IVCC teams up with PADS to provide clothing for students in need

Illinois Valley Community College will work with Illinois Valley Public Action to Deliver Shelter’s resale store to supply clothing for students in need.

The IVCC Board of Trustees on Thursday acknowledged an agreement between IVCC and the homeless shelter retail stores, Lily Pads, in Ottawa and Peru to arrange for clothing. The college will provide vouchers for clothing for individuals in need as a way to support students for interviews or other situations. The agreement expands the college’s efforts to holistically support students’ basic needs, such as food, clothing or services. The campus already is home to a full-service food bank, which provides food for students and their families.

“This partnership is another way that IVCC is committed to providing support for our students that extends beyond the classroom,” IVCC President Tracy Morris said. “By supporting students’ needs outside of the classroom, our students have a stronger likelihood for success in the classroom.”

In her monthly report, Morris noted:

• the first dental hygiene class began its journey to graduation, and the program has been granted initial accreditation, a status for developing education programs.
• a youth Career Expo event will return in the spring.
• the Adult Education program is exceeding enrollment goals and performing strongly in instructional effectiveness and student progress, and the referenced report also commends the college’s student support services and workforce training process.
• IVCC will host noted neurodiversity expert Maureen Dunne, whose presentation is sponsored by IVCC’s One Book One College community reading program and the Donald E. Fike Family Scholarship Fund.

In other action, the board:

• learned that Johns Sales and Service of Oglesby has been contracted to fix a leaking C Building boiler at a cost of $126,400.
• purchased zSpace simulator workstations for the industrial/electrical/manufacturing programs from Advanced Technologies Consultants of Plymouth, Michigan, at an estimated cost of $59,700.
• approved an annual $10,000 match for the TRIO program, also known as Project Success, so the program can continue to offset the costs of tuition, books, supplies and other expenses for qualified students.
• contracted with Marco Technologies of St. Cloud, Minnesota, for copier rentals at an estimated annual cost of $31,000 over a 60-month contract.
• retained Bushue HR Inc. for human resources, risk management and insurance consulting services in the amount of $45,900 over three years.
• learned of the appointments of Daniel Elias, instructional technology systems coordinator; Evan Walton, IT infrastructure operations engineer, and Jennifer Etscheid, research analyst.
• learned of the resignations of Kevin Lynch, welding lab assistant and part-time instructor; Nancy Rimmele, part-time adult education instructional aide; and Ida Brown, part-time financial aid adviser; as well as the retirement of Bonnie Jasiek, administrative assistant in Continuing Education and Business Services.