Herb Johnson: 2025 candidate for Harper College Board

Bio

Office sought: Harper College District 512 board (Vote for 2)

City: Inverness

Age: 77

Occupation: Certified Public Accountant

Previous offices held: Current trustee of Harper College board of directors; former member of Harper College Educational Foundation board; former member of Inverness Golf Club board of directors

Why are you running for this office, whether for re-election or election the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you?

Living 40 years in Harper’s district I have known many individuals who began their careers at Harper. Some went from Harper to careers. Others got additional education. I even took a class at Harper myself. I admired the efficiency of Harper. An opening on Harper’s board of trustees was available 8 years ago and I ran and was elected. My initial term on the board reinforced my overall belief in the organization and I ran and was again elected 6 years ago to my current position on the board.

I firmly believe that everyone in Harper’s district deserves an opportunity to reach their highest potential. Being on the Harper College Educational Foundation Board prior to my election as a trustee, I witnessed dozens of examples of students of all ages advancing their capabilities in providing for themselves and their families.

To hear students say “people at Harper believe in ME” recharges my personal battery. I want to keep that battery “charged” by continuing as a trustee at Harper.

In tough economic times, many students (and working professionals) turn to a community college for its educational value. How do you ensure that a person’s financial sacrifice results in an educational benefit?

College is a new experience for everyone no matter what the age. A key to student success is the college having the infrastructure in place to assist the student in not only their class work itself but also the many ancillary functions that go along with it.

Counselors are available at Harper to assist students in career paths and explaining educational requirements. They also counsel in areas such as study habits, stress management, transfer opportunities, and time management between studies, work and family.

Harper has a One Stop program whereby students can access areas such as financial aid, new student orientation, registering, dropping a class, their personal student portal (MyHarper Portal), transcripts and many more.

Assuring that this help outside the classroom is available greatly increases the educational benefit to the students. It is the trustees’ support of these ancillary services and seeing they are properly funded which results in an overall educational benefit.

How would you describe the state of your college’s finances? What issues will your district have to confront in coming years and what measures do you support to address them? If you believe cuts are necessary, what programs and expenses should be reduced or eliminated? On the income side, do you support any tax or fee increases?

Harper’s financial status is excellent evidenced by Moody’s Aaa rating. A trustee duty is financial oversight. As a CPA, I bring a financial background to the board. I’ve been on Harper’s Audit Committee the past six years. I interact with the outside public accounting firm on their audit of Harper.

Issues include the demographics of fewer students graduating high school, a national trend. The average age of a Harper student is 25 — much older than 4-year universities whose students come mostly from high school. Harper adapts to a changing job market by offering in demand classes to older students.

Recent classes in aviation, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity are evidence. A group of us met with a Quantum Computing organization in Washington, D.C. last year to discuss the need for trained students at Harper’s level.

There are state mandated limits on taxes levied by a college. I commit to be fiscally responsible to both the constituency and the college.

What are three specific non-financial challenges your community college will have to face in the next four years and what are your thoughts about how each should be addressed?

The college is 58 years old which creates constant monitoring of its various buildings and properties. Harper engages annually an outside consulting firm to evaluate the college’s physical properties as to their physical age versus their actual age. This aids in advance planning toward normal maintenance including heavy maintenance and/or replacement of components. Being ahead of the curve on this issue is extremely important which I believe Harper is.

Attracting qualified teaching personnel for the new areas the college is heading toward necessitates advanced planning also. Harper’s goal is to have course offerings that are in demand in today’s changing work environment and offer immediate hiring at good pay levels. This means a constant review of new course areas and recruiting appropriate educators while these new course offerings are being approved by the required outside agencies.

Describe your experience working in a group setting to determine policy. What is your style in such a setting to reach agreement and manage school district policy? Explain how you think that will be effective in producing effective actions and decisions of your school board.

I was an equity partner in a major CPA firm, in charge of the tax practice of an office of that firm, on the board of a country club, on Harper College’s Foundation board and representative of Harper at numerous ICCTA and ACCT conferences.

My style is that I have an opinion and so do others. I don’t adhere to the smartest person in the room philosophy. I seek out teamwork in endeavors I undertake. While I might have a strong opinion on a topic, I am very open to opposing views and working through those views to reach a mutually agreeable resolution.

Trustees must have mutual respect for each other, which I believe our current board of trustees at Harper has. I have no problem with compromising or changing my opinion based upon data provided by others in a meeting.

Being prepared and up-to-date on the data provided to us by Harper personnel prior to a board meeting assists us trustees in providing well-informed input. I view this advance preparation as extremely important.

What makes you the best candidate for the job?

I have served in two different positions at Harper. I was a member of the Harper Foundation board from 2014-17 and elected to the Harper board in 2017 and again in 2019 where I am currently serving.

The past 6 years I have served on Harper’s Audit Committee interacting with the outside public accounting firm. A CPA background gives me specialized insight into the financial oversight responsibilities of a trustee.

I am a representative to the Illinois Community College Trustees Association (ICCTA) and national Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT). I have made presentations to both groups. I attended six national conventions of the ACCT meeting with trustees from around the country. I also attended three National Legislative Summits in Washington, D.C. to meet with congresspersons in Harper’s district plus Senators Duckworth and Durbin to discuss legislation affecting community colleges.

I currently fund five separate annual financial scholarships for students at Harper.

What’s one good idea you have to better your district that no one is talking about yet?

Collaboration with outside organizations has been successful for Harper in the past. This includes Northwest Community Healthcare building a health care facility as part of the recreation center redevelopment on campus. This provided much needed services especially during the COVID period.

Palatine Park District partnered with Harper on the renovation of the indoor swimming pool on campus to modernize it and increase its use. Area fire departments coordinated with Harper on the current to be built Fire Safety Training Tower. This will be used by area fire departments for training and educational purposes.

Continued collaboration with outside agencies and private entities to develop mutually beneficial projects in conjunction with Harper has high possibilities of mutually beneficial success. One example would be the redevelopment of existing tennis courts on campus into a tennis/pickleball complex that would be available to district constituents.