October 2002 Board Meeting Report

Illinois Valley Community College’s new graphic design technology program — financed through a federal grant — is flourishing, program coordinator Francie Skoflanc told the board of trustees Wednesday.

"In the first year of the program we had just five or six students in each class. As word spread about what we had, enrollment grew and this year just skyrocketed. In one class I have 19 students in a lab with just ten Macs," said Skoflanc.

To accommodate working adults, a complete night curriculum was added this year, she said.

The board toured the program’s cramped facilities in the lower level of B-Building — a room formerly used for storage.

"A lack of space is kind of a nice problem to have when you are building a program. Our students are very excited about the fact we will be adding multimedia and video classes next semester," Skoflanc said.

The program prepares students for work in Web site design, advertising, newspaper art, layout for print shops and publishers and 3D multimedia art.

IVCC created the program in 2001 through a federal Title III grant following the results of comprehensive survey in which employers indicated a need for trained graphic designers. Courses in the one year certificate or two year A.A.S. degree include drawing, design, visual communications, Quark XPress and Photoshop.

In other business, the board approved the grant-funded hiring of a case manager for the Dislocated Workers Center. DWC director Joel Torbeck said currently one part-time and three full-time case managers are serving 400 clients.

"The number of clients will increase. Carriage House in Streator has announced a layoff of over 150 workers in January," Torbeck said.

The board also:

• Authorized bids for various insurance needs including property casualty insurance, general liability and workers compensation at an estimated cost of $284,598. Director of Purchasing Pat Reed said the estimate reflects an expected 30 percent increase in premiums.
• Learned three individuals have been hired to fill vacancies: Carey Burns as receptionist/switchboard operator, Lynn Moore as enrollment services assistant and Maxine Stanford as purchasing assistant. The board also learned of the resignation of Connie Scheel, a teacher at the Learning Ladder Early Childhood Center in Princeton.
• Learned headcount is up 5 percent this semester despite the loss of the Sheridan Correctional Center program.
• Set a special meeting for noon, Tuesday, November 12 to canvass the vote from the November 5 general election referendum.