VALUE OF SCHOLARSHIPS REVIEWED AT COLLEGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING

The Iowa Lakes Community College Board of Trustees was updated Tuesday afternoon on the value of scholarships to students at Iowa Lakes.

As part of National Philanthropy month, the Institutional Advancement offices of Iowa Lakes explained that last Thursday’s annual Scholarship Recognition event is purposely held during November to thank donors and give the students a chance to meet the people behind the scholarship at a public event.

Executive Director Shan Ray informed the Trustees on the outcome of this year’s “We Believe in Us” campaign. The employee portion is wrapping up and Ray shared that the program has involved 89 percent of full-time employees and 66 percent of part-time staff members for a total $55,399.

Katie Elbert, Institutional Advancement Event & Development Coordinator, talked about fundraising events over the summer and the number of scholarships distributed in the five-county area which comprises most of the Iowa Lakes area. She reported that more than $63,000 was raised during the 2007 events and also shared the dates for the 2008 events.

Two students, Allison Walders and Nate Hovinga, spoke about the value of scholarships in their educational experiences.

In particular, Iowa Lakes gave out $509,000 in scholarships to students in the five-county area. Overall, the college has given out some $750,000 in scholarships in the past year.

In other business, Delaine Hiney reported that the Sustainable Energy Education Center/Wind Energy facility is ‘substantially’ completed. Both the architect and engineer have been through the building to inspect it. Hopefully, by Dec 1, the fire marshal will be able to inspect the building.

Hiney also spoke to the Trustees about a communication system during bad weather and during times of emergency. The college is working with Megaphone (out of Milford) to contact students and faculty via e-mail, text messaging and telephone. And she updated the trustees on cleaning habits the college is taking to minimize the risk and exposure to spreading an infectious disease which has been called a ‘super bug.’

Also during the meeting, oral reports were given on the farm laboratory as well as statewide community college groups.

The next meeting of the Iowa Lakes Board of Trustees will be Tuesday, Dec. 11 in Estherville.