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if i had an extra $500: A faculty and staff survey

We asked people around UIS—staff and faculty—where they would give an extra $500.  Here are some of their answers.

For each, we have identified the fund that you would give to in support of their suggestions. Please remember that small gifts added to other small gifts can make all this possible!

Do you want to add your own suggestion? Email our web writer, Marilyn Kok, and we'll add yours.

I like to give to the Student Affairs Fund for Excellence. It provides student support for conferences and research.

I see first hand how appreciative students are when they are able to gain knowledge at a leadership conference or network with peers at a counseling association symposium. They then in turn, share the information that they gained with the UIS Community in the a brown bag, a reception or a presentation. We have many students who have never had an opportunity to attend conferences and feel so fortunate to get the chance. We know that outside the classroom experiences can be as important as classroom learning to a student's success.
Fund: Student Affairs Fund for Excellence

Christina Ryan
Assistant to the Vice Chancellor, Student Affairs

• Help students go to regional/state conferences;
• Help students pay for the social Work Advocacy Day (each spring)
• Help students pay for membership in the National Association of Social Work (NASW);
• Establish a scholarship in memory of a former student who was killed in a car accident three years ago (Wendy Wells)
  Fund: Social Work Program Fund

Martin Martsch
Professor, Social Work Program

I would probably give the money to the Natural Sciences for lab supplies. Having been a secretary in ASP/CHE/CLS for eight years, I know there is a great need for lab supplies so that students are able to do lab experiments.
Fund: LAS Student Research Fund

Beverly Weddle
Secretary to the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

I would give the money so we could print posters recognizing the role of Public Health in everyday life.  There is a dire need for public health professionals, and these posters would help to interest undergraduate students in pursuing this career.
Fund: Public Health Program Fund

Sharron LaFollette
Chair, Master of Public Health

I would provide a “textbook scholarship” for a Project Midstate Student Support for Teaching student who is struggling to purchase books for the semester so that he/she could begin the semester successfully.
Fund: MSS Enrichment Fund

Loretta Meeks
Director of the Midstate Student Support for Teaching project

I would give money to pay for gas and food expenses for 25 students who are traveling to Louisiana to spend their spring break building new homes forHurricane Katrina victims.  Volunteering expands our students’ understanding of the world, and taking them to Louisiana will do that in a way that staying in Springfield does not allow. We also want them to be part of the great volunteer endeavor taking place in New Orleans.

I might also give for 20 mentor guidebooks forUIS students currently mentoring middle and high school students in District 186 schools. Through their mentoring relationship with local students, UIS volunteers make such a positive difference—the guidebooks would help UIS students enhance and capitalize on that relationship.
Fund: Volunteer and Civic Engagement Fund

Kelly Thompson, Director
Volunteer and Civic Engagement Center

If I had an extra $500 to give to UIS, I would give it to the Emiquon Field Station for ten water quality measurement kits. Then the Field Station could use the kits to help teach elementary and high school students about science techniques and about the importance of clean water.”
Fund: Friends of Emiquon Fund

Keith Miller
C omputer Science professor and
Associate Director of the Emiquon Field Station

I would provide support for graduate students studying nonprofit administration to do a public administration “externship” with a local nonprofit group.  Many nonprofits don’t have the resources that the state or business has to enable such participation.  The $500 would offset the student’s expenses and encourage participation and give students real world experience, as well as provide valuable assistance for nonprofits.
Fund: Public Administration Program Fund

William Miller
Public Administration professor

 

I would provide support for students working on our case investigations to develop the evidence that would result in the exoneration of an innocent person sitting in prison.

The work of UIS students has already been critical to the investigations of the three individuals who have been exonerated by the Innocence Project. We are at a point where every dollar we can generate towards investigating our current cases may make a difference in breaking those cases wide open. Past students have found this to be a demanding, sometimes tedious, learning experience—that is one goal of education.
Fund: Downstate Illinois Innocence Fund

Larry Golden
Co-Founder and Director
Downstate Illinois Innocence Project
Professor Emeritus of Political Studies and Legal Studies

 

I would give the money to add ten new flags for the Office of International Student Services to display at the annual International Festival (and on other occasions). As our international student population continues to grow, we would like to be able to honor all those students and their families. Currently we have students from several countries that do not have flags in our collection. Some flags that we do have are old and deteriorated and need to be replaced.
Fund: International Student Affairs Fund

Rick Lane
Director, Office of International Student Services

 

I would give the money to

• Send a CPAA student to a national conference to present a paper.
• Sponsor a Political Art in the Public Sphere series film.
• Purchase a document scanner so a CPAA faculty or staff member can drastically reduce their paper consumption.
• Print posters for the SAGE Club (Students Allied for a Greener Earth) to raise sustainability awareness on campus.
  Funds: College of Public Affairs and Administration Fund, Students Allied for Greener Earth Gift Fund

  Rose Schweikart Cranson
  Assistant to Dean Wassenberg
  College of Public Affairs and Administration

 

 

 

 

If I had $500 to give to UIS, I would choose to help single parents/single income families who choose to attend UIS.
The money could be used to offset tuition, housing, books, etc. costs that are incurred.
Fund: We might need to start a fund for this purpose. You could also give to the Cox Children's Center Fund

Joy Thibadeau
Office of Human Resources

(Children pictured above are from the Cox Children’s Center, a wonderful resource for children of all families attending UIS.)

I would suggest a fellowship program to support the creative endeavors of students participating in the Arts. Often an inspired project must be delayed due to lack of funds and resources. These funds could be of great assistance in this area.
Fund: Visual Arts Program Fund

Damon Thomas
Administrative Clerk
College of Public Affairs and Administration

 

I would give money so that we could hire a CPAA student for 50 hours to collaborate with a professor on a research project.
Fund: College of Public Affairs and Administration Fund

Chris Mooney,
Professor, Political Studies
with the
Institute of Government
and Public Affairs

I would give the money to encourage entrepreneurial drive among UIS students:

• Sponsor a prize for best idea challenge.
• Sponsor an award for the best new business concept proposed by students.
• Sponsor a student’s conference travel to Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization conference.
• Sponsor a networking event with area business leaders with UIS students.
  Fund: College of Business and Management Fund (specify your purpose in the comment box)

  Ranjan Karri
  Associate Professor of Management

(At right: UIS students and community meet with top young entrepreneurs who visited UIS as part of the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour.)

 

I would give the money for purchasing an instrument for a student on need to be able to participate in band, pep band, or orchestra.

A university music program must provide instruments if it is to have a band. Tubas are but one of the many instruments that students often know how to play but do not own.
Fund: Music Program Fund

Todd Cranson
Asst. Director of Co-Curricular Music

     

I would create an award for an MA student, nominated by his or her faculty, to apply for PhD programs (application fees) and to defray costs for travel to present theiroriginal work at a conference. This would basically be a small stipend for a "standout" student whom we want to help with applications to PhD programs. We could call it the "Distinguished MA Stipend for Doctoral Study" or something better, which they could put on their curriculum vitae.
Fund: We would have to create a fund for this--you could get it started.

Richard Gilman-Opalsky
Assistant Professor
Political Philosophy