December 2025 Board Report

The Illinois Valley Community College Board of Trustees recognized outstanding achievements by student journalists during its December meeting.

The 2024-25 student newspaper, IV Leader, was named Best Student Media and earned first-place general excellence recognition during the Illinois Community College Journalism Association annual conference in November.

Individual honors also went to: Sonja Penney and Abigail Beckcom, news story; Ashton Watkins and Makade Rios, news and sports photography; Sam Bima, sports coverage and columns, and Emma Coss, page design, and editorial writing. The staff received numerous second- and third-place awards and honorable mentions as well.

In her report to the Board, President Dr. Tracy Morris:

• Recognized students in Professor Nora Villarreal’s English class who volunteered or raised funds to support the campus food pantry, a local homeless shelter, an animal shelter,and a church program providing for those in need. The class involves students in the community through service-learning opportunities.
• Reported that IVCC collected more than 2,600 food and basic needs items during the statewide community college Feed the Need drive, which ended Dec. 1.

In other action, the Board:

• Adopted the 2025 tax levy.
• Approved the purchase of updated faculty laptops at a cost of $93,000.
• Approved the purchase of Transfr Trek career exploration system for use in the Workforce Development Division for a total of $98,000 over five years. It offers career assessments, virtual simulations, and guided coaching to help students and adult learners explore job pathways and develop career plans
• Approved the appointment of Juhelia Thompson, psychology instructor.