The Carl Sandburg College Board of Trustees on Thursday approved a resolution authorizing the issuance of $30 million in bonds to fund future capital projects at the College.
The resulting construction from the issuance of the bonds will be the most impactful project undertaken by the College since the primary construction of the Main Campus in Galesburg in the 1970s. The last new construction at Sandburg was the addition of Building H, which houses the College’s mortuary science program, in 2006.
During the Board’s June meeting, Eric Anderson of investment bank Piper Sandler gave a presentation to trustees on the opportunity to issue bonds and noted that historically low interest rates, Sandburg’s limited amount of existing debt and its strong bond rating left it in an advantageous financial position. At the Board’s August meeting, trustees approved an updated Campus Master Plan to serve as a roadmap for improvements and developments on Sandburg’s grounds in the coming years.
Also Thursday, the Board approved the curricula for several certificate and degree programs that will expand the College’s agriculture offerings and revise its welding program to meet industry needs in the area. All proposed programs will now be submitted to the Illinois Community College Board for permanent approval.
The proposed agriculture offerings will include a basic agriculture certificate (16 credit hours) that will stack seamlessly into an advanced agriculture certificate (30-33 credit hours). That then leads to an agricultural mechanization certificate (31 credit hours) and an agricultural mechanization associate in applied science degree (63 credit hours). Sandburg will also offer an agribusiness certificate (28 credit hours) and agribusiness AAS (60 credit hours).
The framework for the programs was developed through meetings of the College’s Agriculture Advisory Committee and with input from regional industry representatives, high school agriculture instructors, FFA advisors, students and four-year institutions.
The new welding selections will phase out Sandburg’s existing welding certificates and degree. The updated lineup will consist of a basic welding certificate (16 credit hours) for entry-level employment, an advanced welding certificate (31 credit hours) that will cover all four major welding processes and a welding AAS (60 credit hours) that will provide students with advanced welding fabrication skills in addition to business, technology and communication fundamentals to assist them in career advancement.
Brittany Wilborn was sworn in as the Board’s student trustee for the 2021-22 academic year.
In other business, the Board approved the following:
- Employment of Valerie Hinderliter as health professions support specialist, effective Oct. 1.
- Employment of Amanda Morse as humanities/social sciences support specialist, effective Oct. 1.
- Employment of McKenna Weaver as COVID-19 coordinator, effective Oct. 1.
- Tenure for criminal justice instructor Dr. Christopher Barber, effective spring 2022.
- Tenure for accounting instructor Mollisa Kurz, effective spring 2022.
The Board’s next scheduled meeting is 7 p.m. Oct. 21.
***Report Courtesy of Carl Sandburg College***
