Creston— The Southwestern Community College (SWCC) board of directors met Tuesday, October 10, 2012, in the administration center on the Creston campus.
During the meeting, Ken Rech of Red Oak was re-elected as president of the college’s board. Dennis Davis of Greenfield was re-elected as the board’s vice president. SWCC Assistant to the President Mary Jo Skarda was re-appointed as board secretary and SWCC Chief Financial Officer Teresa Krejci was re-appointed as board treasurer.
The board re-appointed members to the Education Foundation board for the 2012-13 year. Education Foundation board members re-appointed include Patti Bricker of Greenfield, Randy Huewe of Creston, Karl Knock of Creston, Rick Oshel of Osceola, Allen Pohren of Red Oak, Jerry Smith of Osceola, Alec Turner of Corning, Larry Giles of Mt. Ayr, Amy Hook of Creston, Connie Purdum of Creston, and Dr. Barb Crittenden, SWCC representative.
The board set a date for the public hearing to approve a bid for phase one of the Instructional Center improvement project, which was discussed at the September 2012 board meeting. Tom Lesan, SWCC vice president of economic development, told the board this first phase would include installation of a new boiler and sprinkler system. Lesan encouraged the board to schedule the public hearing in the near future, because a part of the project involves a water line that will need to be dug before the ground freezes. The board set the public hearing for October 26, 2012, at 8 a.m. in the president’s office in the Administration Center.
During the president’s report, Dr. Barb Crittenden, college president; Dr. Matt Thompson, dean of student services; and Teresa Krejci, chief financial officer offered a brief report to the board regarding the Iowa Community College Completion Initiative. Through the completion initiative, Iowa’s community colleges have agreed to work collaboratively to achieve the common priority of increasing the number of certificates and degrees earned by Iowa community college students.
Bill Taylor, SWCC vice president of instruction, presented to the board concerning the Iowa community college’s Iowa-Advanced Manufacturing (I-AM) initiative. The I-AM consortium, made up of Iowa’s 15 community colleges, was recently awarded nearly $13 million through a federal grant. According to Taylor, the funds will be used collaboratively by the community colleges to increase training capacity by developing and awarding certificates, diplomas, and associate degrees in programs such as welding, machining, industrial maintenance, industrial automation, manufacturing technology, robotics, and transportation and logistics. Southwestern’s portion of this grant will be $750,000 over a three-year period. Taylor said with these funds the college plans to expand the 10-month welding program with the addition of a two-year associate of applied science degree. The college will also start an industrial maintenance technology program, offering a 10-month diploma and a two-year associate of applied science degree.
Thompson presented a report to the board showing fall SWCC enrollment at 1,666 students. This is down from last year, but Thompson said it remains up 13.5 percent from fall 2008.
Following the meeting, a work session was held to discuss future student housing options and enrollment trends.