Dear IGEN Colleagues,

Welcome to the 23rd edition of Network News! We certainly have many sustainability initiatives taking place at Illinois community colleges and in our districts! As you read this newsletter, I hope you can you feel the excitement that I do because our Network is beginning to influence growth in Illinois' green economy.

On January 30, the IGEN Presidents Steering Committee held a meeting at City Colleges of Chicago to review the progress of IGEN's grant programs, strategic direction, and future funding initiatives. During this meeting, the Steering Committee approved FY12 IGEN budget updates, discussed IGEN Administrative Team structure and hiring, and removed "interim" from my title to appoint me as the first full-time Executive Director of IGEN. After the business meeting, the Steering Committee visited the Illinois Institute of Technology to tour their new Galvin Center and learn how Illinois community colleges can engage in the development of a smart grid workforce.

On February 8, over sixty people participated in an IGEN Update webinar to learn about the great progress being made by the current IGEN Task Force and Work Groups. These groups are comprised of Illinois community college staff and community partners to research sustainability topics, inform and make recommendations to college leadership, and provide materials and resources for use by all colleges. The final products of the IGEN Task Forces and Work Groups might include white papers, special events, best practice packages with case studies, supporting documents and resources, and other materials or presentations. The current Task Force Groups are Green Economy Centers, Transportation/Electric Vehicles, and Green Healthcare. The current Work Groups are Local Foods/Community Demonstration Gardens and Greening Your Curriculum. If you are interested in joining one of these groups, please contact Katie Davis.

As of today, almost all Illinois community college districts have signed the IGEN Intergovernmental Agreement. Although all Illinois community colleges have always been considered members of IGEN, when we first formed in 2008 as the Illinois Community College Sustainability Network (ICCSN), we did not have a formalized relationship beyond a signed Intergovernmental Agreement among the three Administrative Member Districts. In the past four years, we've changed our name to the Illinois Green Economy Network to better reflect our expanding mission and goals, and we've received dramatically increased funding. Therefore, a new IGEN Intergovernmental Agreement was prepared this year and sent to each member district to adopt. This agreement formally establishes IGEN as a platform for sustainability and green economy collaboration among Illinois community colleges. It also allows participation on joint purchases of personal property, supplies and services, related to IGEN activities. Finally, the document serves as evidence and a tool to share with granting agencies, both public and private, to demonstrate the strength and viability of IGEN's statewide consortium of colleges.

Keep reading to learn about the progress of our many programs - Career Pathways Consortium, Targeted Energy Savings, Targeted Energy Management Training, BITE Energy Codes Training, and more. Keep checking the IGEN Members website to stay up-to-date as we roll out more sustainability and green economy initiatives, events and opportunities for your colleges. Please be sure to send us your success stories and best practices. Collaboration will make us stronger!

I look forward to seeing many of you at the IGEN Quarterly Retreat at Heartland Community College on March 6-8.
Best regards,
Julie Elzanati, Executive Director

What’s Happening With IGEN

Organization Building
1. IGEN Admin Team Activities
2. BITE IL Energy Codes Trainings Update
3. FREE! Take advantage of this great opportunity! ICCTEMT Prescriptive Courses
4. ICCTEMT Funding Update
5. ICCTEMT Targeted Trainings Update
6. IGEN Communications Updates
7. IGEN to Produce Video Montage about Sustainability Centers: To be shared at the SCUP Conference
8. Mark Your Calendar! Implementing Behavior Change for Energy Efficiency Conference, May 22, 2012
9. Planning for Earth Day? Share your plans with your peers
10. TAA UPDATE!

#1 IGEN Admin Team Activities

Over the past month IGEN's Administrative Team has been continuing to develop and expand our programs in addition to the regular day to day activities. We are proud to share with you the following list of major activities that we have worked on in the past month. More information about specific programs is available in this News Letter and on our Website.

• Made progress on hiring efforts for Career Pathways (TAA grant) project team.
• Made progress toward hiring technology and evaluation subcontractors for Career Pathways (TAA grant);
• Indoor lighting bids were received for the ICCTES Equipment Loan Program, and selection notices are pending distribution;
• Began negotiations with DCEO for Yr2 ICCTES and ICCTEMT programming;
• Released ICCTEMT Prescriptive Trainings Menu and will be scheduling trainings to occur between March 1st and May 30th;
• Hosted 5 IL Energy Codes Trainings at IGEN Colleges and have over 745 registrants for trainings throughout the state;
• Planning and preparations for the IGEN Quarterly Network Retreat in March;
• Correcting and maintaining IGEN contact database;
• Serving on the Planning Committee for the Chicagoland Green Jobs Initiative Summit;
• Planning for a Behavior Change Conference scheduled for May 22;
• IGEN abstract was accepted to be presented at the Ball State Greening the Campus XI Conference in March.

#2 BITE IL Energy Codes Trainings Update

The overall goal of the DCEO BITE Energy Codes Training Program is for participants to leave with a clear understanding of how key 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC®) requirements and applicable provisions of ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2010 affect their work - residential and commercial construction projects. Additional exposure to the 2012 International Green Construction Code (IgCC®) will be provided to enhance the educational experience and build understanding of the intent of the GREEN code with respect to sustainable construction practices.

These trainings have received a phenomenal response throughout IL. To meet the high demand, four additional trainings were added in the Chicago region of the state. Registrations have exceeded 850 for the 24 trainings currently offered between January and May 2012. Look for more information about these programs on our Website.

#3 FREE! Take advantage of this great opportunity! ICCTEMT Prescriptive Courses

The Targeted Energy Management Training (ICCTEMT) program is an IGEN coordinated state-wide program funded through the IL DCEP Building Industry Training Education (BITE) program. Prescriptive programs will provide a set menu of training programs that are consistent and relevant to all Colleges. Colleges can choose to host trainings for their region and invite neighboring/regional Colleges to attend.

IGEN has released the ICCTEMT Prescriptive Trainings Menu and will be receiving all applications to host trainings until February 15th. Prescriptive Trainings will be offered at various IGEN colleges from March 1st through May 30th. Prescriptive trainings are open to all IL Community College employees and local business professionals (if relevant). IGEN will cover travel expenses for college employees commuting to other colleges to attend trainings through the ICCTEMT Targeted Program. Please check the IGEN website for a list of trainings that will be hosted in your region (posted during the last week of February).

Additional information about this program can be found on the IGEN Member Only site at: www.igencc.org/icctemt. Questions should be directed to Stephen Bell, IGEN Director of College Partnerships, at sbell1@clcillinois.edu.

#4 ICCTEMT Funding Update

The following updates have been made for to the IGEN Reporting Database to reflect ICCTEMT Program funding allocations:

• ICCTEMT Targeted Training has been added to the financial database. Each college district was allocated 2,000.00 – with the exception of John A Logan who was allocated 5,000.00 for a total of 81000.00. We can additional $$ as necessary.
• ICCTEMT Custom Training has been added for John A Logan ($1,800) and Lewis and Clark ($22,000) for a total of 23,800. Again, additional $$ and colleges can be added.

If you have questions about ICCTEMT Program Funding, please visit the IGEN ICCTEMT Webpage, www.igencc.org/icctemt, or contact Stephen Bell at sbell1@igencc.org.

#5 ICCTEMT Targeted Trainings Update

Through the ICCTEMT Targeted Trainings, IGEN offers staff and faculty at Illinois Community Colleges the opportunity to attend Illinois and regional-based training and conference programs on a reimbursement basis. IGEN is always looking for new Targeted Trainings, if you know of appropriate programs please forward information to IGEN’s ICCTEMT Program Director, Stephen Bell so that the program can be evaluated and listed as training opportunity for all Illinois Community Colleges. ICCTEMT Targeted Trainings must be pre-approved by the IGEN Administration and an Intent to Participate Form must be submitted in order for colleges to receive reimbursement.

For an up-to-date list of ICCTEMT Targeted Trainings, please visit: www.igencc.org/icctemt_ttrainings.

#6 IGEN Communications Updates

IGEN Contact Database Is Being Updated!
The IGEN Administration has recently been updating the IGEN database so that people can communicate their contact information with the rest of the Network. In order to achieve this, we are working to fill-in the missing information (E.G. Phone Numbers, Email Addresses, Physical Addresses). Communications will be sent out requesting that you update your missing information.

IGEN Communications: Reduction of Email Communications
The IGEN Administrative Team is working to reduce the number of emails that we send to your email. In this effort we are increasing our updates to the IGEN website and individual program pages. If you would like to remain up-to-date on a given IGEN initiative, please “subscribe” to that page. This can be done by scrolling to the bottom of the relevant page and clicking on the "subscribe" button while logged-in to the IGEN website.

#7 IGEN to Produce Video Montage about Sustainability Centers: To be shared at the SCUP Conference.

IGEN will be producing a video montage about IL Community College Sustainability Centers that will be presented at the Society for College and University Planning 47th Annual Conference in July 2012, Chicago, IL. This video will include interviews of sustainability center users and professionals and videos/pictures of the sustainability centers and associated events.

Please send any materials that you feel would be appropriate for the video to the IGEN Administrative Team at igen.administrative.team@igencc.org. Additionally, IGEN will be interviewing attendees of IGEN's Quarterly Retreat in March.

#8 Mark Your Calendar! Implementing Behavior Change for Energy Efficiency Conference, May 22, 2012

Through the BITE Illinois Community College Targeted Energy Management Training grant, the IGEN and the Smart Energy Design Assistance Center (SEWDAC) will bring together key decision makers and implementers of energy efficiency behavior change programs on higher education campuses at the "Implementing Behavior Change for Energy Efficiency Conference."

Registration for this event will open on March 15th, 2012. Please stay tuned for more information.

#9 Planning for Earth Day? Share your plans with your peers

Earth Day is just around the corner and many IL Community Colleges host events to promote awareness about college environmental and sustainability initiatives. In the past IGEN colleges have included rain barrel design and drawings of the final projects, displays of solar cars and boats, sustainably designed art exhibitions, campus clean-up days, recycling and waste reduction competitions, volunteer work with local organizations, and demonstrations for simple car and bike repair to help "green" campus transportation systems. Don't forget to submit your story for the IGEN Network News so that your peers can also learn from your great ideas.

#10 TAA UPDATE!

Join the IGEN administrative team, College of Lake County Leadership team and your peers from across the state at IGEN's Network Retreat – TAA Days, March 7-8!
The state-wide meeting will commence at 1:15 with status updates from the Leadership team and a chance for each of you to introduce your college and program. On Day 2, learn about the NTER Platform from the user's perspective and then spend the afternoon with breakout sessions designed to assist your college with next steps.

See the IGEN TAA Website at www.igencc.org/taa for important information relating to this meeting, and don't forget to check back often for new updates.

Other News for TAA

• Julie Elzanati, Allessandra Cairo, Nick Kallieris and Sean Hogan will be attending the Department of Labor's first TAA training event in Washington D.C. Attendees will be participating in multiple sessions and hope to obtain answers to many questions surrounding this program. An update will be provided on March 7th.
• Our FPO recommended our consortium to the national office as an exemplary consortium – Congratulations to everyone on the startup team, and to all college representatives for working so hard to make this program a success!
• We have successfully submitted our first equipment request to the Department of Labor. The next and final equipment request will be submitted on March 15th. If your college has not submitted the required list for pre-approval to the startup team, please visit www.igencc.org/taa for details on doing so.
• The following positions are under committee review with anticipated start dates in March or April:
  1. Project Director
  2. Communications and Administration Assistant
  3. Webmaster
  4. Education Technology Director
  5. Education Technology Coordinator
• The following positions have been (or will be) reposted:
  1. Grant Accountant
  2. IT Systems Administrator
  3. o Statewide Adult Transition Services Coordinator
• ATS and Regional Coordinators are posted at several colleges, with Board approval pending at others.
• CLC has received a data sharing agreement from IDES on behalf of all 17 colleges to track alumni by SSN.
• The RFP for the evaluation plan has been released. The startup team will review and provide a recommendation to CLC’s Board in March.
• The following contracts will be brought to the CLC Board at the end of February:
  1. SRI
  2. Debra Rowe
  3. Amplifund
• The first quarterly narrative and financial reports were submitted to the DOL. The narrative report will be available at www.igencc.org/taa.

The startup team will continue to provide you with updates on a regular basis. Please remember to check the TAA section of our website in the member's only area regularly. You may also subscribe to the page to receive automatic updates.

All members of you college involved in TAA are encouraged to attend the statewide meeting March 7-8. click to register