by Reece Rutland 

INA, IL  – Every institution of higher education must prove themselves worthy to issue degrees though an accreditation process. It’s a lengthy cycle of reports, peer-reviews and campaigns to ensure the college is up to snuff. A single round of accreditation review can span a decade. It’s an important and monumental effort to be to be part of.

But, to be involved in three of those cycles is nothing short of herculean. And, that’s the rarified air that Rend Lake College English Professor Rob Little finds himself in.
Little is not only an award-winning instructor, he’s also been an instrumental part in the last 30 years of RLC by helping steer the institution through the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) accreditation review process.

He got his first taste of HLC in 1998, five years after he came to RLC on a full-time teaching basis.

In 2008, he championed the committee charged with evaluating every aspect of the college in order to create the 240-page Self-Study document used in the visiting evaluation team’s inspection of RLC, helping the college to receive the maximum 10 years of continued accreditation.

“While the document was a team effort, anyone involved can attest to the fact Rob was the one who was at the college on weekends, and until the wee hours of the morning, perfecting the manuscript,” his fellow committee members recalled.

“He brought out the best in others with his tireless efforts, supportive feedback and vision. Indeed, the document was commended by the outside evaluators as extremely well done.”

Little is currently hard at work in the latest round of the HLC cycle, providing valuable experience and insight to the entire campus about all the ins and out of accreditation. It’s no small feat. The work currently being done will help ensure another decade of nationally-recognized education. In a way, Little has had a hand in every degree to be issued by RLC for three decades.

For his dedication, he was presented a special, and not often awarded honor, the 2016 Assessment Recognition Award.

In the nomination letter, Little is applauded for his dedication to the college and his continued work on the Higher Learning Commission Committee for accreditation.

“Rob Little has proven that he plays an integral role in the ongoing process of assessment. He has always offered ideas to improve the college’s mission,” the nomination letter reads. “Professor Little served as writer and proofreader of the final report (in 2008-09), as well as collected and analyzed data for the report. He is currently the HLC Coordinator… while still teaching classes. He is attending multiple meetings, assisting faculty, and is a team leader to others on the HLC Committee and in the Liberal Arts Division.”

But, he had contributed so much more than accreditation work to the college and its students.

In 2009, Little was recognized as the RLC Faculty Excellence Award winner.
The large group that nominated him stated, “As a colleague, Rob is innovative, supportive and diligent. As a teacher, students find him challenging, encouraging and personable. We believe he embodies all the qualities of an excellent faculty member and fully deserves recognition.”

“I’m excited and honored they thought of me,” said Little at the time. “I’m very pleased.”

The Centralia resident graduated with his A.A. Degree from RLC in 1984. He went on to earn a B.A. from Southwest Baptist University and his M.A. from SIU Carbondale.
Combining 16 years as a full-timer since 1993 and seven years as an adjunct, Little has been teaching at RLC for more than three decades.

New challenges and new students are what keep him going, he said.

“There are a lot of diverse students. You see all types. That’s rewarding. The mission to help students realize their full potential is a constantly changing challenge,” he explained.

“I’ve been lucky because my job has changed. I had the opportunity to develop special topics classes when I was new. As people retired, I would move into a different class, or the challenge of HLC or technology. I have always had a sort of changing role within the department, and that keeps things fresh.”

His previous classes in horror fiction, Japanese film and literature and gender in film and fiction are as diverse as his teaching styles, which include team teaching, distance learning, online classes and hybrids. In fact, Little was the first to implement a film course at RLC and was an early proponent of distance learning teaching, for which he was awarded a Technology Innovation Certificate by the Southern Illinois Collegiate Common Market and a Distance Learning Innovator Award in 1997.

By ReAnne Palmer –

INA, IL – Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and the Japanese Consulate Consul General Naoki Ito stopped by Rend Lake College Wednesday for a luncheon during a tour of Southern Illinois. While on campus, Rauner and Ito met with local politicians and businesspeople to talk about education and workforce development. The luncheon consisted of sandwiches and sides prepared by RLC Culinary Arts students as part of a skills-based final examination.

 

 

 

 

 

By Reece Rutland 

INA, IL – The Rend Lake College campus at Ina spans 360 acres with more than 370,000 square foot of building space spread between 24 different structures. Throw in the MarketPlace and Pinckneyville campuses, and that total square footage jumps up to 432,714 gross square feet.

RLC’s sheer size is easy to forget. Yet, day in and day out, 65 dedicated individuals make those grounds and everything on them the top priority.

Starting with a single person in 1967, the RLC Physical Plant Department has grown right alongside the institution. Today, the Physical Plant boasts talented professionals that cover a wide variety of tasks. In no uncertain terms, if it looks good or runs well, Physical Plant likely had a hand in it.

“The people that we have hired over the years are professionals in what they do. I don’t know how we get them. We have carpenters, electricians, welders, a little bit of everything. We have a bunch of folks that their skillset is so strong they could have gone anywhere they wanted, but they chose to come here,” expressed Physical Plant Director Donnie Millenbine.

“What these guys are able to do for us is huge. If we put the numbers in black and white, it would amaze us what we’ve been able to save by having the ability to do these things in-house.”

Millenbine estimates the department tackles between six to 12 major projects during the year. Last year, the crew completely renovated the South Oasis pit and restrooms, performed significant concrete replacement around campus, did a Learning Resource Center restroom renovation, finished up a total renovation of the Administration Building and tackled several smaller classroom renovations.

“The talent, dedication and work ethic of the people in this department can be seen every day, not just in the campus appearance but in the interactions with our students and staff,” said RLC President Terry Wilkerson.

“We have been able to do so much to grow this campus because of the skill sets of the people and the leadership of this department.”

On the daily work order side, Physical Plant staff receive daily requests to do everything from hanging pictures on walls to relocating furniture. Occasionally, requests get a little unique. Dave Mathis, maintenance supervisor, recalled a time when “rearrange plants on my desk” came across the work order queue.

“It was just one of those things that you can’t help by shake your head at,” he chuckled. “But, it highlights the fact that we are kind of the go-to here on campus. Who do you call? Give maintenance a call, and odds are, we’ll probably figure out a way to get it done.”

On a daily basis, around half-a-dozen new work orders hit the queue for maintenance workers to go out and complete.

In addition to daily work orders, the Physical Plant also has a preventive maintenance work order system where they schedule the standard upkeep on everything from buildings to vehicles to campus equipment, golf carts to exhaust fans they track the when and what for everything on campus to make sure it’s taken care of before it becomes an issue.

Campus beautification is another thing at the forefront of the department’s mind.

In total, Physical Plant staff are responsible for ensuring the college’s 106 working acres and 60,000 square foot of meticulously maintained landscaping are always looking in pristine condition.

“We take care of a ton of square footage inside and out,” Millenbine said. “This campus isn’t like most campuses. Most of our sister colleges have linked buildings, but we are all independent buildings with a lot of landscaping between them. So, that creates some different issues we have to tackle and think about,” said Millenbine.

“Every member of our team knows what to do and how to get it done, and we have great leadership like Dave [Mathis] and James Gray [head of grounds and custodial] that keep things going. Lynne French, our administrative assistant, is really the rudder on the ship She does a great job.”

In addition to grounds and buildings, Physical Plant also does most of the small maintenance on the college’s vehicle fleet, as well as all shipping and receiving to the Ina campus. They are responsible for setting up and breaking down campus events; maintaining inventory management, which includes thousands of pieces of furniture and equipment; and managing all keys and locks on campus.

It’s not just places and things though, the entire department is a visible supporter of many initiatives on campus.

Last year at the RLCF Annual Dinner, the entire Physical Plant was recognized for donating over $10,000 to the Foundation over the years to assist the students of RLC.

That was an initiative started by Millenbine’s predecessor, Randall Shively, in the early 2000s. To date, Millenbine said that total contributions look to be more than $18,000 given by both individual Physical Plant employees and department initiatives like the annual Greenhouse Plant Sale.

“Almost all of the people in the department donate some of their paycheck every pay period. That’s a good thing for us. We have student scholarships we give out. It’s something that a lot of the guys contribute to,” explained Millenbine.

Student success is important to the crew as many in the department are RLC products, and more than a handfull of the staff have been around for a number of years. Like many in his department, Millenbine is also a RLC graduate.

“This might sound corny. But, when I went to school here I remember wanting to be over grounds here on campus. Just so happened that the opportunity arose, and I was able to jump on,” he said.

“It’s a good feeling to see the campus continue to grow and develop. You realize where you’ve been, where you’ve come from. I’ve gotten to see a lot of things go up. I’ve seen a lot of big changes happen. It makes you feel good.”

Shively had a similar sentiment at the time of his retirement.

“The goal is always to do things that help the student in one way or another. If it benefits the student, it will benefit us,” said Shively. “Not everyone gets to go back to the place where they graduated and make a difference. Not every job do you feel like you can give back and make things better,” Shively said.

“Every project we’ve done involves other staff members on campus. We’ve become more successful because of the support we have in the administration, faculty, staff, and the board. We have the help and guidance to get it done as quickly as possible. Very seldom is there only one person involved.”

Physical Plant is also one of the biggest student supporters when it comes to employment opportunities.

At any given time, more than 10 students are taking advantage of student work positions, gaining important on-the-job training, money for college and valuable experience.