Sandburg TRIO Student Support Services Program Far Exceeds 2018-19 Objectives

  Aaron Frey
  Friday, November 22, 2019 1:33 PM
  Campus News

Galesburg, IL

Carl Sandburg College’s TRIO Student Support Services program exceeded all of its performance objectives by 20-30 points for the 2018-19 academic year, director Autumn Scott told the Sandburg Board of Trustees during its meeting Thursday night.

Sandburg’s TRIO SSS program submitted its annual performance report for 2018-19 to the U.S. Department of Education earlier this week. Scott said the federally funded program was well above its goals for good academic standing, persistence, graduation and transfer rates among its students. The rates for TRIO SSS students in 2018-19 were:

• 93 percent good academic standing (objective: 70 percent)
• 86 percent persistence (objective: 65 percent)
• 61 percent graduation (objective: 30 percent)
• 41 percent transfer with a degree (objective: 20 percent)

The purpose of Sandburg’s TRIO SSS program is to help first-generation college students stay in school, graduate from the College and transfer to a four-year college or university.

Emily Webel, director of advancement, updated the Board on the progress and departmental goals of the Carl Sandburg College Foundation. Webel said the Foundation has awarded more than $139,000 in scholarships to 180 students and that it continues to provide crisis funds to assist students with non-academic barriers to education. The Foundation also awarded more than $17,000 in mini-grants to Sandburg faculty and staff this semester and had endowments established for Dr. R.C. Westergren and Betty Lou Holt.

Webel also said the Safe Halloween alumni event the Foundation hosted on the Main Campus was successful and that the Foundation is creating a culture of giving to foster conversations with current and prospective donors that will make support to students sustainable and impactful to ensure their educational success.

Kylie Price, assistant dean of assessment, gave an informational presentation on the Outcomes & Assessment Committee’s annual report. Price said critical thinking was the most assessed of Sandburg’s general education outcomes (GEOs) and that internal procedures have been established for co-curricular assessment.

The Board also approved the 2019 property tax levy that was first brought to the Board at its October meeting. Equalized assessed valuations (EAVs) have been increasing in the College’s district for several years, and a 3 percent increase is anticipated for levy year 2019. The Board passed an operating tax levy of 47.86 cents per $100 of EAV, a 0.45-cent increase in tax rate from the previous year. This is consistent with the College’s intention of maintaining a high-quality educational experience without significantly changing the tax rate for many years.

In other business, the Board approved the following:

• Employment of Kimberley Quanstrom as administrative computing information specialist, effective Dec. 1
• Employment of Jay DeFord as computing infrastructure specialist, effective Dec. 1.
• Employment of Sherry Morris as marketing services specialist, effective Dec. 1.
• Resignation/retirement of Keith Williams as full-time economics/business administration faculty, effective June 30.
• Resignation of Michelle Erickson as coordinator of veterans and military services/financial aid specialist, effective Nov. 30.

The Board’s next scheduled meeting is 7 p.m. Dec. 19 on the Main Campus in Galesburg.