By Patrick Baron

NORMAL – The man who will soon take over as president of Heartland Community College visited the campus today to share his vision and goals for the school.

Keith Cornille said he wants to continue to develop the partnerships the college has with various businesses in the community to ensure students leave campus ready to join the workforce.

“We have an opportunity to really join forces with our economic development partners, as well as the business industry, to make sure we have the training and the types of programs and skills we’re going to need in order to continue to grow jobs in this area,” said Cornille.

Cornille, who will take the position of president when Rob Widmer retires at the end of June, applauded the work of Widmer and the Heartland faculty. He explained while there will be some tweaks to Heartland’s framework, he wants to retain the structure that has made Heartland successful.

“We do have that framework, we’re not going to start over,” Cornille said. “We’ve had great input from the community and the faculty and the leadership team here in developing that framework. It really is a foundation for how we, together as a community, will not only move this college forward, but also move the community forward.”

Cornille also said he looks forward to continuing relations and the sharing of resources with neighboring Illinois State University.

Patrick Baron can be reached at [email protected].