ICCTA Pacesetter Award


2005 Recipient


Jill Tomaszewski
Recruitment placement specialist
Kaskaskia College
Kaskaskia College (2001)

Like many of her "first-generation" classmates, Jill Tomaszewski chose to support herself financially during her collegiate career.

As a student at Kaskaskia College, she earned several scholarships and worked in the campus bookstore and a local grocery store.

She also blossomed as a leader, serving as the student member of Kaskaskia's board of trustees and helping to design the college's Core Values 101 program.


Jill Tomaszewski accepts ICCTA's 2005 Pacesetter Award with Kaskaskia College president Dr. James Underwood and KC chair Jim Beasley.
Jill Tomaszewski (center) accepts ICCTA's
2005 Pacesetter Award with Kaskaskia College
president Dr. James Underwood and
KC board chair Jim Beasley

Her dedication and understanding of the student experience so impressed Kaskaskia's recruitment staff that they recruited her to become an employee while she was still a senior at Southern Illinois University.

"It was through these wonderful experiences that I have found my dream career – student affairs at the community college level," says Tomaszewski. “My current position has given me the opportunity to help reach out and guide the next waves of community college graduates.”

Tomaszewski will complete her master's degree in college student affairs in December 2005. Her first professional article, entitled "Why Students Attend Community Colleges," will be published in fall 2005.