HE.03.15
September 29, 2003

University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign Senate
Final-Information

HE.03.15 Report on the IBHE Faculty Advisory Council Meeting, June 20, 2003.

The FAC met at the Schaumburg Campus of Roosevelt University. Provost Vinton Thompson welcomed the group with a bit of history of the University and Campus. Roosevelt was founded in 1945 by a group of idealistic faculty members who broke away from an existing institution that was trying to impose quotas on Blacks and Jews. They asked permission of Eleanor Roosevelt to use her husband’s name and she assented, served on the original advisory board and donated funds. It was later renamed the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt University. Initially it survived due to the influx of students on the GI bill. In the 1970’s President Silverman decided the northwest Chicago suburbs were underserved by higher education. The branch established in Arlington Heights later moved to its current facility, formerly the headquarters of Pure Oil Company. Roosevelt has 3,800 students at its downtown campus on Michigan Avenue and 3,200 at the Schaumburg campus.

Deborah Smitley, IBHE legislative relations director, presented an update on legislative activity. The Governor has not promised to sign the budget appropriations for higher education although they are close to his recommendations. Overall four-year institutions will have 13% less that it had two years ago if he does sign. Health programs were held constant in dollars so this year saw 8% cut to the rest of the four-year colleges. Community colleges were cut 3% this year, 7% over the two years.

Several things were notable about this session. Very serious attempts to change existing managerial aspects of higher education to return to patterns of some years ago such as the state holding the tuition dollars, a bill still being held in committee so not dead, (control granted to institutions in 1996); very detailed line item budgeting with some lines as low as a few hundred dollars. Interestingly enough, although greater line item stringency was enacted, the appropriation was adopted in a line item format. Also, campuses must add another much more detailed report due 180 days after the close of the fiscal year. “Truth in Tuition” freezing tuition for 4 consecutive years at the level paid as an entering freshman will be effective fall 2004. (Does not freeze fees.) Tuition caps were not adopted but the issue will resurface.

Thanks to the hard work of Jim Hacking and interested participants and annuitants, bills to merge SURS with other pension funds and to change its Board of Directors and method of appointing its Executive Director were not passed.

Office of Management and Budget proposal surfaced in the final days to allow the state to allot all resources except restricted grant money. This one will come back as well as will a proposal to permit that office to analyze all costs of programs and services to ensure the costs are justified. Ikenberry’s prediction that higher education will face much tighter regulation and scrutiny was certainly accurate.

Other issues include the mission of community colleges with authority for granting a baccalaureate in nursing at Danville Community College. Passed the House, held in Senate Rules. The issue of housing for students and faculty at community colleges passed the House. Expect more on this next year.

The remaining two hours of the morning were given over to a panel discussion of the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI). Neala Schleuning of the IBHE and Barb Risee of the ICCB who manage much of this work and transfer coordinators at Elgin Community College and DePaul made the presentations. In general, faculty concerns centered around the failure of 4 year institutions to honor the articulation agreements, problems of defining a core curriculum, and lack of understanding of how to process complaints. It was felt students are too often disadvantaged. One stress was that there are other ways of managing the transfer than through the IAI program. Also, those administrators at four-year institutions who had signed on to the IAI (community colleges had little choice) should fulfill the terms of the agreement. Enforcement must flow from the top. Information is available at www.Itransfer.org

The Business Meeting included the report of elections of officers for 2003-04. Allan Karnes of SIU-C will chair the group with Ken Andersen serving as immediately past chair. Committees and assignments were developed for next year with four committees to be constituted: Academic Personnel, Budget, Educational Quality, and Public Policy and Communication. Special attention may need to be given by the Academic Personnel Committee to the impending Supreme Court decision on admission policies at the University of Michigan given that the IBHE may act on recommendations on faculty diversity at its August meeting.

Ken Andersen, FAC Chair
UIUC Senate FAC Representative