42 Comments - Commander Norton - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 1:47 pm: Yikes! Does anybody know anything about the composition of the board? How many were appointed by which governors, for instance? - 47th Ward - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 1:49 pm: It looks like his mistake might have been laying off connected patronage staff instead of faculty. If that’s part of it, he is being punished for doing the right thing. God help whoever succeeds him. Chicago State ain’t ready for reform. - Archpundit - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 1:50 pm: Virtually unanimous support of an administrator by faculty? We found a unicorn people! - Ahoy! - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 1:52 pm: “This is a truly dark hour for our university, and Gov. Rauner should immediately replace every member of this current board of trustees.” Be careful what you ask for. - Cheryl44 - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 1:52 pm: CSU will mostly likely be the first of the state schools to close permanently. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 1:56 pm: ==Yikes! Does anybody know anything about the composition of the board? How many were appointed by which governors, for instance?== See: https://www.illinois.gov/sites/bac/SitePages/AppointmentsDetail.aspx?BCID=1124 Rauner appointed one person. The rest were put on by Quinn (with the specific goal of propping up Wayne Watson). - Anonymous - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 1:59 pm: This is the same board that Quinn put in place to save Wayne Watson’s rear end when it should have been kicked out the door. - jerry 101 - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 1:59 pm: Jeez. This does not bode well for the future of CSU. - Norseman - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 2:09 pm: Maybe this one should be labeled, searching for the rest of the story. - Responsa - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 2:11 pm: The article does not really give sufficient detail to allow the reader to reach an informed opinion. What gives? - Amalia - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 2:15 pm: I know nothing of the situation, nor am I a proponent of him, but a quick change like that is really not good. - NIU Grad - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 2:19 pm: I was annoyed that CSU was put on too high of a pedestal during the budget debate, and many people were ignoring the serious challenges they face. It’s not just a debate over how much funding they’re receiving from the state, but how they’re spending it. That question has always been unclear with CSU. Quinn’s CSU board need to go. - Ron - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 2:24 pm: Cheryl44, CSU should have been shut down years ago. I hope it happens soon. - G'Kar - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 2:24 pm: There is no doubt that CSU has a lot of deeply rooted problems that go back long before the current budget crisis. But Calhoun was not a part of these problems and seem determined to fix as many as he could. He is well respected by faculty (which is hard to achieve). The BoT is cutting off its nose to spite its face. - to the point - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 2:26 pm: I agree. With a graduation rate that has averaged between 13-21% one should seriously question what the return on the state’s investment in this institution has been. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 2:27 pm: ===CSU should have been shut down years ago. I hope it happens soon.=== Rauner will own the closing(s) of CSU and Eastern and… Rauner never ran on withholding funding for all state universities, let alone close state universities. Not good under a Governor’s watch when it’s seemingly a misdirection of intent by that Goveror, or in Rauner’s case by that candidate. - Ron Burgundy - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 2:32 pm: Specific complaints from the faculty about this development rather than “This is bad!” would be helpful for people unfamiliar with the specific issue. Story kind of drops the ball there as others note. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 2:39 pm: The Higher Learning Commission will not be happy about this… - Amalia - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 2:40 pm: time for careful reevaluation of state schools. - IllinoisBoi - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 2:49 pm: I’d forgotten about this story from 2009. Yikes. “” Nobody teaches political science the way Chicago State University does: The school is so popular among key state legislators that it’s now trying to figure out what to do with $40 million it didn’t ask for to build a new campus it didn’t know it needed….”Quite frankly, I was not informed,” interim president Frank Pogue told the Tribune. “I don’t recall seeing a plan for the project in the year that I was president.” http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Chicago-States-Political-Science-56325572.html - Anonymous - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 2:52 pm: CSU is already “On Notice” with their accreditor due to the budget impasse and concerns about “Criterion Five, Core Component 5.C “the institution engages in systematic and integrated planning.” This new development will not help. - Arthur Andersen - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 3:13 pm: OW, as always with respect, the bumbling Quinn Board may have given Rauner an “out” to finish off CSU without wearing a very heavy jacket, an unlined Carhartt if you will. Who can argue that CSU is making progress, or even holding steady, at this point? Emil? - Downstate - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 3:30 pm: A recent report out of DC termed Michigan Colleges and Universities as “dropout factories” because of their low 6 year graduation rate of 52%. Chicago State’s 6 year graduation rate is 19.2% - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 3:43 pm: - AA - Think micro. It’s not about the overall, it’s what all these state universities mean to its locale. No worries, I hear ya. - thechampaignlife - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 3:43 pm: Public higher ed in the state is in sore need of strong leadership. Maybe it is time to return to the system of systems where a more collective voice can be heard. http://www.lib.niu.edu/1987/ii871118.html - Arthur Andersen - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 4:26 pm: OW, gotcha. - Ron - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 4:32 pm: Rauner will be a success if we can eliminate just one of these worthless money pita in Illinois. Shut down CSU now. - Chicagonk - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 4:45 pm: You can’t put this one on Rauner. This is definitely unfortunate as it appeared the Calhoun was an improvement over Watson. He must have upset the south side machine. I’m sure Quinn’s lameduck board will make sure to keep the crony jobs safe. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 4:53 pm: ===You can’t put this one on Rauner.=== You can’t get away without funding Higher Ed than not take the heat when universities close on your watch. Sorry - pundent - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 4:55 pm: =Rauner will be a success if we can eliminate just one of these worthless money pita in Illinois. Shut down CSU now.= For the community that CSU serves the school is often a way out. In some instances it may be the only way out. So exactly what do you hope to gain by shutting it down? - DuPage - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 4:56 pm: CSU students were on the news last night regarding no hot water in their dorms, no showers or food service without walking across campus and borrowing the showers from other dorms. Things happen of course, but they are saying nothing is being done to fix the situation, which they say is caused by a broken underground steam pipe. Maybe they can’t find a contractor to fix it on credit. - James Knell - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 5:46 pm: Thanks, Oswego Willy… public university closings are generally a good thing. Jeez. - James Knell - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 5:52 pm: … Not a good thing. - DuPage Dave - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 7:05 pm: It’s difficult to imagine any other governor letting this slide so far. True enough, CSU has been poorly managed and not taken seriously as a university. But this slow death by starvation is not a reasonable solution. Rauner could force some resignations and put his own people in charge. He could get some of his wealthy business pals to donate time and energy for effective planning. He could motivate the charter school coterie he hangs out with to provide leadership and guide kids from high school to CSU with dedicated supports. He’s done none of those things and apparently is happy to let the university disintegrate. Eastern is not in nearly as bad shape, but it’s also in a downward spiral. The governor has provided no leadership in that situation, either. If you’re not a good enough student to go to Dartmouth, apparently, you don’t deserve much from the State of Illinois. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Sep 14, 16 @ 9:08 pm: Chicago State University’s enrollment has declined to about 3,500 which is appalling. The university has operated as a corrupt political patronage pit forever and academics have suffered. President Calhoun never had a chance. During his year, he was obliged to clean up messes his predecessor made and to make many tough decisions that his shady predecessor neglected to make. All the while, Calhoun’s predecessor was still on campus in an office provided by the university and trying to undermine Calhoun. The hustlers ripping off Chicago State ought to be prosecuted using the Federal RICO statute. - Anonymous - Thursday, Sep 15, 16 @ 6:05 am: Chicago State enrollment declines: 2012: 6,107 2013: 5,701 2014: 5,211 2015: 4,818 (Spring) 2015: 4,767 (Fall) 2016: 3,550 Can a university with such a small enrollment be salvaged? President Thomas Calhoun, who is expected to be terminated this week, served in office for little more than nine months. Governor Bruce Rauner made one appointment to the Chicago State University Board of Trustees which is dominated by Quinn appointees loyal to the clout heavy “retired” President Wayne Watson, who was granted lifetime tenure and a university salary and office despite a series of lawsuits and scandals which have cost the university millions of dollars. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 15, 16 @ 7:28 am: ===Can a university with such a small enrollment be salvaged?=== “Can a university with no funding to exist… exist at all?” Better. - Anonymous - Thursday, Sep 15, 16 @ 7:59 am: CSU was in a state of crisis before the budget stalemate. You can choose your opinions, but not your facts. Watson made a shambles out of the university over a period of almost seven years. His scapegoat successor was given less than one year to clean it up. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 15, 16 @ 8:12 am: ===You can choose your opinions, but not your facts.=== You mean like funding CSU at a level of zero? That fact? Got it. Thanks. If Rauner wanted to close CSU, why not when he ran for governor say… “I’m stopping ALL funding for Higher Ed. No money for state universities.” Fact is, Rauner did just that. It’s not opinion, and if/when CSU closes, it will be under Bruce Rauner and his choice to refuse to fund CSU, Eastern… Facts are stubborn things… - nikobey - Thursday, Sep 15, 16 @ 8:58 am: There obviously needs to be an investigation of CSU by the one or more of the various agencies that accredit the the university. - Anonymous - Thursday, Sep 15, 16 @ 3:32 pm: Did not realize it was possible to confuse CSU and the College of DuPage. - Anony - Friday, Sep 16, 16 @ 2:13 pm: As a faculty member at CSU, I can attest to the dedication of the faculty to academic excellence and to the student body for its perseverance. CSU is a great institution that is suffering from poor board of trustees practices, a lack of due process, political mismanagement. Unfortunately, these are the matters that make it into the public sphere and not the academic excellence of our programs. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.