Dan O’Connor, Automotive Technology, 31 years

What are the biggest changes you have seen?
The use of computers in the classroom and labs.   Mainly how technology has changed the college and the many programs offered at the college.

What changes have you seen in the students?
The students have to study and learn a lot more information today, than they did 31 years ago, in order to service today’s complicated cars and trucks.

Have there been changes in your field?
Yes, there have been constant technological changes in the automotive repair industry.
Every year a new system comes out and there has been a great increase with the use of electronics, computers and scanners on all the vehicles that people have been driving for the last 30 years.

Why did you decide to retire now?
The state of Illinois is reducing my pension if I work past July 2 of this year.

What do you plan to do in your retirement?
I will come back and teach part-time in the automotive program as they need me.
And I will enjoy becoming a grandfather for the first time in June.

How would you like to be remembered at the school?
I would like to be remembered as a teacher who really enjoyed teaching and challenging
his students on how all of the electrical systems on today’s cars and trucks operate and how  to troubleshoot them and a teacher who enjoyed watching his students grow and get excited about    learning their subject matter.

Greg Oseland, Anatomy & Physiology, 31 years

What are the biggest changes you have seen?
There have been too many changes over the years to try and mention here.  A small, but indicative change, for example, would be the change in name of the school paper from “The Apache” to the “IV Leader”!

What changes have you seen in the students?
Technology has effectively “squashed” the attention span of many of today’s students.  Aside from that, students haven’t changed.  As Paul McCartney says in one of his (now) “oldies”, “We all know, that people are the same wherever you go!”

Have there been changes in your field?
People would think that, in an evolutionary sense, the anatomy and physiology of the human race is the same today as it was 50 or 100 years ago – and it probably is.  The advancement of our knowledge, however, because of research, the use of technology and other factors, has increased our understanding of how our bodies work in ways we could never have dreamed of just a few years ago.  As a result, it seems as if things are always changing, and that everything is important.  We’re not replacing old information with new, we’re adding to what we know and filling in huge knowledge gaps where there had previously been little or no information!  As an educator, it’s exciting and exhausting all at the same time!!

Why did you decide to retire now?
You hear this question asked all the time.  And the answer is, “There are a lot of reasons, but the bottom line is that now is the right time to go!”

What do you plan to do in your retirement?
Not spend so much time reading and answering e-mails.  (See more at the top of my (for the moment) faculty web page.)  Aside from that, I’m going to look for new opportunities to make myself as useful as possible.

How would you like to be remembered at the school?
I would like to be remembered as a trusted and caring colleague, as a fair instructor with meaningful expectations, and as someone who is just moving on to the next part of life.

Doug Stockley, Computers and Agribusiness,
33 years

Doug Stockley of Earlville is retiring from teaching after 33 years of service.
Stockley started at IVCC in 1979 as an agribusiness instructor.
“During Doug’s tenure he has transitioned from agribusiness to computer classes, being one of the first to incorporate computers into the agriculture field,” IVCC President Jerry Corcoran said.
Corcoran credited Stockley for his work with the college’s agronomy plots and for the successful operation of the college farm.
In his resignation letter Stockley said, “I consider it a privilege and a pleasure to have been able to work at IVCC. It has been an honor to serve our students.”