Updates to faculty layoff plan and other stuff

[wiu712]

Governor Bruce Rauner recently repeated his goal of a state-university system that doesn’t duplicate programs as much as is the case currently.

Rauner said: “I want to see them succeed, but we’ve got to be thoughtful about which degrees they offer. I believe in specialization and being great at certain things and not trying to be OK at a bunch of stuff. Do we need every school to offer the exact same stuff, but they’re two hours from each other? Should we think more strategically about the offerings?”

Sounds like he is advocating for a comprehensive, one-operating system approach to higher education.

[wiu712]

More bad economic news for Macomb was a story on tonight's WGEM News.

McDonough District Hospital is struggling with money. Administrators say that's because the State of Illinois' employee insurance plan isn't paying up. CEO Kenny Boyd said the hospital plans to cut $3.5 million by the end of July, as it shoulders the cost of state employees' medical bills.

Western V.P. Matt Bierman said that Western has enough money to make it until the end of the semester. But the future after that date is a big unknown if there is no state budget in place. The State owes Western $13 million.

And the State owes the Macomb school district $1 million.

You have to wonder when the State Representatives and State Senators will stand up to the Governor and the 4 party bosses and get something done for the people of Illinois.

[vatusay]

How bad does it have to get until something gets accomplished? It's sickening seeing the citizens of the state punished over a political cat fight.

I've never thought about moving out of state until the last six months or so. It's unbelievable.

[wiu712]

From WCIA-TV, Champaign:

Richland Community College is having to cut even more employees. The Decatur school has taken a big loss over the past couple years, so now they’ve asked staff to sign up to leave early.

Last week, the school announced 18 employees will be out of work by the end of May. In addition to that, 14 employees decided to take a payment incentive to leave their job.

To put this all in perspective, the school said they’ve had to reduce their staff by 25% over the last two years. This is all because they’re trying to fill a more than $2 million hole in their budget that used to be filled with the state’s help.

[Tere North]

You have to wonder when the State Representatives and State Senators will stand up to the Governor and the 4 party bosses and get something done for the people of Illinois.

Well, as long as Madigan can decide what gets called for a vote in the House, and presumably the same monarchy in the Senate, little will change.

[sealhall74]

The simple solution to removing these human impediments to progress is to recall them or threaten to do that. Oh wait, the people of Illinois passed an amendment to the state Constitution in 2010 which allows for only recalling the governor. How shortsighted is that? I would amend that amendment to include all members of the legislature. Of those states which do allow recall of elected state officials, Illinois is the only one which restricts it to the governor.

http://marker.to/EP6e3c

[wiu712]

The simple solution to removing these human impediments to progress is to recall them or threaten to do that.

It may take a large group of people showing up at the State Capitol with pitchforks, tar, and feathers to spur the politicians to get a budget in place.

I had thought that the recent week-long layoff at Northeastern Illinois University would get something going. But nothing has happened.

It may take the closing of the state universities to get people motivated enough to make some changes.

Today's Springfield news mentioned that the student presidents at the three UI universities (UIUC, UIC, UIS) are calling on the alumni to become more vocal.

The UI system is being hit by a double-whammy. Not only are they being impacted by the lack of a state budget, but they are also seeing a decrease in the numbers of international students registering for the fall semester. UIS has already eliminated some faculty positions as a result.

[leatherface]

I remember when SIU-e was established, many, many in Carbondale were concerned about students going to Edwardsville instead of attending their "main" campus. Over the last several years, SIU-C has struggled on enrollment while SIU-e flourished. In fact, SIU-C just borrowed some money from Edwardsville to assist them during this crises. SIU-C is on a big downward trend. We used to tease folks at SIU-C about the "main" campus in Edwardsville, and SIU-C being a branch That never went over well.

Western's branch in the Quad Cities could eventually follow that same scenario. Large populated area, new campus, good location etc. UIS is basically only a couple of hours from Macomb, where the Quad Cities would be a more "regional" area without other state universities close by- I don't believe.

[ST_Lawson]

I remember when SIU-e was established, many, many in Carbondale were concerned about students going to Edwardsville instead of attending their "main" campus. Over the last several years, SIU-C has struggled on enrollment while SIU-e flourished. In fact, SIU-C just borrowed some money from Edwardsville to assist them during this crises. SIU-C is on a big downward trend. We used to tease folks at SIU-C about the "main" campus in Edwardsville, and SIU-C being a branch That never went over well.

Western's branch in the Quad Cities could eventually follow that same scenario. Large populated area, new campus, good location etc. UIS is basically only a couple of hours from Macomb, where the Quad Cities would be a more "regional" area without other state universities close by- I don't believe.

I can understand the worry, although I think that for a lot of those students, it would have been a decision between SIU-E and a different school entirely (not sure what else is in the area...Washington University, SLU, U of M - St. Louis, Lindenwood, Maryville, etc.) It seems like the trend, other than the huge "flagship" schools, is that enrollment is increasing (or holding steady) at the more urban/suburban schools and decreasing at the more rural schools. I kinda feel that SIU-C would have lost most of that enrollment regardless of the existence of SIU-E, but at least this way, the SIU "system" overall is somewhat more insulated against drops in enrollment.

Now, I don't know how SIU handles their campuses at the top level...are they completely separate universities that are in competition with one another?...are they two closely integrated universities more along the lines with WIU and WIU-QC that share a lot of administrative personnel and faculty?...somewhere in between?

[sealhall74]

The SIU system has some built-in insurance policies that schools like Western and Eastern do not have right now. Those would be their medical, law, and dentistry schools. 1 in 8 jobs in this country are directly or indirectly dependent on our health care system and lawyers will always be in demand.