Creston—The Southwestern Community College (SWCC) board of directors met on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, at 5:30 p.m., in the college’s Administration Center, for their regular board meeting.
Dr. John Franklin, SWCC vice president of instruction, shared information regarding the Iowa Last-Dollar Scholarship (LDS) program. Each year, the Iowa Workforce Development Board reviews and approves an updated list of high demand occupations eligible for LDS funding. Franklin said business administration was previously included as a statewide eligible program, but was removed from the list this year.
Each community college has the option to add up to five regional occupations beyond the state-approved list. Franklin said Southwestern will request to add business administration as a regional selection in order to maintain its eligibility for the LDS program.
In personnel, Jacob Baudler was approved as assistant baseball coach for the 2025-26 academic year. Baudler, a graduate of Nodaway Valley High School as well as Southwestern, has coached various sports including baseball, football, basketball, and track for the Creston and Nodaway Valley districts. In addition, Baudler will serve as a residence hall coordinator in student housing. He will begin immediately.
The board also approved a contract for Scott Vicker as director of running sports. During 2025-26, Vicker will serve as head coach for cross country and track and field. Vicker is also a marketing and institutional advancement specialist at the college.
Wayne Pantini, SWCC vice president of economic development, provided an update on the Industrial New Jobs Training (260E) program. Pantini reported there are four bond issuances involving eight companies in the current Bond Trac. All companies have met or are actively meeting their obligations. Between the eight companies, 632 new jobs were pledged with 447 of those jobs being filled.
Kim Bishop, SWCC dean of student services, reported fall 2025 certified enrollment at SWCC was at 1,605 students and 14,866 credits. Bishop said the numbers are up from 1,570 students and 14,224 credits during the fall 2024 semester. Bishop said this equates to a 2 percent increase in head count and a 4.3 percent increase in credit hours.
“In fact, as we look at historical enrollment data, our fall enrollment of 1,605 ranks third throughout the past 10 years and third in credit hours at 14,866,” Bishop stated.
Bishop next gave an athletic report, saying the college is planning to re-establish a men’s wrestling program and begin a women’s wrestling program during the 2026-27 academic year.
“As we look to develop ways to continue to grow our college enrollment, we feel adding these programs will add an additional 44 students to our campus,” Bishop explained.
She said the search for coaches will begin immediately to ensure the coaching team is in place to recruit during the high school wrestling season.
Lindsay Stoaks, SWCC president, reminded the board in January 2025, Iowa lawmakers directed community colleges to study the feasibility and need for offering bachelor’s degrees to address workforce shortages in high-demand fields such as healthcare, information technology, advanced manufacturing, and skilled trades.
To evaluate readiness, Stoaks said colleges must review faculty qualifications, teaching loads, accreditation, program approval, and resources.
Stoaks outlined strategic and operational decisions required for the final report, due October 31, 2025, which will emphasize giving local boards maximum authority to determine feasibility and implementation. Stoaks said the college will continue to gather feedback from faculty and collect information from students regarding their interest in potentially pursing a bachelor’s degree locally.
Sue Stearns of Woodburn, SWCC board member and Community Colleges for Iowa representative, gave a brief report on happenings at the state level following the recent Community Colleges for Iowa trustees meeting.
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