Campaign Phone
3098315385
I believe that supporting and working with Heartland Community College is a great way to support our community. HCC provides quality college courses at a fraction of the cost of 4-year institutions, enabling students to take 2 years of college courses without crippling debt. The affordable courses, vocational training and certificates launch students into good paying jobs in our community - great for them, great for the community! Reaching out to help lower income and disadvantaged students is core to HCC's values, and it's core to my values. I believe that my skills and experience will benefit the work that HCC's Board of Trustees does.
Heartland uses monies from the State's Workforce Equity Initiative that help low income, minority, and adults go through Heartland. It stresses helping people of color. HCC also offers programs at Mid Central Community Action, where their office is, with the goal of reaching residents of the west side of Bloomington. Expanding programs there will reach even more residents! HCC does a good job of helping recent high school graduates transition to college, so the most important work to expand access is assisting adults and those who haven't been to college for a long time to get back to high education and vocational training - and to succeed!
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HCC has a wide variety of partnerships, which are critical to their success. HCC has partnerships with the high schools throughout Central Illinois, offering dual credit courses which enable students to get a head start on college at no cost. They also partner with businesses and industries, designing courses in business for State Farm employees and certificates in technology for industries like Rivian. These translate into good paying jobs that enable them to stay in our community, supporting themselves and their families. Courses are also improved by utilizing teachers who are in the field in areas such as nursing and other healthcare fields, or in technology and business. Teachers who are experienced in their fields add so much.
One concern is that salaries are not as high as I would like to see for faculty and staff at HCC, although they are in line with most community colleges. Increasing salaries without raising tuition or the property tax rate is a huge challenge. Looking for ways to raise salaries would be an important question to consider. Another way to effectively recruit and retain employees is to find additional ways to show appreciation for the work they do. Increasing paths for staff and faculty to participate in giving feedback on how to make their jobs easier and more efficient would increase their sense of being valued as well as improving their job satisfaction.
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Campaign Phone
269-757-1140
I want to help Heartland continue to serve our mission and fulfill the learning needs of District 540. We’ve made great strides over the last six years and I’d be honored if the voters would choose me to help move Heartland forward.
We are moving aggressively to increase the number of short-term certificate programs to move people quickly into newer and better jobs. Some of these programs can be completed in weeks rather than years and lead to both increased earnings and rewarding careers. We are also moving toward competency-based learning which will also allow students to complete their studies faster and on less rigid schedules than the traditional semester model. Finally, we’ve maintained our online and distance-learning models post-pandemic, and are currently surveying both the Pontiac and Lincoln markets to see how we can better serve the entire District.
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Community Colleges are unique in that we fill a gap in-between secondary education and the workplace. While we remain committed to liberal arts and transfer programs, Heartland is well-situated to meet the workforce needs of our communities and move quickly when skills gaps are identified. We offer both degree programs like Electric Vehicle Technology as well as customized training specifically designed for employers such as Ferrero
Rocher. Our size allows us to be more nimble than 4-year institutions and thus able to scale up programs as community and workforce needs arise.
We need to continue to make Heartland an attractive place to both work and build a career. Over the last few years we’ve made substantial investments in our staff and adjusted salaries to make sure that we remain competitive in a tight labor market. Beyond that, we strive to maintain a family atmosphere where faculty, staff and administrators alike feel valued and appreciated. We’ve maintained good relations with our unionized faculty and try to approach issues in a non-confrontational manner, and while disagreements are inevitable all parties have consistently worked together to put our students first.
