Incumbent, challenger win seats on ECC board

Voters elected challenger Shane Nowak and incumbent Clare Ollayos in the race for two, 6-year term seats on the Elgin Community College board Tuesday.

Unofficial vote totals in Cook, DuPage, Kane and McHenry counties show Nowak winning with 7,907 votes, followed by Ollayos with 7,708 votes. Of the remaining candidates, Adriana Barriga-Green received 7,685 votes, incumbent Ryan Weiss garnered 6,844 votes, and Nazneen Hashmi received 5,409 votes.

During the campaign, the candidates agreed ECC needs to expand its offerings to better cater to the evolving needs of a future workforce.

Nowak, 38, of Elgin, a patient advocate and ECC alumnus, suggests the college partner with local companies to gauge what type of workers they need and tailor its certification and training accordingly. He urged expanding access and providing more online classes for district residents as a means of growing enrollment and bringing in more tuition revenue, and partnering with local hospitals to provide more health certifications for nurses.

Ollayos, 64, of Elgin, a chiropractic physician elected to the ECC board in 1995, supports increasing industry internship opportunities for students of all ages and building more robust connections with businesses.

Barriga-Green, 54, of Elgin, said ECC was instrumental in helping her change careers from business to becoming a dual language teacher in Elgin Area School District U-46. She supports the college expanding certificate programs in trade sciences, such as electrical, plumbing, pipe fitting, electric vehicle infrastructure, environmental studies and sustainability, in keeping with industry trends, and offering more choices in health professions, such as veterinary science and medical imaging.

Weiss, 42, of Elgin, president of SEAM Strategies in Elgin appointed to the board in December 2017 to fill a vacancy, said launching new courses could be expensive and the college should ensure new programs are aligned with the needs of local employers. He supports creating more robust internships in partnership with local businesses.

Hashmi, 58, of Streamwood, an auditor and adjunct professor, said ECC could make more grants available for people in-between jobs or for laid off workers seeking retraining and certification to switch careers. She also would like to see programs for housewives who want to work from home. She supports ECC creating online certificate programs for certain fields of study, such as cosmetology and medical billing, and offering evening and weekend classes for people who work full-time during the day.