Leatherneck Nation

wiu712 wrote:

ST_Lawson wrote:If you're looking at a school on that side of IL...you've got Eastern, ISU, and U of I as potential options.

Don't forget UIS in Springfield.

Yea, Springfield is a bit more west in the state than I was thinking, but with I-55 and I-72, it's pretty quick and easy to get to from just about anywhere on the east side of the state. It's just us west-siders that have to take 2-lane highways to get there.

As for consolidating, it makes sense for a lot of states. I don't know all of the financial implications, but you've got states like NY (SUNY), WI (UW System), MN (U of M and MN State), and California (Cal State system) that do it to various degrees of success. Maybe it would make sense to fold Western (both campuses) and maybe Eastern into the U of I system.

Here's some more info for ya all.

SIU has their enrollment numbers over here: http://www.irs.siu.edu/quickfacts/stude ... nd_fte.php
Along with pre-made graph. They've lost students every year since 2005 and have overall been on a general decline since 1995, from a high of ~24.8k students in 1991 down to ~18k students last fall.

If we compare 2010 to 2014 for the "regional" state universities...

SIU, from the above site, in fall of 2010 had 20,037 students, and in fall 2014, had 17,989, a drop of ~10.2%
NIU is a little harder to parse out the data (http://www.niu.edu/institutionalresearc ... ndex.shtml), but total students in fall of 2010 was 23,850, and in fall of 2014 was 20,611, a drop of ~13.6%
EIU's numbers (https://www.eiu.edu/ir/fall_enrollment_tables.php)...fall of 2010, 11,630; fall of 2014, 8,913, a drop of ~23.3%
Illinois State hasn't been doing too bad though (http://prpa.illinoisstate.edu/data_cent ... ment.shtml)...fall of 2010, 20,762; fall of 2014, 20,271, a drop of only ~2.4%
And Western, as previously looked at: fall of 2010, 12,585; fall of 2014, 11,458; drop of ~8.96%

Looking at the various U of I campuses over the same timeframe (https://www.pb.uillinois.edu/dr/tuitionenrollments.cfm):
UI-Champaign/Urbana - 2010, 43,862; 2014, 44,942; increase of ~2.5%
UI-Springfield - 2010, 5,174; 2014, 5,137; drop of only ~0.7%
UI-Chicago (for some reason the grad numbers are screwed up on their chart, so this is just undergrad) - 2010, 16,806; 2014, 16,671; drop of only ~0.8%
So, overall, the U of I campuses seem to be holding pretty steady or slightly increasing.

The other state universities:
Governors State - unable to find data
Northeastern IL - 2010, 7,758; 2014, 6,605, drop of ~14.8%
Chicago State - 2010, 7,362; 2014, 5,211, drop of ~29.2%

Ranking the schools by overall decrease in % of students over the previous 4 year period from 2010 to 2014:
1. Chicago State
2. Eastern IL
3. Northeastern IL
4. Northern IL
5. Southern IL
6. Western IL
7. Illinois State
8. U of I - Chicago
9. U of I - Springfield
10. U of I - Champaign/Urbana (the only one with an increase)

There's also some interesting discussion going on over here regarding Eastern's situation: http://capitolfax.com/2015/08/19/is-eiu ... the-tubes/

What about SIU-Edwardsville? They have become the "darling" of many students, and at one time was the fastest growing in Illinois. Stole a lot of prospective students from SIU-C

leatherface wrote:What about SIU-Edwardsville? They have become the "darling" of many students, and at one time was the fastest growing in Illinois. Stole a lot of prospective students from SIU-C

Sorry...here's SIUE:

2010 - 14,133
2014 - 13,972
Decrease of ~1.1%

That would put them between Illinois State and UIC on the list. Still a drop in enrollment, but not much of one.

http://www.siue.edu/inrs/factbook/factb ... ives.shtml

UI-Mac (Ooey-Mac) does have a nice little "ring" to it although Gooey-Mac would be even better. How about "Governors" UI-Mac. We will be the most popular campus in the country. Start up our own dairy farm like SDSU has and begin selling the good ol' GUI-MAC Cheese all over the world. Financial problems solved.

Sangamon State University transitioned to UIS in 1995.

From 1970-1995, Sangamon State was governed by the Board of Regents which also governed Illinois State and Northern Illinois.

In 1995, Governor Jim Edgar signed a bill which abolished the Board of Regents and merged Sangamon State with the University of Illinois system.

Jobs were lost in Springfield when this change occurred in 1995. For example, the Payroll Office at Sangamon State was closed as the payroll for UIS is now done in Urbana.

Another problem area was the role of unions. The faculty at Sangamon State belonged to a union, while the faculty at UIUC did not.

Twenty years later, there is still a definite "caste system" between UIUC and UIS.

Are you saying there is a difference in salaries for staff and faculty between the two schools- for equal jobs? A researcher should be paid more than a general lecturer for example. Are both schools faculty union members? Obviously, a true researcher should be paid more than the general faculty member. UIUC is a research university, where UIS is not.

leatherface wrote:Are you saying there is a difference in salaries for staff and faculty between the two schools- for equal jobs?

I was not referring to salaries. I was referring to attitudes and perceptions.

I have been doing some work for UIS for the past 12 years. So I do spend some time on their campus working with their faculty and staff. I have heard some faculty and staff refer to themselves as the "forgotten step-children" in the U of I system.

Thanks for compiling the data Scott.

Disturbing trend for the non UI schools. Maybe we instead of "Think Purple" we can market WIU as "Hey, at least we're not Eastern"

It would be more interesting to compare the perceptions of yesteryear's Sangamon State STUDENTS with today's UIS STUDENTS regarding quality of received education.