North Egypt News

John A. Logan College Board of Trustees met March 25.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

Minutes of the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of Community College District No. 530, Counties of Williamson, Jackson, Franklin, Perry, and Randolph, State of Illinois, held at Carterville, Illinois, on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, commencing at 6:00 p.m. The meeting was open to the public and streamed on the College's YouTube channel.

Chairman Bill Kilquist called the meeting to order and directed the recording secretary to call the roll.

Rebecca Borgsmiller -- present

Brent Clark -- present

Bill Kilquist -- present

Mandy Little -- present

Glenn Poshard -- present

Jake Rendleman -- present

Aaron R. Smith -- present

Madilyn Kerrigan -- present

Also present were President Dr. Kirk Overstreet, Legal Counsel Rhett Barke, Provost Dr. Stephanie Chaney Hartford, Vice-President of Business Services and CFO Dr. Susan LaPanne, Recording Secretary Pixie Vaughn, and other College personnel.

Chairman Kilquist led the Board in the Pledge of Allegiance.

OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENTS

Presentations

Recognition of Student Trustee, Madilyn Kerrigan. Chairman Kilquist thanked her for serving and presented her with a Certificate and Plaque.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES REPORTS

A. Chairman's Report

Chairman Kilquist reported on meeting changes. The Board Meeting for May was moved from May 27,2025, to May 20, 2025, at 6:00 p.m., to meet Budget timeframes, and then again moved from June 24,2025, to June 17, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. to vote on the Budget. The Regular meeting with begin at 6:00 p.m.

There will be an Executive Session following the meeting.

Mandy Little and Aaron Smith moved and seconded that the Board of Trustees approve the two changes to the Board of Trustees meeting.

Upon roll call, all members present voted yes. Motion carried.

(Resolution #16-4385)

B. Athletics Advisory Committee

Trustee Dr. Brent Clark reported that the John A. Logan College Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams have both completed their seasons and had successful campaigns. The men’s team finished the year with an overall record of 23 and 10. The men’s team advanced to the National Tournament and lost in the first round. The team won the Great Rivers Athletic Conference Title with a record of 14 and 2, and they were also winners of the Region 24 Tournament. Coach Tyler Smithpeters was named Region 24 Coach of the Year and Coach of the Year in the GRAC. The Baseball team, coached by Kyle Surprenant, presently has a record of 28 and 5. The Softball team, coached by Taylor Siefert, is presently on a 7-game winning streak with a 17- 5 record. Both Golf teams will be opening tournament play this weekend.

C. Building, Grounds, and Safety Committee

Trustee Jake Rendleman reported that the C & E Wing Renovation (CDB) new flooring, painting, lighting, and ceilings are being installed. Two new Air Handling Units have been installed, and the initial start-up will be next week. Construction is one week ahead of schedule and is on track to be completed in July of 2025. The Glass Elevators' structural framing and drywall have been installed, and the electrical work and drywall finishing are underway. The elevator is scheduled to ship in the third week of May. This project will be completed at the end of July. The Baseball/Softball Player Facility (HB Foundation) building shell and insulation are complete. The drywall, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC work is underway. Substantial completion should be in May. The CTE Renovation/Construction (EDA Grant) approved the JALC amendment request. The bidding should occur in June 2025. The West Lobby Expansion (CDB) project will rebid in May 2025 after construction documents have been adjusted to reflect value engineering to reduce the budget. Construction could begin in late summer 2025.

D. Board Policy Committee

Trustee Becky Borgsmiller reported that they did not meet this month, but last month, they had two policies that had language changes, and they would be voting on those tonight.

E. Budget and Finance Committee

Trustee Aaron Smith reported that he, Dr. Poshard, and Dr. LaPanne met with Dr. Overstreet last week to get a preliminary look at the direction they were going to go to bring proposals to the board for potential bond issuances.

F. Integrated Technology Committee

Trustee Mandy Little reported on the updates of existing projects. The Off-site Disaster Recover project firewall is on-site, and we are working with the vendor on appropriate setup and configuration. The Online Catalog is now with the vendor for completion. A review of the work will occur near the end of the spring semester. Phase 2: Curriculum Management will follow. Higher Reach upgrade to Campus Marketplace: The student information system for community education and non-credit workforce education students is scheduled for an upgrade of the production tomorrow. In Phase 1 of the Electronic Door Access Control project, Contractors are on-site. This project covers exterior doors from Campus Police southeast towards the administration building. Chatbot: Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) AI component is scheduled to be live this week. This will be tested on our MyJALC student portal, and once testing is complete, it will be moved to our public website. Analytics: To date, our data lake house is ingesting three data sources, three data models have been developed, and approximately twenty visualizations have been produced for various offices on campus.

G. Illinois Community College Trustees Association (ICCTA)

Trustee Aaron Smith reported that ICCTA Lobby Day in Springfield, IL, will be on May 6-7, and June 6-7 is the ICCTA Annual Convention and Awards Banquet in Bloomington/Normal, IL. Trustee Smith encouraged the board to attend the event.

H. John A. Logan College Foundation

Trustee Jake Rendleman reported that nearly $400,000 in campus grants have been awarded since the Foundation first started the Campus Grant program in 2017. The application will be opening soon for the campus community to apply for funding. The Foundations Special Projects committee will be reviewing the applications. The Foundation is planning several Fundraising events specifically for the Promise Scholarship program. Glo Bingo is set for September 5th in the JALC Conference Center. The Golf tournament will be at Crab Orchard Golf Course on October 3, 2025. A trivia night is being planned for November, and February 28 is the Promise Gala at JALC. More information will be coming soon; please save the dates.

I. Student Trustee

Student Trustee Madilyn Kerrigan reported that the Student Senate had their first meeting of its new club, the Coalition Committee. Representatives from seven different clubs attended and are working on their first club coalition community service event. They are organizing a volunteer effort at the Carbondale United Building to help kids in a currency program at their school. The is helping out with new student orientation day by helping clubs sign up for the NSO’s club room where different booths of each club will be presented for high school seniors to see. They believe that by partaking in this, they can help boost enrollment and student engagement for both incoming and current students. The service committee and the clean soils highway cleanup are taking place on April 12, and they are actively recruiting volunteers for that event. Student Senate has set a time for lunch with leaders, and it will be on April 22, from 12:00-12:50 pm. They hope this will help build the gap between staff and students. Madilyn expressed her sincere gratitude for the opportunity to serve as Student Trustee and to be a voice for her peers. She stated that it had been an honor to contribute to the college, and she appreciated all of the help, support, and guidance from everyone throughout her term.

ASSOCIATION REPORTS

A. Logan Operational Staff Association (LOSA)

Tracie Zoeller, President of LOSA, introduced Dawn Clendenin, Vice-President of LOSA. The members of the LOSA Executive Committee will rotate in attendance at the board meetings. This approach ensures that all of the executive members can become familiar with the board process, allowing LOSA to stay involved while spreading the responsibility so it does not fall on just one person. Next month, Dawn will be attending, along with another member of the executive team. They appreciate the opportunity to engage with the Board of Trustees. Tracie announced that the current fundraiser for one of their members was Heather Marks. Heather and her two children were at home when the tornado struck their Du Quoin home on March 14. Thankfully, they were all okay, but their home was a total loss. They are staying with family while waiting on a rental home to become available. They have organized a fundraiser on Heather's behalf to help with the daily necessities they need during this challenging time. Tracie thanked the faculty and staff for their donations.

B. Faculty Associations Report

Jane Bryant stated that she enjoyed watching the Men’s Basketball team and cheering them on since she has had almost every one of those young men in class either currently or in the past. Jane reported that as she is finishing this year and her time as the Political Science Club Advisor, they have discussed partnering with Student Services to do something for the end of the semester. Also, having something while the municipal election is going on and inviting the board members to attend. This would let people know the importance of public service at the municipal level. She stated that they had forwarded the faculty rank information to Dr. Hartford. Also, a few people had attended a celebration of life service for Kathy Kibler, a former colleague who had passed away.

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP REPORTS

President Kirk Overstreet thanked Tracie Zoeller and her team for coordinating the Fundraiser for Heather Marks.

Dr. Overstreet introduced Ron Webb, the new Chief of Police and Campus Security. He has over 30 years of experience in security and police force management. Ron is doing great things with his officers. We are going to see good things come out of that, and he wanted to introduce and welcome him to John A. Logan College.

Steve O’Keefe could not attend the meeting, but Dr. Overstreet announced that Steve’s team had launched a new website. Please take a look at it if you get a chance.

Dr. Overstreet reported that next month, he has asked Jason Stutes to bring the new HVAC van and park it out front, and Joe will bring the new Lightning F-150 that was bought with Grant funding. The van is wrapped well, but the truck is not wrapped. If you get a chance, try and take a look at them.

AFIT

Dr. Overstreet reported that he, Stephanie Hartford, and Stephanie Harner would attend the AFIT (Alliance for Innovation and Transformation) conference in Nashville, Tennessee. They attend this conference to work on their professional development and what they will bring back to the campus. They utilize the Gallup Strengthfinder and two other books and talk about how to work better together as a team.

ICCTA

Dr. Overstreet reported that he had been busy with legislative advocacy for the Illinois Community College Presidents’ Association and the ICCTA. The ICCTA is supporting several of their priorities this year with the CCB (Community College Baccalaureate) program. There are some good changes to Dual Credit and to the Common Core numbering system, which will change how the college numbers the core courses and how they will be numbered across the state. That is a five- to six-year project. Dr. Overstreet has partnered with George Evans, President of Kaskaskia College, and they met with Senator Fowler and Senator Bryant and discussed the CCB and other legislative movements on which they are working. They had a great lunch and conversation. Dr. Overstreet shared with the board a copy of what he called myth busters about CCB (Community College Baccalaureate), and one of the myths was that this program would raise property taxes, and this is not true. They will be sharing this with the community on campus as well. It is a great opportunity, and it will help keep students here. They are committed to working with their partners at SIU. Dr. Overstreet, George Evans, and Jennifer Fuller went to Springfield and met with President Mahony. They spoke with him about what they were trying to accomplish with this bill. Dr. Overstreet has spoken to Chancellor Lane about some of the things they can do to partner outside of the backyard things. If this bill gets passed, it will be 3 to 4 years before they see one of the programs. Just the process of going through ICCB, working with the data, and the research to find the right programs for the college to apply and build the program.

ICCCP

Dr. Overstreet reported that he participated in the ICCCP joint President’s meeting at the College of DuPage. Provost Stephanie Hartford and CFO Susan LaPanne joined him, and they had a great joint meeting. They have worked very hard on this for the last five years in creating collaboration with all of the community colleges in what they are trying to accomplish and what they are doing. It is getting the administration in the same room and having conversations about what they are doing well, what they are doing, and what we need to improve on, and how we can work better together, and what we can do for the state. Dr. Overstreet stated that they serve over 400,000 students in the community college system in Illinois.

Ambassador Check Presentation

Dr. Overstreet reported that he had the opportunity to go out with the teams to hand out scholarships to the new ambassadors. It has been a phenomenal time, and he does not get to do it a lot because of his busy schedule, but he really enjoys it when he can attend. One place he enjoyed attending was Project Echo, an alternative school. They had an ambassador coming from one of the alternative schools. He was a nice young man, and his mother and brother were able to be there, and it was very emotional. He wants to be a teacher, and that is his plan. He hopes to see the student on campus. Dr. Overstreet stated that the Ambassador team that the college has is important and well worth it for the scholarships that they give to those students, and having them on campus learning about service and community, and being a part of our community. It was a wonderful experience, and there are a few more schools to visit.

Student Trustee

Dr. Overstreet reported that the young man who was voted in as a Student Trustee was here on a VISA and with his family. His family has decided to move back to the Bahamas. He is considering moving back and feels he cannot commit to being here next year. There will be a special election on April 10, and the election will be in time for our next Board Agenda to bring in the new Student Trustee.

Basketball Teams

Dr. Overstreet said he was echoing what others have said, but Coach Jones had done a wonderful job with the Women’s Basketball team. He said it had been a lot of fun to watch them grow this year. The Men’s Basketball team, with coach Smith-Peters, had done a great job. They made it all the way to Hutch, and he was very proud of their work. Dr. Overstreet said that it was nice to be there on selection night and see them get selected, and it had been a good run. A lot of the guys, maybe half, will be returning, so they will see some of them back. He is looking forward to another good season, and looking forward to Baseball and Softball, and will be out there if he can get the time. He is looking forward to that as well.

ICCB

Provost, Dr. Stephanie Hartford, reported that they hosted ICCB for the College’s Recognition site visit. A large team of employees gathered to meet with two ICCB staff members to address various questions about the College. It was a great discussion. All went well, and they should receive an initial draft report in May. Recruitment

Discovery Day (Juniors & Seniors) will be on March 28, and Sophomore Day will follow on April 10, 2025. They will start New Student Orientations soon. On April 3, Carterville High School and Crab Orchard High School will be the first high schools to visit John A. Logan College.

STEM

Herrin High School was inspired to start a science club after attending STEM Day. Engineering and Life Science Faculty and two current engineering students will attend Herrin High School's newly formed Science Club on Wednesday, March 26, during their club meeting. They have been asked to share career pathways with them for science students, including engineers.

Habitat for Humanity

The Construction Management and HVAC instructors and students are making preparations for their participation with Habitat for Humanity. They are building a home in Murphysboro. This year, the three bedroom, two-bathroom home will include laundry facilities and a new kitchen.

Retention

Dr. Hartford wanted to highlight retention efforts in their Teaching and Learning Center. Associate Dean of Educational Technology, Krystal Reagan, and her team recently met with D2L Brightspace for our Yearly Business Review. The following were highlights from the meeting. JALC has significantly surpassed the higher education average in adopting the D2L Pulse App. In fact, they believe we have the highest adoption rate among all higher education institutions. Due to our success, they are interested in collaborating with us to educate others on our adoption strategies. The app helps students stay informed about course materials within D2L. In addition, JALC has one of the highest, if not the highest, usage rates of the discussion tool in D2L.

Dr. Hartford reported that the Job Fair would be on March 26 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and the Nursing Eggstravaganza (Neurodiverse) would be on Saturday, April 5, 2025.

ICCB

CFO Dr. Susan LaPanne reported that they had a successful ICCB recognition visit. They did a lot of preparation work and were prepared for everything, but it went well.

BUDGET

Dr. LaPanne stated that they have divided the budget into three pieces. They have asked all budget managers to review their ongoing programs and budgets and submit all those expense predictions. They have put it into their budget system of record, which is Budgetpak. They are working with Cabinet in reviewing all of the new incentive projects that have been submitted. They have 109 new projects being considered by the Cabinet to see if they are appropriate for the upcoming budget or if they should and can be pushed out for at least a year or so. They are finishing with questions about projects that needed more explanations, and then they will be ranking them so that, as funding becomes available, they will begin to fund the projects. This is a great way to do a budget because it allows everyone to be involved in the process.

BOND PROPOSAL

Dr. LaPanne reported that she is working with a person from PMA to determine the best configuration of bonds. Currently, they are thinking about two potential issues. A smaller issuance for this current year and a larger issuance for next year. Currently, they are taking an inventory of all of the building and facility issues that are there. In the Building Committee Meeting, Dr. LaPanne mentioned that they are looking at all the things that must be done. They are at a critical point where they are looking at the history of the college and the history of the facilities, where upgrades are needed. Dr. LaPanne did communicate with S&P Global in regard to reviewing the current bond rating. This is in regard to the bonds that already exist. She is hoping that with the help of the Building Committee and the Finance Committee, they will bring a proposal in April.

PRESIDENT’S CABINET

Jordan Mays, AVP of Institutional Effectiveness & Research, gave an update on registration for fall and summer.

They compare the same time and point as last year at this time. The summer course enrollment is down four students, but credit hours are up 4.4%. For the fall, we are up 5.8% in course enrollment but down 3.8% in credit hours. It is still early, and students from the high schools will be coming as well. The nursing will not go in until July. They will keep the board updated moving forward.

INFORMATIONAL ITEMS

A. Personnel

President Overstreet accepted the resignation of Jim Adams, Campus Police Law Enforcement Officer, effective June 1, 2025.

President Overstreet accepted the resignation of Nicole Rains, Assistant Manager of Academic Advisement, effective March 7, 2025.

CONSENT AGENDA

Chairman Kilquist asked if there were any Consent Agenda items the Board would like to pull for further discussion or a separate vote. Hearing none: Chairman Kilquist presented Consent Agenda items A–K for approval.

A. Electronic Technology Program – Supply Purchase

Approved the purchase of Equipment for the ELT Program.

B. Assessment Technologies Institute (ATI)

Approved the purchase of the ATI Virtual Review RN package.

C. C & E Wing Furniture Purchase

Approved the purchase of the furniture and technology for the renovated spaces.

D. BHDG Boiler Replacement

Approved the Boiler Replacement project.

E. BHDG Transformer Replacement

Approved the Transformer Replacement project.

F. BHDG Fitness Center Exercise Room Renovation

Approved the renovation of the Fitness Center Exercise room.

G. Personnel Action Items (Appendix A)

Approved the employment and ratification of personnel as recommended by President Overstreet.

H. Extension of Audit Contract

Approved the one-year Audit Contract Extension to Kemper CPA Group, LLP.

I. Expenditure Report

Approved the monthly Expenditure report for the period ending February 28, 2025.

J. Treasurer’s and Financial Report

Approved the Treasurer’s and Financial report for period ending January 31, 2025.

K. Meeting Minutes

Approved the minutes of the February 25, 2025, regular meeting of the Board of Trustees.

Jake Rendleman and Brent Clark moved and seconded that the Board of Trustees approve Consent Agenda Items A–K, as presented.

Upon roll call, all members present voted yes. Motion carried.

(Resolution #16-4386)

OLD BUSINESS

A. Board Policy Revisions for Final Action

Revisions to the following policies were presented to the Board of Trustees for the first reading onFebruary25, 2025. Policy revisions were made available for employee comment and are now presented for final action.

Board Policy 3630 Security Cameras

Board Policy 7350 Charge-Back Policy

Becky Borgsmiller and Brent Clark moved and seconded that the Board of Trustees approve the Board Policy revisions recommended by the Board Policy Committee.

Upon roll call, all members present voted yes. Motion Carried.

(Resolution #16-4387)

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Chairman Kilquist said it was desirable to go into closed session in accordance with 5 ILCS 102/2(c), Item1. The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees.

Mandy Little and Glenn Poshard moved and seconded that the Board of Trustees adjourn into closed session.

Upon roll call, all members present voted yes. Motion carried.

(Resolution #16-4388)

The Board of Trustees was declared in closed session at 7:32 p.m.

The Board of Trustees returned to open session at 7:50 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT

Mandy Little and Jake Rendleman moved and seconded that the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees be adjourned.

Upon roll call, all members present voted yes. Motion carried.

(Resolution #16-4389)

The meeting was duly adjourned at 7:55 p.m.

https://www.jalc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/MIN-03-25-25.pdf