Jeffrey A. Meyer: 2021 candidate for Elgin Community College board
Four candidates are running for two, 6-year terms on the Elgin Community College District 509 board in the April 6, 2021, election. The candidates are: incumbents Jeffrey A. Meyer and Donna Redmer; Joyce Fountain, a former longtime Elgin Area School District U-46 board member; and newcomer Adriana Barriga-Green.
The Daily Herald asked candidates to respond to a questionnaire about community college issues. Some of their responses are below.
In-person early voting at locations throughout the county begins March 22. Learn more at www.kanecountyclerk.org/Elections.
Bio
City: Elgin
Age:
Occupation: Attorney, self-employed, member at Klein, Stoddard, Buck & Lewis, LLC
Civic involvement: ECC Board of Trustees board secretary (past chairman and vice chairman); board treasurer, Hamilton Wings (arts-based youth leadership 501(c)3 organization); Youth baseball coach at Elgin Classic Little League; Casa-DeKalb County volunteer attorney; PADS-Elgin volunteer; vice chairman, Kane County Republican Central Committee; and board member, Breakthrough Ideas (501c4 organization).
Q&A
Q: Why are you running for this office, whether for reelection or election the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you, and if so, what is it?
A: During my first campaign for election to the ECC Board of Trustees, I pledged to combat rising property taxes, advocate for an innovative approach to the delivery of academic instruction, combat student loan debt, to be responsive to the needs of businesses in our community, and to assure access to affordable and high-quality instruction for the residents in District 509. Those were the issues that motivated me in 2015 and continue to be the issues that motivate me today when running for reelection.
Q: How would you grade the current school board on its response to the pandemic? Why?
A: The ECC Board of Trustees, administration, faculty, staff, and students all deserve an "A" for their response to the pandemic. The college community quickly transitioned to remote instruction last spring so that instruction could continue, and students could stay on track to completion. Notwithstanding the challenges presented by COVID-19, and social distancing protocols mandated by Gov. Pritzker's Executive Orders, the college has continuously offered and seamlessly delivered educational services to our community.
The board has played an integral part in the college's response by adopting policy that assured the college stayed open for business, albeit in a virtual or hybrid modality, and assuring that resources were available and allocated so that instruction and support services were available using digital technology. The board has also responded to the pandemic by providing financial relief to District 509 students and taxpayers in the form of a flat property tax levy, a $1 million tax abatement (refund), and a flat tuition rate for the fourth straight year.
Q: Did your district continue to adequately serve students during the disruptions caused by the pandemic? If so, please cite an example of how it successfully adjusted to continue providing services. If not, please cite a specific example of what could have been done better.
A: The college has served its students and community well during the pandemic. College spaces adjusted for social distancing include 53 labs, 37 classrooms, and 11 study spaces. The college purchased PPE equipment for use on campus including 22,890 face coverings, 8,908 units of hand sanitizer, 181,490 pairs of gloves, 114 thermometers for entry screening, and 500 gowns. The college installed 879 safety/distancing signs, implemented temperature screening at entryways, and installed 129 plexiglass barriers, all to facilitate compliance with CDC mitigation protocols. More than 400 faculty members were given training for online instruction, and, with the gracious help of our faculty, 111 new hybrid courses and 328 online courses were implemented. Instructional technology equipment was purchased and made available for use by faculty and students during virtual instruction and learning. Further information about the college's pandemic response is available in the 2020 ECC Report to the Community.
Q: Do you have a plan on how to safely and effectively conduct classes in the spring? What have you learned from the fall semester that you would change in the spring?
A: The college has been delivering instruction principally through online and hybrid (online/limited in-person) modalities this semester. Certain courses requiring labs or hands-on instruction (e.g., chemistry, welding, fire science) require a modicum of in-person instruction and experiences for effective learning. The college has offered these courses, albeit at reduced enrollment to comply with social distancing requirements.
The reduced capacity and conversion to principally remote instruction has, unfortunately, been coupled with a decrease in overall enrollment. It is difficult to know for sure if the relationship between a conversion to distance learning and decreased enrollment is causal or just correlational, but experience indicates that students are generally more successful and complete at higher rate when instruction is available in-person. The college's goal is to return to full capacity and in-person learning by the fall semester. The college will, however, endeavor to continue to offer expanded online and hybrid instruction in the future for students who prefer or find instruction in those modalities to be more convenient.
Q: In tough economic times, many students (and working professionals) turn to a community college for its educational value. How do you ensure that a person's financial sacrifice results in an educational benefit?
A: The board has long endeavored to assure our students get the greatest value for the dollars they invest in their education at ECC. The college utilizes an advising process that is focused on providing financial literacy to students so they maximize use of scholarships and grants and minimize the amount student loans taken out to pay for their education. Advising also works to assure students to not enroll in unnecessary courses.
The board mandates the use of zero-based budgeting to assist in controlling costs and to mitigate any need to increase tuition rates to pay for expenses, which has allowed the board to maintain a flat tuition rate for the last four years. The board also mandates the college employ a system of program review to assure that course and program offerings remain topical and responsive to job and skill needs in the community. For example, the College has expanded and reinvested in high-demand health sciences programs in the recent past, and the current Board is committed to expanding and reinvesting in our career and technical education (CTE) programs to meet the demand for skilled labor in our local economy.
Q: From the college's point of view, what budget issues will your district have to confront and what measures do you support to address them? If you believe cuts are necessary, what programs and expenses should be reduced or eliminated? On the income side, do you support any tax or fee increases?
A: Sound budgeting and financial management by the current ECC board and administration has allowed the college to complete the last several fiscal years under budget. Even this year during the pandemic, the college has kept its expenses several million dollars under budget. Because of this, the college has attained and maintained the highest bond ratings available, which allowed the college to refinance bond debt this past year that will save millions of dollars and result in lower property taxes in the future to pay that debt. Considering the college's sound financial position, the board voted to adopt a flat (no increase) property tax levy this year and refund $1 million of property taxes collected last year. The college has also been able to set aside more than $14 million toward future retiree health care expenses (currently under funded by the State) and set aside capital reserves to fund future maintenance needs and contribute to capital projects like a new CTE (manufacturing) program building. I have never voted for a property tax increase and do not support any tax increase in the foreseeable future.