SICCM History

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS COLLEGIATE COMMON MARKET

History

The Southern Illinois Collegiate Common Market (SICCM) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation organized in 1973. The consortium is governed by a Board of Directors composed of presidents and chancellors of participating institutions and is staffed by twelve professional and two operational employees. SICCM was organized to provide a means of sharing human and material resources in higher education to fast-growing institutions within the consortium. The members of the organization are John A. Logan College at Carterville, Kaskaskia College at Centralia, Rend Lake College at Ina, Shawnee Community College at Ullin, Southeastern Illinois College at Harrisburg, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Sixty percent of the 25 counties (some portions) served by the five community colleges are included in the Lower Mississippi Delta Development region. In 1990, the Delta Commission, chaired by President Bill Clinton, then Governor of Arkansas, made recommendations to President George Bush for improvement of the quality of life in this large poverty-stricken seven-state region. One of the recommendations was as follows:

"Institutions of higher education should establish regional consortia to provide and concentrate expensive specialty training in order to avoid duplication and to selectively adjust out-of-state tuition to Delta students for specialties."

Having accomplished this mission many years before the recommendation was made, SICCM institutions have demonstrated they are historically innovative and successful in meeting the needs of the region.

In its thirty-five year history, the consortium has administered over $48 million in grants and projects, all of which have been directed toward addressing regional needs and issues. The programs and projects include telecommunications/distance learning, welfare-to-work, nursing, allied health, economic development, research, articulation, faculty development and sharing, curriculum development, public services, labor-management cooperation, leadership and core values, and other aspects of serving higher education and community needs.

Career Planning for Probationers (Illinois State Board of Education) 1989-1991

Adolescent Outpatient Services to the southern nine counties of the state (Illinois Department of Alcohol and Substance Abuse) 1989-1992

Carl D. Perkins Vocational Educational Criminal Offenders Act (Illinois State Board of Education) 1990-1994

ISO 9000 assisted businesses/industries to obtain international accreditation (Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs) 1993-1994

Project Connect provided life-skills training for ex-offenders and their families (Illinois State Board of Education) 1993-1996

Regional Consortia Master Plan for Southern Illinois (Illinois Higher Education Cooperation Act) 1994-2002

Rural Multi-Campus Substance Abuse Prevention and Awareness Program (U.S. Department of Education) 1994-1996

Rural Southern Illinois Occupational Therapy Assistant Support Grant (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau of Health Professions)1995-1998

Eisenhower Grant provides distance learning and Internet training to math and science instructors (Illinois Board of Higher Education) 1998-2000

Southern Illinois Telecommunications Network (SITN) (Illinois Board of Higher Education) 1994-1999

Project CHOICE (Creating Hiring Opportunities In Customized Employment) assists welfare recipients to obtain employment (Illinois Department of Employment Security) 1998-1999

Illinois Century Network/Region IX fiscal agent (Illinois Board of Higher Education) 2000-2004

U. S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Utilities Services, Distance Learning and Telemedicine 2004-2007