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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives wish to congratulate Dr. Jack Becherer on his | ||||||
| 4 | retirement as President of Rock Valley College (RVC) in | ||||||
| 5 | November of 2013; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, Dr. Jack Becherer has served as president of Rock | ||||||
| 7 | Valley College since
November 2004; during his tenure, the | ||||||
| 8 | college has opened a Learning and
Opportunity Center in | ||||||
| 9 | Downtown Rockford, built a state-of-the-art Science
and | ||||||
| 10 | Mathematics building, named for the past president, Dr. Karl | ||||||
| 11 | Jacobs, and
restored the Educational Resource Center and the | ||||||
| 12 | Physical Education
Center; also, the college has received a | ||||||
| 13 | $36,000,000 allocation - one of the
largest capital allocations | ||||||
| 14 | to a community college in the State of Illinois - to
build a | ||||||
| 15 | performance studio and classrooms for art, music, and theater | ||||||
| 16 | and to
restore the 2 existing original classroom buildings; and
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| 17 | WHEREAS, Dr. Becherer has been committed to bringing the | ||||||
| 18 | resources of the college to address
community challenges; he | ||||||
| 19 | has initiated a Running Start program for high
achieving high | ||||||
| 20 | school juniors and seniors, enabling these students to take
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| 21 | college courses that meet high school requirements, leading to | ||||||
| 22 | the
completion of high school graduation and an associate | ||||||
| 23 | degree at the same
time; in addition, he has been an advocate | ||||||
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| 1 | of RVC's preparation of
engineers and manufacturing careers as | ||||||
| 2 | one means to increase the economic
vitality of the Rock River | ||||||
| 3 | Region; and
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| 4 | WHEREAS, Dr. Becherer has more than 35 years of experience | ||||||
| 5 | in community colleges,
including faculty positions in Virginia | ||||||
| 6 | and Missouri, and administrative
positions in Missouri and | ||||||
| 7 | Illinois; prior to becoming Rock Valley College's
fifth | ||||||
| 8 | president, he was president of Wenatchee Valley College in the | ||||||
| 9 | state of
Washington; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, Dr. Becherer has been very active in the greater | ||||||
| 11 | Rockford community; he serves on the
board of directors for | ||||||
| 12 | Rockford Health System, the Rockford Area
Economic Development | ||||||
| 13 | Council, the Winnebago, Boone, and Stephenson
Counties | ||||||
| 14 | Workforce Investment Board, and the Golden Apple
Foundation; | ||||||
| 15 | and
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| 16 | WHEREAS, Dr. Becherer and his wife, Janna, enjoy the | ||||||
| 17 | greater Rockford community,
especially the amazing | ||||||
| 18 | recreational and outdoor activities; therefore, be it
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| 19 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 20 | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 21 | we congratulate Dr. Jack Becherer on his retirement as | ||||||
| 22 | President of Rock Valley College in November of 2013, and wish | ||||||
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| 1 | him the best in all his future endeavors; and be it further
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| 2 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 3 | presented to Dr. Becherer as an expression of our esteem and | ||||||
| 4 | respect.
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