The Kaskaskia College Board of Trustees met Monday, October 22, 2018 for its regular monthly meeting. In recognition of National Manufacturing Month, the board held its meeting at the College’s Crisp Technology Center in Centralia. Board members include Bill Hawley (Odin), Linda Stover (Centralia), Dr. Dee Boswell, (Centralia), Jack Mays (Centralia), Jim Beasley (Centralia), Bryan Holthaus (Carlyle), Laura Wedekemper (Shattuc) and student trustee Alisse Koisher (Highland).
As part of Kaskaskia College’s ongoing efforts to improve the college campus with an eye towards the health and safety of its students, staff and the public, the KC Board of Trustees approved a number of campus renovation projects. The projects include replacing the upper and lower roofs on the Science and Technology annex and the College gymnasium. Both roofs are more than 23 years old and leaking has become an issue. Additional work will address storm water drainage issues on both the east and west side of the Science and Technology Buildings, upgrade lighting in the gymnasium building, upgrade the heating and air conditioning systems in the Administration and Library buildings, and a moisture mitigation project at the Salem Education Center. Another project will replace all the automatic door openers on the main campus. The College will also be replacing the wooden pedestrian bridge east of Lifelong Learning Center. Due to its current condition the bridge is restricted to limited pedestrian foot traffic only. The proposed new bridge will not only fit in aesthetically with its surroundings, it will also be able to accommodate emergency vehicles traveling over it should the need arise. Funding of these projects comes from the College’s health, life and safety funds.
Kaskaskia College Board of Trustees approved the establishment of a new degree program designed to help provide industries with the next generation of leadership. The Industrial Management Degree focuses more on soft skills rather than the technical skills that will help an employee in other areas such as supervision, quality control, sales, production control and scheduling. Dean of Career and Technical Education Nic Farley says the degree is being established in response to feedback from local industries about the need for employees who have more training in business and computers in addition to technical training. “The Industrial Management Degree will provide students with a solid background in area such as manufacturing processes, but with more of a focus on areas such as management and communication. “The courses in this degree create a well-rounded employee who is able to start a career in industry and advance,” said Farley. Assistant Professor of Industrial Technology, Lyle Gross said, “This new degree creates a program for industry that includes courses in Industrial Technology, Business and Computers. It is a cross-collaboration degree to meet the needs of industry.”
The Industrial Management Degree is one of four the college is unveiling in the coming months that are designed to meet a growing job market.
In other action Monday evening the board accepted the college’s audit from CliftonLarsonAllen. The report indicated no significant findings. The board also approved the College’s 2018 tax levy, as well as the intent to levy an equity tax. The State of Illinois authorizes the College to seek the tax, so it can be funded at a level comparable to other colleges in Illinois. Due to declining bond obligations and fund balance reserves, the college levy is lower by 3.47 cents per $100 of assessed valuation than last year. Trustees also approved abating the levy for the bonds used to construct the College’s Fitness Center.
In personnel action, trustees approved the employment of Cheryl Rushing of Centralia as an Assistant Professor to the Physical Therapy Assistant Program and accepted the resignations of Assistant Professor Jane Herrmann from the Physical Therapy Assistant Program, and Technical Support Manager Jim Simmons. The board also approved Lisa Bowman of Ashley as a full time Human Resources Generalists and promoted 30-hour employees Shara Smith of Vandalia and Jamie Moergen of Centralia as 40-Hour Account Receivable Specialists.
In other action the board accepted a proposal from Kane Insurance Agency in Salem for insurance agent services for property and casualty insurance effective December 1. The board also accepted a bid from Sentinel Technologies of Springfield, Illinois for its data storage system, as well as a bid from CollegeNet 25Live for a software upgrade to the College’s room scheduler system.
Prior to the start of business, the board also took time to recognize Grants Facilitator Mike Loomis, Director of Purchasing and Auxiliary Resources Craig Roper, and Child Care Center Director Pam Smith for their work in securing a Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) grant for the college. The grant helps low-income parents in their effort to obtain a postsecondary education by providing them with campus-based child care services. KC will use the funds to help students with the cost of child care services on the main campus and college education centers.
