Carl Sandburg College has wrapped up its spring semester and first-year President Dr. Seamus Reilly is reflecting back on the past year. Reilly says he felt welcomed into the family at CSC right away and he’s enjoyed getting to know the community. In regards to enrollment, Reilly tells WGIL they’ve stabilized at CSC. Enrollment populations at community colleges tend to fluctuate and when the economy is good – people tend to not go to school and go to work instead which is a good thing, says Reilly. “What we’re finding is that we need to move into a niche area where we are serving everyone in the community – including those that are working,” Reilly said. “(Since) technology is changing everything so quickly, how do people get multiple skills? Because you can’t have specialists on the job anymore. That’s the same for manufacturing and it’s the same for health care. So we’re really looking to target those areas in our district to train those people that are already working.” Part of that niche will be new certificate programs to cater to what technology offers today’s various industries. Reilly says, for instance, farmers today want to know more about analytics, economics, financing, or reading the markets. He says Carl Sandburg College is working through the process of offering a program like that as early as this fall.
