Quincy Reporter

John Wood Community College Board of Trustees heard a report confirming the Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant approval for the Workforce Development Center (WDC) Expansion Project and approved a tentative $16,412,835 balanced budget for the next fiscal year during its regular meeting Wednesday, June 15.

The WDC expansion project is assisted with a federal grant titled: “EDA Economic Adjustment Assistance Program Grant”.  The grant was awarded to JWCC in June of 2021.  The total project estimate is $6.1 MM with 50% federal grant funding and a 50% local funding match. Klingner & Associates/BLDD is the contracted firm.

The project construction documents have been approved by the EDA. The bid process is being led by Klingner & Associates with a planned bid opening date of July 12.  The groundbreaking ceremony will be later this summer with construction to follow.  The project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2023.

The Workforce Development Center (WDC) expansion project is a 14,170 square foot expansion at JWCC’s WDC facility located at 4220 Kochs Lane in Quincy. The project is supported by a federal grant and will include a new Truck Driver Training addition, expansion of the east side including a new physical building entrance, expanded space for HVAC, and Business and Industry.  A remodel of the current interior of the building will include expanded space for welding, industrial maintenance and manufacturing, robotics and automation, and flexible use-space for new programs such as a virtual reality lab. A new vehicle road entrance off 42nd Street will be added, leading to an expanded parking area.

The Board approved a tentative $16,412,835 balanced budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year.  The budget is $275,546 higher than the previous year. Tuition and fees account for 42.7 percent of JWCC’s total budgeted revenue, corporate and personal property taxes make up 38.9 percent, state funding 13.8% percent and 4.5 percent is from grant, facilities rentals and other sources.

In April 2022 the Board approved a tuition increase of $7.00 per credit hour, which will take effect in the fall of 2022 and maintains JWCC’s position as the region’s educational value choice. In-district tuition per credit hour will change from $142 to $149 per credit hour. The bump amounts to an extra $224 a year for in-district students taking 32 credit hours. JWCC’s average full-time, in-district tuition cost of $4,768 for next year compares favorably with other public and private colleges in the region that have annual tuition and fees ranging from $11,000 to $44,000 annually.

“Our objective is always to be good stewards and fiscally responsible of the district’s tax dollars by using a conservative fiscal approach,” President Michael Elbe stated. “We continue to hold true to our Board’s commitment to remain a progressive and forward-thinking institution as it benefits our workforce, students’ success and the quality of life in the communities we serve.”

More than a dozen enrollment initiatives are part of the 2023 proposed budget, including the continuation of the Missouri Career Scholarship to attract students into career and technical programs and efforts to boost enrollment in JWCC health sciences and ag programs.

Elbe continued, “For the upcoming fiscal year, we are investing more dollars in larger strategic recruitment initiatives, knowing enrollment is a revenue source we can influence to attract and retain students. We believe our new initiatives and programs will result in more students in the years to come as the economy continues to reset from the pandemic,”

In other business, the Board:

Authorized submission of a $540,000.00 over 4 years – $5,000,000 total grant application for consortium to the U.S. Department of Labor for a grant titled: Strengthening Community College Training Grants.

Authorized submission of a $120,000-$150,000 grant application to Local Workforce Area 14- Workforce Innovation Board of Western Il for a grant titled: Class-Sized Training Program.

Authorized $15,000 in grant funds from the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center for a grant titled Computer Networking & Cybersecurity Innovation.

Authorized $297,601 annually, $1,488,005 over 5 years in grant funds from the Department of Education for Upward Bound.

Approved adoption of a $6.3 million bond level for the School Treasurer’s Bond with THE HARTFOLD through the Illinois Community College Risk Management Consortium.

Authorized rejection of a $136,932.00 proposal from Million Construction for the courtyard concrete improvement project.

Accepted a $46,877.93 proposal and awarded Henricksen & Company of total cost option number 2 for furniture for the Orr Research Center.

Approved a Resource Allocation Management Plan (RAMP) document submission and the matching funds to the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) for five projects. A RAMP document must be filed annually for JWCC capital projects to be considered for State of Illinois matching funds.

The next regular meeting of the JWCC Board of Trustees is July 20, at 6 p.m. at JWCC’s Quincy campus.

Original source can be found here.