Updates to faculty layoff plan and other stuff

General Campus News, Updates, Discussion
wiu712
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You have to wonder if the possible loss of accreditation is part of Rauner's plan to close down some of the state universities. One of Rauner's talking points during the 2014 campaign was that Illinois had too many state universities. But Rauner did get a lot of votes in Macomb, Charleston, Carbondale, DeKalb, etc.

Rauner's starvation funding diet has resulted in many of the state universities now being at risk of losing accreditation. That would allow Rauner to close those that do lose accreditation.

In a related matter, I heard a report on WBBM Newsradio 780 that many of the state universities (including UIUC) are having difficulties in filling vacant faculty positions. Our state faculty are leaving for more secure positions elsewhere. Finding replacements has been a challenge. Not many people want to take a job in Illinois now under the current climate: frozen salaries, programs being cut, declining enrollment, possible loss of accreditation, etc. Even the state university health insurance is not an enticement as they are 2 years behind in paying claims.
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leatherface
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This whole mess has had to have an affect on what the Development Office- or whatever it is called at Western. I'm not talking alumni giving, nor local businesses. I'm talking the major gifts you go after from foiundations and large corporations for major programs. Most will look at the finances of the school before deciding to invesst, because that's what it is, an investmentin in education.
Those close to Western, what was the last staff and faculty perentage of giving in the latest annual giving campaign around campus? I believe that is public information that can be shared.I'm referring to the percentage of staff and faculty who participated in the last annual fund.
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leatherface
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According to the latest I could find, here are endowment numbers for a few Illinois schools:
Western- Around 43 million
SIUC- Around 117 million
ISU- Around 78 million
NIU- Around 71 million
EIU- Around 74 million

Wow, Western really trails in comparison. Looks like something the administration needs to address. Maybe new blood required, with better contacts and strategies?
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ST_Lawson
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leatherface wrote: Sun Jun 25, 2017 1:18 pm According to the latest I could find, here are endowment numbers for a few Illinois schools:
Western- Around 43 million
SIUC- Around 117 million
ISU- Around 78 million
NIU- Around 71 million
EIU- Around 74 million

Wow, Western really trails in comparison. Looks like something the administration needs to address. Maybe new blood required, with better contacts and strategies?
Just FYI, I found this: http://www.nacubo.org/Documents/Endowme ... Values.pdf
Numbers reported for the listed schools (for 2016) are:
SIUC - $116.2 M
ISU - $98.3 M
EIU - $74.2 M
NIU - $66.5 M
SIUE - $19.2 M
Western isn't on that list, but it does look like NIU is a bit lower than they were and ISU has moved up. The others seem about right.
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leatherface
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ST- Any info on percentage of faculty and staff participating in the last annual fund at Western?
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sealhall74
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It would be most interesting to do a little correlation study of alumni and faculty donation levels vs. college acceptance rate. I am pretty sure I know the answer before I dive in to this one but if I get some free time this week and can find the data, I think I will crank it out. Stay tuned.
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ST_Lawson
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leatherface wrote: Mon Jun 26, 2017 6:52 am ST- Any info on percentage of faculty and staff participating in the last annual fund at Western?
I'm honestly not sure where to find that information, actually.

This document: http://www.wiu.edu/vpaps/foundation_and ... R16web.pdf on page 6 of the PDF (page 4 as numbered by the document itself) says that 459 faculty/staff & emeriti donated in FY 2016, although that does not include 539 employees who are included in the alumni count (like myself, for example). If I'm reading the numbers correctly, that means that a total of 998 employees donated. I don't know how many employees we have currently, but that seems like a pretty decent number.

Digging around though, I also found this: http://www.wiu.edu/vpaps/foundation_and ... report.pdf
If that's essentially the "endowment", then we're sitting at $56.5 M as of the end of May this year.
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leatherface
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According to the 2016 Foundation Report, 459 staff and faculty contributed to the annual fund,however, that doesn't include the 539 staff and faculty who were counted as alums. So, the total giving is 998 staff and faculty. This would include Macomb and Quad Cities employees- since there was no separation in the report. I can't find the total number of employees- staff and faculty- Western has- Macomb and Quad Cities. Will try to find. Do you know that, ST?
wiu712
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leatherface wrote: Mon Jun 26, 2017 8:37 amI can't find the total number of employees- staff and faculty- Western has- Macomb and Quad Cities.
The Western web site says that the Number of Full-time Employees = 1,602. It does not mention on this page the breakdown between faculty and staff or the breakdown between Macomb and Quad Cities.
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leatherface
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Sorry, ST. I believe we posted on top of each other. According to the WIU site, they list total employees at 1602. The 998 would then be about 62% of employees giving. To put in perspective, that seems very low participation from staff and faculty. The two private schools I worked at had well over 90%, and that was an expectation. The local community college had 75% this year.

Many corporations and foundations will ask how well do your employees invest in the college. If low, they may very likely say - why should I invest when your own community of employees don't demonstrate a high level of support?
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