An End-of-Year Update from the President
Even cloudy days like these have a silver lining.
Our students and college community have bravely endured a summer and fall semester like no other in College history. With the calendar page about to flip to 2021, the New Year brings the glimmer of hope for a vaccine and eventually the welcome unmasking of smiling faces.
But not all of 2020 was PPE and hand sanitizer. As I look back on the past year, I’ve seen some wonderful achievements from DACC faculty and staff.
The year began with the College retaining its distinction as an Achieving The Dream “Leader College.” DACC was cited for excelling in helping improve students’ course-completion rates in English classes and for increasing the graduation and retention rates for African-American and Latinx students.
A new program and a 23-year program have contributed to this success. Under Carla Boyd, the College’s piloting of the “Toolbox” program has shown promising results in boosting the retention of African-American male students. Complementing that is the federal TRIO program under Shanay Wright. TRIO, which has been at DACC since 1997, has been renewed for five more years to support the education of about 200 students annually.
The DACC Foundation had a banner year under the leadership of Tonya Hill. The overall endowment surpassed $20 million. This is a testament to the hard work of a committed Foundation Board and the awesome generosity of community members.
The DACC-managed American Job Center under Brian Hensgen and Vermilion County Works under Jonathan Jett were the only regional one-stop in the State to remain open to serve unemployed residents throughout the year. The AJC has also been able to help local business and industry by funding incumbent workers and job-seekers with training and wrap-around support services, including the purchase of tools for apprentices.
The College unveiled a number of new academic programs, including a new certificate for Public Health Medical Billing under Marcie Wright and Kelly Johnson. Stephane Potts negotiated a new 3 + 1 bachelor’s-in-nursing agreement with Aspen University. Thanks to Professor Brian Fink, the College entered into an innovative 3 + 1 agreement with Indiana Wesleyan University that enables DACC accounting students to earn an associate and up to 88 credits from DACC, and then a bachelor’s degree from IWU, 18 graduate credits and an MBA, and eligibility to sit for the Illinois CPA exam.
Dr. Abby Hahne has made great strides this year leading a faculty team of assessment champions and administrators in implementing a systematic approach to how the College improves student-learning outcomes. Supporting this has been the development of SharePoint to provide a repository for these academic records. Thanks to the vision of the DACC Board of Trustees and Tammy Betancourt, the College has also begun protecting our business computer systems by investing in a Cloud-based storage to replace the antiquated on-campus servers.
Let’s not forget how wonderfully well the faculty stepped up in March when the COVID crisis hit and we needed to begin delivering all of our courses online for the remainder of the Spring semester. A group of employees that included Maggie Hoover, Jung Ae Merrick, Mark Barnes, Karla Coon, Kathy Hunter, Dr. Wendy Brown, and Dr. Hahne trained faculty in the Blackboard Collaborate Ultra online-learning system and provided tutorials for students. Online education also improved with the introduction of Respondus to support the integrity of testing in online classes.
Decades from now, we may remember 2020 as the year that eSports was born at DACC. Under advisor Guido Esteves, the College’s newest club immediately attracted dozens of students. Weekly tournaments have engaged nearly 200 participants. Then in the fall, Mr. Esteves and student “Team Captain” Collin Shaner were named to national sports committees that are looking to establish eSports as an NJCAA intercollegiate sport in the next year or so.
Under Laura Hensgen and Keith Miller, the DACC TV studio has undergone a significant upgrade. The duo has produced a number of snazzy videos to help market College programs. They’ve also launched DACCCAST shows.
The College introduced quite a bit of nifty new educational technology this year. The MILO Range Classic simulator will enable criminal-justice students studying with Professor Rickey Williams to experience real-life law-enforcement scenarios. Instructor Brandy Marron’s agriculture program has received a big boost from Perkins Funds with the introduction of an aquaponics system and will be powered electrically by Greg Hansbraugh’s wind-and-solar installation. Pete Powell’s tractor-trailer program got a new driver simulator. A Foundation donation helped purchase a transponder that improves the clarity of the images appearing on medical-imaging screens for classes taught by Instructors Jamie Moreland and Rachael Arnoldt. And by the end of the year, anatomy and physiology students will be able to study the human body from Professor Amanda Poffinbarger on a real-life simulator called an anatomage table.
This is the year DACC hired a new chief academic officer, Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Natalie Page. Besides conducting a “listening tour” to meet individually with more than 50 key stakeholders during her first two months on the job, Dr. Page is working closely with the faculty and the academic deans while undertaking a number of projects that includes the development of a five-year academic master plan.
Certainly 2020 has been a banner year for facilities, beginning with the official transfer of the U.S. Army Reserve to DACC. In July, Doug Adams began overseeing the renovation of Jacobs Hall, which is scheduled for completion in May 2021. Mr. Adams has also worked with the State’s Capital Development Board on the $2.5 million rehabilitation of Clock Tower and the Hegeler Horticulture Center.
Arguably the most talked-about construction for 2020 was the installation of two 9,000-pound HVAC units onto the roof of the Mary Miller Complex. If vaccines succeed in pushing away the pandemic by next May, you can expect to see thousands of smiling faces return to the College for Commencement 2021 in a fully air-conditioned gym. You can see our 2020 Virtual Commencement program here, if you missed it in May.
Last but not least, the year’s brightest silver lining is you—our employees, donors, retirees, and trustees. The holidays serve as the perfect occasion for me to express my gratitude for all that you do for DACC, our students, and for me personally.
I'm filled with pride in this outstanding institution, and I'm thankful to you for our years together working as a team for the betterment of the College.
May you have a restful and blessed holiday break. Best wishes to you and your families.
Sincerely,
Dr. Stephen Nacco
President, Danville Area Community College
