Heartland Community College

History

The state of Illinois is divided into community college districts. Students desiring to attend a community college in Illinois have a lower tuition rate if they attend the community college for the district in which they live. Prior to 1991, the entire state of Illinois was covered by community college districts except a portion of central Illinois centered on Bloomington. Students living in this non-districted area were in the unique situation of being allowed the choice of attending any of the surrounding four districts' community colleges.

This situation changed in 1990 when Heartland Community College was established, with its first "campus" located in the Landmark Mall in the city of Normal, and a second location opened in Bloomington's Towanda Plaza in 1992. The college moved to its current campus in north Normal in 2000, and closed the last building in the strip mall in 2007.

Heartland's first president was Jonathan Astroth, who served from 1991 to 2010. He was succeeded by Allen Goben and, later, Rob Widmer.

Campus

Heartland Community College consists currently of seven buildings on the main campus in Normal. Three of the original buildings are connected by walkways on the second floor that cross over Community College Drive. The other four buildings were additions after the initial permanent campus was opened in 2000.

Approaching the campus from the east, the first of the buildings is the CCB, or Community Commons Building. This building is where new students may register for classes, speak to an Academic Advisor, access their student records, and receive other information. This building also houses the Financial Aid department and the Human Resources department. Directly connected to this building by way of the walkway on the second floor is the SCB, or Student Commons Building.

The SCB houses a new Café, student bookstore, library, security desk, and IT department. The SCB is also home to Project Rise, Heartland's Student Support Services Trio program. Student Recruitment, which acts in part as an admissions office, is also located in this building. The SCB is aligned perpendicular to the CCB and the third main building, the ICB, or Instructional Commons Building.

The ICB is connected to the north end of the SCB's second floor by a walkway, and is actually twice as long from end to end as either the SCB or CCB, and has an open meeting area in the middle of its length on the first floor. It houses the math department offices and other department offices. This is also where all of the classes are held besides the workforce development center.

WDC, or Workforce Development Center, was the first new addition to the permanent campus. This building was erected in 2007 at the north end of the campus grounds, and opened for classes that fall. It is intended to be a "green" building, with heating and cooling being provided by geothermal energy and other eco-friendly technology. Standing over three stories tall, including the fourth floor maintenance area, it is the tallest building on campus, and is where the vast majority of technology-focused classes are held.

Renovations and additions

Heartland has recently begun renovations which would double the campus's current size. Heartland has planned to add by 2010: 3 new sports complexes including a Gymnasium, Soccer Field, and Baseball Field. Other buildings are a Student Center, Fitness Center, Classroom Building, Multipurpose Auditorium/Business Conference Center, Child-Care Center and Receiving Building. These additions are estimated to take enrollment from 4,500 to nearly 8,000.

As of December 8, 2008, groundwork has begun on five of the additions. The Child Care Center, situated at the northeast corner of the current campus, is already near completion and is scheduled to open for the Spring 2009 semester. Along the east side of the campus, the framework for the Fitness & Recreation Center and the Community Education Center are in an advanced stage of completion, but significant work still needs to be done before the facilities will be available to the students and faculty.

To the north of the ICB, work on the ICB II building, which will be situated perpendicular to the current ICB and connected with a skyway, has progressed significantly as well. Groundwork has begun on the Student Center, located at the north end of the SCB, but no significant construction has been completed as of this point in time.

Recently, Governor of the state of Illinois, Pat Quinn announced funding for the Readiness Center to be built on Heartland Community College's Normal campus. The project, developed through a partnership between the Illinois Department of Military Affairs and Heartland Community College, includes shared space that will serve as an Illinois National Guard Readiness Center while providing seven additional classrooms for Heartland’s use during the week. The project will create more than 200 additional parking spaces for the College’s use as well. Heartland will allow the Illinois Army National Guard use of auditorium, fitness center and classrooms during the Guard’s training assemblies.

A Wind-turbine has been installed at the College's Normal campus. In addition to the energy savings, Heartland's wind turbine will act as a hands-on laboratory for students pursuing degrees or certificates in the College's growing renewable and alternative energy curriculum. Heartland's renewable energy program began in fall 2010.

In addition to the Hawks baseball, softball, and soccer teams, the on-campus stadium The Corn Crib also serves as home to the Normal CornBelters of the independent Frontier League.

Heartland has been renovating additional space at its Pontiac location since summer 2014. Prior to construction, HCC leased 7,000 square feet from the library. The project gives Heartland Pontiac Center:

An additional 4,300 square feet, Computer and science labs, A general classroom, and Additional office space. An existing classroom was also reconfigured to fit an additional 12 seats.

The extra space will be ready to use in time for the start of spring semester 2015.

The center is on the second floor of the Pontiac Public Library, 211 E. Madison St. Heartland officials have said the new space should allow the college to add more credit classes and expand adult education, community education and, potentially, customized training. The renovation project's cost is being spread out over the 10-year lease with the library. Heartland had been paying about $60,000 annually for the 7,000 square feet. The new lease for more than 11,000 square feet will not exceed $125,000 annually. The project, for which the center received a $125,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, involves the Micronauts Lab used for kindergarten through fourth grade.

Sports

Heartland's sports teams are known as the Hawks. The Hawks compete in soccer (men's and women's), baseball, and softball. The Hawks joined the Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) as part of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).

Clubs and activities

Students at Heartland Community College can take part in different Clubs and Organizations on Campus. They include: Group of Academic and Transitioned ESL students, HCC Nursing Club, HCC Radiography Club, Heartland Meditation Club, Phi Theta Kappa, Student Veterans of America, Student Advisory Advisory Committee, Scribe, HCC Culture Club, Heartland Game Club, Heartland Rotaract Club, PRIDE, Student Government Association (SGA), Heartland Activities Committee (HAC), Mosaic, One Heart for Congo, PEERS-BACCHUS.