BY STEVE O’KEEFE
Logan Media Services

The John A. Logan College Board of Trustees voted unanimously Tuesday to hold tuition at the current rate of $92 per credit hour for the next school year (2012-2013).

The board reached its decision despite delinquent payments from the state. The board also opted to hold off on any further discussion concerning tuition increases until next year.

“Right now, in this economy, it is hard for students to balance school and everything else they have going on,” said Trustee John O’Keefe. “I am glad we are not raising tuition, and I also think it is important that we don’t set any future tuition increases until we see what is happening around the state.”

Vice President for Administration, Dr. Tim Daugherty, agreed with O’Keefe that despite the lack of state funding and other budget concerns, the board took the proper action by not raising tuition.

“We reached a threshhold at $92,” he said. “While our enrollment has remained steady, we have seen a significant decrease in the amount of hours students are taking. I feel we (trustees) have made the right decision for our students.”

At $92 a credit hour, John A. Logan College will remain one of the lowest tuition rates in the state and, according to Vice President for Business Services and College Facilities, Brad McCormick, that fact will likely remain true as several colleges around the state are predicting significant increases in tuition for next year.

McCormick added that the state still owes JALC a significant amount of money, and that while he fully supports not raising tuition for the current year, it may become inevitable to avoid future deficits.

In other board news, Trustee Jake Rendleman reminded members that the John A. Logan College Foundation’s 36th Annual Italian Dinner would be held Wednesday evening in the cafeteria prior to the men’s and women’s home basketball games.

Faculty Association Representative Teri Rentfro announced that chemistry professor Michiko Eberly is coordinating a service learning project that will take 8-10 chemistry students into area middle schools to conduct labs and demonstrations.

Rentfro said that the Business Department had recently completed a recruitment video to be distributed to local high schools. She also announced that the English Department would soon be kicking off this year’s “Big Read” project.

In officer reports, McCormick said the Communication Wing was complete and that classes are going well.

“I think there was a level of excitement about the new facility as classes began,” he said. “Both students and staff were excited about the opportunity to begin instruction in this beautiful new facility.”

Daugherty welcomed men’s golf coach Tom Ferris, who recently received the NJCAA Division II Golf Coach of the Year award after guiding the team to its second national championship in the last three years.

Daugherty also informed the board of pending changes to the Saluki Express bus service. He said the service has run an hourly route to Logan for many years as part of a route to the STC campus in Carterville.

With the recent completion of SIU’s Transportation Center west of Carbondale, the bus service will no longer need to travel to Carterville, bringing students to the Logan campus, unless the College wants to pay the full cost of the route.

“We have had a long association with Saluki Express, and it has been a great service to the College, but the new rate will be considerably more than what we currently pay,” Daugherty said.
Students are now required, he said, to have a bus pass to use the service and that the use of those passes will allow the College to gather data about the number of students using the service.

“If the data shows a real need to continuing providing bus service to the College from Carbondale, we will have to weigh our options,” he said.

Vice President for Instructional Services, Dr. Deborah Payne, informed the board of the College’s participation in the Illinois Green Economy Network.

Payne said John A. Logan College is one of 17 colleges participating in the program designed to help reduce energy use. She said that Logan will be focusing on hydroelectricity and geo-thermal heating and cooling.

President Dr. Robert Mees presented the board with booklets compiled by his staff for the upcoming ACCT Legislative Summit. He said the booklets summarize programs and grants the College needs with federal assistance. The booklets are presented to legislators and their staff at the annual meeting in Washington D.C.

“This summit is very important to the College. It allows us to meet one-on-one with our legislators and tell them what issues are affecting our students. This booklet serves as a gentle reminder after we have left,” Mees said.

The board approved the following consent agenda items: C-Wing roof replacement, Geissler Roofing; special issue construction bond, Brokers’ Risk Neace Lukens; participation in the Illinois Green Economy Network; memorandum of understanding with the College of Lake County to partner in the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Career Training grant; energy performance contract services, CTS Group.

In old business, the board approved the following new Board policies: 2140, Trustee Emeritus; 8313, Academic Honor Code.
In addition to voting to hold tuition at the current $92 a semester hour rate, the board approved the following new business items: ratification of the FY12 SIU bus service contract; request for professional services contract with CampusWorks to review information technology at the College.

The following personnel items were approved: Dawn Pinkston, full-time, secretary III, to the Vice President for Business Services and College Facilities; Lisa Fletcher, part-time, preschool substitute effective Jan. 18; ratification of Laborers’ Local 773 contract; Kyle Suprenant, stipend assistant baseball coach; Hailly Fulk-Williams, full-time, grade I, staff accountant.

The board also approved 18 term faculty and 12 continuing education staff. Melanie Pecord was approved for the academic rank of associate professor.

The board approved the following retirement requests: Tom Cardwell, Kim Dixon, Robert Fester, Stephen McLaughlin, Louis Morgan, Jan Otey, Robin Pauls, and Dennis Phillips.

The board voted to repost the position of full-time, admissions specialist III internally.