancy created by the July 8 resignation of trustee David Mallery. Hunt is a former 12-year Mendota City Council member. His term runs through the April 2023 consolidated election. 

In other business, trustees approved:

  • Bonding insurance for treasurer Matt Seaton from R. J. Galla for three years for $29,744. Seaton is Vice President for Business Services and Finance.
  • A five-month contract extension for digital marketing with Cumulus Media Chicago for $20,000. Cumulus has driven enrollment via digital display banners, pre-roll video, social media placements and streaming audio. 
  • The appointment of Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Bonnie Campbell as Interim Dean of Nursing Programs.

Trustees learned:

  • 167 summer graduates earned 187 degrees and certificates compared to 132 graduates earning 142 degrees and certificates last summer.
  • Brittany Pierski was hired as third shift custodian.
  • Resignations were received from payroll and benefits coordinator Tracy Schwemlein, accounting clerk Shante Avila, Learning Resources specialist Katie Pratt, part-time Adult Education instructor Zachary Zrust and assistant women’s soccer coach Jerry Ellerbrock. In her resignation letter, Avila said, “I have basically grown up at IVCC during my 15 years and I’m not just leaving co-workers but people who have become my family.”
  • A $150,000 Capital Development Board appropriation for the Community Technology Center will be used for LED lighting in the Dr. Mary Margaret Weeg Cultural Centre.
  • Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEERF) funds will be used to expand the number of LED TVs for college communications across campus and Ottawa Center. In addition, HEERF dollars will replace the digital welcome sign at the intersection of Orlando Smith Road and County Highway 23 (Oglesby spur).
  • This fall, IVCC will change its 403(b) third party administrator to Omni/TSA Services.  
  • IVCC’s home baseball field is now Veteran’s Park in Peru, home of the Prospect League’s Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp. Annual fees in the five-year agreement range from $2,650 in year one to $2,982 in year five.
  • The Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) will release its Economic Impact Study of Community Colleges Sept. 29 focusing on the overall system and each individual college.
  • Gov. JB Pritzker’s executive order requires higher education personnel and students receive their first COVID-19 vaccination by Sept. 19 or submit to weekly testing. “Getting a program like this up and running with accountability measures has been daunting,” IVCC President Jerry Corcoran said, adding, “our friends at ICCB, counterparts at other community colleges, university partners and our staff have come together to make it happen and I’m proud of the results.”
  • The IVCC Foundation’s 21st Century Scholars Society dinner will be replaced with a virtual ceremony honoring four finalists, four merit winners and the Society’s 39 members.
  • College personnel met Thursday with Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) representatives to discuss the status of the current dental assisting program and hear about plans for launching a dental hygiene program in fall 2023.
  • IVCC has submitted its “Assurance Argument” to maintain accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission. “The HLC team reviewing our report offered feedback one week ago … then followed up with a phone call saying overall IVCC is doing fine work and has much to be proud of,” Corcoran noted. 
  • IVCC is working with Heartland, Richland, Parkland, Illinois Central and Lincoln Land to market central Illinois “to employers who need what we can deliver” in terms of career and technical training, Corcoran said.
  • English instructor Delores Robinson shared a “Spotlight on the Classroom” during public comment. “The pandemic has brought about a sea-change in educational environments. IVCC’s Educational Technologists train faculty on some of the most innovative ways to continue to deliver content while accommodating students’ schedules and home lives,” she said. Robinson then described the “HyFlex” teaching format several faculty are using successfully.