DIXON — For more than a decade, Sauk Valley Community College President David Hellmich has put the emphasis on two words in the name of the institution he led: “Community” and “College.”

During his tenure there, he devoted his time to bringing the two closer together and his influence can be seen in both, as he helped pave the way for the college to become further woven into the fabric of the community. His work reached beyond Sauk’s walls and halls and into the faces and places it served. Sauk’s president is a title he’s been proud to hold.

Now he’s getting ready to devote his time to another title he wears proudly: Grandpa.

A few weeks after commencement, Hellmich will wrap up a long career in higher education, stepping down as president of Sauk Valley Community College in May after 11 years. He leaves not only as an educational leader, but as a community connector who built relationships with service clubs, local governments and businesses, all to help strengthen not only Sauk Valley Community College, but the Sauk Valley.

The decision to retire coincides with the reason why Hellmich’s career has taken him to various points across the nation: spending time with family. He and his wife Linda raised a family in Minnesota, moved to Kentucky to be closer to relatives, came to the Sauk Valley as a midpoint, and will retire to Minnesota to be near their four grandchildren.

“We love the Sauk Valley, but there are four reasons why we’re moving, and those are the four grandchildren we have,” Hellmich said. “We wanted to get closer to the grandkids; otherwise we’d stay here because we love it here.”

Hellmich’s career in community colleges spans nearly 40 years. After leadership roles in Florida, Minnesota and Kentucky, he became president of Sauk Valley Community College in 2015. During his time, he helped strengthen partnerships, launched initiatives such as the IMPACT earned tuition program, and guided the college through financial strain and the coronavirus pandemic.

Wanting to be a strong advocate for the region, Hellmich often describes the Sauk Valley as a “jewel,” citing its resources, location and momentum, while championing growth, access and deep community connection.

“I think the Sauk Valley is one of the real jewels of not only Illinois, but the country,” he said. “It’s amazing what the Sauk Valley has. We have water, and there are parts of the country that are fast running out of water. We have transportation. We have rail. We have interstates. We have airports. We are rural, but we’re not rural — we’re an hour-and-a-half from O’Hare, the Quad Cities and Rockford, but you get the best of small town, the best of rural, while you still have access.”

Raised in Greensburg, Indiana, Hellmich grew up in an area not unlike the Sauk Valley: a small-town agricultural community. After a decade as vice president of academics at Bluegrass Community and Technical College in Lexington, Kentucky, he and Linda sought a return to that environment. The Sauk Valley offered a professional and personal midpoint aligned with their family priorities.

When George Mihel retired from Sauk in 2015, the board of trustees narrowed its search to three finalists, including Hellmich. Learning the board wanted a stronger community presence, he was drawn to the role. Upon landing the job, he and Linda, who recently retired as a psychologist at KSB, settled in Dixon.

“This area is so much like where I grew up, with small towns and lots of manufacturing, and even more agriculture,” Hellmich said. “I remember driving by Jefferson School in Dixon, and Linda looked at me and said, ‘This is just like your hometown, this is just like Greensburg.’ We were just so impressed with the people here.”

From the outset, Hellmich looked at community connections as central to his role. He examined where faculty and staff were already engaged — boards, nonprofits and volunteer work — and identified gaps. From there, he and his leadership team expanded the college’s presence, which included launching a regional leadership program with local chambers of commerce and increasing outreach to service and economic development groups.

College presidents having an interest in the community “is absolutely critical,” he said. “You can’t really be a community college if you’re not the community’s college. You can’t be effective if you’re isolated.”

Hellmich arrived during a critical period in Illinois education, as the state entered a prolonged budget impasse from 2015 to 2017, but retreating from long-term goals and initiatives was not an option, Hellmich said. Instead, campus-wide discussions invited input from faculty and staff to reinforce their mission.

Despite financial strain, the college preserved adult education programs and reestablished a Small Business Development Center. They were funded internally when state support stalled.

“It was a chance for us to come together and say, ‘What are we going to do?’” Hellmich said. “We had college-wide meetings, we had opportunities for people to give points of view, and that helped bring us together.”

Another test came with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Within days, Sauk transitioned nearly entirely online. Hellmich had previously dealt with a similar contingency plan when Bird Flu became a potential concern in Kentucky, and he drew upon some of those plans to help guide Sauk through this crisis.

“I am very proud of how we handled that,” Hellmich said. “There are times I think that it helps being a smaller institution. We didn’t have some of the complexities that some of the other colleges had, being in one building. Eric Epps, who at the time was our technology director, did a phenomenal job interfacing with external agencies and being our lead. We didn’t have any faculty who refused to teach online. We didn’t have any staff who refused to do their job.”

Among Hellmich’s most cherished initiatives is Sauk’s IMPACT program, designed to expand access to higher education while strengthening community ties. The program, which began in 2021, allows in-district students to earn up to three years of tuition and mandatory fees by completing 100 hours of community service before graduation and meeting other eligibility requirements.

Hellmich and Sauk vice president of advancement Lori Cortez worked on building the idea. Despite early skepticism from consultants, they pressed forward to refine the model to include an earned tuition through volunteer service. About $8.5 million has been raised, with a goal of serving 1,200 students by 2028.

Hellmich recalls stories of students who once saw college as out of reach — including one from Cortez who told him about one young girl who said she simply wanted “a bedroom of her own” someday, he said, and how she found a pathway forward.

“We thought this was going to be important to the community to have this free labor, and it be important for these kids to get to know their communities,” Hellmich said. “We had no idea how important this was going to be, but it was amazing with the feedback we got from the communities and agencies like the Rotary Club, the YMCA, the YWCA, and church groups. They had a hard time getting help. Now they have an abundance of help, largely from high school kids. It’s made their lives so much better and more rewarding because they find themselves volunteering along with other 15-, 16-, 17-year-olds.”

Being a leader is a role that Hellmich takes seriously, having also published essays on leadership throughout his career, and editing the book “Ethical Leadership in the Community College: Bridging Theory and Daily Practice,” in 2007. He took leadership courses while studying for his doctorate in higher education at the University of Florida, and established his own curriculum while serving as dean of instruction at South Central College in Faribault, Minn. He also taught leadership courses at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, where future governor Tim Walz was once a student in his class.

But despite the impressive resumé, there’s one leader he still looks up to.

“[It was] my mother, who never graduated from high school, and got married and had her first child before she was out of high school,” Hellmich said.

As he steps away, Hellmich has confidence in his successor. Vice president of academics Jon Mandrell will become the first president in the college’s 61-year history to be an internal hire, having been chosen by the board of trustees in September. Mandrell has already made his own impact on Sauk, leading both the development of the college’s police academy and the return of its agriculture program.

“I do think it’s the right time,” Hellmich said. “Jon Mandrell is going to come in and he’s going to be amazing, and I think people are going to be stunned about how well the college does under his leadership. I like to think we’ve done well, but I think the best is yet to come.”

As he reflects on his tenure, Hellmich points less to personal accomplishments and more to the foundation he’s had a role in building at Sauk, and the people positioned to carry it forward.

“I hope that things keep going,” Hellmich said. “I would like to think there’s not a focus on me any more than anyone else. We have such a strong leadership team. We have such a strong, committed board and foundation board, great faculty and stuff, and community relationships. I’m really proud of what we’ve been doing the last 11 years. My goal was to be able to end my career at a place where I thought I could make a difference.”