Kishwaukee College recognized two outgoing Board members at Tuesday night’s Board of Trustees meeting. Dr. Roberta “Bobbi” Burke and Ken Doubler were both commended for their dedication to the College and each received a plaque to recognize their service to Kishwaukee College.
Doubler, a resident of DeKalb, was initially seated on the Board in 2013 when a position became vacant.
“It was a chance for me to give back, and also working with the College had been a passion for me since teaching as an Adjunct Marketing and Advertising instructor for four years in the 1980s,” Doubler said. “My wife and daughter were both graduates of Kish too.”
Dr. Burke was initially seated on the Board in 2014 and is a resident of Rochelle. She also spent time teaching at the College and saw a Board position as an opportunity to continue serving Kish.
“As a past student and instructor at Kish, I was very interested in bringing that experience to the Board. I felt I could offer a different perspective,” Burke said.
Both Doubler and Burke were praised by their fellow Board members for their dedication to multiple initiatives at the College during their tenure.
“Serving as a trustee requires community-minded people that bring unique perspectives so we can best represent the residents of our district,” said Bob Johnson, Board Chair. “Both Dr. Burke and Mr. Doubler have put thought and care into all their work on the Board of Trustees. I thank them both for their dedicated service to the Kishwaukee College community.”
Burke and Doubler both said one of their biggest achievements on the Board was finding a new College president in 2015.
“As a Board, we could not have worked any harder at finding the right candidate to fill that very important position and one of the accomplishments I am most proud of is knowing that we chose the right candidate in Dr. Laurie Borowicz,” Burke said. Doubler echoed the sentiment, “I am most proud of being part of the selection team that hired Dr. Borowicz in 2015, the first woman President at Kish.”
During their time on the Board, the College established dual credit opportunities with local high schools, built relationships with Northern Illinois University and other local community partners, celebrated Kish’s 50th anniversary, and assisted in guiding the College through the State of Illinois’ two-year budget impasse and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Doubler highlighted his work with the Kishwaukee College Foundation as an achievement during his tenure.
“We have done some great things with the Foundation during my time as Foundation Liaison on the Board,” Doubler said. “Working with Dr. Bill Nicklas and Dr. Kayte Hamel to establish the Ken & Sue Doubler Annual Student Scholarship is a reward that keeps on giving.”
The outgoing Trustees both expressed confidence in the remaining and incoming Board members to continue to oversee the values and goals of the College.
“Kishwaukee College is fortunate to have such committed and community-minded Board members. There have been seven years of stability in the Board leadership at the College, with each Trustee demonstrating their dedication to the role they are elected to fulfill,” stated Dr. Laurie Borowicz, President of Kishwaukee College. “I want to thank Ken and Bobbi for their contributions over the years. Their leadership will be missed.”
Kathy Countryman (Sycamore) and Geri-Dee Hayden (Rochelle) were recently elected to
fill the vacancies and will officially be seated on the Board in May.
For more information on Kishwaukee College or the Board of Trustees, visit www.kish.edu.
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