EAST PEORIA, Ill. – The tenure of Illinois Central College’s president is nearing its conclusion.

Dr. Sheila Quirk-Bailey is leaving the role at the end of the month. She steps away from a four decade career in education, with the past nine years at the helm of ICC.

Bruce Budde will take over in an interim role after Quirk-Bailey steps down, until July. The college is conducting a nationwide search, with interviews for a permanent president to begin in February.

Quirk-Bailey says the work is not slowing down in her final few weeks in the role.

“I find myself saying in meetings about issues that are coming up in January, and I’m like ‘Well, I’ll give you my opinion but this isn’t my gig anymore’,” Quirk-Bailey said. “And at the same time, I’m still getting calls to say ‘Hey, can we g

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