Administration

On October 1, 2012, I was named Director of the East St. Louis Center (ESLC), located on the Higher Education Campus (HEC) in East St. Louis, Illinois. That’s the campus you see from the interstate just over the Poplar Street Bridge. I lead a team of about 225 wonderful and talented people, and a budget of about $15 million. The grants and contracts of the East St. Louis Center represent nearly half of all the grants and contracts administered by SIUE!

Historically, the HEC was home to the old State Community College, later called Metropolitan Community College. That operation closed about the year 2000, and the campus was turned over to SIUE by the State of Illinois. SIUE relocated its University Services to East St. Louis from the old Broadview Hotel to the HEC. SIUE has had continuous operation in East St. Louis from the University’s founding there in 1957.

The ESLC operates many state and federal programs that help nearly 2,000 children and students:

· Early Head Start Centers for St. Clair County

· Head Start Centers for St. Clair County

· Upward Bound/TRiO Programs

· Latchkey/Project Success Programs

The Performing Arts Program at the ESLC has a distinguished history that can be traced back to Katherine Dunham’s work in the city. The Performing Arts remain an important part of the ESLC with three full-time staff dedicated to the programming, currently affiliated with the Charter High School.

The HEC is home to many entities, including:

· SIUE Community Nursing Program (School of Nursing)

· SIUE Dental Clinic (School of Dental Medicine)

· SIUE Small Business Development Center (School of Business)

· SIUE Charter High School (School of Education)

· UMSL Eye Clinic (UMSL School of Optometry)

· East St. Louis Community College Center, which coordinates the community college programming on the campus offered by SWIC and Kaskaskia Community College.

There is a lot of great work happening on the HEC. The campus is clean, safe and beautiful—decorated with art and sculpture (including Monty the Turtle by talented local artist Edna Patterson-Petty). There is a library, cafeteria, and plenty of meeting space, all within view of the Gateway Arch and the St. Louis skyline. I would welcome a visit from you and would be happy to give you a tour!