Hello, fellow IVCC students! I, Matt Pehoski, am your student trustee which means that I represent the student body at our monthly board meetings.

Our most recent board meeting happened on Aug. 17 and there were some exciting things that happened that I am excited to share with you all.

The biggest news of the night was the donation of $1.1 million from the estate of Dr. Mary Margaret Weeg.

This donation is the largest gift that the IVCC foundation has ever received.

This money that Dr. Weeg donated will have various uses for the college, including an arts scholarship as Dr. Weeg was a strong advocate for the arts.

We are all extremely grateful of the generosity of Dr. Weeg. To pay tribute to Dr. Weeg and her generosity, the Cultural Centre will now be named the Dr. Mary Margaret Weeg Cultural Centre.

Another great piece of news to come out of the board meeting is the change in the resignation date of economics instructor Abhijeet Bhattacharya to Aug. 10, 2018.

Before he requested this change, Abhi was scheduled to resign after the fall semester of 2017.

I, as well as many people I know, are very happy about this as Abhi is a fantastic instructor. We are lucky to be able to have any additional time with him here at IVCC.

Lastly, the 2018 budget was passed.

Both revenues and expenditures were decreased by 5.1 percent to keep up with the lack of regular state funding to IVCC.

If you have any concerns that you would like addressed, do not be afraid to come to a board meeting or contact me personally.

My email is on the IVCC website under the Board of Trustee’s member list.