New director of HCC's Pontiac office is no stranger to the community

April Fornero is no stranger to Pontiac having grown up in the community and graduating from Pontiac Township High School in 2012.

After spending time with Heartland Community College in Bloomington, Fornero is returning to Pontiac after being named director of the Heartland Community College's Pontiac campus.

“Heartland is dedicated to providing innovative learning opportunities and resources uniquely designed for the Pontiac area,” HCC President Keith Cornille stated in a news release announcing the move. “April’s experience and commitment to the community make her the perfect leader to continue that mission and engender future successes.”

According to a release, Fornero will lead the strategic planning and operations of HCC-Pontiac. She will direct, develop and enhance external relationships in the Livingston County area to promote the College and support students, programs and services.

“I have worked with many administrators in my time at Heartland, and April demonstrates the leadership characteristics I know will serve the Pontiac Center and the Pontiac-area community well,” Vice President of Enrollment and Student Services Sarah Diel-Hunt said.

Fornero, who graduated from Heartland in 2014 before going to Illinois State University, started working at Heartland Community College as an intern in May 2016 in the continuing education department. She became a part-time program analyst dealing with non-credit courses in August of that year.

In January 2017, Fornero became a full-time analyst at the Normal campus.

A new career opportunity was presented when Stacey Shrewsbury decided to leave her director's position at HCC-Pontiac which allowed Fornero the chance to become interim director.

“After I got here, I really enjoyed working with the students and the team up here at Heartland-Pontiac,” Fornero said. “It seemed like a really good fit to stay here to serve the community and our students.”

It appeared to be a perfect match as the decision-makers at HCC approached Fornero about the position full time.

Aside from overseeing day-to-day operations and the community outreach office, Fornero is also getting involved in the community.

“I find that it's an extremely great opportunity for me to stay in Pontiac and be involved in our community and be able to support students that choose to come to Heartland,” Fornero said. “I know when I was a student at Heartland, it's not always an easy process, so it's great to have people at the campus that know the community and are able to support the students.”

Regular hours for Heartland Community College-Pontiac are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, except when the college is closed for holidays.

The Pontiac campus also provides student services including assessment testing, tutoring and academic advisement. HCC-Pontiac also provides tuition-free High School Equivalency prep classes to the community, serves as a Pearson VUE Authorized Testing Center for the GED exam, and hosts Continuing Education courses.

This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: April Fornero named as new HCC director for Pontiac campus