Looking back on a strategic plan for the College of Lake County crafted in 2019, when COVID-19 was still incubating overseas, school President Lori Suddick said she is ready to lead the institution as it sets its goals for its next five years.
Suddick said the process for drafting the new strategic plan begins this year. The immediate focus will be on an assessment of the college, its programs and its resources. By the middle of 2025, the plan will be operational, she said.
“We’ve formed a very large task force,” Suddick said. “It will be an inclusive, community-wide process. Our aspiration at the College of Lake County is to be the place where every student succeeds, every employee thrives, every business achieves and every community can grow.”
She discussed the current plan and the beginnings of the next one during her eighth-annual State of the College address on Sept. 25 at the Advanced Technology Center in Gurnee, giving other snippets of the school’s progress as well.
“We are using a future-seeking approach which is a way of reflecting on the past, making thoughtful observations on the current and directing our minds about the possible future,” Suddick said.
Just as student success was a key element of the current plan, she said it will be something receiving continual review by those involved. It means different things for different students, and involves all parts of the community, she said.
“We spend zero time deciding who is, and who isn’t worthy of a quality college education because it is a basic human right,” Suddick said. “We meet people where they are, and we get them where they want to go.”
The diversity of the county is what makes the school a rich place for education, as is the situation with many community colleges across the country. Students develop a stronger understanding of their area.
“Community colleges serve the most diverse (group) in higher education based on race, ethnic and socioeconomic levels, and makes for a fantastic working environment and a great opportunity to see all the parts of the communities,” she said.
Going far beyond providing high school graduates with a two-year degree to propel them into a four-year university, Suddick said the college does much more for the community. Many of the 22,000 students head in a different direction.
“We’re putting over 3,000 graduates into the skilled workforce pipeline,” she said. “We are serving a larger and larger amount of people in adult education to get their high school equivalency or English language skills.”
Part of the new strategic plan will deal with mental health services for students. Suddick said 44% of college students have symptoms of depression, and 37% of anxiety. With a good mental health system, 51% are less likely to withdraw from school.
With rumors of layoffs at colleges and some schools closing, Suddick said the College of Lake County is financially strong. It has an Aaa bond rating — 12% of higher education institutions are at the highest level. It has never sought a referendum from the taxpayers.
“Strong financially, and by policy we are not allowed to run a budget in the deficit,” she said.
With 45.7% of its students Hispanic, according to Data USA, Suddick said the college is a Hispanic-serving institution. It will also focus on Black learner excellence.
“It’s about time we start figuring out how to be Hispanic-serving,” she said. “We are currently engaging for a seal of excellency, not to have it but to show us we’re doing the right work.”
For more than two years, Suddick said the college has developed the concept for an urban farm at the school’s Lakeshore Campus in Waukegan. It is also engaged in a fundraising effort to get the project underway.
With a goal of raising $15 million to fund the urban farm, she said so far $9.87 million has been raised. Another $1.38 million is needed before construction can start on land already reserved for it on Sheridan Road in Waukegan.
“We will have aquaponic, hydroponic, a greenhouse, retail sales, a teaching kitchen and a space where we can support local business,” Suddick said. “We’re going to enhance food distribution of healthy fruits and vegetables here.”