Four candidates are seeking two six-year terms on the Waubonsee Community College Board of Trustees in Tuesday’s election.
Incumbent Rebecca Oliver, 60, of Sugar Grove, has served on the board the last 18 years. She is a managing broker at the Yorkville-based HRM Properties and Development, which specializes in commercial development.
Patrick Kelsey, 55, of Montgomery, is the executive vice president of Wills Burke Kelsey Associates, a civil engineering consulting firm with offices in St. Charles and Aurora.
Emmett Bonfield, 73, of Yorkville, has worked in glass, construction and auto businesses.
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Jimmie Delgado, 32, of Oswego, is working on a master’s in business administration at Aurora University and is a former Waubonsee student. He served as a student trustee on the board from 2002-03.
Trustee Daniel Jaquez, whose first term is up this year, is not seeking re-election.
The other five board members each have served at least 16 years on the board. Oliver said the current board works well together.
“If we were in turmoil, if there were problems, if there were divisiveness on our board and all kinds of petty things going on, I think it would be a different election,” she said. “But it’s not that.”
Delgado said he hopes to bring the perspective of a former student to the board, while Kelsey said he decided to run to help bring workforce development and dual credit options — which allow high school students to take college-level courses — to more high schools in the district.
Bonfield said he wants to bring his experience in small business to the board and to shake up the status quo. He wants trustee term limits and new faces on the board, he said.
The election comes on the heels of the opening of Waubonsee’s $19 million field house and renovated athletic facility on the Sugar Grove campus. It was the final new building to open under a master plan that began in 2001 and spanned $129.5 million in major projects, such as the opening of the Plano campus, the expansion of the Aurora campus and the construction of a science building and student center in Sugar Grove.
While Bonfield said he believes the college had expanded too much and should have focused more on online learning, the other three candidates said they believed the master plan had been well-planned and properly managed.
“I don’t feel that we have grown too quickly,” Oliver said. “I think we had an excellent plan in place.”
Oliver said the college was done with facilities growth and would now focus on what new programs students will need to prepare for the workforce.
Kelsey said the college grew to serve needs, such as demands for services in the western part of the district. Delgado said he believes the college had done a good job with the money they had and that college leaders “did a lot of homework” before they made decisions about the additions.
The college faces a range of financial challenges, candidates said, from an impending state pension crisis to possible cuts to state funding to reduced federal funding for Pell Grants, which help low-income students afford college.
Student loan defaults also are an issue, Oliver said.
Eighteen percent of full-time Waubonsee students — 127 of 704 students — who entered repayment during the 2011 federal budget year defaulted on a federal loan over the next three years, according to federal data released in September. That was compared with the national average of 13.7 percent.
Oliver said the college had put some programs and supports in place over the last year and a half to better counsel loan borrowers.
The president’s proposal to provide two years of tuition-free community college also poses a challenge, candidates said.
Kelsey said the college would need the right people in place to manage the “massive influx of students.” Delgado, too, said it was a good idea, but would required talented staff to put such a program in place. Oliver said if the college offers such a program, it would need a new stream of funding.
Bonfield said he didn’t think the president’s proposal was doable.
“Who’s going to pay for that?” he said. “If you want higher education, work and pay for it.”
With the recent slew of spending issues at the nearby College of DuPage, candidates said it was likely that other community colleges, like Waubonsee, would come under intense scrutiny.
Oliver said she wasn’t worried about anyone taking a peek at Waubonsee’s records.
“We’ve really been very prudent and very fiscally responsible over the years,” she said. “There’s nothing we don’t want to share with our public.”
Kelsey said he also believed the college had been transparent. Delgado said it was important that the college maintain its positive reputation for spending wisely.
Bonfield said the college had work to do with its transparency levels and questioned spending on administrator salaries, especially for top officials like President Christine Sobek, who earned a base salary of about $232,000 last year, according to Illinois Community College Board data, up about 13 percent over a four-year period.
Bonfield said if elected he would seek to reduce administrative costs to help curb future tuition increases.
Ttrustees recently approved a 5 percent tuition hike for next fall. Students will pay $118 a credit hour, with fees, up from $112 this year. The cost of a course at Waubonsee has increased in each of the last seven years, according to Illinois Community College Board records.
Oliver said this year’s tuition increase was needed to help pay for student services and an expected decrease in state funding. Waubonsee’s rates are still below the state average, which was $119 a credit hour this year.
“We feel good about that,” Oliver said. “We feel our tuition is more than justified.”
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Kelsey said Waubonsee was still a “fabulous value for students and for taxpayers” and he supported this year’s increase.
Delgado said he believes Waubonsee has tried to limit tuition hikes to a minimum and still offers a good value for students.
Helping students stay at Waubonsee and graduate with a two-year degree or certificate also is a priority, candidates said.
Nationwide, about 20 percent of students at public institutions that offer two-year degrees got a degree or a credential within the allotted time — which is three years for a two-year degree. That data comes from a May 2014 federal report.
According to Waubonsee’s 2014 disclosure report, of the 879 full-time students who applied in fall 2010, about 30 percent got a degree or credential within the allotted time.
Bonfield said he wants to see the college focus more on its graduation rate and making sure students who leave Waubonsee have an employable skill.
Kelsey said Waubonsee had a solid program in place to work with students on their finances and counseling and had invested in remediation and mentoring while streamlining certificate and two-year degree programs to make graduation as efficient as possible.
Delgado said it was important to look not just at graduation rates, but the outcomes of the various kinds of students who attend Waubonsee. Counselors have to make sure students are taking the right classes, he said, and adjust student plans if necessary.
Oliver said the college has a good support system in place to retain students and help them complete their degree or certificate, but is limited by funding. She said the college continues to look at staffing needs.
“I don’t think you can ever do enough because there’s so much need out there, but you can only do what your resources allow you to do,” she said.