January 2017 Board Report

Illinois Valley Community College’s board Thursday authorized Cultural Centre auditorium renovations including lighting, wall treatments and painting totaling nearly $400,000.

The improvements will be financed through a bequest from former longtime IVCC Foundation director and trustee Walter Durley Boyle of Hennepin. IVCC was one of the beneficiaries of Boyle’s estate following his 2008 death.

The project includes replacing all house lighting in the theater with LED fixtures, installing wall treatments to improve aesthetics and acoustics and painting areas of the ceiling and stage black. The project will be bid and is expected to be completed by the beginning of the fall semester Aug. 16.

In other business, trustees approved

  • The appointment of nursing director Julie Hogue to fill the vacancy left by the promotion of Bonnie Campbell to Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs. Hogue began teaching part-time at IVCC in 2004 before being hired full-time in 2007. She earned her BSN and MSN from Illinois State University.
  • The planned resignation of economics instructor Abhijeet Bhattacharya effective Dec. 31, 2017. In his resignation letter, Bhattacharya, who has taught at IVCC since 2008, said he plans to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities and spend time with his parents in India.
  • New board policies involving alcoholic beverage sales, fraud, waste and abuse, supplier diversity, and temporary transfer from the working cash fund. In addition, trustees approved revisions to policies involving placement testing, decision to dismiss a faculty member and drug-free work place.

The board also learned:

  • The overall GPA for student athletes this fall was “a very impressive 3.08,” said President Jerry Corcoran. “Coaches Jason Goode, Chris Herman, Jim Lukosus, Tim Cottingim, Julie Milota, Tom Ptak, Ed Young, Cory Tomasson, and Erin Polte should be commended. It’s clear our student athletes are indeed students first.”
  • A highlight of the Dec. 21 staff holiday luncheon was the music performance by IVCC’s Black Students Association.
  • A total of 216 students earned 278 degrees and certificates this fall compared to 204 graduates earning 246 degrees and certificates in fall 2015.
  • Corcoran recognized Princeton’s Perry Memorial Hospital leader Rex Conger on his retirement. “Rex has been a huge supporter of the college for many years and was a leader in ensuring district hospitals supported our nursing program by helping cover some of the costs for an instructor position.”
  • In a letter, La Salle County Sherriff Tom Templeton announced his retirement at the end of the spring semester as a part-time instructor. Corcoran credited Templeton, “for his willingness to share his knowledge with students and elevate the reputation of our criminal justice program, while playing a role in keeping our campus safe for 25 years.”