Leatherneck Nation

Western's future could also be impacted by State Senator Bill Brady who wants to privatize the state universities. He floated this "trial balloon" idea back in the spring.

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/ ... aring.html

Senator Brady needs to learn the difference between a grant and a loan. A grant is NOT paid back, a loan IS. So what he is really saying is that these would be deferrable loans. Don't graduate, pay it all back. Graduate, only pay back half. Stay and work in Illinois, get a 1/8th credit for each year. Net, graduate, work in IL for 4 years, the loan becomes a grant.

Letter from President Thomas (talking about him testifying at the Illinois House of Reps, as well as another reassurance that Western will be "in business" in 2016): http://wiu.edu/news/newsrelease.php?release_id=13093

Also, if anyone would like to watch the hearing, you can view it here: http://livestream.com/blueroomstream/events/4373422 starting at ~2:59:30.

Western's faculty union opposes an increase in the student-to-teacher ratio.

From Tri-States Public Radio WIUM-FM:
http://tspr.org/post/wiu-faculty-union- ... 0#stream/0

It's only 15:1 because of a greater loss in enrollment than the loss of teachers through retirement. It used the be 17:1, and something we were proud of then, why wouldn't we be proud of it again?

Amen, Tere. Ask HS or elementary teachers- who have students all day, everyday, about class sizes.And, need to deal with discipline. In my experiences-at three colleges- most of the faculty are coddled, and have an entitlement mentality.

When I began my teaching career back in 1975 the number of students in a science class was determined by the number of lab seats available. In most cases that was 24 but in larger classrooms grew to 28. Gradually this number changed and now no matter how many lab stations you have in a classroom, the total number per class is 31. Besides that, keeping the class pointed in the right direction can be a challenge initially especially if you are just subbing for the day. jc

I personally know many students that had close to half of their tuition & fees paid by grants, only to drop out in a couple semesters. Meanwhile, I am over here paying 1/3 of my paycheck each month to student loans because I couldn't qualify for those same grants. They are paying nothing back after dropping out and I will be in the hole for many years as a result of graduating.

I see something very wrong with that system. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way advocating for free college - investing in your future should come at a price. I just think a little reform wouldn't hurt.

On the topic of Western, I have been hearing that it scores better than many other state schools in terms of financial health (haven't reviewed the financials personally so that could be totally false). I really hope this is the case because seeing the state's mess shut down the school we all love would be shameful.

The University is offering an incentive for eligible people to retire.
http://www.wiu.edu/news/newsrelease.php ... e_id=13119