Administrative/Biographical History
Former Elgin Community College Board Trustee Barbara Forgy Schock received her Bachelor of Science degree from what is now the School of Human Resources and Family Studies of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1958. She earned her Master of Science degree from Northern Illinois University at DeKalb in 1972. At the time of her retirement in 1978, she was a Senior Extension Advisor on the staff of the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service. The position of Senior Extension Advisor is the equivalent of an associate professor on the Urbana-Champaign campus.
Mrs. Schock was elected to the Board of Trustees for the Elgin Community College in 1979 with an unsuccessful reelection in 1983. This was a time of great turmoil for the College. The president of the College was forced to resign, several law suits were instigated against the College, and the board members and faculty were debating collective bargaining.
Elgin Community College was established on January 10, 1949, as a one-classroom junior college located in the west wing of the Elgin High School. Charles M. Evans, the school’s first dean, governed one secretary, part-time faculty, and ninety-seven students. One year later Gilbert I. Renner took over as dean.
Due to increased enrollment, space problems forced the college to move into the building at 373 East Chicago Street in 1959. This building was name Renner Hall. The College Library moved to Elgin Masonic Temple in October 1962, and the first two year vocational program began with the formation of the nursing school in 1965.
In June 1966, Elgin Community College became a Class I Junior College with its own College District 509 and Board of Trustees. Gilbert Renner became the first president where he remained until his retirement in 1971.
Voters passed a bond referendum for a new campus in 1967 and the Board approved the purchase of 100 acres on Spartan Drive. The College expanded into the Fountain Square building in downtown Elgin in 1982/83 because of enrollment growth. In 1983, the College expanded into a network of outreach centers including Lakewood Center in Carpentersville, which offered credit and credit-free courses days and evenings.
