Leatherneck Nation

leatherface wrote: Fri Jun 02, 2017 7:57 am I'm going to ask a question for any Western employees on the site. It's a question few want to ask publicly,but, needs to be asked. What is the mood in the campus community regarding a possible shut down if the state continues the nickle and dime support for another year? It seems Western is listed in news articles along with Eastern as being on the bubble- now, along with SIU-C. Chicago State should have been shut down by now,however, I don't see that being allowed to happen. Likely the same with Northeastern Illinois.
Alums need to know how dire it could be for Western,and, asked to step up for support before the worst happens. I know you don't want to present an image that might run off future students and support, but, I don't know if most folks outside of alums and employees realize how serious it could be. It's fine to hear the president say all will be fine- builds up confidence. However, if it's getting to the point of not making payrolls, then folks need to know. A fine line to walk, I realize.
Is there a feeling on campus that Western's future is sliding away?

From what I've seen/heard around campus, it seems like in general people are worried, but it's not really a specific "Western is going to shut down in 6 months" kind of worry. It's more of a..."will my job/department be eliminated" sort of worry. I don't see Western as an institution completely shutting down, but the longer this goes, the more that cuts will have to be made. At this point, those cuts would probably have to be eliminating departments and maybe restructuring the schools/divisions to reduce "overhead" (which could also include cutting a few administrative positions). The Admissions office has been hard at work over the last couple of years to bring in and retain students, which is why our freshman class last fall was almost exactly the same size as the freshman class the previous year. If that ends up being the "standard" freshman class size for a while, then we will likely (as was mentioned a few years back by, I believe President Goldfarb) stabilize somewhere around 6k-7k students at the Macomb campus. There will still be students, employees, classes, faculty...there will just be less of them.

Now, whether you consider that "dire" or not (because it has already started happening with the phasing out of a few departments/majors last year and the delay of renewal of contracts for some of the faculty) is up to you, but Western does need your support. I'm sure many of you have already, but if you live in Illinois, put pressure on your local state congress-peeps, and if you don't, but you have friends and family who do, make sure they're aware of the situation (there's a lot of people who aren't directly involved with any public institutions who don't really realize what this means to the state's universities and what the impact will be on the state). There's no way we're getting out of this without both raising taxes and making cuts. Just one or the other is not going to work, and finally setting a budget, whatever it's set at, would allow schools and other groups to plan for the future, rather than just sitting around and reacting.

So, I guess the question of "how dire it could be for Western" depends on how you feel about the university's role in the community and in the state and how different of an institution you are ok with Western being down the road.

Anyway, that's just my perspective on things. Others may see it differently, but I'm not really sure that there are any other active employees on the message board (I know there's at least a few people who did work here and are now retired though).

Budget impasse prompts WIU to delay contract renewals.

Headline article in today's McDonough County Voice:
http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/news/2017 ... t-renewals

WIU Delays Decisions About Fall Staffing Levels.

From Tri-States Public Radio WIUM-FM:
http://tspr.org/post/wiu-delays-decisio ... &utm_term=

June will be a very pivotal month in determining the outcome of the State's future.

Local State Representative Noriine Hammond has stated that the State will "implode" if there is no budget on July 1:
"“We have to have a budget by July 1 or the entire state implodes."

Hammond is on the House Appropriations for Higher Education Committee.

Reports coming out of Springfield indicate that compromise agreements are being worked out which would include a higher state income tax rate combined with cuts in State spending.

The question regarding Higher Education involves whether these State cuts will be done across the board (like Iowa and Missouri have done) or if one (or more) of the state universities will be marked for closure.

The Macomb merchants are very concerned. There are 300 homes on the market now in Macomb.

WIU is the only state school in the west central area of the state. It would make absolutely no sense to have it go the way of the "do do bird!" This is going to get done! jc

I hope and pray that lawmakers will realize Macomb would turn into an absolute ghost town if WIU were to close down. Effectively leaving every home/property owner stuck with property worth zilch. It has already taken an awful toll on the housing market in the area. I think schools like WIU, EIU, SIU-C should be legislators main focus trying to "rehab" higher education as they are the heartbeat of their communities. UIUC, ISU, NIU, and SIUE will all be fine in my opinion due to leadership (ISU) and location (UIUC, SIUE, and NIU.)

I think with the right leadership (biggest problem at the moment) and vision wiu can thrive like it once had.

I truly hope so, anyways.

vatusay wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2017 8:28 am I think with the right leadership (biggest problem at the moment) and vision wiu can thrive like it once had.

Couldn't agree more. It has been 10 years of looking for an smidgen of positiveness and ignoring the problem. We need leadership that will rise to the occasion, not continually try to spin the conversation and continue with the same declining path.

It will never be like it was save another MAJOR post-World War baby boom or another Vietnam-like war requiring re-institution of the draft and accompanying student deferments. Illinois population growth has not kept up with the rest of the country over the last two decades and I don't think we have seen the worst of it yet. Five or Six thousand full-time students will probably be as good as it gets for the foreseeable future.

sealhall74 wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2017 10:29 amFive or Six thousand full-time students will probably be as good as it gets for the foreseeable future.

We are rapidly approaching that 6,000 figure as once predicted by President Goldfarb over 10 years ago. That would be comparable in size to Truman State and UIS--both members of the GLVC.

As bad as the current economy is right now in Macomb, it is even worse in Charleston and Carbondale.

Interesting article in today's paper which offers the theory that Rauner does not want a budget. Rauner is running for re-election and is already running campaign ads. Rauner may see his battle with Madigan as a winning approach with voters. If that is the case, the best that we can hope for would be another "Stop Gap" like we saw last year on June 30 and again on December 31.

I don't Dr. Goldfarb had any idea that we would have "half brains" running the state and their lack of activity would create such a problem. I would be interested in exactly what he based his "feelings" on. jc