WIU Layoffs

[sealhall74]

We could go out on a limb and offer free course materials for all programs (textbooks, online material, ...)
Would not be the first in the country to do it. Might save kids about $1K/year and entice a few more to come.

https://bookscouter.com/blog/free-college-textbooks/
https://news.wilkes.edu/2023/02/22/wilk ... -students/

BTW, I worked with a Math professor from Wilkes back in the middle 80s who came on board with us for a sabbatical experience.  Great guy.  He went on to become President of William Penn U in Iowa 15 or so years later.
 
 

[rocki]

After reedling many of the posts on this topic, I actually wrote President Mindrup this morning and received a response earlier: I started off by saying I was a alumnus with degrees in '06 (BA) and '13 (MA) and mentioned I bleed purple and gold. I was saddened by the layoffs (esp. with library staff, as I worked in the library as an undergrad and grad). I mentioned that I have heard recruiters are no longer on campus at local schools and about the reduction in academic standards, and I was concerned about the state and future of Western.

She thanked me for taking time to share my concerns and observations and is pleased Western has many alumni who care about Western. She said they had to make cuts to ensure financial stability and sustainability. They are using different forms of data to best target the biggest impact they can make in recruiting. They have also changed policies to ensure classes are retained and remain strong academically. She met with many students at Thompson Hall who are excited and eager to start. She again thanked me for my time and invited me to keep in touch.

PS: I had a phone conversation with an alum friend of my and mentioned Macomb is getting a Chipotle; not to be a negative Ned but can Macomb and Western support a Chipotle when we already have a Qdoba in the Union (I think the area could support a Chic-Fil-a if it wasn't in the Union). IMO, it would have made sense to get these things when the population was bigger, when I was at Western, there were about 10,000 student on campus.

Please let me know your thoughts. 
 


 

Thanks for sharing, I'm glad to hear you received a response. It sounds like they have a plan, rather its just all talk or if they really is another story. I hate to see the layoff but if enrollment is down something had to be done. I asked before, but do the teachers/professors have a proposal to save money if they didn't do the layoffs. 
 

 

I haven't talked to any, but from the responses on the original TSPR post at the beginning of this thread, it didn't appear that they were overcome with ideas. Just my observation, others might feel differently.

[wiu712]

Aftermath of WIU's decision to lay off employees being felt by campus community.
From WQAD-TV, Moline:
https://www.wqad.com/article/news/educa ... e84785e74c
 
 

[meganeck]

After reedling many of the posts on this topic, I actually wrote President Mindrup this morning and received a response earlier: I started off by saying I was a alumnus with degrees in '06 (BA) and '13 (MA) and mentioned I bleed purple and gold. I was saddened by the layoffs (esp. with library staff, as I worked in the library as an undergrad and grad). I mentioned that I have heard recruiters are no longer on campus at local schools and about the reduction in academic standards, and I was concerned about the state and future of Western.

She thanked me for taking time to share my concerns and observations and is pleased Western has many alumni who care about Western. She said they had to make cuts to ensure financial stability and sustainability. They are using different forms of data to best target the biggest impact they can make in recruiting. They have also changed policies to ensure classes are retained and remain strong academically. She met with many students at Thompson Hall who are excited and eager to start. She again thanked me for my time and invited me to keep in touch.

PS: I had a phone conversation with an alum friend of my and mentioned Macomb is getting a Chipotle; not to be a negative Ned but can Macomb and Western support a Chipotle when we already have a Qdoba in the Union (I think the area could support a Chic-Fil-a if it wasn't in the Union). IMO, it would have made sense to get these things when the population was bigger, when I was at Western, there were about 10,000 student on campus.

Please let me know your thoughts. 
 



 

Thanks for sharing, I'm glad to hear you received a response. It sounds like they have a plan, rather its just all talk or if they really is another story. I hate to see the layoff but if enrollment is down something had to be done. I asked before, but do the teachers/professors have a proposal to save money if they didn't do the layoffs. 
 


 

I haven't talked to any, but from the responses on the original TSPR post at the beginning of this thread, it didn't appear that they were overcome with ideas. Just my observation, others might feel differently.

 

thats what I wonder, i know they are trying to protect jobs, but unfortunately less students should mean less staff
 

[meganeck]

We could go out on a limb and offer free course materials for all programs (textbooks, online material, ...)
Would not be the first in the country to do it. Might save kids about $1K/year and entice a few more to come.

https://bookscouter.com/blog/free-college-textbooks/
https://news.wilkes.edu/2023/02/22/wilk ... -students/

BTW, I worked with a Math professor from Wilkes back in the middle 80s who came on board with us for a sabbatical experience.  Great guy.  He went on to become President of William Penn U in Iowa 15 or so years later.
 
 

 

I'm all for thinking outside the box and doing stuff different than a normal university. Lets try to be forward thinkers and hope that will attract students.
 

[sealhall74]

If layoffs are a direct result of declining enrolllment, then lets fix the enrolllment issues where we can. 

I have said this before, but it's been a while.  The ala carte dining option, the only one we offer, is keeping quite a few kids away IMHO.  If it was a good thing, other colleges would have it and I honestly dont know of single one which has that as the only option. I have no kids but if I did, I would probably prefer an all you care to eat plan for them.  More expensive, more waste, no doubt but worth it IMHO.

Second, someone explain to me how kids on the Quad City campus pay exactly the same amount in extra fees as those on the Macomb campus.  No athletic fee but somehow the total ends up the same.  That is ridiculous.  Being a computer guy, I can maybe understand it (e.g. the program code might treat all students the same).   But if that is the case, fix the code.  Quad Cities campus has few bells and whistles.  Fees should be considerabley less.

https://www.wiu.edu/business_services/t ... s/fees.php

[wiu712]

Monmouth College has "All You Can Eat" :  $2,555 per semester.

[sealhall74]

Monmouth College has "All You Can Eat" :  $2,555 per semester.


 

It llooks like SIU-E also has the Ala Carte option as the only one.  But they probably have more daily commuters on campus so it might make sense for them.  Out of 12,000 approx enrolled, only 2500 or so live on campus.
 

[wiu712]

The hardest-hit departments by the layoffs include Accounting, Finance, Economics & Decision Sciences, which lost eight faculty; and Kinesiology, which lost 5.

The Library system lost eight faculty.

Staff were cut from across the university.

The university will also move 16 faculty and staff positions from the Quad Cities campus to Macomb.

Agriculture Science major Cody Cornell, the student representative who sits on WIU’s Board of Trustees, said in an interview that WIU students have been greeted with a dismal view of campus: deteriorating buildings, cracked sidewalks and parking lots, and a two-week wait for counseling services. 

Math and Philosophy professor Tom Blackford said in an interview that he wondered what exactly WIU’s future will involve. Would Western become a small liberal arts school, a community college, a regional campus of the University of Illinois, or something else? 
 
 
 
 

[ST_Lawson]

If layoffs are a direct result of declining enrolllment, then lets fix the enrolllment issues where we can. 

I have said this before, but it's been a while.  The ala carte dining option, the only one we offer, is keeping quite a few kids away IMHO.  If it was a good thing, other colleges would have it and I honestly dont know of single one which has that as the only option. I have no kids but if I did, I would probably prefer an all you care to eat plan for them.  More expensive, more waste, no doubt but worth it IMHO.

Second, someone explain to me how kids on the Quad City campus pay exactly the same amount in extra fees as those on the Macomb campus.  No athletic fee but somehow the total ends up the same.  That is ridiculous.  Being a computer guy, I can maybe understand it (e.g. the program code might treat all students the same).   But if that is the case, fix the code.  Quad Cities campus has few bells and whistles.  Fees should be considerabley less.

https://www.wiu.edu/business_services/t ... s/fees.php

It’s not a computer/technical issue (although it does make my life a little easier when I update the cost calculator online every year). Fees at the QC campus used to be less, but the BOT decided a few years ago to gradually bring them up to the same level for both campuses.

I don’t really know why though, but it was a BOT decision.


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