March 12, 2015 Minutes of Regular Meeting

The Board of Trustees of Illinois Valley Community College District No. 513 convened a regular session at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 12, 2015 in the Board Room (C307) at Illinois Valley Community College.

Members Physically Present

Melissa M. Olivero, Chair
Michael C. Driscoll, Vice Chair
Larry D. Huffman, Secretary
Laurie A. Bonucci
Jane E. Goetz
David O. Mallery (entered the meeting at 6:03 p.m.)
Everett J. Solon
Amy M. Rogowski, Student Trustee

Members Absent

Others Physically Present

Jerry Corcoran, President
Cheryl Roelfsema, Vice President for Business Services and Finance
Deborah Anderson, Vice President for Academic Affairs
Mark Grzybowski, Associate Vice President for Student Services
Walt Zukowski, Attorney

MOMENT OF SILENCE

Ms. Olivero led a moment of silence for Connie Skerston, assistant director of admissions and records, who passed away last week at the age of 45. She began working for the College in November 1998.  She was loved by all and will be missed by everyone.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

It was moved by Mr. Solon and seconded by Dr. Driscoll to approve the agenda, as presented.  Motion passed by voice vote.

PUBLIC COMMENT

None.

CONSENT AGENDA

It was moved by Dr. Huffman and seconded by Ms. Goetz to approve the consent agenda, as presented.  Motion passed by voice vote. 

The following items were approved in the consent agenda:

Approval of Minutes – February 12, 2015 Board Meeting

Approval of Bills - $2,737,571.84

Education Fund - $2,062,523.89; Operations & Maintenance Fund - $442,227.70; Operations & Maintenance (Restricted Fund) - $9,736.88; Auxiliary Fund - $185,319.50; Restricted Fund - $4,106.43; and Liability, Protection and Settlement Fund - $33,657.44

Treasurer’s Report

Personnel

Approved the stipends for the pay periods ending February 7, 2015 and February 21, 2015

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Dr. Corcoran reported last week he received a call from the Phi Theta Kappa home office saying that IVCC’s Ashley Williams is one of only 50 community college students in the nation to be named a 2015 New Century Scholar. Next month she will be receiving a $2,000 scholarship and certificate from The Coca-Cola Foundation and Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation. Overall, 1,700 students were nominated from more than 1,000 community colleges for recognition.  The College is very proud of Ashley’s recognition and appreciative of the behind-the-scenes work done on campus by PTK program advisors Eric Schroeder, Carmen Hartford and Charles Kwiatkowski for positioning her favorably for the award.  The city of Ottawa has expressed a willingness to donate a used ambulance to the college in support of its Emergency Medical Services program.  Andy Borkowsky, Sue Isermann, Bonnie Campbell, Cheryl Roelfsema and Reed Wilson are the College representatives who have worked closely with the city, particularly Commissioner James Less and Mayor Bob Eschbach, on this initiative. Dr. Corcoran is grateful for their thoughtfulness and commitment to the EMS program being the best it can be for IVCC students.  Cheryl Roelfsema has advised that IVCC has received the certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association. This marks the 21st consecutive year for such recognition.  Earlier today she also heard that IVCC received the GFOA distinguished budget award for 2015—the seventh year the College has received the award for its budget document. Dr. Corcoran congratulated Cheryl, Kathy Ross, Dawn Watson and others in the Business Office on their hard work and commitment to excellence in financial reporting.  IVCC is one of only five community colleges in Illinois to receive the Tree Campus Award.  And finally, former Lt. Governor Shelia Simon has agreed to deliver the commencement address to IVCC graduates on May 16. She was a very active Lt. Governor and a huge supporter of community colleges. In fact, she visited every one of the 48 community college in the state and is married to a community college professor.  Dr. Corcoran had the pleasure of hearing her speak and visiting with her on several occasions and knows that she’ll do a great job.  She was delighted to receive the offer and is looking forward to working with Mark Grzybowski, Cory Tomasson and the SGA on Skype conversations in the very near future so that she has a relationship in place with some of our student leaders before she even arrives on campus for the big day.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

The Audit/Finance Committee will meet on Tuesday, March 31, 2015.  The date to reorganize the Board after the April 7 election is Tuesday, May 5, 2015 at 6 p.m.

Mr. Mallery noted that he is unable to attend the ICCTA meeting on Saturday, March 14 and reached out to Laurie Bonucci to see if she could attend.  Ms. Bonucci noted that she will be out of state for the weekend. 

FACULTY RETIREMENT – ANNA MARIE PIETROLONARDO, WORLD LANGUAGES INSTRUCTOR

It was moved by Mr. Solon and seconded by Dr. Driscoll to accept Anna Marie Pietrolonardo’s request for retirement effective August 7, 2015 and wish her a long, happy, and healthy retirement.  Motion passed by voice vote.

FACULTY RESIGNATION – CYNTHIA SCHULTZ, MATHEMATICS INSTRUCTOR

It was moved by Ms. Bonucci and seconded by Dr. Huffman to accept with regret Cynthia Schultz’s resignation effective August 7, 2015 and wish her success in her new farming venture.  Motion passed by voice vote.

2015 ICCTA OUTSTANDING FULL-TIME FACULTY AWARD NOMINATION – DR. REBECCA DONNA

It was moved by Ms. Goetz and seconded by Mr. Solon to nominate Dr. Rebecca Donna, Criminal Justice and Forensics Instructor and Program Coordinator and the 2015 recipient of IVCC’s Stephen Charry Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence, to represent IVCC for the Illinois Community College Trustee Association’s Outstanding Faculty Award.  Motion passed by voice vote.

2015 ICCTA OUTSTANDING PART-TIME FACULTY AWARD NOMINATION – DAN SERAFINI

It was moved by Mr. Mallery and seconded by Dr. Driscoll to nominate Dan Serafini, Math Instructor, for the Illinois Community College Trustee Association’s Outstanding Part-time Faculty Member Award.  Motion passed by voice vote.

PURCHASE REQUEST – CELL PHONE DISTRIBUTED ANTENNA SYSTEM

It was moved by Ms. Goetz and seconded by Dr. Huffman to contract with Seamless Cellular for the installation of a cell phone distributed antenna system (DAS) in the amount of $356,286.42.  The administration was planning to fund this purchase with the School Security Grant and the IT Fund Balance, but since the purchase is a TORT allowable expense, the balance after the grant will be taken from the TORT fund.  Motion passed by voice vote.

REGIONAL DISPATCH CENTER

It was moved by Dr. Driscoll and seconded by Ms. Bonucci to support the request from the Illinois Valley Regional Dispatch Center Planning Board for discussions to continue on a plan that would involve the construction of a 5,000 square feet emergency dispatch center on IVCC’s south campus, as presented.

TRUSTEE COMMENT

Ms. Olivero encouraged board members to respond to the invitations for the Student Honors Banquet on Tuesday, April 7 at 6 p.m. in the IVCC gym and the Employee Recognition Event on Friday, April 24 at 4 p.m. at Grand Bear Lodge in Utica.

CLOSED SESSION

It was moved by Dr. Driscoll and seconded by Ms. Goetz to convene a closed session at 6:12 p.m. to discuss 1) the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body; 2) student discipline; 3) collective negotiations; 4) pending litigation; and 5) closed session minutes.  Motion passed by voice vote.

After a short break, the Board entered closed session at 6:16 p.m.  On a motion by Ms. Bonucci and seconded by Dr. Huffman, the regular meeting resumed at 8:22 p.m.  Motion passed by voice vote.