Illinois Valley Community College is exploring an opportunity to enhance its manufacturing course offerings, President Jerry Corcoran announced at Thursday’s board meeting.

Corcoran said IVCC is considering joining a consortium of community colleges representing more than a third of central Illinois’s manufacturers to pursue one of two manufacturing academies being offered by the state.

Up to $15 million is available from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) to build the academies in central and southern Illinois.

“We’re interested in partnering with other colleges to offer students more advanced manufacturing opportunities,” Corcoran said. “If our consortium were to be selected for funding, the academy would be located at one of the colleges and IVCC would be one of the satellites.”

Foundational credit and non-credit-bearing courses would be offered at the satellites; advanced manufacturing would be offered online and at the Academy college.

“We believe this will benefit traditional students, non-traditional students upgrading their skills, and employers in need of incumbent worker training,” Corcoran said.

            In other business, the board approved:

§  A $12.8 million 2020 tax levy representing a three percent increase over the $12.4 million actual 2019 levy. The board adopted the “Tax Levy Resolution, Certificate of Tax Levy, Resolution of Intent, Notice of Intent to Increase Tax Levy, and Certificate of Compliance with the Truth in Taxation Act.”

§  The addition of a full-time administrative assistant in Continuing Education and Business Services. The department will now be responsible for handling its own student registrations, formerly processed by admissions.

§  The retirement requests of instructors Dan Serafini, mathematics, and his brother Rick, accounting, effective July 31. “It has been both an honor and a pleasure instructing mathematics and being a part of IVCC,” Dan said in his retirement letter. Rick said, “IVCC has been an important part of my life beginning as a student in 1976. Please know that I will carry with me many fond memories of this great organization.”

§  In 2021, the board will continue to meet at 6:30 p.m. the second Thursday of each month (with the exception of November). Meeting dates are Jan. 14, Feb. 11, March 11, April 8, May 13, June 10, July 8, August 12, Sept. 9, Oct. 14, Nov. 18 and Dec. 9.

§  Closed session minutes from Nov. 12.

§  Board chair Jane Goetz commended outgoing student trustee Tony Galindo for his service to the board from April to December. Galindo of Tonica is transferring to the University of Iowa this spring to study neuroscience. Naomi Ochuba of Peru was introduced as Galindo’s replacement.

The board learned:

§  Longtime EMS instructor Rosemary McGinnis is retiring. “I have been honored and so enjoyed partnering with IVCC to bring the area EMS program from basic level to paramedic and now to an accredited, college-credit program,” McGinnis said. “We have come a long way from my start in EMS – teaching classes at area stations with minimal equipment to the high-tech professional program of today.”

§  Third-shift custodians recently hired are Edward Bailey, Michael Schweickert and Ryan Vecchia.

§  In a campus update, Director of Human Resources Leslie Hofer said only 11 percent of college employees eligible to retire in 2020 actually retired.

§  IVCC’s Project Success excelled in all categories including persistence, academic standing, degrees, certificates and transfer rates in a recent performance report from the Department of Education.

§  A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 1810 entitled “Full-time Counselor Alternative Service Delivery” for the spring semester has been signed.

§  Continuation of the lease agreement with the University of Illinois Extension for the 2021-22 academic year is underway. The Extension leases six rooms in C Building for $18,204 annually.

§  AFT Local 1810 President Tracy Lee commended the Learning Resources Center and Director Patrice Hess for assisting faculty with online instruction throughout the fall semester.