INA — Rend Lake College’s Board of Trustees approved a plan for the upcoming Spring 2021 Semester on Tuesday night.
The plan will closely follow the college’s current plan in place for the Fall Semester. Most courses will be conducted online or remotely while hybrid classes will allow for in-person instruction as needed. The Spring Semester will begin on January 11, 2021 with open enrollent slated to begin November 9.
The board also heard the proposal of a possible student center expansion. The college submitted a proposal to build an addition onto the center at an estimated cost of $11,878,748. The plan would include space for the college’s Bookstore, a conference center and reception area, a coffee bar and added space for student commons. The new addition would follow a new Allied Health Building under the Resource Allocation Management Plan through the Illinois Community College Board.
The new Allied Health Center and other campus capital improvements saw the issuance of $5,500,000 in funding bonds approved on Tuesday night.
Other topics covered at the meeting:
Nursing Accreditation
The Rend Lake College Nursing Program recently learned it received accreditation through the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. RLC applied for candidacy in February 2018 and faculty and staff worked to meet all accreditation requirements. To learn more about the achievement, click here.
Recruitment Specialist position created
The board approved the creation of a new position — Recruitment and Student Success Specialist. The position is funded by the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund. The purpose of the grant is to target initiatives to enroll and retain underrepresented, first-generation, and high-need students that might not otherwise enroll in or return to school due to the pandemic. The new position will attempt to reach those students in the RLC District.
Herrmann resigns
The board accepted the resignation of Brett Herrmann as Public Information Specialist, effective Oct. 28.
Tax levy approved
The board approved the 2020 Tax Levy, which has a slight increase compared to 2019’s total. The levy will increase from $7,056,573 to $7,190,352 or 1.89%. The proposed taxes to be levied will be payable in 2021.
In other business, the board…
Updated its policy regarding credit by means other than traditional classroom attendance.
Approved an amendment to the college’s 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plan. The plan allows employees to make further retirement contributions to complement the SURS mandatory 401(a) retirement plans.