March 2026 Board Report

Student achievement was celebrated by the Illinois Valley Community College Board of Trustees on Monday as the winners of two local essay contests were announced by President Dr. Tracy Morris.

Morris announced the winners of IVCC’s annual Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Writing Contest and the Gandhi-King Peace Essay Contest. In the DEI contest, David Escobedo of La Salle received first place, Danica Scoma of Utica, second, and Cooper Lamps of La Salle, third. All three will be recognized at the Spring Academic Awards ceremony. The students also received cash prizes of $100 for first place, $75 for second and $50 for third.

Cooper Lamps was also the winner of the Gandhi-King Peace essay. He will receive $100 and the essay becomes eligible for a state competition.

In her monthly report to the Board, Dr. Morris also:

• Shared statewide community college enrollment figures, which marked the fourth consecutive year of enrollment growth and topped pre-pandemic levels. More than 294,000 students enrolled in community colleges this spring, compared to 285,800 in Spring 2025 and 283,000 in Spring 2019. Most of the state’s community colleges saw increases, with workforce-oriented instruction programs showing the strongest gains.
• Noted that a record number of students applied for IVCC Foundation scholarships. The Foundation received 665 applications, up from 570 a year ago.

In other action, the Board:

• Learned of the appointment of Averil Miles as Director of Facilities, to replace Scott Curley, who is retiring.
• Learned that two faculty members and two students have been submitted for consideration for Illinois Community College Trustees Association awards. Dr. Jon Hubbell was nominated for Outstanding Full Time Faculty, M’Kenzee Smith was nominated for Outstanding Adjunct Faculty, student trustee Danica Scoma for the Gregg Chadwick Student Service Scholarship, and student/employee Megen Berg for the Lifelong Learning Award.
• Accepted a bid from Lite Construction, Inc., Montgomery, Illinois, in the amount of $3.5 million for the 2026 campus renovations, to be paid from Protection, Health and Safety (PHS) funds, working cash bond issuance, and fund balance reserves.
• Approved the purchase of 229 lab and staff computer systems from Lenovo, as part of the routine technology upgrades at a cost of $287,145.
• Agreed to lease a 2026 E350 Turtle Top Van Terra XLT bus for 36 months from Southern Bus and Mobility, Inc. of Breese, Illinois, for a total of $63,031. The vehicle replaces one of the two shuttle buses used for athletics and other student activities.