Congratulations Colleen Pittman!

Congratulations to Colleen Pittman, marketing and communications coordinator, and her husband, Daniel, on the birth of their son, Andrew “Drew” Henry Pittman, born Thursday, July 20 at 3:59 p.m., weighing 7.6 pounds and measuring 20 ¾ inches. He joins big sister Madeline, and all are doing well!

2018 tentative budget

The 2018 tentative budget is now available in Colleague and will be available at the July LLCC Board of Trustees meeting. A balanced budget was presented as required by the board.

Some things to know about this year’s budget:

  • FY18 budget includes board approved increases in salary and benefits. HR is sending notifications to staff regarding current approved salary increases.
  • The State of Illinois approved a budget for FY 2018, which includes an appropriation to community colleges and provides community colleges with 90 percent of the funding level that was received for FY 2015.
  • Approved Budget Maintenance and Planning Strategies with funding are included in the budget and available in Colleague.
  • Approved FFE, Perkins and Tech Fee appropriations will be sent out or posted when available.
  • Additional adjustments may be necessary between now and the adoption of the final budget at the September board meeting.
  • Budget transfers will not be processed until the final budget is approved by the board and those adjustments are made in Colleague. However, if you do not have the necessary funds in your lines to process a payment or PO, a budget transfer must still be prepared and submitted to the Budget Office. Once the transfer is received and reviewed, we will override the account and will process the transfer once the final budget is online.
  • While we should always be budget conscious and only purchase what is necessary for our departments to operate, effective immediately it will no longer be required to obtain cabinet member approval in advance of making a purchase of goods or services. Please make sure you are familiar with the Budget Expenditure Approval Limits that we are returning to.
  • Should there be a delay in approving a FY 2019 budget or if there were to be any mid-year reductions from the state in the FY 2018 budget, it may be necessary to revisit cabinet member pre-approvals in the future.

It is important that departments review their budgets during the year as purchases are made so that they can ensure they are still operating within budget. Directions on running Colleague general ledger reports (ACBL, GLBR and GLBS) are located in the “Useful Information” section on the budget office portal page. Please familiarize yourself with these reports as they will help tremendously in budget management. If you have any questions or problems, please feel free to contact the Finance Department.

Farm stand open today 1:30-4:15 p.m.

Visit the farm stand today in the A. Lincoln Commons from 1:30-4:15 p.m. to purchase produce that has been organically grown on the LLCC campus. Please note the stand accepts cash only, and small bills are appreciated.

Youth from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Illinois will be working their last day at the stand as part of their summer entrepreneurial training program, “Teen Career Launch.” This part of the program has been made possible by a grant from North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture, Research and Education (NCR-SARE).

New Basketball Open Gym class offered in Cass Gym this fall

Basketball Open Gym, a community education class which is open to LLCC employees (closed to the general public), will be offered on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, noon-1 p.m., from Aug. 21 through Dec. 15 this fall. Instructor is Dr. Mark Roehrs, professor of history. Fee is $25. Sign up for the class through Registration, 786.2292. More information is available through Community Education, 786.2432.

Join us in giving best wishes to Jamie Stout July 20

Stop by LLCC Community Education on Thursday, July 20 to wish Jamie Stout, director of community education, well on her next adventure. The office extends the invitation for faculty and staff to stop by anytime throughout the day to give Jamie their best.

Our sympathy to Dr. Claire Gordon 

We extend our sincere condolences to Claire Gordon, Ph.D., professor of communication, on the passing of her father, Robert Brunner, on July 17. Following a private interment, a Celebration of Life service will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday, July 23, at All Souls Unitarian Church, 5805 E. 56th Street, Indianapolis. A reception at All Souls will follow the service. Read the obituary.

Current Trends in Drug Abuse seminar Oct. 2 at LLCC-Jacksonville

The Current Trends in Drug Abuse seminar is back by popular demand! It will be held at LLCC-Jacksonville on Monday, Oct. 2, 8:15 a.m.-4 p.m.

The Illinois heroin epidemic is being challenged with a wave of designer synthetic narcotic drugs. With strange chemical names such as “U-4” and “W-18,” or a street slang name of “Badger Repellent,” these next generation narcotics are up to 10,000 times more potent than morphine. This one-day seminar will update participants on the latest street drugs of abuse in Illinois and innovative community responses to this latest drug challenge.

Six CPDUs will be awarded to teachers. Six contact hours will be awarded to nurses, professional/clinical counselors and social workers. IAODAPCA continuing education credits have been applied for and are pending.

Preregistration for this seminar is required. More information and online registration is available at ​w​w​w​.​l​l​c​c​.​e​d​u​/​c​u​r​r​e​n​t​-​t​r​e​n​d​s​-​i​n​-​d​r​u​g​-​a​b​u​s​e​.

In the news

Marnie Record, workforce specialist, was interviewed by the State Journal-Register for the article, “Teens get business experience running food stand.” She is also the author of this week’s Epicuriosity 101 column in the State Journal-Register, “Cooking with Herbs 101.”

Matthew Shaver, professor of digital media, was interviewed by the Springfield Business Journal for an article in the August edition, which is focused on technology. Matthew discussed the video game design program along with other digital media, art and music programs that contribute to construction of a video game.