Joel Dykstra, Ed.D., from Roswell, New Mexico, has joined Lincoln Land Community College as dean of English and humanities. He began his new duties May 18.
Dr. Dykstra comes to LLCC from the New Mexico Military Institute where he served as associate dean of the humanities division for eight years. He also taught Arabic and Spanish at NMMI for 15 years and was involved in the leadership of the school’s participation in HLC’s Student Persistence and Completion Academy and the development of an early warning system. In 1999, Dykstra enlisted in the U.S. Army as an Arabic linguist. He served with the First Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, and was deployed twice after 9/11. Prior to that, he worked as an assistant professor of Spanish at Northwestern College in Iowa and Colorado Mesa University.
“Dr. Dykstra’s extensive experience both in the classroom and as an administrator will serve him and our college well,” said Vern Lindquist, Ph.D., vice president of academic services at LLCC. “LLCC is happy to welcome him and his family back home to the Midwest.”
Dykstra is originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan. He earned a doctor of education degree in community college leadership from Texas Tech University. He attended Michigan State University and the University of New Mexico for graduate studies and attended Calvin University and Grand Valley State University for undergraduate studies.
James Good joined the college as building custodian on March 30. He previously worked at Shop-n-Save for 19 years. He has also recently been employed as a sub custodian for District 186. He can be reached at 
Alexander Young also recently joined LLCC as building custodian. He comes to us with experience working on the custodial crew at the University of Southern Mississippi while he studied there. His wife, Carley, works as a student success coach here at the college. Alexander can be reached at 
Cassy Taylor has recently joined LLCC as a child development assistant. She previously worked at Care-o-sel in Virden for 12 years and has a total of 23 years childcare experience. Cassy has an associate degree in early childhood development. She can be reached at 
Max Yanor has recently joined the college as a police officer. He previously worked as a 911 dispatcher for the Chatham Police Department over the past year, and as security for Memorial Hospital and a volunteer EMT and firefighter for the last two years. Max is a graduate of Glenwood High School and an LLCC alum. He can be reached at 
Douglas “Doc” Usher is a new a full-time training specialist for truck driver training at LLCC. He drove for TMC for seven years and mostly recently worked here at the college as a part-time trainer. Doc is a graduate of LLCC’s truck driver training program. He can be reached at 
Katrina Quattlander has recently joined the college as library access services assistant. She worked as a temporary reference specialist at the college during the fall semester and previously worked as a K-12 librarian. Katrina earned a master’s degree in library science from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She can be reached at 
William Whitener has recently joined the college as a police officer. He previously worked as a Section 9 inspector for Springfield Housing Authority and as a full-time police officer in Peoria. William is an LLCC alum, having taken criminal justice courses at the college. He can be reached at 
Alexa Brown has recently joined the college as human resources associate. She previously served as an HR intern at Crawford, Murphy & Tilly for six months. Alexa is currently working on an MBA from Nova Southeastern University in Florida and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from University of Illinois Springield. She can be reached at 
Courtney Polkowski is the new employee recruitment coordinator for LLCC Human Resources. She has worked in employee recruitment for the past four years, most recently with coast-to-coast recruiting at Strategic Solutions. Courtney earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. She can be reached at 
Carley Young has recently joined the college as student success coach. She previously worked for the University of Southern Mississippi as coordinator of academic initiatives and assessment. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communication from University of Illinois Springfield and is pursuing a doctorate in communication from USM. She can be reached at 
LLCC has announced the hiring of its first e-sports head coach. Dalton McGhiey of Springfield will lead the first-ever LLCC Loggers e-sports team.