SICCM 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 eight professional and one operational employee. 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, Shawnee Community College at Ullin, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Sixty percent of the 25 counties (some portions) served by the three 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 forty-six year history, the consortium has administered over $69 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.

Past SICCM Directed and Administered Programs and Projects:

Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) 1974-1994
Veterinary Technology (Associate Degree of Applied Science Program) 2007-2018
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
Southern Illinois Coalition for Economic Development 1986-1993
Egyptian Labor-Management Council 1986-1996
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
Leadership and Core Values (Illinois Community College Board) 1998-1999
Eisenhower Grant provides distance learning and Internet training to math and science instructors (Illinois Board of Higher Education) 1998-2000
Perioperative Nursing 1993-1998
Regional Center for Distance Learning and Multimedia Development 1993-2003
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
Ameren CIPS Smartlights, 2002
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Community Facilities Grant 2004-2007
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Utilities Services, Distance Learning and Telemedicine 2004-2007
Senior Medicare Patrol Project 2004-2006
Department of Commerce and Employment Opportunity 2005
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Business Enterprise Grant 2006-2008
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Business Enterprise Grant 2008-2009
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Business Enterprise Grant 2011-2012
College Scholastic Bowl 1985- 2009
UCAN Life Skills/Illinois Department of Corrections Grant 1995-2012
Social Security Representative Payee Program/Social Security Administration 1994-2012
Health Information Technology Program 1988 – 2016
East St. Louis Community College Center administering agent (Illinois Community College Board) January 1, 1999 – June 30, 2016
Senior Service America, Inc., 2004- 2017
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Utilities Services, Distance Learning and Telecommunication 2015-2017