March 30, 2023 Planning Committee Meeting
The Planning Committee of the Board of Trustees of Illinois Valley Community College District No. 513 met at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 30, 2023 in the Board Room (C307) at Illinois Valley Community College.
Committee Members Physically Present
Jane E. Goetz, Committee Chair
Amy L. Boyles
Jay K. McCracken, Board Vice Chair
Committee Members Virtually Present
Committee Members Absent
Board Members Present
Everett J. Solon, Board Chair
Board Members Virtually Present
Angela M. Stevenson, Secretary
William F. Hunt
Others Physically Present
Jerry Corcoran, President
Gary Roberts, Vice President for Academic Affairs
Mark Grzybowski, Vice President for Student Services
Matt Suerth, Director of Institutional Research
Mary Beth Herron, Director of Human Resources
Others Virtually Present
The meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. by Ms. Goetz.
PUBLIC COMMENT
None
ACCREDITATION UPDATES
Dr. Roberts provided updates on re-accreditation for the college and noted that the Interim Report on Assessment and Strategic Enrollment Plan for Persistence, Retention, and Completion would be submitted to the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) prior to November, 2023. Dr. Roberts informed that members of the Student Services team, led by Mark Grzybowski attended the Student Success Academy in Summer 2022 and the team will attend the Academy again this summer. Mr. Grzybowski commented that we have the same core team and this time we will be evaluating our student success initiatives. He added that in the time between the meetings we surveyed the college community to identify initiatives in preparation for the upcoming Student Success Academy. Dr. Roberts informed that the Quality Initiative Proposal is due by June 2024 and the Comprehensive Evaluation will be 2026-2027. He added that programmatic reaccreditation will occur or has occurred during 2022-2024 for the following programs: Nursing (February 2023); Dental Hygiene (August 2023) and Medical Assisting (Spring 2024).
INTEGRATED POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION DATA SYSTEM (IPEDS) 2022 DATA FEEDBACK REPORT
Dr. Roberts informed that IVCC uses the IPEDS Feedback Report for benchmarking against a group of nine Illinois peer institutions and for tracking IVCC statistical trends over time. The nine colleges are Highland, Logan, Kankakee, Kishwaukee, Lake Land, Lewis and Clark, McHenry, Richland and Sauk Valley. He noted that as far as enrollments, our numbers are comparable to our peer institutions as almost all of the college’s peer institutions have experienced similar enrollment declines over the past decade. The college’s tuition and fees have increased modestly over the years driven mainly by fee increases as tuition has been frozen for several years. The average net price of attendance increased marginally in both cost and rank after a one-year decrease in the 2021 report and IVCC now ranks 5th. Dr. Roberts informed that IVCC continues to see impressive gains in its graduation rate and ranks 6th place overall and that numbers have increased in both certificates and degrees awarded for 2020-21. The percent distribution of the college’s core revenues by source is better than the peer group average, especially tuition & fees (ranked 4th) and state appropriations (ranked 1st).
PERSONAL ASSESSMENT OF THE COLLEGE ENVIRONMENT (PACE)
The fall 2021 administration of the PACE Employee Satisfaction Survey continues IVCC’s commitment to systematically measure and improve employee satisfaction since 2006. Dr. Roberts informed that many colleges elected not to take part in the 2021 survey due to the pandemic, but in the spirit of transparency IVCC chose to participate. The PACE Satisfaction Survey defines Institutional Climate by four factors at an institution: Institutional Structure, Supervisory Relationships, Teamwork & Student Focus. The PACE results can be viewed through the perspective of an employee’s position. Those who lead the college tend to have higher regard for Institutional Structure & Supervisory Relationships. Those who teach tend to have higher regard for Student Focus items. Those who perform support functions are inclined to have the highest regard for Teamwork. Results from the 2021 PACE indicate that progress has slowed slightly across several factors from the 2018 administration: Decisions are made at the appropriate level at IVCC, but information could be better shared within the institution and administrative leadership is focused on meeting the needs of students. Faculty voice their greatest concern in the Climate Factor despite improvement seen in the 2018 survey. IVCC’s institutional climate is strong even with the observed, yet small, measurable declines seen across multiple factors during a once in a century pandemic.
COMMUNITY COLLEGE SURVEY OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT (CCSSE)
The CCSSE survey benchmarks student engagement measures against local and national comparison groups. Twenty-one Illinois community colleges participated in the 2021 survey. Student engagement is measured by five academic benchmarks: 1) Active & Collaborative Learning, 2) Student Effort, 3) Academic Challenge, 4) Student-Faculty Interaction, and Support for Learners. From a national comparison standpoint, IVCC matches the 2021 CCSSE cohort on the fourth benchmark, Student-Faculty Interaction and surpasses on the fifth, Active & Collaborative Learning. Declines were small in two benchmarks, Student Effort & Student-Faculty Interaction, and slightly lower in Academic Challenge. Changes seen in the 2021 CCSSE should be viewed in light of the pandemic and its continuing impact on the college’s students’ collegiate engagement experience. Dr. Roberts noted that students continue to rate their IVCC experience highly with an 88 percent responding affirmatively and 95 percent continues to recommend IVCC to a friend or to a family member.
ICCB PROGRAM REVIEW REPORT
The external program reviews for 2017-2021 submitted to ICCB included Communications, Computer Networking (CSN), Criminal Justice (CRJ), Cybersecurity (CSC), Electrical Construction & Industrial Electrician (EET), and Electronics & Electrician Technician (ELE). Dr. Roberts informed that we will be revisiting the internal program review process and are looking for the reviews to be shared with the deans, vice presidents and the faculty.
TRANSFER DATA
Dr. Roberts commented that we have heard a lot about enrollment lately. He shared a document on the number of students in postsecondary institutions from 2001-02 through the present. Dr. Roberts pointed out that: 1) college enrollments are down across the state of Illinois, 2) Middle America is losing population, 3) there are fewer 15 to 19-year-olds to pull from which affects enrollments, and 4) there are fewer families with fewer children. Mr. McCracken commented on the importance of getting high school students through the pipeline with dual credit classes. Dr. Roberts noted that at IVCC we have strong programs in the transfer areas, we have phenomenal instructors who are passionate about what they do and are devoted to the mission of the college. We are in financially good shape and in a position to grow our enrollments. We have fine leadership now and in the future. Ms. Goetz noted that a lot of data has been covered and inquired how it is shared. Dr. Roberts informed that the data is shared with the Deans Council and through our campus committee structure including Teaching & Learning Committee (TLC), Strategic Leadership & Planning Council (SLPC), Institutional Research (IR), and on the college’s website. Ms. Goetz thanked Dr. Roberts for the report presentations and noted that we are appreciative of the work that went into producing the reports.
BOARD POLICY 3.34 – REMOTE WORK
The proposed Board Policy addresses remote work, which is considered by the College as performing job duties at locations other than at a College facility, subject to the approval of the Human Resources (HR) Department, to be a viable, flexible option for administration and full- and part-time support staff when both the employee and the position are suited to the arrangement. Remote work may be suitable for some employees and positions, but not for others. Ms. Herron noted that the plan is to model the proposed remote work policy with the College’s Information Technology (IT) department. The committee recommended that Board Policy 3.34 – Remote Work be shared with the full Board.
DECENNIAL COMMITTEES ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY ACT
Dr. Corcoran informed that the Decennial Committees on Local Government Efficiency Act was signed into law by Governor Pritzker on June 10, 2022. The Act requires all units of local government that may levy a tax, except municipalities and counties, to convene a committee to study local efficiencies and report recommendations regarding efficiencies and increased accountability. The committee must be comprised of: 1) the elected/appointed members of the governing board; 2) at least two individuals who reside in the district; and 3) the chief executive officer. A written summary of the committee’s findings is to be provided to the county board. Dr. Corcoran noted that with the committee’s approval this information will be shared with the full Board at the April meeting. There were no objections from the committee to proceed, as proposed.
OTHER
None
ADJOURNMENT
Ms. Goetz declared the meeting adjourned at 6:10 p.m.