Economy, Global Campus dominate discussion at trustees’ open forum

November 19, 2008
By Amanda Dahlquist
Editor

The student trustees from the three University of Illinois ground campuses opened themselves up for questions and criticism from the UIS community last Wednesday by holding a town hall meeting on campus. UIS student trustee Craig McFarland was joined by Paul Schmitt of UIUC and James Winters of UIC at the event, which was sponsored by the Student Government Association.

Photo by David Clary From left to right: Paul Schmitt, UIUC; Craig McFarland, UIS; and James Winters, UIC.

The meeting was dominated by questions regarding the Global Campus and the economy.         

Launched in January, the Global Campus is an online component to the University of Illinois system. A current initiative by administration is to make it an independent, accredited institution. Currently, Global Campus serves 121 students, though according to McFarland, 1.2 million dollars has been put into marketing it.

Schmitt expressed concern that the money might not have been worth it with so few students enrolled in the program, though he called it “a noble intention.”

Global Campus had a better ally in McFarland, who claimed he supported University of Illinois President Joe White's vision.

“Our outlook is very bleak”
-Craig McFarland, UIS student trustee

“Global Campus is necessary, but the way we go about it is crucial,” McFarland said. “We know at UIS there are a lot of nontraditional students. I think they need to look at the UIS model and how we do online education.”

However, taking precedence over Global Campus was the economy.
“Our outlook is very bleak,” McFarland told the audience. “I understand what the university is going through, but we can't keep placing the burden on your backs.”

“Tuition will probably go up this year,” said Winters, who also mentioned that UIC had managed to decrease two of three of its major student fees this year.

“If it means hiring great faculty, I can justify fees increasing,” said UIUC's Schmitt. “We aren't even giving faculty competitive salaries.”

According to McFarland, looking towards the current state government for relief in this economic crisis is futile. “Maybe a change in administration is necessary before we get a friend in higher education,” he said.

In response to a question concerning eradicating the plus/minus grading system, McFarland said that he has been working with SGA Senator Derek Felix and Provost Harry Berman to reexamine the system, which is championed by those who feel is provides a more accurate portrayal of one's performance than basic letter grades. According to McFarland, UIC's Chancellor suggested the addition of an “A+” option to give students the chance of balancing out an “A-” grade. Notably, UIC's campus currently does not have the plus/minus grading system, though, according to Winters, it is trying to gain it.

Regarding the open letter that the three student trustees wrote asking administrators who make over 100,000 dollars annually to take a pay freeze, McFarland claimed that there had been no backlash. However, he said, “responses have been mixed.”