Come fall, as students return to Triton College, the school will be home to a fully renovated indoor track.
The college board of trustees unanimously approved funding the more than $500,000 project at its meeting Jan. 23. The renovation will be done by L.J. Morse Construction Co. at a cost of $516,230, according to board documents. L.J. Morse offered the lowest amount of the six contractors to bid on the project.
Work is scheduled to begin in May and wrap up in July at the Robert M. Collins Center, according to Triton public relations coordinator Stephen Butera. During that time, the track will be closed, but the rest of the building will remain open.
The project will include the installation of new athletic flooring and a new running track, as well as new LED lighting and wall padding, Butera said. Additionally, the facility will be repainted.
Also during its meeting, the board heard an annual strategic plan report presentation from Director of Planning and Accreditation Pamela Perry, who focused on the college’s efforts to increase readiness, improve completion and close skill gaps.
The school’s benchmarks for the report were based on Triton’s comparative performance to peer institutions, she said.
In terms of increasing college readiness, Triton met or exceeded its goals in three of seven areas and saw some improvement in five of those areas. The school observed a decline in college reading placement, from 83 percent of students measured in fiscal year 2016 to 80 percent in fiscal year 2017, missing the benchmark of 85 percent, according to data presented by Perry.
College readiness placement rates were based on the number of new students who placed into credit-bearing coursework, according to Butera.
Plans to improve performance in the measured areas include a focus on college readiness coursework in high schools and student mentorship programming, according to Perry’s presentation.
In terms of Triton’s measurement of college completion, the school fell below two of its 2017 goals, met five and exceeded one. Triton’s retention rate was unchanged year-over-year, at 58 percent.
“We do need to improve our retention rate if we’re going to stay on target,” Perry said.
Credit completion for part-time students dropped from 24 percent in 2016 to 20 percent in 2017, but the school’s graduation rate was above its goal of holding steady year-over-year at 13 percent, increasing to 15 percent, report data stated.
To improve its completion numbers, Triton is growing its peer mentoring collaborative and learning framework for college success courses.
“We’re making sure that we’re expanding upon these programs,” Perry said.
The data on closing skill gaps yielded the weakest performance of Triton’s three focus areas, with five indicators below target and two above, according to the report presentation.
Graduate perception of educational preparation for employment dropped from 82 percent to 74 percent year-over-year, missing the 90 percent benchmark. However, employer perception of student job readiness jumped from 44 percent to 71 percent, surpassing the 65 percent benchmark.
Moving forward, the school plans to focus more on soft skills training and career advising to better close existing skill gaps.
Triton’s board also approved an 18-month agreement with political consultant Dorgan, Butcher & Phelps LLC.
The lobbyist group monitors legislation before the Illinois General Assembly that is deemed beneficial or harmful to Triton at a rate of $3,000 per month, according to board documents. The college is also required to pay all costs incurred by the firm during representation, board documents state.
Triton used the same consultant in 2017 at the same rate, according to Butera, although the group’s name recently changed from Dorgan-McPike and Associates Ltd. due to a retirement.
Chairman Mark Stephens recused himself from the vote because of a personal connection to a member of the firm, and Trustee Luke Casson abstained. All other trustees voted in favor of the agreement.
Anna Bybee-Schier is a freelancer.
