Joe Skibinski

Name

Joe Skibinski

Position Sought

Moraine Valley Community College Trustee (2-year term)

Campaign Contact Information

Phone: 708-529-1182

Email: joeformvcc@yahoo.com

Hometown

Oak Lawn

Family Members

Sister: Christine Skibinski, 50

Education

DePaul University, 1983, MBA Finance; Loyola University of Chicago, 1979, BBA Finance and Accounting; Harold Richards High School, Class of 1975

Current Occupation and Employer

Licensed Certified Public Accountant with DeMarco, Sciaccotta, Wilkens and Dunleavy in Oak Brook; Adjunct Faculty at Governors State University and University of Phoenix; Sitting Trustee at the Oak Lawn Public Library

Political Party Affiliation

Nonpartisan

Why are you seeking the position?

I am in front of college students several days a week. I see their daily struggles with scheduling, work, family and most of all personal finances. The textbook for my current finance class cost over $200! Also, as a Licensed CPA, a member of the Oak Lawn Chamber of Commerce and a Library Trustee, I see the how local business owners are challenged by constantly changing technology and an increasingly competitive business environment.

I feel that MVCC is uniquely equipped with the resources needed to address these issues. I want to work to make the most of those resources as quickly and efficiently as possible.

What will be your single most important priority if you get elected?

Increasing enrollment in both the credit and non-credit classes. This how MVCC can best address those issues expressed in why I am seeking this office. Enrollments will only continue to grow if MVCC expands on its efforts to keep education and its resources accessible not only to it's students, but the community as well. Accessibility is gained through providing classes in local locations, at convenient times and at affordable rates.

I would like to see MVCC offer its classes, particularly it's noncredit classes at local libraries and other institutions. Many of their noncredit courses would be extremely valuable to local business owners and community residents if they were close by and attractively priced. I have spoken with other Library Trustees and Directors who would welcome the opportunity to partner with MVCC in improving the resources available to their communities. Enrollment in noncredit classes has recently plateaued. This approach may re-establish the positive trend.

What sets you apart from the other candidates?

Results. During just the last two years that I have sat on the Oak Lawn Library's Board of Trustees we have put in place a wide variety of new initiatives. We are one of the few libraries in the Southland to have opened our doors on Sundays during the summer. This was done during the depths of our "Great Recession" so that our patrons would have the internet access and information resources available to help with their job searches and coping with the many difficulties they endured. We have eliminated the practice of fine exemptions for all Trustees, past and present. We eliminated rental charges on our DVD collection. We became active participants in the Chicago Federal Reserve's "Money Smart Week" program, giving patrons the information they needed to deal with our bad economy. We have invested heavily in an improved technology infrastructure that includes an RFID inventory management system, that greatly enhances patron services, increases flexibility and reduces future costs. We have added a full-time youth services associate to improve our focus on that segment of our patron base and to promote their success as they move into secondary education. Finally, we have expanded the Library's participation with the Chamber of Commerce and increased its focus on the local business community.

This aggressive focus on increasing services and resources is what I hope to bring to MVCC to help it expand on its overall mission of building and serving our community.

What facilities would you like to see added to campus?

Facilities themselves are merely opportunities for ribbon cutting ceremonies. It is the benefits they provide that we should focus on. Increasing the physical plant should be undertaken only when its benefits far outweigh it's cost. We need to be wary of an incremental creep in tuition rates that eventually takes higher education out of the reach of every resident in the community and denies local businesses the resources they need to meet new challenges. That is one of the reasons I favor exploring partnering with local libraries and other institutions in offering an increased number and variety of classes at increasingly attractive rates. The benefits of increased revenues is lost if doing so requires a substantial increase in fixed costs.

What could be done to improve campus safety? Does anything need to be done?

It is obvious that a sense of personal safety is of paramount importance in maintaining an effective learning environment. Every student, staff and faculty member should always feel perfectly safe on any MVCC campus. However, they are also the first source of information for law enforcement. Be sure to inform police whenever you see something that may be out of place. Should a public safety issue become one that involves infrastructure or policy considerations, it should become an immediate priority for the board. Hopefully, this allows that board to maintain a balance between an open campus and an impregnable fortress that stifles the exchange of ideas and the education process. I am sure that the administration and current board share with me that the thought of allowing for an environment that puts anyone in danger would be absolutely unconscionable.

Raising tuition costs is a big concern for students. What could be done to keep tuition from rising?

More students! First, any increases in fixed costs from additional facilities and technology would have to bring tangible benefits that far outweigh their costs. Also, more students would bring additional revenues to help cover existing fixed costs. Finally, just like with larger universities, I think we have an opportunity to greatly enhance the college's revenues and prestige in the community by expanding our noncredit offerings and reaching deeper into our communities to better serve our local businesses, residents and taxpayers.

Have you ever been arrested or sued? If yes, please say what the charge was, and the case's and/or lawsuit's outcome.

I've been far too busy all my life to get into any kind of trouble!

Any other information pertinent to your campaign.

Unlike the University of Illinois, Northern, Notre Dame or Northwestern, MVCC students are part of the community. They are around long after graduation. Their access to affordable education allows them to grow their careers, eat more often in our restaurants, shop more in our stores, invest in our larger homes and pay more in taxes! Their children often sit in the same desks as their parents did a generation earlier. MVCC is part of a virtuous circle that makes for an ever improving community by constantly reinvesting in itself. With your help on April 9th, I will work at making that circle an ever-widening one.