Online classes still on hold as Heartland Community College recovers from cyberattack
Online classes remain shut down Wednesday at Heartland Community College because of a cyberattack on Monday.
NORMAL — There will be no online classes at Heartland Community College Wednesday as the institution works to recover from a computer system security breach.
The college shut down its online operations, including classes, on Monday morning as a safety measure after detecting an outside source had compromised some of its systems.
Heartland spokesman Steve Fast said Wednesday morning restoring the systems is a slow process as officials want to make sure nothing is compromised. The college is working with a consulting firm, he said.
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In a statement issued Tuesday, Heartland said, “The college is not aware o any student or personnel data compromised by this action.”
Students may access remote student support services by calling 309-268-8033 or texting 309-392-4012.
Once the situation is resolved, instructors will work with students to reschedule missed classes and address missed assignments, said Fast. About 80% of Heartland’s classes are online this semester.
This story will be updated.
Heartland Community College sign
Heartland Community College’s main campus is at 1500 W. Raab Road in Normal.
Doug Minter
Minter
Heartland campus
Heartland Community College’s Normal campus is seen from Birky Pond.
Officials tour Heartland
Dana King, left, associate dean of technology at Heartland Community College, describes how the school created a welding lab for training students to, from left, Marci Johnson, director of career technology education at the Illinois State Board of Education; Scott Stump, assistant secretary for career, technical, and adult education at the U.S. Department of Education; and Heartland President Keith Cornille during a tour Feb. 14 at the Normal campus. Stump expressed interest in efforts, such as redirecting federal Perkins Grant money, to help train students for jobs where they would earn a living wage while continuing their education and seeking better opportunities.
Taking it in
Heartland Community College President Keith Cornille visits the Muro exhibit Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020, in the Joe McCauley Gallery at Heartland’s Instructional Commons Building on the Normal campus. The exhibit runs until March 6.
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Heartland Community College Board Chair Gregg Chadwick, far left, seated next to President Keith Cornille, listens to a report at last month’s board meeting. Tuesday’s board meeting has been rescheduled for March 31.
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Scott Stump, left, assistant secretary for career, technical, and adult education at the U.S. Department of Education, talked with teachers and administrators after his tour of Heartland Community College Friday, Feb. 14, 2020. Stump said the Department of Education was trying to move schools to be more nimble about changing curriculum to meet the needs of employers. Faculty asked Stump to extend the use of Perkins grants to fund student tuition and training for faculty to meet the changing STEM environment. The Trump administration budget has asked congress to increase Perkins grants to Illinois from about 45 million to 70 million dollars. The request still needs to pass through Congress for approval.
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Scott Stump, left, assistant secretary for career, technical, and adult education at the U.S. Department of Education, listened to Dana King, left, associate dean of technology at Heartland Community College, talk about how fast technology changes and how difficult it is to predict student needs as they tour an industrial controller lab Friday, Feb. 14, 2020. The school is trying to build a curriculum that will begin to teach technicians how to build lithium batteries at the new Rivian automotive plant south of campus.
Contact Lenore Sobota at (309) 820-3240. Follow her on Twitter: @Pg_Sobota
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