5 IVCC faculty members awarded tenure

Five faculty members representing nursing, welding and mathematics were awarded tenure by the Illinois Valley Community College Board of Trustees this month.

Department recommendations presented to the board praised their dedication and acknowledged their contributions to the college and the community. Student endorsements underlined their unwavering advocacy.

IVCC President Tracy Morris congratulated the faculty at a small reception last week.

“The granting of tenure is a tremendous milestone for our faculty,” Morris said after the event. “It is a process that is rigorous but also allows the faculty to showcase their expertise as educators and their knowledge of their field.

“This group of faculty has been extremely dedicated both inside and outside the classroom, and we could not be more proud of each of them.”

Faculty members include welding instructor Theresa Molln, nursing instructor Chrissy Boughton, nursing laboratory instructor Cathy Lenkaitis, nursing instructor Samantha Whiteaker and math instructor Emily Morgan.

Molln was described in her recommendation as becoming “the very essence of what [is] most admired about IVCC as a student – a faculty member who cares and will invest the time a student needs.”

In paying tribute to her care and compassion, the recommendation noted that she “even went as far as making sure students do not go hungry” by establishing a food cabinet in the department.

Molln coordinates the welding program, which she joined full time in 2021 after serving as lab assistant and part-time instructor. She earned praise for developing course content and redesigning and improving the welding lab; for her community leadership; and for using her welding talents to create keepsakes to support fundraisers, community activities and to present as gifts.

In 2021, the same year Boughton began her full-time career at IVCC, she was nominated by students and awarded the Outstanding Part-time Faculty Award. Her association with IVCC began as a student and continued as a part-time faculty member.

The Student Nurse Association she advises has flourished and has been active in blood drives, health fairs and other on-campus and community events. She earned praise for helping to anchor a close-knit program and for community involvement that included volunteering at area COVID-19 immunization clinics.

In her recommendation, supervisors praised Boughton’s “knowledge and passion for her profession [and] her continued drive to learn and grow with her students. IVCC is lucky to have her.”

A student described Lenkaitis as “an open book with great knowledge,” and her supervisors label her as “indispensable” in the nursing skills lab that she supervises.

Since she began her career at IVCC in 2021, Lenkaitis has provided additional hands-on training through that lab and overseen development of a new simulation lab. She is vigilant in her search for ideas and improvements.

“Students feel comfortable and supported while in the skills lab,” Dean of Health Professions Heather Seghi wrote in her recommendation.

Lenkaitis organizes blood drives and food and supply drives for the area, and created a “scrubs closet” in the lab to help defray clothing costs to student nurses and colleagues.

Since returning to IVCC in 2021, Whiteaker has organized charity diaper drives, flower sales and a student-led landscaping project at a women’s center. She also has been active with the Women’s Health and Wellness Student Group.

She was a tenured faculty member from 2013 to 2016 before leaving IVCC for a time.

Students admire the hard work she does inside and beyond the classroom, and praise her, with one noting: “You inspire me to be a better nurse and patient advocate.”

Her supervisors said she uses hands-on skills and nontraditional skills assessments, as well as collaborative teaching and learning techniques.

Since joining the IVCC faculty in 2021, Morgan has taught developmental and college-level mathematics with a student-centric approach and a passion for the subject that developed when she was a first grader.

“She has helped me develop math skills in every possible way she can,” one student said, while others said they appreciate her teaching style.

“Emily’s idea is to get her students to think about the topic at hand in a new way,” supervisors said in their recommendation, adding that she reinforces her lessons with “a very good questioning technique and group work.”

Morgan is active in her community through civic and sporting events.