4 hours Ago By MATEUSZ JANIK [email protected]
NORMAL — Heartland Community College is adding a new program for electric vehicle technology and infrastructure work. The college's Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to approve the new Energy Systems and Charging Infrastructure Technician micro certificate program, which will teach students the skills needed to install, maintain and repair electric vehicle supply equipment and systems. This micro certificate is designed to meet the growing need for electric charging stations throughout the state, especially across Central Illinois' Interstate 74/55 corridor, and to support the goal set by the state to have 1 million electric vehicles on the roads by 2030.
Students can take the seven-credit hour program independently or as part of the larger Energy Systems Technology certificate, which can advance toward an Associate of Applied Science degree in industrial technology. "We already have that equipment and we already teach pieces of it, so this brings it all together," said Steve Fast, assistant to the president at Heartland and public information and communication director. "They don't have to be on the pathway for that full degree, but most of our students will probably add that as a certificate to diversify what they can do with the full degree.
" The program focuses on fundamentals of energy storage systems, electrical wiring and power distributions, and covers safety protocols, troubleshooting and the installation of both residential and commercial charging infrastructure. Also on Tuesday evening, the board received an unofficial update on first day enrollment numbers for the spring term, showing a decrease in overall headcount by less than 1%, and a slight increase in credit hours by .1%, as compared to a year ago.
Sarah Diel-Hunt, vice president of enrollment and student services at Heartland, said the total number of undergraduate students enrolled at Heartland is 4,866, and the total number of adult education students enrolled is 437. There are a total of 40,083 credit hours registered through undergraduate courses and 4,024 credit hours through adult education courses, Diel-Hunt said. Diel-Hunt said the college's dual credit program is starting to level out in terms of enrollment, after it grew fast in the fall fall and now is slowing down in terms of headcount and credit hours.
"I expect to see variations in that dual credit enrollment that are really based on the size of our high school junior and senior classes every year. Is that up or down? Also, how much staff at the high schools who meet credentials required to teach dual credit?" Diel-Hunt said. She added that recent high school graduate enrollment was up 4%, minority student enrollment was up 6%, and career technical education and work ready programs are up 4%.
The board also received a mid-fiscal-year budget update and quick preview of the fiscal year 2026 budget. Fast said the current fiscal year budget is looking level with the anticipated $44.76 million total that was approved and adopted by the board in September.
As for fiscal year 2026, there is nothing concrete yet because the college is waiting for state and federal agencies to report allotments, Fast said. During their Feb. 18 meeting, board members will vote on the annual tuition and fees recommendation for the 2025-26 school year.
The budget for fiscal year 2026 will continue preparation throughout the spring before returning to the board tentatively in June, and finally adopted in September. Dr. Ku was named 2024 Q4 ExtraOrdinary Woman of Bloomington-Normal for her work as an oncologist and writer who treats her patients as people instead of a problem to be solved.
Contact Mateusz Janik at (309) 820-3234. Follow Mateusz on Twitter:@mjanik99 Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Government Reporter {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
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