November 2009

It’s already been a “happening” academic year at UIS. Early in the year we heard of our second straight high ranking from the U.S. News & World Report. UIS received best public university in the Master’s category in Illinois and the fourth best in the entire Midwest. (The region includes Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Missouri. That is a lot of master’s degrees in high quality universities!) Then on census day, we were able to report an all-time enrollment high of 4,961 students (a 5% increase over last year). We are also seeing more students living on campus, nearly 1,100. It’s definitely a sign that we are attracting students from among traditional aged, returning adults and transfer students, as well as online students worldwide.

It was also a great highlight for the University when we honored three distinguished professors during a ceremony of Investiture. Dr. Matthew Holden, Jr., was invested as the Margaret L. Wepner Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Dr. Karen Swan as the James J. Stukel Distinguished Professor of Educational Leadership, and Dr. Keith Miller, a professor in Computer Science since 1993, was invested as the Louise Hartman Schewe and Karl Schewe Professor in Liberal Arts and Sciences. Each of these professors adds vigor to UIS’ academic excellence and strengthens our ability to provide a challenging yet intimate learning experience for our students. They spend countless hours in the classroom with students, but also continue to be invited to conferences and speaking engagements all over the country and beyond. It is extremely rare that we can honor three at the same time, and that we now have six named professorships at UIS!

Did you know that UIS will be offering a new undergraduate degree during the next academic year? A Management Information Systems (MIS) bachelor degree is designed to provide students with a balance of technical skills and business knowledge. The program will prepare students for employment in private and public sectors in a changing global economy. Rassule Hadidi, Ph.D., chair of the Management Information Systems Department, says the blended nature of this program makes it suitable not only for local students, but also those within a reasonable driving distance, such as Bloomington, Danville, Edwardsville and Peoria. This is terrific news as we continue to meet the needs of our students.

Even as we know the economic conditions of this state and our nation continue to be on shaky ground, the MAP (Monetary Assistance Program) grants were re-instated for the spring semester by the governor and legislature during the recent veto session. This was great news for many UIS students. Nearly 800 of our students were looking at some very tough decisions if they did not receive MAP funding to continue their education. We hope that funding is forthcoming, so that this is something we don’t have to revisit.

What a treat to see all the faces of our friends at our new Peoria Center a couple of weeks ago. We celebrated our new downtown location in the Perley Building with an open house. Our new “University of Illinois Springfield, Peoria Center” is located literally across the street from the worldwide headquarters of Caterpillar. This is our 34th year in Peoria as we continue our great partnership with Illinois Central College. It was great to hear all the stories from our alumni and friends about the positive impact our Peoria programs have had on their lives. Now we can do that in an even better way with our own identifiable space downtown.

Speaking of partnerships, the UIS Visual Arts Gallery will be hosting a reception with MacMurray College faculty member and Jacksonville, Illinois, sculptor Khara Koffel on Wednesday, November 18. Her exhibit, “At Some Point”, is already on display and will be until November 25th. Please stop by the reception and see her artwork. That’s what I plan to do.

Also, the UIS Theatre Program is in full swing. Its fall production of “The Shape of Things” starts Friday. Carolyn and I hope to catch it and experience another fantastic performance. You still have time to see it. There are performances also next weekend on November 19, 20, and 21. This begins another super lineup that Eric and Missy Thibodeaux-Thompson have created.

We have also finally reached NCAA Division II status for our athletic teams as a provisional member. We’ll experience some growing pains as we make this great leap, but I have no doubt that our Prairie Stars will rise to the occasion. The women’s volleyball team recorded the university’s first two Great Lakes Valley Conference victories this fall, and we know all of our other athletic teams have many more coming.

I know many are asking about the effects on UIS as the University of Illinois begins work with a new board of trustees and searches for both a new president and a new chancellor at the Urbana campus. My answer is, “UIS will continue to move forward, because that’s the only way we know how to do it here.” I personally enjoyed working with President White and Chancellor Herman over the years. I understand their decisions and wish them well. Meanwhile, we recently hosted the Board of Trustees meeting yesterday. Several members toured the UIS campus the day before and they were very complimentary of what they saw. I look forward to continue working with them and Interim President Ikenberry. I have found already that together, they are an energetic and dynamic group that understands the importance of all three University of Illinois campuses. And for the first time, there is a UIS alum on the board – Karen Hasara, former state senator and former mayor of Springfield, and a very active alumna. It is going to be a pleasure to work with all of them.

There are many other great things to talk about, but I want to wrap up by highlighting our UIS Holiday Stars Project. We are once again partnering with the Central Illinois Food Bank to help provide nutritious meals to local families in need. Our goal is 7,500 pounds of food. About 150 UIS students have already been hard at work canvassing neighborhoods during Halloween as they collected 4,500 pounds of food. Efforts continue to collect non-perishable food. Specially marked collection bins have been placed around campus. Please join us all in this project.

Once again, I do appreciate everyone’s effort and dedication, and all you do for UIS.

Until next time,