November 19, 2008 Minutes of Regular Meeting

The Board of Trustees of Illinois Valley Community College District No. 513 convened a regular session at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 in the Board Room (C307) at Illinois Valley Community College.

Members Physically Present

David L. Wilcoxson, Board Chair
Dennis N. Thompson, Vice Chair
Lori E. Scroggs, Secretary
Paula J. Endress
David O. Mallery
Thomas C. Setchell
Deborah L. Sweeden
Cassie Fuller, Student Trustee

Members Absent

Others Physically Present

Jerry Corcoran, President
Cheryl Roelfsema, Interim Vice President for Business Services and Finance
Sue Isermann, Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs
Walt Zukowski, Attorney

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

It was moved by Mrs. Sweeden and seconded by Dr. Scroggs to approve the agenda as presented.  Motion passed by voice vote.

CONSENT AGENDA

It was moved by Mr. Setchell and seconded by Dr. Scroggs to approve the consent agenda as presented.  Motion passed by voice vote.

The following items were approved in the consent agenda:

Approval of Minutes – October 7, 2008 Audit/Finance Committee Meeting and October 22, 2008 Board meeting.

Approval of the Bills - $1,591,509.20

Education Fund - $1,021,817.22; Operation and Maintenance Fund - $209,848.75; Operation and Maintenance (Restricted Fund) - $145,604.40; Auxiliary Fund - $75,543.47; Restricted Fund - $123,945.88; Liability, Protection and Settlement Fund - $14,749.47.

Treasurer’s Report

Personnel

Approved the stipends for the pay periods ending October 18, 2008 and November 1, 2008.

Bid Request – Stand-up Fork Lift

Approved to seek bids for a stand-up fork lift at an estimated cost of $26,000.

Bid Results – Replace Aluminum Feeder Wire and Branch Panels in Buildings A & B

Approved the architects’ recommendation to accept the base bid and alternate bid 1 from JB Contracting in the amount of $381,447. 

Bid Results – Firestop Corridor Walls & Accessibility Upgrades

Approved the architects’ recommendation to accept the base bid from Vanguard Construction – Pekin, IL in the amount of $157,700 for the firestop corridor work and $45,000 for the accessibility work for a total of $202,700.

Bid Results – Rigging System Trainer

Accepted the bid of $13,895.54 from Advanced Technologies Consultants, Inc. – Aurora, IL for a rigging system trainer pending approval from the Department of Labor.

Bid Results – Hunter Alignment System

Accepted the administration’s recommendation to reject all bids and re-bid this equipment.

Request for Proposal Results – Electricity Service

Accept the administration’s recommendation to reject all proposals and purchase electricity directly from AmerenIP on a real-time pricing basis.

Purchase Request – Industrial Maintenance Hands-On Training Packages

Approved the purchase of the instructional packages from Design Assistance Corporation for a total of $13,590.00 pending approval by the Department of Labor.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Dr. Corcoran reported the College is in the process of conducting an environmental scan.  Approximately 35 community leaders were on campus to discuss forces and trends in the areas of competition, demographics, economics, education, lifestyles, politics, technology, and workforce that will affect the College’s district over the next three to five years.  The response was tremendous and one of the most rewarding days Dr. Corcoran has had since being named the president of the College.  It was very satisfying to hear the College is well respected in the community and how the community is looking to the College to lead the way in higher education and workforce development.  Dr. Scroggs has played a key role in this process and is looking forward to sharing her findings with the Board in the next few months.  Another 15-20 individuals who were unable to attend the discussion have agreed to be interviewed individually so their input can be included.  Jamie Gahm, Rosie Lynch, and Cathy Bangert will also be sharing this information with the Student Government Association for their feedback.  The construction on the Truck Driver Training building, skills path, and parking lot is moving along nicely.  The plan is to get most of the base down on the west end of the new parking lot before the weather changes.  Dr. Corcoran commended Cheryl Roelfsema and Gary Johnson for their efforts in staying on top of this project.  The College will soon be posting a legal notice in local newspapers regarding the Higher Learning Commission visit on campus, February 18-20, 2009, to conduct an evaluation of the College’s programs and services for accreditation.  The public is invited to submit comments regarding the College to the Higher Learning Commission.  Comments must address substantive matters related to the quality of the institution or its academic programs.  The comments need to be in writing and signed.  The administration has been meeting with Mayor Eschbach about the college having more of a presence in Ottawa.  The Mayor would like to meet again on December 2 to further discuss this possibility.  Dr. Corcoran brought this up again to underscore the fact that the Board’s input is needed as the draft business plan is developed.  Dr. Corcoran recognized the following faculty and staff on recent achievements:

• Lauri Carey’s horticulture students helped second graders at Northwest School in LaSalle plant 600 bulbs.  This beautification project was supported by a CF Industries grant.
• Eleven new students have been accepted into the Honors program this fall.  Ryen Nagle is the advisor of the Honors program.
• Becky Perkins, adjunct reading instructor, is volunteering for two upcoming events for the Starved Rock Area Special Olympics.
• Debra Cooper, adjunct mathematics instructor, has been actively participating in the building of the Thrivent Builds/Habitat for Humanity Home in Princeton.
• One of Francie Skoflanc’s students, Lisa Gabrys, designed a website for Mark Allen’s, a local restaurant and another student, Lisa Phillips, is designing a new logo for the City of Oglesby.
• Rebecca Donna presented on crisis intervention for the Illinois Valley PADS staff.  She is also assisting Nancy Kochis, an L-P teacher, with the development and implementation of a forensics class to be offered to seniors.
• Students in Mike Phillip’s Global Environment courses collected 500 petition signatures expressing support for restoration of funding to keep state parks open.
• Ron Groleau conducted natural science and cadaver lab tours for a group of 25 L-P High School anatomy and physiology students.
• Tracy Morris was elected president of the Illinois Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.
• Jennifer Scheri was named president of the Illinois Community College Economic and Workforce Development Association.
• Lauren Sandberg was recognized for her work in convincing Nebraska Book Company to make a donation to the student activity account for $700.

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

Cassie Fuller and Student Government Association (SGA) members attended the ICCS/AA conference in Springfield.  They discussed different campus activities with other community college representatives and received new ideas.  They received ideas on how to build relationships with their legislators.  The SGA members attended a class on building teams and they hope to go on a retreat to use these team building exercises.  Cassie Fuller attended many seminars at the ACCT convention in New York which included interaction with faculty and students, textbook rental programs, collection of data and using it to make decisions addressing student and community needs, and building partnerships with national companies (Steinway pianos, Caterpillar, etc.).  Ms. Fuller attended the ICCB/SAC meeting in Chicago with roundtable discussions on the American Diploma Project – being better prepared for the transfer from high school to college.  The awards committee will hold a year-end banquet with all trustees to be invited.  The legislative committee has decided to drop the request for an increase of $50 million in capital funding due to the economic conditions and request an eight percent increase in operational funding.  At the local issues committee meeting, there will be a focus on veteran’s affairs and an attempt to solve some “green” initiatives.  The outreach committee is trying to raise $5,000 for the Illinois Center for Autism.  Ms. Fuller received ideas from colleges that have a high rate of attendance at their graduation ceremonies. One idea was to tape the ceremony and place it on the Internet for parents and international students who are unable to attend.  The SGA is working on their progress goals for the year – sponsoring a child through World Vision, holding intramural bags tournament for United Way, and working for Habitat for Humanities and PADS.  The SGA raised $6,830 for Bras for a Cause by collecting $1,366 bras.  Senator Gary Dahl and the Miller Group donated $5 for every bra collected.

Dave Mallery attended the ICCTA seminar on Wind Energy and Community Colleges.  The session took the approach that community colleges could be on the leading edge of developing and showing examples of incorporating green technologies into their campuses.  Bureau Valley High School has constructed a wind turbine and saved over $100,000 in utility costs per year.  Each school needs to look into a feasibility study that costs approximately $20,000.  There are grants that are available for the study.   It is estimated that it takes approximately 15 years to reap the benefits due to the initial costs. Mr. Mallery believes it is worthwhile for the college to discuss this idea and also include some of the college’s environmental instructors.  Mr. Mallery also attended the diversity committee with discussion centered on that fact that faculty do not or possibly do not represent the student body.  There was discussion on finding other avenues for advertising in more diverse publications.  In a recent ICCTA quick survey only seven community colleges have a full-time diversity officer.  Many utilize human resources to cover diversity training and to insure proper hiring.  Jim Beasely from Kaskaskia Community College shared a book that every student receives, which spells out the college’s core values, and the college also incorporates the core values in the board book.

Dennis Thompson attended a session at the ACCT Annual Leadership Congress on how the board works in regard to how they identify the things they need to do during the course of the year.  The board needs to be focused on setting policy and then relate it to finance and strategic planning.  The rest of the organization takes care of the job they are responsible for.  Emphasis was placed on the evaluation of the president, evaluation of the college and evaluation of the board and in some instances all three were considered as one evaluation.  On the student side, the focus should be on student data and this generates all other decisions.  Another issue discussed was the number of remedial students attending college. Several campuses have specialized programs such as “Achieving the Dream.”  It was found that if remedial students had a short review before the placement tests, they passed to the next level.  If they had up to six hours of review, they were able to take their first college level class. This depended on a number of variables – age, nationality, etc.  In order to move students through the remedial classes, additional counseling is needed.  One college increased tuition by $1 per hour and directed it toward hiring additional counseling staff.  Dennis also attended a session on community meetings to solicit information.  It was suggested to find a few key people in the community to encourage other members of the community to attend to increase attendance.  He picked up a business card from a New Mexico campus that just built a wind turbine because he was interested in technician courses.  Sauk Valley is trying to work with other community colleges to develop a program for wind energy technology.  Mr. Thompson’s thoughts are these jobs will become significant and the college needs to lead the charge in offering classes on solar, wind, and geothermal.  He also attended a session on virtual hospitals. The session had computerized manikins for nursing scenarios but the manikins were very expensive, $70,000 each.  Nursing students do not see different activities in pediatrics and the manikins helped the students to receive repetition on various scenarios in a controlled environment.

Tom Setchell found the sessions on detailed email policies, automated board packets, and improvement of government relations interesting and brought back copies of the information on the sessions to the appropriate staff.  Mr. Setchell found the Leadership Congress to be a good program and enjoyed attending.

Dave Wilcoxson reported that Walt Zukowski presented at the ICCTA meeting on November 14 on the topic of property tax implications of TIF districts and enterprise zones.  Mr. Wilcoxson also attended many sessions at the Leadership Congress in New York.  The board’s role on institutional assessment was a good program and changing the culture of an institution.  He noted that the presentations have been posted on the ACCT website and he also brought back material if anyone was interested.

Dr. Scroggs gave a brief summary of the Board Planning Committee meeting on November 5.  The three areas discussed were board/staff relations and college culture, ethical policies and guidelines, and ethical accountability.  George Needs is working with other colleges on ethical training.  The planning committee believes it would be helpful to implement a policy review system and align it with AQIP and strategic planning.  Another outcome the committee is looking at is a board self-assessment to identify areas of strength, improvement, and issues of college culture.  Dr. Scroggs will begin to design a document for the planning committee to review based on the ACCT board self-assessment document and the current presidential evaluation.  The planning committee will meet again on December 17, 2008 at 5:45 p.m.  Dr. Scroggs will have sample assessment documents to review and Jamie Gahm and Rosie Lynch will report on the Environmental Scan.

TENTATIVE TAX LEVY

It was moved by Mr. Setchell and seconded by Dr. Scroggs to adopt the Resolution Approving a Tentative Tax Levy and Tentative Certificate of Tax Levy, as presented.  Motion passed by voice vote.  The tax rate is projected to be slightly less for the current year but will be over five percent from last year, which will require a public hearing.

FACULTY APPOINTMENT – MR. ABHIJEET BHATTACHARYA, ECONOMICS INSTRUCTOR

It was moved by Mr. Thompson and seconded by Dr. Scroggs to approve the appointment of Mr. Abhijeet Bhattacharya as the Economics Instructor assigned to the Division of Natural Sciences and Business for the 2008-2009 academic year, with placement on the salary schedule at Step F-2, $43,790.  Motion passed by voice vote.

FACULTY APPOINTMENT – MR. MARK S. BROWN, ENGLISH COMPOSITION AND CREATIVE WRITING INSTRUCTOR

It was moved by Dr. Scroggs and seconded by Ms. Fuller to approve the appointment of Mr. Mark S. Brown as the English Composition and Creative Writing Instructor assigned to the Division of English, Mathematics and Education for the 2008-2009 academic year, with placement on the salary schedule at Step D-7, $47,044.  Motion passed by voice vote.

FACULTY APPOINTMENT – SUZANNE PORTER, FOOD SERVICE INSTRUCTOR AT SHERIDAN CORRECTIONAL CENTER

It was moved by Mr. Setchell and seconded by Dr. Scroggs to approve the appointment of Suzanne Porter as the Food Service Instructor at Sheridan Correctional Center at an annual starting salary of $34,500.  This offer is contingent upon a successful background check in accordance with the Illinois Department of Corrections’ guidelines.  Motion passed by voice vote.

STAFF APPOINTMENT – ELAINE NOVAK, DEAN OF CAREER AND TECHNICAL PROGRAMS

It was moved by Mrs. Sweeden and seconded by Mr. Thompson to approve the appointment of Elaine Novak as Dean, Division of Career and Technical Programs, at an annual salary of $64,000.  Motion passed by voice vote.

REQUEST FOR BOARD APPROVAL ON RELOCATION OF UTILITY POLES

It was moved by Mr. Setchell and seconded by Mr. Thompson to approve the payment of $28,636.11 to AmerenIP for the relocation of utility poles for the new truck driver training facility.  Motion passed by voice vote.

NEW POSITION – ATHLETIC DIRECTOR/RETENTION COORDINATOR/ADVISOR

It was moved by Mrs. Endress and seconded by Mrs. Sweeden to approve the creation of a new full-time, twelve month, non-teaching professional Athletic Director/Retention Coordinator/Advisor position.  Motion passed by voice vote.

ATHLETIC SALARY SCHEDULE

It was moved by Mrs. Sweeden and seconded by Mr. Thompson to approve the proposed three-year Athletic Salary Schedule as presented.  Motion carried by voice vote with one naye vote by Mr. Mallery.

TUITION WAIVERS FOR HONORS ORIENTATION AND HONORS PORTFOLIO COURSES

It was moved by Dr. Scroggs and seconded by Ms. Fuller to approve waiving the tuition and fees for the Honors Program participants for HON 1101 – Honors Orientation (2 credit hours) and HON 1002 – Honors Portfolio (1 credit hour).  Motion passed by voice vote.

PUBLIC COMMENT

None.

TRUSTEE COMMENT

Mr. Wilcoxson expressed his appreciation to those in attendance for coming to the board meeting, and asked the audience for suggestions to make their attendance more comfortable, such as holding the meetings in a larger or more accessible location.  No suggestions were offered.

CLOSED SESSION

It was moved by Dr. Scroggs and seconded by Mr. Thompson to convene a closed session to discuss 1) the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body; and 2) closed session minutes.

Student Advisory Vote:  “Aye” – Ms. Fuller.  Roll Call Vote: “Ayes” – Mr. Mallery, Dr. Scroggs, Mr. Setchell, Mrs. Sweeden, Mr. Thompson, Mrs. Endress and Mr. Wilcoxson.  “Nays” – None, motion carried.

The Board recessed at 8:02 p.m.  The Board entered closed session at 8:17 p.m.  On a motion by Dr. Scroggs, seconded by Ms. Fuller and carried unanimously, the regular meeting resumed at 9 p.m.

CLOSED SESSION MINUTES

It was moved by Mr. Thompson and seconded by Mrs. Sweeden to approve and retain the closed session minutes of the October 22, 2008 Board meeting.

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved by Dr. Scroggs, seconded by Mrs. Endress, and carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 9:02 p.m.  Motion passed by voice vote.