Updates to faculty layoff plan and other stuff

[wiu712]

Democratic Illinois Senate President John Cullerton said Tuesday that his chamber will vote this week on a proposal to send more than $815 million to universities and social service providers that have gone months without funding, despite objections from Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.

The House approved the legislation before leaving town for spring break, though it's possible the Senate may put its own stamp on the proposal instead of sending it directly to Rauner's desk.

Under the measure, two specialized state accounts set aside for higher education and social service programs would be tapped to help ease the financial pressure facing schools and those who care for the vulnerable. Those funds are separate from the state's main checking account, with the money coming from a small portion of income tax revenues.

Of the money, $258 million would be split among social service agencies and $559 million would go to community colleges, scholarships for low-income students and day-to-day operations at state universities.

[wiu712]

Governor Bruce Rauner talked recently about higher education in Illinois:

"We need to shrink the bureaucracy in our university system. We have an expensive overhead, pension, work rules, restrictions. Just like inside state government, we need to shrink that bureaucracy. We need to put our money in our schools, in our teachers, in our students, and we need the state to step up and do a better job supporting our schools. We also need to eliminate the redundancy in our schools. Many of them offer the same majors and options, and we have too much overlap. We need to help streamline our university system.

There are negotiations underway with our Board of Higher Education, and universities talking about how they can streamline their overhead, how they can work together and specialize in certain majors. Those discussions are going on right now and I’m optimistic that they can lead to even better school options for our students, and more value for taxpayers."


Meanwhile .................. Southern Illinois University President Randy Dunn said that his Carbondale campus is developing a “financial sustainability plan” that will be released around July 1.

Dunn said: “Everything within the magnitude of operations, we’re going to be looking at. Potentially making reductions or closing certain operations. Everything other than tenured faculty would be available for reorganization, restructuring, removing. We may look like a different institution. We may have to let some programs go and reconfigure others. We may not have as many people. Staffing will change. But from the standpoint of a 150-year history being lost, that’s not going to happen.”

[sealhall74]

Governor Bruce Rauner talked recently about higher education in Illinois:

"We need to shrink the bureaucracy in our university system. We have an expensive overhead, pension, work rules, restrictions. Just like inside state government, we need to shrink that bureaucracy. We need to put our money in our schools, in our teachers, in our students, and we need the state to step up and do a better job supporting our schools. We also need to eliminate the redundancy in our schools. Many of them offer the same majors and options, and we have too much overlap. We need to help streamline our university system.

There are negotiations underway with our Board of Higher Education, and universities talking about how they can streamline their overhead, how they can work together and specialize in certain majors. Those discussions are going on right now and I’m optimistic that they can lead to even better school options for our students, and more value for taxpayers."


Meanwhile .................. Southern Illinois University President Randy Dunn said that his Carbondale campus is developing a “financial sustainability plan” that will be released around July 1.

Dunn said: “Everything within the magnitude of operations, we’re going to be looking at. Potentially making reductions or closing certain operations. Everything other than tenured faculty would be available for reorganization, restructuring, removing. We may look like a different institution. We may have to let some programs go and reconfigure others. We may not have as many people. Staffing will change. But from the standpoint of a 150-year history being lost, that’s not going to happen.”

Rauner has an obvious conflict of interest in play here, being an ex-officio member of the University of Illinois System Board of Trustees.

[leatherface]

"Everything other than tenured faculty are available for reorganization". Why do we continue to support such a draconian part of our education system? Tenured faculty is part of the reason why our education system has seen issues for years- IMHO. Elementary, Secondary or higher education. We all experienced- our selves or with our children- teachers who had no business being rehired year after year, but, they had tenure- and, oh yes, the labor unions to defend them. In many ways, professionalism has been lost in education.

[leatherface]

At least it sounds like Dunn is doing something, making plans, and addressing things publicly. What about Western's President? I have not seen much out of his office other than the generic sound bites. It's time for leadership, and restoring confidence in what is being done to address the issues from Western's perspective.

[sealhall74]

The tenure system is just one of many ails in our current educational system. Even worse, over the last 30 years I have witnessed a gradual and steady decline in the perceived value of a higher education degree. Coinciding with that, the students we are educating now are facing a very complex world with less than admirable critical thinking skills. Some say this is a result of too much reliance on technology and machinery to get things done. Others might say it is because of available social media tools (e.g. 140 byte "tweet blinders" and meme generators). Regardless of cause, it is no longer sufficient to simply train people in the skills required for the jobs of today. Now is prime time for university leaders to restructure their curriculums and market themselves as true pioneers in producing the critical thinkers and problem solvers for today and tomorrow.

http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/t ... -today/523

[Tere North]

Agree SealHall1974. Education needs to be more about thinking and less about knowing. Knowing all the facts to be a walking Wikipedia still doesn't enable you to figure out how to deal with new and emerging situations, it only enables you to repeat the past. Yet, education focuses on retainable facts as those are easy to grade, rather than the challenge of figuring out something new.

[rocki]

So, while we are discussing financial needs, faculty, and the like; what say you of this?

http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/news/2017 ... ary-campus

[sealhall74]

So, while we are discussing financial needs, faculty, and the like; what say you of this?

http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/news/2017 ... ary-campus

I don't foresee the federal ICE folks planning trips to Forgottonia anytime soon.

[ST_Lawson]

So, while we are discussing financial needs, faculty, and the like; what say you of this?

http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/news/2017 ... ary-campus

I don't foresee the federal ICE folks planning trips to Forgottonia anytime soon.

Yea, I'd say purely symbolic at this point.