April 9, 2020 Minutes of Regular Meeting

The Board of Trustees of Illinois Valley Community College District No. 513 convened a regular session at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 9, 2020 in the Board Room (C307) at Illinois Valley Community College.

Members Physically Present

Jane E. Goetz, Chair

Everett J. Solon, Vice Chair

Members Virtually Present

Angela M. Stevenson, Secretary

Amy J. Boyles

Jay K. McCracken

David O. Mallery

Maureen O. Rebholz

Matthew H. Klein, Student Trustee (2019-2020)

Manuel “Tony” Galindo, Student Trustee (2020-2021)

Members Absent

Others Physically Present

Jerry Corcoran, President

Cheryl Roelfsema, Vice President for Business Services and Finance

Chris Dunlap, Director of Information Technology

Fran Brolley, Director of Community Relations and Development

Others Virtually Present

Walt Zukowski, Attorney

 

Ms. Goetz informed that it is the custom and practice of the College to record Board meetings and all present were informed that the meeting was being recorded both audio and video.

APPOINTMENT OF SECRETARY PRO-TEM

Ms. Goetz appointed Mr. Solon as secretary pro-tem in the physical absence of Ms. Stevenson.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

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

PUBLIC COMMENT

None

RECOGNITION – MATTHEW H. KLEIN, STUDENT TRUSTEE

Ms. Goetz read a resolution and presented it to Matthew H. Klein along with a gift on behalf of the Board of Trustees to express sincere appreciation that he has given generously of his time, energy, and talents in his responsibilities as Student Trustee to the College for 2019-2020. Board members thanked Mr. Klein for an awesome job.

Ms. Goetz was joined by the Board members in welcoming Tony Galindo as the newly elected Student Trustee for 2020-2021.

CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS

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

The following items were approved in the consent agenda:

Approval of Minutes – March 12, 2020 Board Meeting

Approval of Bills - $1,053,403.40

Education Fund - $813,906.63; Operations & Maintenance Fund - $52,999.19; Operations & Maintenance (Restricted Fund) - $55,122.25; Auxiliary Fund - $63,698.55; Restricted Fund - $13,791.01; Liability, Protection & Settlement Fund - $50,561.34; and Grants, Loans & Scholarships - $3,324.43.

Treasurer’s Report

Personnel

Approved the stipends for pay periods ending February 29, 2020 and March 14, 2020 and the Part-time Faculty and Staff Appointments of March 2020.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Dr. Corcoran congratulated Tony Galindo on being elected by his peers as our new Student Trustee. Dr. Corcoran noted that in his almost 30 years at the college and 12 in his current position he has marveled at the perspective that each student trustee has brought to the table, and after Judy Day and he visited with Tony and Matthew Klein a few days ago, he had no doubt that Tony will carry on that same legacy of excellence. Dr. Corcoran thanked Tony for stepping forward to serve the student body. Dr. Corcoran thanked the Student Government Association as well for facilitating this year’s virtual election. Dr. Corcoran thanked everyone affiliated with the college for the fine job IVCC has done in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home executive order. He noted that although change can often be unsettling, the move to delivering course content strictly online for the last eight-weeks of the spring semester has gone incredibly well. Dr. Corcoran added that our faculty are professionals who are deeply committed to teaching, learning and assessment. He noted that our administrators and support staff have risen to the challenge and are working hard to make sure that no students are left behind. Dr. Corcoran reported that many of our typical major events have been postponed or are being delivered in new and creative ways.

Examples include:

  • A virtual Explore IVCC program was created to replace one of our most successful traditional face-to-face programs of the year.
  • College Parent 101 and Nursing Program Information sessions are now completely online;
  • A financial aid Q & A session was recently conducted via Zoom;
  • New podcasts have been recorded and distributed on accessing remote services and tips for destressing during uncertain times.
  • Recruitment specialists are reaching out to applicants, students and parents by way of text messages, email and social media;
  • Our career services folks are considering a virtual job fair; and
  • Commencement and our nursing pinning are both scheduled for May 16 so instead of traditional ceremonies, our plan is to move forward with a virtual event next month, and to invite this year’s graduates to join us at the May 2021 commencement.

Dr. Corcoran reported that the ICCB is working with other state agencies on a plan for possibly offering students and faculty more pass/fail options for consideration given the extraordinary circumstances everyone is facing this semester. He added that our current policy No. 2.17, states in part that no more than 20 percent of semester hours earned in pass/fail courses are applicable to a degree or toward a certificate offered by the college. Dr. Corcoran noted that we do not have a recommendation at this time, however, he would respectfully ask that once a decision is made at the state level, we be allowed some flexibility in this regard as long as what we are doing is in-step with other Illinois community colleges, has the blessing of the IAI panels, and is what we determine to be in our students’ best interests. Dr. Corcoran announced that as of 4:09 p.m. today a communication was received from ICCB jointly with IBHE and the IAI panels that courses completed under these crisis-driven alternative course delivery methods shall be deemed transferable and earn credit as they were originally intended during the spring 2020 semester and be applied toward major, minor and general education requirements. Regarding the application of courses completed with a passing grade, institutions are expected to treat transfer courses the same as they treat their own courses that fall within this framework and time. He added that the guidelines go on to state that regardless of how or if an individual institution choses to implement a pass/fail grade option for students, no student shall be required to repeat an IAI general education course for general education credit who received a P or passing grade at any IAI participating institution. Dr. Corcoran noted that we are looking for the flexibility for this semester only so as to not leave any student behind. Mr. Mallery commented that ISU’s policy is a grade of C or above for undergraduates that would result in a “pass” with a notation on the transcript to indicate the circumstances and wondered if the College could something similar. Dr. Corcoran thanked Mr. Mallery for his input. In other matters, Dr. Corcoran informed that work is progressing nicely on the new agriculture storage and routine maintenance facility. He was pleased to share that everything is on schedule. Dr. Corcoran offered kudos to Scott Curley and our facilities staff for doing an excellent job of deep-cleaning in order to lessen the likelihood of spreading the coronavirus. Dr. Corcoran was delighted to announce that Dean Shane Lange recently successfully defended his dissertation entitled Examining Career and Technical Education Practitioner Preparation and Professional Development Needs and he will officially be granted his EdD from ISU in May. Dr. Corcoran congratulated Dr. Lange on a job well done.

SABBATICAL LEAVE REQUEST – DR. JARED OLESEN

It was moved by Mr. Solon and seconded by Mr. Mallery to approve the sabbatical leave for Dr. Jared Olesen for the 2020-2021 academic years, as presented. Motion passed by voice vote.

INFORMATION ITEMS

Ms. Goetz directed attention to pages 36 and 37 of the Board book for the Outstanding Full-Time Faculty Member Award 2020 and recipient of the Stephen Charry Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence to Dr. Matthew Johll and the Outstanding Part-Time Faculty Member Award 2020 to Jennifer Mills. Ms. Goetz offered congratulations to both Dr. Johll and Ms. Mills for their work, service and dedication to our students.

TRUSTEE COMMENT

  • Ms. Goetz thanked the administration, faculty and staff who have worked overtime to take care of our students. On behalf of the Board we thank you for your dedicated service to the College and wish you and your family good health and safety.
  • Mr. Mallery commented that he has heard positive feedback about the transitioning of classes to an online format. Kudos to all.
  • Mr. McCracken thanked IVCC’s faculty, administration and staff for their work and service. Kudos to everyone.
  • Mr. Solon noted that for two months in a row we have had positive results in enrollment and credit hours, especially with the online classes . Dr. Corcoran added that the positive outcomes are a credit to our faculty and staff.
  • Mr. Mallery informed that at ISU the drop deadline was extended to May 4 and asked if moving the deadline had been considered at the College. Mr. Grzybowski noted that we have moved the date out by two weeks to April 22 at IVCC and we could consider going further out if we need to in order to be in line with the pass/fail decision.
  • Ms. Goetz extended special thanks to Mr. Dunlap for his expertise and assistance with this evening’s Board meeting.

OTHER

None

ADJOURNMENT

Ms. Goetz declared the meeting adjourned at 6:47 p.m.