Former Illinois Valley Community College President Larry Huffman of Peru was named to the college's Board of Trustees during a special meeting Monday morning.

Huffman, who served as Kankakee Community College President for 14 years, will fill the vacancy created by the June 25 resignation of trustee Paula Endress of Earlville.

Commenting on the appointment, current IVCC President Jerry Corcoran said, "I am sure Dr. Huffman's many years of experience in the Illinois community college system will prove invaluable to all IVCC stakeholders as we chart our course for the future."

Huffman added, "I have a deep-rooted personal interest in IVCC and the Illinois Valley area and I appreciate this appointment. IVCC has a long, proud history and I welcome the opportunity to again work with the board, administrators, faculty and staff."

The new trustee began his community college career as IVCC's dean of student development in 1974 and served as KCC president from 1987 to 2001, the longest tenure of any KCC president.

From 2001 to 2004, Huffman was president/CEO of KFS Bank and Kankakee Bancorp and from 2004 to 2006 was director of business programs in the School of Graduate & Continuing Studies at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais.

In May 2006, he was named IVCC president and served until June 2007. Earlier this year, he returned to KCC as interim president and led the search to find KCC's sixth president, John Avendano.

Huffman earned both bachelor's and master's degrees from Western Illinois University and a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Illinois. He and his wife, Chris, a native of Tonica and and an IVCC graduate, are members of IVCC Foundation's 21st Century Scholars Society, the Foundation's first giving society that Huffman helped create during his tenure as president.

IVCC Board Chairman Dennis Thompson agreed with Corcoran that Huffman would make a good addition to the IVCC board because of his extensive junior college experience and his working knowledge of IVCC's upcoming building plans.

Following the board's approval of Huffman, the IVCC Facilities Committee met to continue discussions on the college's proposed $30 million Community Technology Center.

Paul R. Basalay of Basalay, Cary & Alstadt Architects in Ottawa advised the committee of the revised options for reducing the planned square footage of the center from 78,000 down to 76,000 for cost savings. IVCC board members have previously discussed how to pay the $7.6 million required from local funds to supplement the state's portion of more than $22 million.

In June, the board approved a Community College Capital Resource Allocation Management Program request for the CTC to advance the project. The request needs to be approved by Gov. Pat Quinn.

The board's finance committee has recommended not asking taxpayers for additional revenue to pay the local portion of construction costs. Money has already been earmarked by IVCC for the center, including $3.1 million from the building fund.

Additional money could come from restructuring a bond set to expire in 2010 to keep the tax rate the same but provide the project more dollars. Selling some real estate IVCC owns also is a possibility the board is considering.

Other business discussed Monday included options for temporary buildings no longer used by college programs, future modification to chemistry and biology laboratories along with electricity purchasing and campus utility upgrades.