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 Coming from Lake Land were Jon Althaus - Vice President for Academic
Services, Emily Hartke - Chair of Counseling/Transfer Coordinator,
and Greg Powers - Broadcasting Department Head. Those on hand to
greet them from Lincoln College included Dr. David Gerlach -
President of Lincoln College, Dr. Gigi Fansler - Vice President for
Academic Affairs, and John Malone - Division Chair of Fine Arts and
Communications.
The three visitors were led on a brief tour of the LCTV television
station/production building. They then joined the representatives
from Lincoln College in signing the new transfer agreement.
With the signing of the agreement students at Lake Land majoring and
earning their Associates Degree in broadcasting will have the option
to transfer to Lincoln College to acquire their four-year degree,
entering LC as a third-year student.
During the signing event, Malone spoke about the development of the
LCTV program and talked about how well the two colleges fit
together. He noted that when he began building the program at LC, he
was familiar with the excellence of the programs offered at Lake
Land, and had set for his college the goal of having this type of
transfer agreement.
Malone commented, "Lake Land College is renowned throughout the
Midwest for their decades-long two-year program in radio and
television. The first person who ever hired me in the radio business
almost 30 years ago was a Lake Land graduate. They have a great
history, and I'm looking forward to working with Greg Powers and the
people of Lake Land to infuse our program with their stellar
students."
Gerlach also talked about the development of the four-year degree
projects at LC. He noted that when he was interviewing for hire as
the new president, he told the board that he felt it was time to
bring Lincoln College back to a baccalaureate school, as it had been
when it was founded. The board was very much in favor of that
suggestion, and Gerlach noted that with that statement he won the
position of LC President.
Since that time, the college administration has worked toward adding
four-year degrees in a number of areas. The Radio Television and New
Media Program was established in the fall of 2016.
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To date, four-year bachelor degrees are offered in radio television and new
media, as well as business management, community and human services,
conservation biology, criminal and justice studies, exercise science, jazz
studies, sport management, theater and vocal performance. The college will
continue to add other four-year programs as time progresses.
Gerlach also mentioned that this year, the program has a group of students who
are writing and producing a short film that will be a part of the Lincoln Film
Festival held later this year. He shared with the visitors from Lake Land, the
Film Festival development. Speaking about Logan County native Brenda Chapman and
her husband Kevin Lima, he explained their relationship to the festival and how
Chapman contributed to bringing a quality festival to Lincoln. Gerlach also
hinted that he hopes there will someday soon be an animation program at Lincoln
College, noting that Chapman and Lima have both won many awards for their work
in animation.
Nearly 100 years younger than Lincoln College, the Lake Land Foundation began
preparing to build Lake Land Community College - a junior college in Mattoon in
1965. In 1971, the college celebrated the completion of its first building on
campus, the Virgil H. Judge Learning Resource Center named after the first
college president. The college continued to develop, utilizing off-site
facilities as additional buildings were added to the campus throughout the 70’s.
Similar in size to Lincoln College, annual enrollment at Lake Land averages just
around 1,000 students (2012 statistic), with about 880 enrolled as full-time
degree seekers. As of the end of 2012, the college reported that 39 percent of
its students graduate with a two-year degree, and 18 percent go on with a
transfer to a four-year college.
[Nila Smith]
Seated from the left:
Lincoln College’s Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Gigi
Fansler and Fine Arts and Communications Division Chair John Malone.
From Lake Land, Chair of Counseling/Transfer Coordinator Emily
Hartke and Vice President for Academic Services Jon Althaus.
Standing: Lincoln College President Dr. David Gerlach and Lake Land
College Broadcasting Department Head Greg Powers.
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