Waubonsee is proud to be the community college for District 516, providing high-quality, low-cost educational opportunities to our residents — and your constituents. To keep up with all that's happening here at Waubonsee, we'll provide key updates on this one page; giving details on appropriation requests; highlighting key educational and legislative topics; and sharing stories about our accessible, equitable, and innovative efforts.
Strategic Plan
RISE 2030 is a commitment to continuing Waubonsee’s tradition of excellence while redefining and reinvigorating its position as The Community’s College. The culmination of an inclusive process that gathered input from our employees, students, and community, RISE 2030 will guide the college’s work for the next five years. The priorities and goals in the plan are reflective of the changing landscape of higher education and the evolving needs of our community. With this new plan, Waubonsee will lead the way into the future – rising to meet new opportunities and further lighting the way for our students.
Redefining Our Relationship with the Community
Waubonsee works to provide not only high-quality teaching and learning spaces but also community gathering and support spaces.
Free On-Campus Child Care Facility: Thanks to an innovative partnership with the Boys and Girls Clubs of North Central Illinois, WCC students can now access free child care at the Aurora Downtown Campus.
Education to Career Center: With help from a $750,000 state grant, Waubonsee is currently planning this center at Aurora Downtown to help students transition from adult education and other programs into in-demand, livable-wage-paying careers.
Tennis and Pickleball Court Complex: In fall 2025, the college opened its new court complex, which provides a home for its men's and women's tennis teams while also opening the campus up to the area's many pickleball players and fans.
Shining at 60: Waubonsee will celebrate its 60th anniversary in August 2026 since the college's first board meeting took place in August 1966. Join us for a year of celebration, engagement, and service.
Invest in Academic Innovation
To help continue driving the local workforce forward, Waubonsee opened its new Technical Education Center (TEC) in August 2025. The center is a 100k-square-foot building on the Sugar Grove Campus that houses our Auto Body Repair, Automotive Technology and Welding Technology programs.
Exploring New Programs
With three of the district’s top 20 largest employers being health care systems, WCC is looking to potentially build additional programs in that area and others, including:
- radiation technology
- sonography
- dental assisting
- aviation technology
When exploring new programs, the college looks not only at high-need occupations but also high-value — those that lead directly to jobs that pay a sustaining wage or to transfer and completion of a bachelor’s degree. Increasing the number of students entering and completing these high-value programs is a goal related to Waubonsee’s involvement in the Aspen Institute’s Unlocking Opportunity cohort. The college is just one of two Illinois schools that got accepted last year.
13,376
credit students enrolled in the 2024-25 academic year
46k+
total WCC grads (degree/certificate)
82%
of students enroll part time
Strengthen the Student Experience
At Waubonsee, we want to address students’ most significant barriers to success, whether inside or outside of the classroom. Helping us identify and provide solutions to those barriers is our RISE 2030 Student Advisory Group. The group’s ideas include:
- introducing micropantries on campus to combat food insecurity
- launching a free inter-campus shuttle to help ease transportation troubles
That shuttle between the Aurora Downtown Campus and the Sugar Grove Campus launched in January 2026, allowing more students to access programs only offered at Sugar Grove, such as automation, automotive, HVAC, machine tool technology, photography, and more.
Enrich the Employee Experience
Like most organizations, Waubonsee is studying ways to best utilize AI. President Knetl’s AI Task Force is currently looking at usage in operations, faculty/teaching, and student support, while engaging in a variety of experimentation, including building Custom GPT prototypes to support internal efficiency and early-stage student guidance, with human oversight. WCC is also working to allow employees to use paid time to volunteer within the college’s district, providing valuable service and building community relationships.
Appropriation/Capital Funding Requests
Establishing a Learning Commons in the Heart of Sugar Grove
Current Situation
Waubonsee’s Collins Hall was built in 1971, with just minor renovations since, including one to the Todd Library space in the 1990s. The college is looking to modernize the library but also transform the building into a true learning commons, especially since it is situated right at the heart of campus.
Vision for the Future
While still in the preliminary stages, Waubonsee is planning a $42.8 million Learning Commons building that focuses on visibility, connectivity, access, clarity, and flexibility. The modernized library will be at its heart but then interspersed across its two floors will be lounges, classrooms, group study rooms, conference rooms, a genius bar and help desk, small cafe, makerspace, VR lab, meditation space, tutoring spaces, children’s area, and more.
Funding Needed
- Extensive Remodeling of Current Library to Be Part of a True Learning Commons - $9.4 million
Contact
Dr. Toya Webb
Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff
twebb@waubonsee.edu
(630) 466-6830
