Updates to faculty layoff plan and other stuff
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leatherface
- Posts: 423
- Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2014 4:42 pm
I need to stop having "spitting" contests with Tere. She seems like a very nice and professional lady who has dedicated much of her life to students.
We all want our favorite university to survive and thrive long-term. We might have slightly different opinions on how to do that or who is at fault to why it's not happening lately, but I think just about everyone here's goal is pretty much the same....to have Western be a stable university that provides a quality education for it's students and a quality workplace for it's employees for a long time to come.
Scott Lawson - Board AdminWestern Illinois University Alum/Fan/Employee
Member of the Marching Leathernecks - 1996-2000
We have to hope that this report is not true.
While reading a story about Northeastern Illinois University and its downgrade by Moody's on the Chicago Tribune website, the following appears in the "Comments" section:
I'm hearing that Western Illinois is finished and will not re-open in the fall. They are working on programs for students to transfer to other lower tier school in the state. They are keeping it quiet until the transfer programs are finalized. They have less than 500 incoming freshmen and fixed overhead expenses are just too high. They have no choice but to close.
While reading a story about Northeastern Illinois University and its downgrade by Moody's on the Chicago Tribune website, the following appears in the "Comments" section:
I'm hearing that Western Illinois is finished and will not re-open in the fall. They are working on programs for students to transfer to other lower tier school in the state. They are keeping it quiet until the transfer programs are finalized. They have less than 500 incoming freshmen and fixed overhead expenses are just too high. They have no choice but to close.
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leatherface
- Posts: 423
- Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2014 4:42 pm
I'm calling it pure BS. Anything in a comment section is hardly worth reading. 
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Neckfansince71
- Posts: 1184
- Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2014 7:06 pm
Why in the world would you even consider this comment as having any substance at all. jc
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Neckfansince71
- Posts: 1184
- Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2014 7:06 pm
So here is my problem with this whole thing! I know we need to figure things out budget wise in the state of Illinois. Our politicians have basically just kicked the can down the road for others to deal with in the future for years. Are pensions too high? Well not if the payments had been made when they were suppose to be and money was not borrowed from these accounts for other things or to stop the bleeding somewhere else. We all know that support of schools is not fair or equal. And CPS is basically a hemorrhage to say the least. Its not going to be easy, but I would feel a lot better if someone was actually willing to creatively take the "budget" problem on. WIU has been patient for years waiting for the money for CPA!!! And from my perspective, I think the university has worked very hard at stream lining things as times got tight. I don't have the insight that some of you have, but I think WIU has been more proactive than reactive compared to other schools in the state such as NIU and especially SIU. The situation is totally man made and only the people that supposedly represent us can remedy the situation. I am so tired of the rumors and hearsay! I am very proud of my alma mater and will continue to "sing it's praises!" jc
With no end in sight, Illinois' unprecedented budget impasse has cut off critical state funding to the state's public colleges and universities, which received only infrequent and unpredictable funding last year and no money so far this year as Rauner and the Democrat-controlled legislature have been unable to agree on a fiscal plan for the state.
At universities across the state, hundreds of employees have been laid off, dozens of academic and athletic programs cut, weeks worth of pay erased through furloughs, maintenance projects halted, vendor payments delayed, and reserves emptied.
And the hardships are growing, particularly at the state's smaller regional universities like Western that have long served as affordable, four-year options, attracting minorities, low-income students, and those who are first in their families to attend college.
SIU president Randy Dunn is very concerned. Dunn has stated: "As we go into this next phase of the crisis, with no budget in sight, SIU and many other universities are going to be forced to dismantle and remove units of university operations. If we don't find a way forward, we have a lot of universities getting ready to walk off the cliff."
About 25% of students enrolled in Illinois universities attended public institutions in 2015, according to the Illinois Board of Higher Education. Of that, about 48% chose one of the regional institutions.
But the regionals have been greatly impacted by the budget impasse:
NIU, for example, received about $26.4 million to cover a year of operations, compared to more than $91 million in 2015, the most recent year of full state funding. The university has cut 50 academic programs.
At EIU, nearly 200 employees were laid off last year, and the number of furlough days required for other workers added up to nearly a one-month salary cut.
Nearly 300 jobs were cut at SIU's campus in Carbondale, and dozens more in Edwardsville and at the medical school in Springfield.
Without state support soon, university leaders say they may need to make more drastic cuts. Governors State would look at eliminating one of its four colleges. At SIU, cuts worth tens of millions of dollars in staffing and programs would potentially have to be made.
As state support has declined, enrollment also has suffered. Total enrollment dropped 4% to 13% at most schools this fall, and freshman classes shrank by as much as 25% compared with the prior year. At Chicago State, which has lost more than half its enrollment in the past six years, there were only 86 first-time, full-time freshmen this fall, down from 200 the year prior.
The confidence in public higher education has been shaken.
The slumping enrollment comes as the number of high school graduates is declining and there is more competition for them.
Illinois is projected to graduate nearly 30,000 fewer high school students annually by 2032, a loss of almost 19%, according to a December study from the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.
At the same time, more local students are shunning Illinois schools. About 45% of high school graduates left Illinois to attend college in 2015 — or just over 18,000 students, according to the Illinois Board of Higher Education. That compares with 29% who left Illinois for college in 2002.
And the regional universities will now face increasing competition from the flagship University of Illinois, which plans to boost student enrollment 15% over the next five years. To do so, UIUC plans to recruit more downstate — which could draw students away from some of the regional university campuses.
We have seen the State close some state-operated centers for the developmentally disabled, state-operated mental health centers, and state-operated correctional centers.
The General Assembly returns to Springfield on April 24. This would be a good time to contact your State Rep and State Senator and encourage their support for higher education funding. The student presidents at the three UI's have been encouraging their alumni to do just that.
At universities across the state, hundreds of employees have been laid off, dozens of academic and athletic programs cut, weeks worth of pay erased through furloughs, maintenance projects halted, vendor payments delayed, and reserves emptied.
And the hardships are growing, particularly at the state's smaller regional universities like Western that have long served as affordable, four-year options, attracting minorities, low-income students, and those who are first in their families to attend college.
SIU president Randy Dunn is very concerned. Dunn has stated: "As we go into this next phase of the crisis, with no budget in sight, SIU and many other universities are going to be forced to dismantle and remove units of university operations. If we don't find a way forward, we have a lot of universities getting ready to walk off the cliff."
About 25% of students enrolled in Illinois universities attended public institutions in 2015, according to the Illinois Board of Higher Education. Of that, about 48% chose one of the regional institutions.
But the regionals have been greatly impacted by the budget impasse:
NIU, for example, received about $26.4 million to cover a year of operations, compared to more than $91 million in 2015, the most recent year of full state funding. The university has cut 50 academic programs.
At EIU, nearly 200 employees were laid off last year, and the number of furlough days required for other workers added up to nearly a one-month salary cut.
Nearly 300 jobs were cut at SIU's campus in Carbondale, and dozens more in Edwardsville and at the medical school in Springfield.
Without state support soon, university leaders say they may need to make more drastic cuts. Governors State would look at eliminating one of its four colleges. At SIU, cuts worth tens of millions of dollars in staffing and programs would potentially have to be made.
As state support has declined, enrollment also has suffered. Total enrollment dropped 4% to 13% at most schools this fall, and freshman classes shrank by as much as 25% compared with the prior year. At Chicago State, which has lost more than half its enrollment in the past six years, there were only 86 first-time, full-time freshmen this fall, down from 200 the year prior.
The confidence in public higher education has been shaken.
The slumping enrollment comes as the number of high school graduates is declining and there is more competition for them.
Illinois is projected to graduate nearly 30,000 fewer high school students annually by 2032, a loss of almost 19%, according to a December study from the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.
At the same time, more local students are shunning Illinois schools. About 45% of high school graduates left Illinois to attend college in 2015 — or just over 18,000 students, according to the Illinois Board of Higher Education. That compares with 29% who left Illinois for college in 2002.
And the regional universities will now face increasing competition from the flagship University of Illinois, which plans to boost student enrollment 15% over the next five years. To do so, UIUC plans to recruit more downstate — which could draw students away from some of the regional university campuses.
We have seen the State close some state-operated centers for the developmentally disabled, state-operated mental health centers, and state-operated correctional centers.
The General Assembly returns to Springfield on April 24. This would be a good time to contact your State Rep and State Senator and encourage their support for higher education funding. The student presidents at the three UI's have been encouraging their alumni to do just that.
Illinois Comptroller Warns of a State University Collapse.
From KMOX Radio, St Louis:
The Illinois Comptroller warns the state university system could fall apart, unless Governor Bruce Rauner stops refusing to support a state budget. Comptroller Susana Mendoza spoke with campus administrators at SIU-Edwardsville, telling them the state has had six credit downgrades and owes $13 billion in unpaid bills.
“It’s unsustainable. At some point the entire university system will collapse. They’re probably going to have to look for another university to go to, and it’s not going to be in Illinois,” Mendoza says.
Mendoza challenged teachers and administrators to not be quiet, to let their lawmakers and the governor know they want a state budget.
“There’s only so far that they can go without getting state funding, so maybe even if they don’t close their doors they’d have to eliminate a whole series of programs and even colleges within the university. We’ve already seen other universities do that,” she says.
University of Missouri-St. Louis has a billboard on I-55 offering students in 21 Illinois counties "Tuition Same as if In-State” to cross the river for college.
From KMOX Radio, St Louis:
The Illinois Comptroller warns the state university system could fall apart, unless Governor Bruce Rauner stops refusing to support a state budget. Comptroller Susana Mendoza spoke with campus administrators at SIU-Edwardsville, telling them the state has had six credit downgrades and owes $13 billion in unpaid bills.
“It’s unsustainable. At some point the entire university system will collapse. They’re probably going to have to look for another university to go to, and it’s not going to be in Illinois,” Mendoza says.
Mendoza challenged teachers and administrators to not be quiet, to let their lawmakers and the governor know they want a state budget.
“There’s only so far that they can go without getting state funding, so maybe even if they don’t close their doors they’d have to eliminate a whole series of programs and even colleges within the university. We’ve already seen other universities do that,” she says.
University of Missouri-St. Louis has a billboard on I-55 offering students in 21 Illinois counties "Tuition Same as if In-State” to cross the river for college.
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leatherface
- Posts: 423
- Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2014 4:42 pm
UMSL and others doing the same advertising in Quincy- right at Western's doorstep. Can't fault the, student recruitment ia a business.
April 20 was a bad day for the Regionals.
SIU and Western now join EIU, NEIU, and GSU in junk bond territory.
The state now has 5 universities in junk bond status with others facing downgrades.
From Reuters:
Illinois' budget crisis dragged down the credit ratings of six state public universities and Chicago's community college system on Thursday in a slew of downgrades by S&P Global Ratings.
The rating for the University of Illinois, the state's largest system, fell one notch to A after S&P determined it could only be three notches above the state's BBB rating. S&P also warned of a further downgrade if the state failed to fund the system beyond a stopgap amount of $356 million approved last June.
Illinois is limping toward the end of its second straight fiscal year without a complete budget due to a political stalemate between its Republican governor and Democrats who control the legislature.
The impasse has resulted in only partial appropriations for state universities, forcing most of them to tap reserves and cut expenses.
"Given the budget impasse of fiscal 2016, ongoing fiscal 2017 budget impasse, and the absence of an agreement among elected leaders, it is our opinion that state appropriations to public universities in Illinois will remain uncertain in the intermediate term," S&P said in a report.
Southern Illinois University's credit rating was dropped into the junk level of BB from BBB, while ratings for Northeastern Illinois and for Eastern Illinois universities fell deeper into junk, at B, from BB. Western Illinois University's rating was cut to BB-minus from BBB-minus and Governors State University's rating was downgraded to BB from BB-plus.
S&P also lowered the rating four notches to BBB from A-plus for the City Colleges of Chicago, which operates seven community colleges.
The ratings were placed on a watch list for a potential subsequent downgrades.
S&P affirmed an A rating for Illinois State University on Thursday, but placed the school on the same watch list as the others.
Illinois' record-breaking budget impasse has been hard on the universities, which have been hit with rounds of bond rating downgrades over the past two years.
Earlier this week, Moody's Investors Service placed seven Illinois universities on review for possible rating downgrades affecting $2.2 billion of debt.
SIU and Western now join EIU, NEIU, and GSU in junk bond territory.
The state now has 5 universities in junk bond status with others facing downgrades.
From Reuters:
Illinois' budget crisis dragged down the credit ratings of six state public universities and Chicago's community college system on Thursday in a slew of downgrades by S&P Global Ratings.
The rating for the University of Illinois, the state's largest system, fell one notch to A after S&P determined it could only be three notches above the state's BBB rating. S&P also warned of a further downgrade if the state failed to fund the system beyond a stopgap amount of $356 million approved last June.
Illinois is limping toward the end of its second straight fiscal year without a complete budget due to a political stalemate between its Republican governor and Democrats who control the legislature.
The impasse has resulted in only partial appropriations for state universities, forcing most of them to tap reserves and cut expenses.
"Given the budget impasse of fiscal 2016, ongoing fiscal 2017 budget impasse, and the absence of an agreement among elected leaders, it is our opinion that state appropriations to public universities in Illinois will remain uncertain in the intermediate term," S&P said in a report.
Southern Illinois University's credit rating was dropped into the junk level of BB from BBB, while ratings for Northeastern Illinois and for Eastern Illinois universities fell deeper into junk, at B, from BB. Western Illinois University's rating was cut to BB-minus from BBB-minus and Governors State University's rating was downgraded to BB from BB-plus.
S&P also lowered the rating four notches to BBB from A-plus for the City Colleges of Chicago, which operates seven community colleges.
The ratings were placed on a watch list for a potential subsequent downgrades.
S&P affirmed an A rating for Illinois State University on Thursday, but placed the school on the same watch list as the others.
Illinois' record-breaking budget impasse has been hard on the universities, which have been hit with rounds of bond rating downgrades over the past two years.
Earlier this week, Moody's Investors Service placed seven Illinois universities on review for possible rating downgrades affecting $2.2 billion of debt.