CLC BOARD OF TRUSTEES ELECTION APRIL 4, 2017 CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE A)Please read the Illinois Community College Legislative Goals proposed by the Illinois Community College Trustees Association (ICCTA) on their website: Do you support these goals as proposed by the ICCTA? ___X__yes ______no Discuss the goal(s) you believe is/are most important and reasons for your choice(s). B) The duties and responsibilities of a community college board are spelled out in state law. One of the first things a new trustee should do is to become familiar with that portion of state law that deals with community colleges. This is commonly called the Illinois Public Community College Act. In the Illinois Compiled Statues, it is 110 ILCS 805/1-1 to 805/8-2. Board members should pay particular heed to the duties outlined in Sections 805/3-21 to 3-29.2 and the powers listed in Sections 805/3-30 to 3-43. Reprints of this Act are available from the Illinois Community College Trustees Association. While no list can include all of the responsibilities that you will exercise as a board member, some of the major ones are: 1) Defining the role and mission of the college 2) Evaluating institutional performance 3) Approving college plans 4) Establishing tuition rates 5) Establishing tax rates 6) Hiring the president 7) Evaluating the president 8) Establishing institutional budgets and approving contracts and expenditures 9) Setting the tone for institutional leadership 10) Monitoring the colleges’ performance 11) Representing the community to the college and the college to the community Please discuss which duties and responsibilities are most important to you? In terms of duties and responsibilities, where can you make the greatest contribution to the Board? C)Please read comments made by former and present Board of Trustee Members of Illinois Community colleges on the following website: Community College Trustee Association (ICCTA) Which comments are most important and reasons for your choice(s). 1) Discuss your interest in serving on the College of Lake County Board of Trustees? 2) Discuss your professional work experience? Board experience? Volunteer experience? 3) Enumerate and discuss skills you developed from your professional work experience, Board experience and/or volunteer experience that will aid and enhance your role as a Trustee? 4) How will you as a Trustee support and work with CLC’s Executive Staff? 5) Discuss CLC’s strengths and weaknesses? 6) Discuss challenges facing CLC in the next 5 years? 7) How will you assist CLC with financial constraints now and in the future? 8) Discuss the differences in the operations, oversight and governing of CLC compared to a business? 9) May we post your responses on our website for public viewing? ___X_yes _____no
Statement of Matthew Stanton
We are the beneficiaries of a great tradition of public commitment to continuing education here in Lake County and in the State of Illinois. The very concept of a community college was in large part developed in here in Illinois and that was solidified by the legislature with the Junior College Act of 1965. Our own regional college, the College of Lake County, had its humble beginnings in 1969 with donated land and six pre-fabricated trailers set up to house its first classes. From that humble beginning to today’s state of the art multi-purpose Grayslake campus, the College of Lake County represents a precious heritage that we have been entrusted to preserve and maintain, and to do so with care and wisdom. This can only be accomplished by holding steadfastly to the original mission of the school, while at the same time recognizing the challenges that we continue to face during these turbulent times of economic uncertainty and political change. Mahatma Gandhi once said that “ A worthy heir adds to the legacy that he receives”, and it is this attitude that I will bring to the board. I am proud to be an alumnus of the College of Lake County and am happy to now be in a position to give back by way of service as a member of the board of trustees to this worthy institution.
The role of the trustee is one of providing guidance and oversight. It is important that a trustee recognize his or her own role as that of establishing a broad vision and goal planning for the college; and to avoid the inclination to micro - manage the day to day operations of the college administration. That is the task of the administration. Trustees also occupy a fiduciary role to ensure that funding is secure to accomplish the fundamental task of keeping the school solvent. Although not a business, a college must remain fiscally healthy so thatthe instructors and staff can confidently go about the actual work of training students to think clearly and provide them with useful skills.
I will bring to the board my experiences as an educator, lawyer, executive board member and father. These I see as qualifications that combine to enable me to provide the sound judgment and reasoned analysis that is desired in a trustee. Trustees must be fair minded and open to new ideas and various perspectives in order to develop the best ways forward when confronting things like revenue shortfalls, leadership selection, and the many other decisions that ensure institutional well-being. I have studied law and teach at a law school, where I have authored constitutional law courses that examine social policy and political initiatives. Working directly with students has taught me how to address even controversial subjects without falling into the ideological divides that can block honestdiscourse and stop progress. My previous volunteer work with various civic boards has grounded me in the practice of consensus based resolutions, which is something that I believe necessary to establish broad based support for school policy, and, where it applies, transitional phases and plans. Besides teaching at the college level, I have worked both in administrative positions and as a college guidance counselor, which has given me a contextual understanding for both the academic and administrative concerns that are an intrinsic part of the business of higher education. Lastly, I bring an additional quality to my board membership – that of having been the father of a large family of children that I raised alone as a single parent. This life experience, as much as anything, has instilled in me the importance of long term planning and guidance that is needed to achieve desired outcomes, without which both families and institutions risk failure. Accountability is key. The commitment required to attain our goals means nothing if those goals are not mindfully articulated and remain vital before us, and, when in times of transition, it may be necessary that were-examine our policies and practices as situations evolve. A trustee is like a watchman whose job it is to observe from a distance; a trusted set of eyes that is free from special interest to observe overall performance, evaluate a college president, or monitor the viability of a specific program.
As a trustee, I will promote the school in the county and beyond. I will support all measures that hold our state government to its obligations, under law, that allocate funding for the college. I understand that for many students, community college is not just an option; but is theonly opportunity they will have to the training they need, or obtain a degree in order to better themselves. As such, the College of Lake County may be seen as our common holding; a precious community resource that will continue to grow and meet the needs of the people of Lake County well into the 21st Century.