Faculty members at a community college in western Illinois are asking trustees to reconsider job cuts amid the lack of a state budget. Black Hawk College is eliminating 17 full-time positions. Professor Richard Harwood says he's received notice his job teaching geology and other courses will be terminated at the semester's end and his program will be cut. He's worked at the school for 23 years.
Black Hawk College president Bettie Truitt says declining enrollment and state funding cuts have strained the school's budget. The school has received about 35% of anticipated state funding in the last two years.
