DACC capital projects moving forward

Jun. 27—DANVILLE — Julius W. Hegeler II Hall's renovation is one of Danville Area Community College's capital projects moving forward in addition to a truck driver training lot.

The DACC board last month approved a $2,115,509 contract with McDowell Builders of Sidell for Hegeler Hall renovations.

The former U.S. Army Reserve Center houses nursing, medical imaging and health-information technology.

The scope of work will be mainly on the first floor and will include, but not be limited to: selective asbestos abatement, new ADA restrooms on the first floor, ADA accessibility to building entrances, new HVAC upgrades, life safety fire panel updates, new flooring and wall finishes throughout the first floor, all new windows in entire building, new fiber optic network brought from the main campus and distributed throughout the building, electrical distribution panel upgrades and plumbing upgrades including sewer mains, hot water heater and water fountains.

DACC has been working with architect Bailey Edward Design, Inc. to renovate Julius W. Hegeler II Hall into usable classrooms and labs for a broad spectrum of college activities.

The DACC Board of Trustees last week also approved positions and salary increases for employees.

They included: 3% salary adjustments for administrators and professional and support staff; and Department of Corrections staff salary adjustments in accordance with the State of Illinois grant contract totaling 5%, 6% for classified staff.

In other recent business, the board: approved a collective bargaining agreement with the Education Association, IEA-NEA for July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2026; accepted resignations of Margareta Arlington, admissions specialist, admissions, and Peggy Marruffo, administrative assistant, Corporate and Community Education and approved a Voluntary Separation Program Agreement with Arlington; approved 2023-2024 Strategic Planning Matrix, Fiscal Year 2024 Capital Equipment List and Cyber Liability Insurance; and recognized the women's softball team.

The board last month also approved establishing a decennial committee on local government efficiency.

The resolution stated, "On June 10, 2022, Governor Pritzker signed the Decennial Committee on Local Government Efficiency Act into law. This law requires Illinois townships, road districts and other units of local government within the state to convene a committee to study and report on local government efficiency. After review, the legal team at Robbins Schwartz, who advises several higher education institutions throughout the state, has determined that community colleges are included within the scope of this Act. Per statute, the membership of the committee 'shall include the elected or appointed members of the governing board of the governmental unit; at least 2 residents within the territory served by the governmental unit, who are appointed by the chair of the governing board, with the advice and consent of the governing board; and any chief executive officer or other officer of the governmental unit.'"

"The duties of the committee include, but are not limited to, the study of the governmental unit's governing statutes, ordinances, rules, procedures, powers, jurisdiction, shared services, intergovernmental agreements, and interrelationships with other governmental units and the state. The committee shall also collect data, research, and analysis as necessary to prepare a report which shall be shared with the counties in which the college resides."

"The final report must be completed within 18 months, at which time the committee is disbanded. During the work period, the committee must meet at least 3 times, and is required to follow the provisions of the Open Meetings Act."

The board also approved purchasing Hyflex classroom equipment and support.

According to the college, "The HyFlex classroom is the future of education. The system allows students the flexibility to attend classes in the classroom, attend classes virtually, or complete work online. We propose to create 3 classrooms: 2 in Adult Education and mobile classroom for the Hoopeston Learning Center. This HyFlex classroom solution includes robust technology that meets DACC's objective to expand their mission of increasing access to educational opportunities for current and future students, provide ongoing, sustained professional development for instructors and the utilization of best-in-class technology to support best practices in teaching and learning. This is possible by the functionality and quality of the equipment that we install, which allows for highly interactive and collaborative environments managed by a single Poly Touch Control device."

"The overall mission of this project is to increase access to educational opportunities for current and future students as well as increase outreach to rural high schools in the DACC region; meet the need for more qualified instructors; and grow college attendance and readiness among students. OneRoom, Inc., is the only company that can design and support the blueprint for developing both our HyFlex classroom hardware/software integration and the development of the DACC RISE HyFlex network, which they have completed at Lake Land College, IECC, and IVCC. In addition, they have designed, installed, and networked over 100 public high schools in Illinois alone. They are the only company in the U.S. that has both the breadth of services, and depth of Illinois education experience to take DACC on the journey of developing a mature distance education network that will service not only our traditional students, but also our nontraditional students through an expansion of course offerings to our high schools, homebound students, working students, parent students, etc."

Funding for the equipment is provided by the College Bridge grant. The total cost for the HyFlex classroom system from OneRoom, Inc., in partnership with RISE and funded through the grant and $10,000 through technology and equipment bonds, is $147,926.

The board also approved a contract with Mindsight to perform server upgrades at the college at a cost of $56,250.

Summer classes are taking place now at DACC. Fall classes start Aug. 21.