By Greta Lieske
IV Leader Editor, Sept. 4, 2008
If you would have asked Jerry Corcoran two years ago if he
thought he would be the new president of Illinois Valley Community College, the
answer would have been “no.”
“Two years ago,” said Corcoran, “I figured I’d
simply be the college’s vice president for business services and finance for
another 10 years and teach credit and non-credit courses every semester so that
I could become more engaged with our students. The next thing I knew, I was
interviewing for the presidency and eventually appointed to the best job in the
state of Illinois.”
Corcoran expressed his “delight” with his new position,
which he was appointed to in the spring of 2008. The fall 2008 semester academic
start marked the first academic year with President Corcoran. “When [interim
president] David Louis departed in mid-April,” said Corcoran, “he asked me how
it felt to be the 10th president of a community college established in 1924 and
I told him I am both pleased and proud to represent our college and its rich
history.”
The transition from Corcoran’s previous position has been a smooth one
that he credits to his familiarity with the IVCC community. “If I were new to
the area it would take at least one year to get to know the faculty, staff and
community,” said Corcoran, “so the fact that I’ve lived in the district most of
my life and worked here for over 18 years has made the transition to the new job
a ‘piece of cake.’ Our employees are great and many have gone out of their way
to offer kind words of support. In every business operation, you’re only as good
as the people around you and I’m the luckiest guy here because of the people
I’ve worked with across the college.”
According to Corcoran, the first day of
classes also ran efficiently for new students. “We had a number of college
employees and student ambassadors positioned near the main entrance that first
week in order to help students find their classrooms and the feedback on that
idea has always been great — it sends an important message about how much we
value our students and their experience at the college.”
He knows how difficult
it can be for new students to navigate their way around campus and wanted to
make sure this was not a problem. “Let’s face it,” explained Corcoran, “trying
to find your way around here can be challenging sometimes since rooms are not
always in the proper order (my goodness, the sequence of buildings is even out
of whack!), so it’s easy for first-time visitors and students to feel over-whelmed
and frustrated. We need to do everything we can to provide a welcoming
environment for the people we serve.” Corcoran has many goals for IVCC during
his presidency.
In addition to East campus improvements (see page 1), he has
many plans that are concerned with marketing the college, planning and quality.
“I want to do everything I can to ensure that the 148,000 people in our district
know that IVCC offers high-quality programs and services at an affordable
price,” explained Corcoran. He wants to make sure marketing gets the information
out to the public that “IVCC is a great community resource because [it has]
people, programs and services that provide outstanding learning opportunities.”
As far as quality, Corcoran said that the “Higher Learning Commission requires
us to regularly self-review our programs and services. We have a number of hard
working people focusing on three ‘action projects’ that will help us meet that
objective.”
These projects include: 1) Developing a list of approximately
10 key performance indicators that will become measures of success on a
year-to-year basis. 2) Determining the needs of all college stakeholders and
then translating those needs into strategic goals with measurable outcomes. 3)
Looking for ways in which we can improve upon the assessment of student learning
outcomes at the program and general education level.
Among all of Corcoran’s plans, goals and successes there is
one thing that he never forgets: the people who have helped him get where he is.
“In every business operation,” said Corcoran, “you’re only as good as the people
around you and I’m the luckiest guy here because of the people I’ve worked with
across the college. I owe my co-workers and friends a huge debt of gratitude
because without them I never could have achieved my academic and career goals.”
IVCC has had several presidents in recent years.
Corcoran replaced Louis, who had served in an interim
capacity for a year following the one-year presidency of Larry Huffman. Prior to
Huffman, Chuck Novak had served as interim president for one-year.