Iowa Lakes Community College Receives International Website Award

(Estherville, Iowa) The Trustees of Iowa Lakes Community College convened at the Administrative Offices in Estherville late Tuesday afternoon for their monthly board meeting.

October is the annual organizational meeting for the Iowa Lakes Board of Trustees.  The 2017 – 2018 board was adjourned by the Board of Trustees President, Jan Lund, and the 2018 – 2019 board was then called to order by the Board Secretary, Cindy Oviatt.

The Trustees elected officers. Janice Lund was re-elected as the President of the Iowa Lakes Trustees, and Pat Kibbie was re-elected to the position of Vice President. In addition, Cindy Oviatt was appointed to serve as Secretary, and Jeff Soper as Treasurer. Scot Bauermeister was selected as the attorney for the Trustees.

After finishing other organizational business, the Trustees heard from Julie Williams, Executive Dean of Students. Williams requested action from the board for the reallocation of Student Activity Fees from the Spindrift account to the Student Senate accounts. The transfer would allow funds to be used by the Student Senate for student-directed activities.

“Students at Iowa Lakes are encouraged to participate in a variety of student activities as part of their learning, growth and development. We are proud of our student leaders and they do an excellent job coordinating our student lead activities”, said Williams.

The board approved the reallocation of funds.

The Iowa Lakes Trustees had the opportunity to meet more than 40 student leaders from all campuses. The group of student leaders included Student Senators, Student Ambassadors, Resident Assistants, and Graduate Assistants. Each student leader shared their educational plans and why they chose to attend Iowa Lakes.

Following the student leaders, Vice President of Administration, Robert Leifeld,  presented to the board regarding applications for two separate grant opportunities through the Palo Alto County Gaming Development Corporation(PACGDC), one full grant ($5,001 or more) and one mini-grant ($5,000 or less).

Leifeld went on to explain the first grant application would be for a full grant. The full grant would be for Snow Removal Equipment for the Smith Wellness Center and College. The total cost of the project is $69,358.25. This equipment is needed to help maintain the safety of community members as they gain access to the building, the Smith Wellness Center, the Emmetsburg Public Library, and the community room.

Leifeld also presented on the mini-grant application to be used for the Emmetsburg Public Library and the Iowa Lakes Community College Library to provide study space for community groups and students. The study space would equip the libraries with a portable 65”Clever-Touch Smart TV with interactive capabilities. This project is estimated to cost $4,738.

“The grants awarded by the PACGDC provide an opportunity for projects like this to happen and they truly benefit our community and beyond,” said Leifeld.

The Palo Alto County Gaming Development Corporation will cover 75% of the project costs and Iowa Lakes Community College would need to match the remaining 25% on the full grant. The mini grant does not require a financial match. Board approval was granted to move forward with the grant application process for both applications.

Jolene Rogers, Executive Director of Community and Business Relations, addressed the Trustees about partnerships and training. Rogers shared information that Iowa Lakes has received a donation by David Danner, from Megger. Danner donated nine, hand-held, digital testing meters 1kV, valued at $1,000 each and 100 “Stitch in Time” booklets for the Electrical Technology program. The hand-held devices will be used by students in the “Power Generation” class for the Wind Energy Program and for multiple courses in the Electrical Technology program.  The donation was accepted by the Board.

Rogers also discussed the “Future Ready Iowa” event that was held in Spencer, Iowa and that many Iowa Lakes Community College staff had attended. Rogers reported prior to that event, Iowa Lakes had already developed and implemented a team to position Iowa Lakes to be able to respond to any legislative or data requests.

Also, Rogers shared Iowa Lakes Community College has partnered with the Palo Alto County Hospital to host the first-ever Women’s Night Out, with Brenda Clark Hamilton and Teresa Alesch as the featured speakers for the event.  The event is scheduled to take place on Saturday, October 20.

In other business, the Trustees talked about recent meetings that they have attended and upcoming meetings that they will attend. The meeting was adjourned.

The next meeting of the Trustees will be on Tuesday, November 20, in Estherville.

For More Information:

Iowa Lakes Marketing office at 712-362-7947