CLC trustee William M. Griffin wins state award

Dr. William M. Griffin, a member of the College of Lake County Board of Trustees, has received the 2017 ICCTA Gary W. Davis Ethical Leadership Award from the Illinois Community College Trustees Association.

"I am extremely grateful for receiving this award," said Dr. Griffin. "It is truly an honor to be recognized at the state level, and I'm proud to serve a college that has worked so diligently to implement ethical standards."

Richard A. Anderson, CLC board chair who nominated Dr. Griffin for the award, said, "Dr. Griffin's dedication, commitment and accomplishments as an ethical leader have contributed to the college's obligation to ensuring student success, creating a campus recognized at the state and national levels for our diversity initiatives and establishing a strong institutional culture built on ethical leadership and standards." Officials from ICCTA announced the awards at the organization's annual banquet June 3 in Normal, Ill.

Under Dr. Griffin's leadership as CLC board chair, the board approved and implemented many policies and initiatives, Anderson wrote. These initiatives re-established the annual appointment of an ethics officer and transitioned Freedom of Information Act and Open Meetings Act requests directly to the President's Office. The board also endorsed a new college accountability report that measures how well CLC has advanced student success, served as a steward of resources, engaged the community and fostered innovation.

"As a CLC board member and alumnus, Dr. Griffin has helped to ensure that CLC remains a premier community college, with state-of-the-art learning facilities," Anderson wrote. "He has provided guidance and leadership in developing a nearly $100 million operating budget and set policies for strategic direction and fiscal accountability."

Founded in 1970, the ICCTA is an organization whose constituents are the individual members of the local boards of trustees of each of Illinois' community college districts.