Leatherneck Nation

Western Illinois University employees at risk of being laid off.
From WQAD-TV, Moline:

 
 
 

Is it time to start taking about closing the QC campus and calling it a lost cause and stop wasting resources on it.

leatherneckcountry wrote: Tue Aug 06, 2024 11:59 am Is it time to start taking about closing the QC campus and calling it a lost cause and stop wasting resources on it.

 

I would offer it up for sale to the University Of Illinois System for their nursing program.  They are probably renting space in downtown Moline for it now.  I think a fair price might be, say, $20M.

WIU Board of Trustees Meeting: 08/06/2024


 
 
 
 
 

I'm not sure what went down today, but does anybody have a plan to turn things around. The only thing I have really heard is the state needs to fund WIU better. I hope that is not their main plan to turn things around.The teachers union or whatever its called, they are rightfully upset about the cuts, but do they have any suggestions to how else to save or cut money.

What are the plans for a new President have they started the search, Is the interim President a candidate. Is she impressing anybody or is she just a warm body at the moment.

WIU’s interim president amid layoffs: ‘This is the difficult year’.
From Tri-States Public Radio, WIUM-FM:
https://www.tspr.org/tspr-local-news/20 ... icult-year
 
 

Western Illinois University board approves staff reduction.
From WGEM News:
https://www.wgem.com/video/2024/08/07/t ... reduction/
 
 

wiu712 wrote: Tue Aug 06, 2024 5:43 pm WIU’s interim president amid layoffs: ‘This is the difficult year’.
From Tri-States Public Radio, WIUM-FM:
https://www.tspr.org/tspr-local-news/20 ... icult-year
 
 

 

Comments like this shows how tonedeaf and ineffective our leadership actually is. This is not the first round of layoffs. Programs have been cut, staff has been laid off several times. The last president at WIU that has actually done anything was Goldfarb and he’s been gone for over a decade. 

jtrinaldi wrote: Wed Aug 07, 2024 1:06 pm

wiu712 wrote: Tue Aug 06, 2024 5:43 pm WIU’s interim president amid layoffs: ‘This is the difficult year’.
From Tri-States Public Radio, WIUM-FM:
https://www.tspr.org/tspr-local-news/20 ... icult-year
 
 


 

Comments like this shows how tonedeaf and ineffective our leadership actually is. This is not the first round of layoffs. Programs have been cut, staff has been laid off several times. The last president at WIU that has actually done anything was Goldfarb and he’s been gone for over a decade. 

 

And in my opinion, we are still suffering from the damage wrought after he left. Like it or not, whether we want to admit it or not, WIU is NOT the WIU we all remember.

rocki wrote: Wed Aug 07, 2024 4:15 pm

jtrinaldi wrote: Wed Aug 07, 2024 1:06 pm

wiu712 wrote: Tue Aug 06, 2024 5:43 pm WIU’s interim president amid layoffs: ‘This is the difficult year’.
From Tri-States Public Radio, WIUM-FM:
https://www.tspr.org/tspr-local-news/20 ... icult-year


 

Comments like this shows how tonedeaf and ineffective our leadership actually is. This is not the first round of layoffs. Programs have been cut, staff has been laid off several times. The last president at WIU that has actually done anything was Goldfarb and he’s been gone for over a decade. 


 

And in my opinion, we are still suffering from the damage wrought after he left. Like it or not, whether we want to admit it or not, WIU is NOT the WIU we all remember.


 

I'm not going to say that we haven't had troubled leadership at times, but it doesn't help that the state is funding the university at such a significantly lower level. Last fall I took a look at what the university receives from the state (adjusted for inflation) and compared it to enrollment (see chart below). You can pretty clearly see a 2-3 year trailing corrolation between the two. Essentally, whatever happens with funding from the state, enrollment goes the same way within a couple of years. There is currently a bill working its way through the state legislature designed to fix the underfunding of public universities, but it's going to be a couple of years before it's in effect assuming it gets signed into law:
https://www.northernpublicradio.org/wni ... -education
https://news.wttw.com/2024/03/08/illino ... ssion-says