Saccone: Faculty have received training, so we did go through training. As for working with police here at Waubonsee, we know the process that’s involved, and we are also in continued discussions about moving forward as the system as it unfolds. We have yet to see ICE on campus, not that I wish you for anything like that, but we are working with helping students that are impacted by this in that maybe they fear attending classes or submitting assignments or coming in person.

Kentl: One of the things I’ll offer is that I want to acknowledge that we are doing everything we can. Actually I’m not saying we’re doing everything we can anymore. We’re doing what we can at the time because we learn different strategies. We’re working with community partners. We’re listening to a lot of the student voices, and we’re trying to adjust our protocols as best we can, to do as much as we can to keep our students safe on campus. In addition to some of the things that professor Saccone talked about, we are in regular meetings with our community partners and really trying to provide students with resources. So you have seen some of our emails, you know, we’re trying to connect you to some of those resources. We’re trying to mobilize that support for students, we know last week there was some really close and significant activity in Aurora, and we’re also trying to change some of our processes. We have a pretty well documented process working through our chief of police that triggers a variety of other things to happen with ICE on campus, but we also know that there is a great deal of anxiety and stress created when there’s ICE activity within the community, and so we’re trying to figure out now what some of that looks like. And there was some great grassroots efforts on Thursday at the downtown Aurora campus, when things were happening just a few blocks and a couple of miles away from campus. And we’re looking to have conversations on if that is something we can formalize and mobilize, I would probably say if rather than when, but if and when some of this happens again, so that we can make sure we’re providing as much support as possible. Also, we’ve been talking with partner colleges and partner businesses. We’re coming up with a few other strategies. We do have a plan that I’m going to look at tonight for designating certain spaces as private spaces, designated classroom spaces during class time limited to registered students and faculty. We need to review that and make sure that we can take the steps we want to to designate that. So as I said, we’re doing everything we know how at the time, may not be everything we can, but if there’s more that we learned that we can do, we will have those discussions to make sure that we are that we are doing that as well.

Ramos: And I’ll just add in, we also have a group of staff that are engaged and we’re forming a group of individuals who could be notified in a moment’s notice to be able to support across all four campuses. And so some of that training, we are leaning on external partners, whether it’s Rapid Response Training, know your rights training, and just to make sure we have as much information that we can have on hand, as well as to know what are the practices and protocols that happen when we activate and reach out to these external sources. We know these are uneasy times. We know these are not normal times. And so trying to be as prepared as we can be to deploy supports and resources as soon as we know that they are needed. So there’s a lot of training and conversations that are happening around us. And so as for example, a service is putting on a rapid response training tomorrow afternoon, and we’re encouraging folks to consider that training so knowing your rights, but that what does that response look like? And even if somebody might not be on the front lines of response, to be able to know what is happening in the community so we could support what’s happening on our campus.

Paez: Well, first of all, protecting the campus community itself is the number one responsibility. So I want to ensure you, that’s what we’re here for. The colleges have a number of protocols in place. I do encourage you if you haven’t done so, make sure you check your emails, because I get a lot of the questions repeated, and I know we’ve sent out emails. There have been numerous emails, adding information that we gain, like Dr Knetl mentioned, but what we are assuring as far as campus police, if ICE were to ever come on campus, I had reached out to ICE, and I asked them to notify us in advance. I don’t know they ever would. I’m still being told that they are not planning to come on college campuses to enforce but if they did on one of the practices we have set in places for any of our faculty and staff to immediately contact campus police so that we can communicate with ICE. We can check the paperwork, see if they have an arrest warrant, see they have a civil warrant, and then deal with it accordingly, depending on the requirements of the law, and that’s probably the most important practice that we have, so that we can step in between, not necessarily intervene or stop it, but actually be there to make sure that they’re following the law.

Kentl: We are constantly updating our processes, again, especially as we hear back from from students, and we send out communications, and we have forums like this. We do get feedback, and we try to update it. I know we’re in the process of updating some of the clarity. We know that our best first step on campus is to work through the campus police. But we also want to clarify for you all the things that happen beyond it, what our counselors and advisors will be doing and how they will be available for students. John Bryant will be in contact with our legal department to see if there’s anything that we can do for that, and I will be in contact with some of our local elected officials. We’ll be doing everything we can also behind the scenes, and sometimes you don’t see some of that, but it does not just stop with contacting the police. There’s a lot of other things behind the scenes to support students, and we feel we need to be maybe a little bit clearer on documenting that process for you, and that’s what we’re going to do.

Bryant: I would just add one other thing, that when it comes to access to student information, FERPA is still applicable. So we’re going to make sure that whatever it is if there’s any requests that come in for information from any federal agency or external sources, that we’re following those guidelines and those restrictions so that we are protecting student information to the utmost of our ability.

Saccone: I also wanted to add just a little bit about faculty’s role in the communication with students. Faculty awarding and affording some grace to students with their attendance records, as well as flexibility with assignments to those that are directly impacted. Again, that’s something that is being communicated to faculty. We do have faculty development days coming up this week as well, where we’re going to make sure the message is out. It’s very similar to what we did during covid as well. It’s responding to students needs.

Ramos: We do have some great resources in our surrounding community as well, and we lean on a lot of those resources for help. And they have whole staffs and people who are connected to other resources in the community, so we lean on them. So part of what we want to try to do is make sure that you are aware of all of those resources that you also have access to.

Knetl: I will share just a few weeks ago, we actually took our board on a tour of some of our facilities that we think are in the most need of renovation. We know there’s a lot of spaces on campus that have not been touched in a long time, student spaces, office spaces, actually behind the scenes spaces. So some of the spaces that really need a lot of attention are spaces that you might not even see a lot of the time. But the library-Collins Hall, Todd library-are some of those really big spots that we need to address. So we are doing that assessment. I have committed to the board of within this year having a full plan, a long term plan of what spaces we need to do, how much it’s going to cost, how we’re going to fund it. You know, a college space renovation plan takes several years to implement. So unfortunately, from your last semester here, you might not see a lot of of those changes you’re getting to enjoy; the TEC, the pickleball and tennis courts and some other renovations that we’ve taken on, but we are kind of engaged in a formal facilities planning project and timeline to make sure that stuff is done.

Bryant: I must also add that we’re also looking at program needs as well as we design and look at what spaces we’re going to be updating, how we’re going to update those so that they’re stable for a long period of time, and they’re meeting the academic needs of our students, not just today, but we anticipate within the next few years, so that we can meet those needs. We want that flexibility. We’ve been talking to our board over the last year about, you know, this capital planning process and where the funding would come from. What are some of the major projects? There are also infrastructure issues that are kind of behind the scenes, making sure that the heating works and the cooling works. Those sorts of things. That’s all part of that capital plan. So we’re working through all those details, working with academic areas to identify what those programmatic needs are likely to be, so that we can address those it’s not just, you know, putting a fresh look. So far as Collins Hall, we’re already in the initial phases of what will it take to do that renovation? We’re looking at selecting an architect, an engineering firm, to assist us with that. So there are steps being taken. There is a process like Patrick had mentioned. These are multi year plans, multi year projects to execute. So it will take time to execute, but it’s on our radar as a high priority for us to get that plan a little bit more detail and moving forward.

Knetl: And we know there have been a lot of suggestions, we’ve heard your voice before. There has been a lot of requests for some additional student spaces, especially in Sugar Grove. We are aware of that, you know, we’re trying to put that in as part of the plan. That is not something that we think needs a major renovation, but might need some attention. So we are looking at identifying , and it is kind of related to the cafeteria question, other spaces where students might be able to have some of those events that they’re looking to hold, that they would have typically held in the cafeteria during those peak times.

Bryant: One of the things that I will mention as we look at those programmatic needs and we look at that design phase, we’ll be looking to get student input as well as we do that, so we’ll want the student voice to be reflective of what we’re going to do going forward.

Bryant: So we’ve been working with Paisano’s now for I think our fourth year. We work with them every year to review prices, menus, options there. This is the first year that we’ve raised prices so reflective of inflation that’s happened the last several years, especially with food products. We recognize there has been some need to raise prices, but there’s also efforts that the college is making to support those operations, so those purchasers of the food services aren’t bearing 100% of the cost. We also have a micro market now at Fox Valley to support needs there. We have several places across campus where there’s free food available through donations with a variety of different canned goods, non perishable goods, and we’re also looking at a food survey within the next couple of weeks, probably going out to students to gather some interest, as well as looking at what other fresh food options are so trying to balance affordability and sustainability, recognizing that our partners have to generate a certain amount of revenue to be viable within these spaces, but also then make it also accessible to students. But there’s other community resources as well that we’re able to encourage students who might not be able to afford on campus food options, whether it be through food bank or community college.

Knetl: And we know that coming to campus and needing quick, healthy, affordable access to food is really important. And we knew that coming in, you know. When I started here, we had just had Paisano’s. We didn’t have any of these other sources, so we knew we had to provide some additional solutions. And Dr. Peska can speak a little bit more to that, but a lot of what we’re doing is in response to some of the the feedback that we’ve gotten from you. It’s not just in one spot. Let’s spread it out. So we’re trying to spread solutions out across the college, and we’re now hearing about certain healthier food options.

Saccone: So right now, we do have a criminal justice program. We also have paralegals, so we do have options there as for expansion in the curriculum. I believe we’ve been looking in to expanding with criminal justice as well, looking for a degree, Associates Degree, focusing in on that.

Chavis: I can just say we also are looking at some healthcare programming. We know that there are a lot of programs that are Fox Valley campus, and that particular campus is full now, and so we’re thinking about programming here on this campus that students have asked for for a number of years. And so there are going to be additional curricular options as time goes on.

Knetl: And I’ll add just because you might not know, right, there’s a whole process we go through to develop a program, and yes, we listen to students, and we want to know what students want to study and what they’re interested in. We also want to make sure that if you’re studying something, and you leave here and you go off to work, that there’s jobs in our community, or that there’s transfer pathways for that. So we have a whole process where we get information, we get labor market data, we look at our transfer institutions in our four year school. So if you’re going into the workforce or you’re going to transfer, we want to make sure that those are are set up for you. And those are some of the big things, not the only thing, but some of the big things that we consider. And these are health, career, criminal justice, law, those are things that we are hearing more and more about. As Dr Chavis said, those are some of the things that we are looking into, starting or or expanding.

Knetl: So let me take those two separate ones. Why can’t there be more transportation? That’s a really good question, and that is a question I ask our community, our elected officials, all the time. Transportation is a top issue for many students at many colleges and universities across the country and having four campuses makes it particularly challenging. And so I think we’re attacking this problem in a variety of ways. So why don’t we? I think there’s lots of limits, right? We serve five counties. A lot of the transportation available to students typically exists within a specific county. We have bus lines, but the bus lines don’t always come to all our campuses and not to Sugar Grove. So there’s a lot of complications in our transportation system that we have little control over, but are trying to take some control of the causes of some of those problems. Scheduling is one way we can attack it by making sure that students don’t have to or minimize their travel between the different campuses. Dr. Webb and I have talked to, as recently as just a couple of weeks ago, a lot of our elected officials. The state is facing a budget cut to their transportation budget in a significant way. So we have been in front of our elected officials telling the story of how challenging transportation is for some of our students and encouraging them to think about cross-county agreements, partnerships between colleges and universities and transportation companies, reduced rates for rideshare so that we can handle some of these things and help our students reduce transportation as a barrier. One of the things we are trying, and I think we’re close, don’t know if it’s going happen this semester, but maybe next semester, is we are trying today’s shuttle to at least start this, again like the boys and girls club tell us the baby step, this is another small step, to run between the downtown Aurora campus and the Sugar Grove campus. So if you can get to one of those campuses, we can help you get back and forth. We’re going to monitor that. We’re going to have all kinds of surveys. We’re going to see what the usage is. And if that’s working and providing a better point of access for our students, then we’ll find ways to expand it. If we decide that’s going to be what’s in the best interest, then we can look to make sure that we address this transportation issue. We know that it’s an issue. The shuttle is going to be one way we’re trying to address that. But just again, so you know, these aren’t always the things that you see. We’ve been in front of our elected officials, we’re working with the cities around us. Why don’t we have a nurse, that’s the first time that question’s been posed. I think we can certainly look into that. Again, a partnership would be great if we partnered with one of our local healthcare systems and try to start out by providing access to some healthcare option at one or two of our campuses certain hours or days of the week. We can certainly look into that. There’s all sorts of financial commitments and planning we have to do, but think that’s certainly a question that we can look at and see again if there are solutions. If the need is there and there are solutions, we’ll see what we can do to.

Ramos: I think it’s really important for us to really think about what does safety and support look like and how much we as an institution can partner with students in better understanding of what those needs are. We have to recognize as a Hispanic Serving Institution whether or not that’s designated at the federal level. We have to account for who we serve. Community colleges serve the most diverse student populations nationally. And we have a commitment and part of it is not making assumptions as to what safety and security and support look like. It’s engaging with students. Try to think of where in our policies or practices or procedures that we can create a stronger sense of support and better understanding of what support looks like. This is a commitment we have as an institution, being an HSI and owning our servingness and our responsibilities around that is embedded in our strategic plan of strength in that. And I know there’s been a lot of good conversations about that, but I there’s a lot more work that is waiting for us to engage in. And so I think it’s important that we are engaging with students, hearing their voices, getting a better understanding of what the needs and support looks like, while also partnering with earlier things that were mentioned around how are we working with the hard place department, how are we working with people, how are we looking at our practices around what spaces are designated. And what activities can take place in which spaces so that students as much as possible can feel supported during their time here on campus. And I think really this is where all your voices are so important that I hope that all of our students have someone or an office, department, folks that you can go to where you can feel connected whether it’s your faculty member, staff member, an advisor to share your concerns and questions. So we can have a collective voice as to what you all want and need and so we can be stronger partners in creating an environment where you could thrive, an environment where you could see yourself in all aspects of what we’re doing as an institution. I think that’s a great opportunity for us. And so thank you for the question. And if there’s ideas and thoughts of how we could do that more intentionally, I welcome that conversation.

Knetl: Just know that everything that we hear from the students, we also hear from our community, we’re listening to it. And sometimes you’re asking for something that we can’t do and you might not see the action. And it’s not because we haven’t talked about it, it’s not that we haven’t explored it, there are just some things that we aren’t able to do as an open public campus. But we are trying as much as we can, everything we know now, everything that we know we can do, we are putting as much of that in practice as we can.

Knetl: If you don’t know we do have gender neutral bathrooms on the campus, Sugar Grove for sure. And we are adding them. When the tech education center opened, there were gender neutral bathrooms in there. Every project and every building redesign that we do, that is part of the discussion. Honestly, I don’t know if we have any on the other campuses yet. But again, hearing this input, know, the two things we’ll do as we think about the renovation projects and the master plan we’re putting together, that will certainly be a part of that process. And if there are buildings that don’t have that and aren’t part of those major renovations, that is something that we can look at putting into part of that. Part of our standard process going forward with renovations does include gender neutral bathrooms but per legal building code it does require gender specific bathrooms as well so we’re trying to maintain that balance. If you didn’t know we had these bathrooms, maybe it’s a note that as these things become available, as we open them, we can certainly make them better known.

Ramos: That’s actually something that we’ve been doing quite a bit of work on recently. We have a policy, actually an institutional policy in draft form that will be considered by our board of trustees regarding freedom of expression and speech on campus while also identifying for our procedures and practices what spaces and places may be designated or available for expression and speech while also acknowledging what limitations for example obscene, profane language is not protected by the First Amendment. So I think a lot of this is an opportunity for training and education, but also thinking about where do we, as a public institution, recognize and support freedom of speech and freedom of expression in ways that are available to all members of the community. And so I think those are things that, from a practice perspective and from an opportunities perspective, we’ll look at how are we educating on these practices to set up our procedures, our policies as an institution to support freedom of speech while also thinking about how do we support the engagement of that across campus. There are things that are being shared within the classroom, within events on campus, public engagement on our campus. So there may be a groups that reserves space on campus to have an event. And how does our female expression practices aligned with supporting the First Amendment while also creating spaces where that could be respected and executed in safe and supportive ways. We also recognize that part of the planning process might be if there is going to be some sort of engagement on campus that do we have the proper support and protections in place. So if there’s large group coming on campus to have an event to express their freedom of speech, that we have systems of processing in place to ensure safety of our constituents.