The Kaskaskia College Board of Trustees on Thursday evening accepted the retirement of Judy Hemker, the school’s Vice President of administrative services. Board members expressed their appreciation for the work done by Hemker, whose retirement is effective April 30.
KC President George Evans says Hemker has been an asset to the college and helped KC in the aftermath of the state’s budget impasse and beyond.
“She has just been such a phenomenal asset in a million different avenues. Her work was always very professional, it was well-written, it was thorough. Very rarely did Judy ever make a mistake. When you say you have the utmost confidence in one of your employees and senior leaders, I think of Judy Hemker.”
In a related move, the board voted to appoint KC controller Sara Hanks as interim treasurer, effective February 1, and give her additional financial authority.
“Each institution requires a controller and a chief financial officer. To ensure the systems of checks and balances, and while we have the search for Judy ongoing, there is a possibility that we may not have her seat filled by the time she retires, by April 30, and we want to make sure we have the signatory in place, in Sara, who can authorize transactions on behalf of the college serving in that role.”
In other action on Thursday, the board approved the hiring of Carrie Hancock as student outreach coordinator, Jessica Niepoetter as an admissions counselor, and Jenna Astroth as Trenton Education Center coordinator.
Board members approved the purchase of a mechanical drives learning system, instructional equipment for the Mobile Industrial Training Lab, and a Puritan Bennett mechanical ventilator. The board also approved the purchase of a virtual reality stand-up desktop forklift simulator. College officials say students will train on the simulator before practicing on a real forklift, to cut down on wear and tear on the forklift.
