Updates to faculty layoff plan and other stuff

General Campus News, Updates, Discussion
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Neckfansince71
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So Tere, what is the problem? Maybe "Dr. Thomas" is truly searching for it's solution!! ;) jc
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Tere North
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Neckfansince71 wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2018 8:09 pm So Tere, what is the problem? Maybe "Dr. Thomas" is truly searching for it's solution!! ;) jc
Emphasizing the positive is fine, as is looking for positive solutions. But ignoring the negative, aka, the writing on wall, is negligent. Those issues are still there while the ostriches head remains in the sand.
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Neckfansince71
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So what is the writing on the wall? Not trying to play games here! Can you explain? ;) jc
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Neckfansince71
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So what is the writing on the wall? Not trying to play games here! Can you explain? Look, I am not trying to be "pollyanna", but it seems to me that WIU has been trapped in a state financial and higher education storm magnified by a lower number of high school students and more competition from all over for those students. These financial problems have been around for almost a decade and they have truly taken a toll on all of our state universities. We have discussed the fact that the university needs to continue to strategically refocus its efforts and we all know that the university that most of us graduated from has changed. But so has the nature of the "college" student. WIU has definitely worked at getting the word out throughout the state. Bill boards, advertisements in malls (my daughter saw WIU on a display in Oak Brook just last week!) But inspite of all that, discussions at the state and political (governors race) level about combining and closing universities to save tax payer money continue to include WIU in the mix along Northeastern, Chicago State, EIU and SIU, which is in a big mess especially after they rehabbed all of their athletic venues using bonds that are now up.

I read through the (policy) study found in Craines that 712 included a couple of weeks ago, and even though in the title it talks about closing schools, in the text only reorganizing and refocusing of schools is suggested. The paper also suggested that the Chicago Teachers Union and TRS be combined to take pressure off the city of Chicago. There were a number of other very specific and drastic measures suggested by this conservative "think tank!" Some with real merit, and some just a bit out there in my opinion. (take a look at the enrollment chart contained in this paper. Very interesting to say the least as far a true numbers a concerned. NIU in particular!) But the problem is, if you don't read the paper you only react to the title and since it is found in Craines Business, well it must be true. I think university reorganization is definitely needed in our grand state, but I do not see a future that does not include WIU! Let me say it again, I do not see a future that does not include WIU. WIU is the only state school in west central Illinois!!! They are once again talking about a teacher shortage and WIU will definitely be a leader in helping to remedy this situation. No matter what, rumors seem to persist and probably will until this is all sorted out. Counselors are human and they can read newspaper headlines and articles too. Students and their parents do to and I am pretty sure that it gets very frustrating for our admissions counselors when during high school visits when a student says, "well I heard….!" You know, Andy Borst told me many years ago that there was a definite uptick for WIU at a high school when an athlete is recruited and signs with WIU. It makes WIU more visible and it inspires other students to look into WIU also. Funny that Coach Elliot has made recruiting in the suburbs a "must!" The fact that WIU signed two recruits from Glen Ellyn (Glenbard South and West) is extremely important to not only the football program but also the university as well.

Lately I have seen an increase in high school student organizations being listed as holding their activities on campus via twitter. (a definite recruiting tool) You will also notice all the scholarships being award to future students and current students. Big time scholarships! I'm sorry people but we get enough negative push from the outside that remaining positive while addressing the necessary changes is the only sound way to go. The fact that over 200 students and their families attended Monday's "Discover Western" means that we are still in the game!! So, you can spend all sorts of time pointing out the negatives, the I told you so's, and such, or you can stay focused on the real fixes and the positives regarding WIU. Two days ago, at a Publix in St. Pete's Beach, I was of course wearing a WIU shirt and ball cap. I always represent where ever I go. As we were about to walk out the door with our groceries a man who was shopping there also came up to me and said, "WIU!!!! I grew up in Carthage! Are you from Macomb?" I had to explain that we do not live in Macomb but that we both are proud graduates of Western, and our daughter is a graduate as well! His immediate comment was, "you should be!"
;) jc
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sealhall74
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From my Barcalounger, if you are not the flagship U and you are trying to be the everything school for everybody, you are going to die a slow death in the current Illinois economic environment. Will take bold leadership from here going forward. Need to think outside the box. For example, if you are training teachers, you might want to be at the forefront of offering a course or two in school safety, including training teachers in the use of firearms. It looks like that is where we are going. Dont necessarily make it a requirement but offer it. It will set you apart from your competition.
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Tere North
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Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity - Albert Einstein

I offer no conclusion beyond my opening quote, but here are some comparisons from the 2007 vs 2017 Fact Books available from http://www.wiu.edu/IRP/factbook.php

Image
Last edited by Tere North on Thu Feb 22, 2018 5:01 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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sealhall74
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I guess the numbers that stick out to my untrained eye are the +18% increase in program offerings and the -18% decrease in faculty. Maybe online programs can account for some of that.
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Tere North
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ST_Lawson wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2018 6:58 pm Fixed it for you


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Thanks Scott! What did I do wrong?
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Tere North
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sealhall74 wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2018 7:57 pm I guess the numbers that stick out to my untrained eye are the +18% increase in program offerings and the -18% decrease in faculty. Maybe online programs can account for some of that.
It was an era of adding degrees. Some of those will come off the books with the program cuts that were initiated in 2016-17, but the students are still being allowed to continue.

What about the 50% increase is costs to students? That has got to hurt enrollment with students opting to spend money elsewhere. Even with the decrease in faculty, class size has still gone down because student numbers have gone down more than faculty numbers.
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