IVCC chief: Put LPO police station on campus

OGLESBY — Illinois Valley Community College President Jerry Corcoran reiterated the college’s desire at this month’s board of trustees meeting to be the site for a LaSalle, Peru and Oglesby shared police station.

“When you take into account our 8,300 students, 400 employees and 20,000-plus visitors every year, partnering with local law enforcement on this venture makes great sense,” Corcoran said.

Corcoran also cited the learning opportunities the partnership could bring to the 500 students in IVCC’s criminal justice program, now headed by Kevin Hermes, a former 17-year Bensenville policeman.

“I have the highest regard for the leadership of the three cities, and I’ll support whatever decision is made,” Corcoran said.

“However, if the LPO group decides to share resources with IVCC, the community will be well served, and we’ll have one of the safest community college campuses in the nation,” he said.

The college’s preferred location for the new police station and possibly the emergency call center would be just south of the south entrance near the old barn. With that in mind, Corcoran said the barn demolition proposed at the June 14 meeting will be put on hold.

In other action, the board approved a tentative $34 million budget for fiscal 2019. Anticipated revenue of $31.6 million represents a 1.3 percent increase over the 2018 budget, and $34.4 million in expenditures marks an 8 percent increase over the previous year’s budget.

Operating revenue is up 2.4 percent to $21.8 million, and expenditures rose 3.2 percent to $22.1 million.

To help balance operating funds, a transfer of $260,000 will be made from the auxiliary fund for IT infrastructure improvements, said Cheryl Roelfsema, vice president for Business Services and Finance.

New positions proposed for the coming year include a cybersecurity instructor/program coordinator, Emergency Medical Services instructor/program coordinator, manufacturing and electrical instructor/program coordinator, and a full-time recruiter for Student Services.

Following a public hearing, the board will move for final approval of the budget at its 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 16 meeting.

The board also approved:

• Extending its lease one year with Marco Inc. for 12 copiers for $20,000.

• Renewal of VMWare maintenance and support for one year for $19,936 from CDW. VMWare provides virtual desktops for staff, students, labs and servers.

• Renewal of Colleague maintenance and support for one year for $264,217 from Ellucian. Colleague is the system used for all administrative and student services functions.

• Renewal of Cisco maintenance and support for three years for $117,245 from Burwood Group. The agreement covers the campus network, wireless, Internet and telephone systems.

• A $1,098,000 bid from Dodson Plumbing, Heating & AC of Pontiac for replacement of the air handler and chiller in Building E.

• A $13,370 change order for the campus-wide security upgrade to bring the total to $366,355.

• Release of Feb. 9, 2017, closed session minutes regarding a trustee resignation.

• Renewal of student athletic coverage with First Agency for $33,687 and student athletic catastrophic coverage with Ramza Insurance Group for $3,251.

Corcoran credited part-time instructor Steve Swett for receiving the American Red Cross Wesbury Award in honor of his 31 years as a volunteer in the Illinois River Valley and for leading IVCC’s Red Cross Club for a decade.

A total of 13 graduates were honored July 23 at the Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) pinning in the gym.

The 2019 Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) pinning ceremony and commencement have been moved up to 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. respectively on Saturday, May 18. Circuit Court Judge and IVCC alumnus Joseph P. Hettel will be the commencement speaker.

IVCC is in continuing discussions with Foreign Service (China) Group LTD, an entity setting up an English-language school for Chinese nationals at the old Sherman School in Streator. Corcoran said the partnership could potentially “impact enrollments and be a great experience for our visiting students and scholars, as well as our faculty and staff.”