February 2015 Board Report

The Illinois Valley Community College board approved an $8 per credit hour tuition increase Thursday.

When the 7.2 percent tuition increase is combined with the $7.40 universal fee, the cost of a credit hour will be $119 beginning with the summer session. The college’s current rate is well below both state and like-college averages.  

“With two of the three primary sources for operating revenue – state funding and local property tax assessments – declining, we requested the increase,” said IVCC President Jerry Corcoran.

“We will remain below the state average and significantly below tuition rates at the public four-year institutions; an increase is far more desirable than a reduction in programs or services that are critical to student success,” Corcoran said.

“We are still very affordable at number 28 out of 39 districts with only 10 less than our combined tuition and universal fee rate and our cost is one-third to one-quarter the price of the state universities.”

In other action, the board increased the percentage paid by high school students enrolled in the Early Entry College program from 60 to 75 percent of the standard tuition rate.

In addition, fee increases for 122 courses, decreases for 47 and assignment of fees to two courses were approved.

Police chiefs from Peru, La Salle and Oglesby attended the meeting to advocate for a regional 911 dispatch center to be located south of the college barn. The Illinois Valley Regional Dispatch Center Planning Board has secured a $1.5 million grant for construction of the facility.

IVCC board members voiced support for the proposal and may issue a decision as early as the March 12 meeting.

In other business, the board approved:

• A full-time business specialist for the Small Business Development Center, contingent on grants.
• Two new certificates for the Early Childhood Education program.
• Tenure for instructors Mary Black, developmental math, Carmen Hartford, anatomy and physiology, and Shane Lange, automotive technology.
• Designated the 2016 fiscal year as July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016, appointed Corcoran to prepare the tentative budget and approved the budget calendar.
• Allowing Amber Mechanical to withdraw their Jan. 27 bid for Building A chiller/air handler replacement without penalty and accepted the bid of Dodson Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning of Pontiac for $799,100.

The board learned:

• Following a recent three-day visit by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, which included review of a 340-page self-study report and interviews with faculty and staff, IVCC’s nursing program earned full, eight-year accreditation.
• The program’s NCLEX pass rates for 2014 were 96 percent for both RNs and LPNs compared to the national average of 82 percent and state average of 84 percent.
• The new Economic Development Corporation of North Central Illinois, a nonprofit serving Bureau, LaSalle and Putnam counties, has requested rental office space at IVCC beginning June 1.
• Renewal of contracts for non-tenured faculty Tracy Lee, English and creative writing, Emily Lesman, developmental math lab, Karie Stecken, nursing, Samantha Whiteacker, nursing, and Heather Seghi, dental assisting.