White's strategic plan to bring change to UI system

By Mallory Medved - Copy Editor

The beginning of the Fall 2005 semester at the University of Illinois marks the start of the next phase in UI President B. Joseph White's Strategic Planning Initiative, a program to make the University a leader among the nation's public research universities.

“The challenges of an environment characterized by increasing competition require that we successfully position the University to build a sustainable, competitive advantage. We must also establish high aspirations for this University, focus intense effort on execution of our plans and secure needed support and resources from our partners,” White says in a letter on the initiative's Web site.

According to the site, the purpose of the plan is to make the University of Illinois a leader in “teaching and scholarship, engagement and public service, economic development, arts and culture and athletics.”

The plan, to be completed in three phases, will affect all three UI campuses – Chicago , Springfield and Urbana-Champaign – as well as University Administration, Alumni Association and the University of Illinois Foundation .

The first step of the initiative set the framework of the entire operation, setting down guidelines, mandates and deadlines for later phases. White submitted this framework to the Board of Trustees Aug. 8, setting the next step of the plan in motion.

The next step of the initiative calls on each UI campus to make a plan detailing how it will contribute. According to Dan Layzell, associate vice president for strategic planning, each campus will submit their plans by Oct. 31. The plans will then be up for review and the final drafts are due by Jan. 31, 2006.

Each plan will include, among other things: a mission statement, analysis of strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the campus by outside sources as well as resources needed. While each plan will be unique to the campus it serves, all three must be compatible with the larger, University-wide plan. UIS Director of Public Relations Cheryl Peck said, “This is the first time we've done this since 1992. It's a very big process to revisit the mission, vision and values of the University, but it should be completed by the end of October.” Peck declined to comment on the specific strategy being created for UIS, as no plans have been finalized yet.

The third phase will include plans for each college and school of the University system, including the four colleges from UIS: business and management, education and human services, liberal arts and sciences and public affairs and administration. This final phase is scheduled for completion by June 30, 2006.

The seeds of the initiative were planted at the President's Summit on Strategic Leadership held March 29, when White and other University leaders came together to devise a strategy to keep the University a leader in secondary education in the face of a rapidly changing market.

The initiative will make the University more competitive against schools in similar peer groups, as well as ensure the University's reputation in the face of reductions in state funding unlikely to change in the future.

Members of the UIS community with questions regarding the Strategic Planning Initiative are encouraged to visit the initiative's Web site, found at www.uillinois.edu/president/strategicplan/ .

Many campus offices recieve new homes

By Ashley Rook - Advertising Representative

While new and returning students were moving on campus last week, the Student Life Building also experienced some moves, as Disability Services and Student Life relocated, gaining extra space both for their own offices and for the athletic department.

The newly available office space will serve as a valuable asset in many ways to the crowded athletics department, whose offices currently function as a workspace for coaches, storage space for equipment and uniforms and a place to meet with potential recruits. These changes are the first step in the expansion of the department, which will eventually culminate in the completion of a new recreation center in 2007. In the meantime, in the words of athletics director Paul MacDonna, athletics seeks to accomplish “realistic goals with limited funds.”

If funds allow for further renovation, MacDonna intends to house a conference room, trophy room and another men's locker room in the former Student Life offices, as well as collaborate with the recreation center to offer activities such as fencing and yoga in the new space. Plans to eventually webcast and telecast home games, as well as review the possible addition of new sports such as women's soccer or men's baseball, are also in the works.

Cynthia Thompson, director of student life, sits in her new office in the Student Affairs Building

Student Life is currently housed in the old admissions office in the Student Affairs building, where Student Life Director Cynthia Thompson hopes it will truly become “a center for student life, where students can hang out and relax.” The new location offers more offices for student organizations, including the Inter-Club Council Board, Student Activities Committee, Student Government Association, Student Organization Resource Center and The Journal , ensuring a self-contained space for all branches of Student Life. The Student Life office will also be collaborating with the Women's Center and the Volunteer Office to plan events and activities.

Smaller changes will also be made to the Student Life office to make it a more welcoming and accessible place for students. Decorations and supplies will be more readily available for students to check out and use, and a conference room, meeting room and two additional offices will be available for student organizations to use. A lounge center, containing couches and a big screen TV, will also be added as a place for students to socialize.

According to Karla Carwile, director of Disability Services, the new office in the Human Resources building provides increased accessibility and better suits the needs of the 180 disabled students of the program. The new office is an improvement from the former space, which housed offices, the adaptive test lab and a quiet testing area in one room. In addition to providing separate offices for staff members, it also provides wider, more wheelchair-accessible hallways, three adaptive technology labs and more accessible parking.

Disability Services also seeks to increase disability awareness year-round by sending out monthly e-mails on different disability-related topics. When remodeling ends in late September, an open house will be held to welcome students, faculty and staff, as well as the local community.

New degree program

UIS now offers program in legal aspects of education

By Janee Mitchell - Feature Writer

The Educational Leadership Program at UIS now offers a graduate degree program in the legal aspects of education. Sources say the program was designed for professionals seeking to enhance their current degree.

EDL faculty and program chair Margaret Noe said the first classes of the program were offered previously, in the spring of 2003. After this course offering, the development of the program was sought.

According to Noe, the positive response was cause enough to launch a certificate program for students interested in school-law issues.

Noe and Professor Emeritus Frank Kopecky led in the development of the graduate certificate program in 2004, shepherding it through review at the department, college, campus and university levels.

She said she designed the program with the professional development of teachers in mind. After realizing that the program could be useful in a number of ways. Noe and Kopecky decided that the program would be more accommodating online.

The online course program was “designed to remove barriers to accessibility to quality educational programs,” according to Noe. The program is only available online as a matter of convenience for the professionals enhancing their education. Students looking to join a course that is not online will be limited to two courses that are only related to the law but not a part of the program.

The graduate degree program in legal aspects did not include traditional students in its development plan; however, some traditional students have enrolled in some of its courses. Noe said that students wishing to take the course have the option to use courses in the new graduate degree program as electives or complete both a certificate and a degree.

Noe said the degree will “authenticate that the student has knowledge, skills and dispositions to address contemporary legal issues in schools. The certificate will demonstrate that a student has taken a series of courses that meet an important need for both employers and employees to maintain up to date knowledge about critical legal issues in schools.”

To fulfill the degree requirements the program requests 18 completed hours of work. Noe said the program, at present, holds 10 courses offered at two hours each for a one-year minimum.

White' strategic plan to bring change to UI system

Many campus offices recieve new homes

New degree program