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LLCC launches25% MAX REDUCTION25% MAX REDUCTIONRetooling and rebranding several highdemand, hands-on training programs,LLCC launched the WorkforceInstitute May 24, 2021.“Students get in, get trained andget a job,” said Nancy Sweet, dean of theWorkforce Institute.The Workforce Institute encompassesshort-term training in automotive technology,aviation mechanics, construction, commercialelectrical maintenance, electrical distributionlineman, HVAC, truck driving, welding andculinary arts/hospitality management.Recognizing that the pandemic ledmany people to reevaluate their futures and25% MAX REDUCTIONlook for new career opportunities, LLCCchanged the structure of these programs toadd multiple start dates and a more seamlessenrollment process, with personal assistancefrom first contact through to job placement.“Whether you’re a recent high school graduateor someone looking to reskill or upskill, it’snow even more convenient to enroll in ourtrade programs when you want and completecertificates employers want,” said Sweet.Local economic development andbusiness partners were eager to endorse thenew Workforce Institute. “We fully supportLLCC’s Workforce Institute and its vital rolein getting community members back to work25% MAX REDUCTION725% MAX REDUCTIONTRUCK DRIVER TRAININGGet in.Get trained.Get a job.after the pandemic,” said Ryan McCrady,president and CEO of the SpringfieldSangamon Growth Alliance.“We rely on LLCC grads to fill ourworkforce needs,” said Josh Laurent, directorof fixed operations, Green Family Stores. “Wehave great jobs available in the automotiveindustry for mechanics who are skilled andwant to work.”LLCC is now partnering with GreenFamily Stores and Landmark Automotive, thetwo largest Ford dealerships in Springfield, ontheir ACE (Automotive Career Exploration)program, which aims to raise awarenessand increase interest in career opportunitieswithin the automotive industry.“The projected worker shortage in skilledtrades over the next five to 10 years isstaggering,” said Andy Fuchs, trainingcoordinator for Local 137 Plumbers,Steamfitters and HVACR. “I encouragestudents to consider a career in the trades.These careers can support you throughout lifewith high pay and great benefits.”Several Workforce 101 events insummer 2021 let prospective students “tryon a trade” and meet local employers. “AtWorkforce 101 sessions, you roll up yoursleeves and get hands-on with the kinds ofThe Workforce Institute encompasses short-termtraining in automotive technology, aviationmechanics, construction, commercial electricalmaintenance, electrical distribution lineman,HVAC, truck driving, welding and culinary arts/hospitality management.work you’d be doing on the job,” saidSweet. “This allows you to pictureyourself in that career.“Our career training costs lessthan half of comparable training atlocal private institutes,” she continued.“We support students all the way fromenrolling, through their training andconnecting them to local employers.”Students at participating highschools can also finish a one-yearcertificate at the Workforce Institutebefore graduating from high school.www.llcc.edu/workforce8One of theWorkforceInstitute programs,Truck DriverTraining, receiveda federal grantto offer veterans,active military andtheir spouses freetraining. LLCCwas one of 20institutions in thenation and theonly one in Illinoisto be awarded aU.S. Departmentof TransportationCommercialMotor Vehicle(CMV) OperatorSafety TrainingGrant of 82,000.

Diversity, Equity and InclusionPicture yourselfat LLCC“We respect and celebrate the differences amongpeople, cultures and ideas. We incorporate multipleperspectives into our processes, informing decisionmaking, improving the college and enriching lives.We strive to be kind, compassionate and empatheticin our interactions with others and recognize theinherent dignity and worth of everyone throughoutthe college community.” LLCC VALUES (DIVERSITY)Changing Lives. Building Futures.LLCC was awarded 1.2 million by theIllinois Community College Board inNovember 2020 to continue the OpenDoor Workforce Equity Initiative (WEI).“LLCC is committed to equity and ensuringall individuals have access to opportunities forcareer success,” said Dr. Lesley Frederick, vicepresident of student services. “This grant allowsus to expand this life-changing program aimed atimproving equity in the workforce and addressingidentified workforce gaps in our community.”WEI students enroll free of charge in shortterm training programs leading to immediateemployment including truck driver training,automotive technology, welding and varioushealth care programs such as basic nurse assistant(CNA), clinical medical assistant, dentalassistant, pharmacy technician, phlebotomytechnician and others. Under terms of the grant,at least 75% of participants must be AfricanAmerican.FREE CAREER /open-door-weiFREE CAREER TRAININGShort-termtraining fora long-termcareerwww.llcc.edu/open-door-weiThe program also provides participants with astipend, transportation and childcare assistanceto support them as they complete their trainingand secure gainful employment.LaCrea Lott graduated from the CNAto Medical Assistant Bridge program. “WEIprovided me with the opportunity to get aneducation while maintaining a full-time joband assisting with taking care of my family. Justknowing that I help someone feel better or makebetter life choices is why I am so passionateabout my new career.”More than 100 students enrolled in theoriginal program and 94 enrolled in the secondphase.9Free tuition and feesBooks and materialsA stipendTransportation assistanceChild care assistanceTutoringEssential and employability skills trainingJob placementsFree tuition and feesBooks and materialsA stipendTransportation assistanceChild care assistanceTutoringEssential and employability skills trainingJob placementsCollege DEI initiativesLLCC-BEARDSTOWN partnered withJBS on the Better Futures Program, anemployment benefit that provides tuitionassistance.LLCC again welcomed teens in the BOYSAND GIRLS CLUB OF CENTRALILLINOIS SUMMER CAREERLAUNCH PROGRAM for once-a-weeksessions. Participants learned about varioushealth professions from ambulance totrauma bay, sonography, surgery and inhospital experiences. On another day, theyexplored welding, GIS and aviation careers.LLCC’S CAMPUS CLIMATE TEAMimplemented the college’s first “Innovationin Diversity and Inclusion Grant” providingfunding for projects aimed at advancingaccess, equity and inclusion at the college.Awards were granted to the WorkforceEquity Initiative (WEI) for a targetedmarketing and student support program,and the Student Success Office for a StudentSuccess Coach book club focusing on equityand inclusion.THE SAFETY AND INCLUSIVITYWORKGROUP also partnered withWEI to provide training at the college’sProfessional Development Day on“Engaging with Equity: Applying InclusivePractices in your Role at LLCC.”THE ANNUAL AFRICAN-AMERICANHISTORY MONTH observance andMulticultural Fest transitioned to virtualformats, with faculty and students sharinginformation on their individual cultures.FREE CAREER TRAININGGet paidto trainfor a careerwww.llcc.edu/open-door-weiFree tuition and feesBooks and materialsA stipendTransportation assistanceChild care assistanceTutoringEssential and employability skills trainingJob placements10LLCC’s PublicRelations andMarketing Officeintroduced anaspirational marketingcampaign in March,asking people to“Picture themselves”as LLCC students.The campaign aims toshow the diversity ofcurrent students andLLCC as a place whereeveryone fits in andlearns from each other.

More opportunitiesto earn college creditin high schoolTeacher education pipelineDual enrollmentKyle Cearlock, an LLCC-TaylorvilleCollege Now student and TaylorvilleHigh School senior, was awardedan associate in science degree from LLCCa few weeks prior to earning his highschool diploma. Cearlock took college-levelcourses at LLCC on top of his high schoolschoolwork, extracurriculars and sports,maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA. This fall hetransferred to the University of Missouri andsays he hopes more students take advantageof the dual enrollment opportunities. CollegeNow was also offered in the fall and springsemesters through the Springfield campus,LLCC-Litchfield and LLCC-Jacksonville.Dual creditLLCC increased dual credit offerings in theareas of Natural and Agricultural Sciences,Arts and Communication, Social Sciencesand Business, and Career and TechnicalEducation. “Our dual credit courses havecontinued to be one of the most affordableoptions for high school students interested ingetting an early start toward postsecondaryeducation,” said Patrick Moore, director ofconcurrent enrollment.With COVID-19 guidelines in place,parameters were established so that highschool students – dual credit, College Nowand First Semester participants – couldreceive instruction in-person, via remotelearning or a hybrid of the two. A total of1,053 students participated in dual creditcourses in the fall of 2020 and 1,772 studentsin spring 2021. College credit hours attainedby these students totaled 9,375.High school students were able to startpreparing for a career in education as part ofLLCC’s new Teacher Education Pipeline, apartnership with Springfield School District186. Students interested in becomingteachers took education courses at LLCC atthe “zero hour” (7 a.m.) prior to the start oftheir high school day.“The world needs moreteachers, and I believe Iwould fit this roleperfectly,” said SpringfieldHigh School studentKylie McMillan. TheIntroduction to TeacherEducation class opened hereyes to new possibilities.“I have always wanted to be a high schoolteacher, specifically in mathematics. However,I worked at a preschool several times a weekand developed a love of working with the littlekids in the classroom and becoming closewith them. So, right now I am in the middlebetween early childhood and high school.”Southeast High Schoolstudent Aden Woodswants to make an impacton many lives andacknowledges that theIllinois teacher shortage isanother reason to enterthe field. “The TeacherEducation Pipeline is helping me start earlytoward my goal by allowing me to takecollege education classes while I am still inhigh school. I want to become a teacherbecause I know I will make a huge impacton many kids’ lives.”Patrick Moore, LLCC director ofconcurrent enrollment, said the TeacherEducation Pipeline was designed to addressthe need for more K-12 educators in Illinois.“One of the key things that promptedthe development of this program was therecognition of the teacher shortage throughoutthe state. There has also been a growing11SummerBoostLLCC offered graduating highschool seniors a new, free program toboost their writing and math skills inpreparation for college in the fall.Summer Boost classes weretaught face-to-face by LLCC facultywith participants who took bothsubjects enjoying a free Quiznoslunch between morning andafternoon sessions.“We recognize the past yearhas presented many challenges tograduating high school seniors,”said LLCC President Warren. “Welaunched Summer Boost to givethem and any student who will benew to college in the fall a strongfoundation when they begin atLLCC or elsewhere.”interest throughout LLCC’s district in ourCollege Now programs, which grant highschool students an opportunity to receivecollege instruction from LLCC faculty. TheTeacher Education Pipeline program, whichis a College Now model, is unique as it has aparticular focus (the field of education).”There are currently eight District 186high school students enrolled in the program.More growth is expected through partnershipswith Springfield and other high schools in theLLCC district.LateStartRecognizing that some students prefershorter term courses and others maymiss semester enrollment deadlines,the college introduced many more12-week and eight-week courses acrossthe curricula. Called LateStart, thecourses were a success and will expandin future semesters.Podcast“Our concurrentenrollment courses havecontinued to be oneof the most affordableoptions for high schoolstudents interested ingetting an early starttoward postsecondaryeducation.”LLCC launched a podcast tohighlight the “amazing faculty,staff and students of LLCC” andtake an in-depth look at variousprograms offered by the college.Hosts Mac Warren and EmilySmith from the Public Relationsand Marketing departmentexplored topics including coursedelivery options, adult education,the Center for Academic Success,concurrent enrollment, scholarships,enrollment transitions, geography,computer science, English,humanities and the Summer Boostprogram. The podcast is available onhosting services as well as the LLCCwebsite www.llcc.edu/podcast.Patrick Moore,director of concurrent enrollment12

Athletic excellence on a national stageWorld SeriesAfter a successful and thrilling regular season, the Loggers baseballteam made a return visit to the NJCAA DII World Series, finishing7th in the nation.Jake Curtis was chosen as the MWAC MaleAthlete of the Year following a strong seasonleading the Loggers to conference and region/district tournament titles and the world series.Curtis was also named Region 24 Player of theYear and an NJCAA DII First-Team AllAmerican. He led the Loggers in batting average(.435), hits (70) and slugging percentage (.580)and won LLCC’s Dick Dhabalt Athlete of the Year Award.“Jake was the heart and soul of our team that was ranked inthe top five almost the whole season,” said Ron Riggle, LLCCathletic director and head baseball coach. “He is an excellent leaderand a solid student.”The female Dhabalt Athlete of the Year wasbasketball’s Emily Meidel, who led the NJCAAin total points scored. She averaged 22 points,nine rebounds, 52% FG and 43% 3-pointers.Meidel was named first team All-American,Region 24 Player of the Year, MWAC Player ofthe Year, MWAC Freshman of the Year andNJCAA Player of the Week.“Emily had amazing accomplishments on the court and anamazing season. She established herself as a not only a premierplayer in our region, but also in the nation,” said Chad Jones, headwomen’s basketball coach.Esports championsLLCC’s Esports Rocket League team were the fall 2020 and spring2021 national champions. After 12 weeks of competitive playamong 43 community colleges in the spring, the Loggers broughthome their second straight Rocket League title and ended with a13-0 season.National rankingsWomen’s volleyball, softball and basketball and men’s baseballwere all ranked in the Top 20 during their seasons, with women’sbasketball and men’s baseball ranked in the Top Five most of theyear.Two new sportsIn addition to Esports with 19 players, the college added a women’ssoccer team with 15 players.1314

Virtual was reality in 2020-21As the Covid-19 pandemic continued,the college gathered online for amajority of the 2020-21 academicyear beginning with a “virtual is the newreality”-themed Convocation. Hands-oncareer classes remained in a face-to-faceformat, but most others in the fall and springwere online or a hybrid of online and faceto-face. An increasing number of face-to-faceclasses were scheduled for summer 2021.Faculty and staf creatively rose to thechallenge of ofering classes, student lifeevents, meetings, recruitment events andobservances via Zoom, Teams, YouTube andsocial media. Tose who did attend classor work at LLCC facilities followed safetyprotocols.Troughout a challenging year,knowledge expanded as to how to accomplishtasks and work together online to servestudents in creative ways, including: Te LLCC Library, Student Services andIT organized the loan of laptops andhotspots to students in need of them tosuccessfully complete their classes. Telibrary maintained operations using online/mobile scheduling and reservations, anddeveloped remote book request, notifcationand pick-upprocesses.FACE TO FACETraditional classroom learning,regular day & time scheduleAssisting students during thepandemic Success Coaches met with studentsvirtually, and introduced a new 24/7,tele-mental health and personal counselingservice, TalkSpace. In FY21, SuccessCoaches sent over 91,000 text messages tostudents to support them academically andpersonally and held over 7,200 face-to-faceand virtual meetings with students. Science faculty converted lab sciences toonline and/or hybrid models, emphasizingessential lab skills. Te music department premiered threeonline concerts on YouTube and Facebook:Together, RiSING Together and theHonors Recital featuring music majors. Arts and Communicationpresented the annualJuriedStudent Art Show virtually. Math and Writing Centers implementedZoom rooms to assist students withassignments in those subjects. New ways of reaching students virtuallywith important information included:- A series of Financial Aid FAFSA sessions- Discover LLCC and Moving Forwardto LLCC recruitment events, along withtwo Campus Cruises- Scholarship 101 sessions to helpstudents apply successfully forscholarships LLCC partnered with SHIELD Illinois toprovide saliva-based COVID-19 testing tothe LLCC community and conducted severalvaccine clinics. Student Success staf helped students applyfor funding to support their educationalexpenses. Te LLCC Finance Ofcedistributed 2,195,322 in HEERF (HigherEducation Emergency Relief Fund)assistance to 6,130 students (as of June 30,2021). Te Adult Education Department providedcollege and career preparation services for171 students to receive their High SchoolEquivalency certifcates and transitioninto postsecondary education and jobtraining opportunities. In addition, AdultEducation provided English as a secondlanguage, civics education and collegeand career preparation services to 135individuals.ONLINEDistance education via the internet,no scheduled class timeREMOTEFace-to-face via Zoom or other technology,regular day & time scheduleTe joy and celebration of commencement were just as evident in 2021 as in “traditional” years.For the second year in a row, LLCC had to forego an in-person, indoor graduation ceremony. Inits place, during the days leading up to commencement, the college set up selfestations for graduates and held a graduate parade. President Warren ledthe parade, riding in one of the LLCC semis, followed by over 60 carsof graduates, many of whom had decorated their vehicles. Faculty andstaf in LLCC blue “Driven to Succeed” T-shirts lined the paraderoute through campus with congratulatory signs and noisemakers.Te next evening, the college debuted the 2021 commencementvideo, with hundreds of viewers and congratulatory posts. In all, LLCCconferred more than 1,500 degrees and certifcates at commencement.1516FLEXCombines traditional face-to-face,online and remote learning

The Big ReadCybersecuritya vital and in-demand job skillCybersecurity professionals are in greatdemand as the world grapples withkeeping information safe and immuneto malicious hacks. The U.S. Bureau of LaborStatistics estimates information security willgrow 31% through 2029, one of the fastestgrowing career fields nationally.LLCC is offering a 18-monthcybersecurity certificate program to preparethese professionals. An everchanging field,LLCC’s computer science program wasrevised based on employer feedback.“As the number of people and devicesthat are online continues to grow, sodo the opportunities for cybercrimes,”explained Dr. Carmen Allen, professor ofcomputer science. “There is a great needfor professionals trained in cybersecurity toprotect data, networks and programs.”Developed through a National ScienceFoundat

to enroll in LLCC's nursing program each year, for a total of 215 new nursing students annually. "We are thrilled to open the doors of this new center with our Memorial Health System partners, just in time for the start of the fall semester," said Ken Elmore, chair of the LLCC Board of Trustees. "The LLCC/ Memorial Health System partnership