Hear what people say about corporate and business giving
BOB CLARY (MBA '85)
State Farm
On January 29, representatives from State Farm--including alumnus Bob Clary--came to UIS to celebrate a $50,000 gift to UIS. The money will be used to purchase equipment for the computer department's labs, providing remote on- and off-campus access to students. Of the gift, Bob Clary said:
"It's a lot of fun to come in and mark some of the work we have done together over the past few years with this gift. We have a lot of good opportunities for people to join us. The program is focused on recruitment, but there is more to it than recruitment; we're also building a partnership."
Eric Oschwald
President, National City Bank of Springfield
“We speak a lot about investments in my business, about dividends and profits. Here is an investment, ladies and gentlemen, that has had excellent dividends for us and that has created lasting value for everyone concerned.”
National City endowed UIS’ first distinguished professorship. At the time, UIS was already an important community asset, dedicated to a public service curriculum, committed to the non-traditional student, and innovative in its use of experiential learning.
National City made the university even stronger, showing National City’s commitment to excellence in higher education and its support to everyone in the Springfield community who wanted to build a better future for themselves, their families, and the community at large.
Ameren Illinois Utilities
from the Investiture Program for Karl McDermott,
Ameren Distinguished Professor of Business and Government
The Ameren Illinois Utilities are pleased to play a role in securing Springfield's future with our endowment gift to fund a professorship at the University of Illinois at Springfield. The Ameren Illinois Utilities have a long history of supporting education in the communities they serve. This contribution reflects that involvement and continues that proud tradition.
Frank Mayadas
Program Director, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
“For Sloan Foundation projects, we need someone who is responsive (often on very short notice), can be relied upon for correct, factual information, and knows his/her own home institution well and has credibility with faculty and administration. Those attributes describe Ray Schroeder. He also understands just what Sloan is trying to do in my program so is able to come up with new and interesting ideas for Sloan and UIS to explore---also always appreciated.”
In 1997, Ray Schroeder started UIS’ Office of Technology and Enhanced Learning (OTEL) to support faculty who provided distance learning. Since then, enrollment in online courses at UIS has risen steadily every semester, every summer, every year, bar none.
Schroeder credits the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which has invested $2 million at UIS, for a large part of UIS’ online success. By their own measure, they have seen an excellent return on that investment:
- In 2002, the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C) gave Schroeder its award for "Most Outstanding Achievement in Online Learning and Teaching by an Individual."
- In 2007 Sloan gave UIS its award for "Excellence in Institution-Wide Online Teaching and Learning Programming.”
- UIS also won the 2008 Ralph E. Gomory Award for Quality Online Education from the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C). UIS received the national award for innovative work in using quantitative data in a process of continuous quality improvement to assure excellence in online teaching and learning.
No other institution has won Sloan’s highest awards for both an individual and institution-wide excellence.
