30 Comments - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 1:09 pm: I trust Vallas at his word, and I can’t agree more with his sentiments about economic engines and state universities. There IS significant damage that WILL need serious repair. My hope is Vallas isn’t duped by Rauner and is asked, in the end, to help oversee the closing of Chicago State, or the transferring of facilities and mission of CSU to the likes of UIC, abandoning CSU. Eastern Illinois University should be equally as worried… - wordslinger - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 1:21 pm: It would take an act of the GA for CSU to be “absorbed” or put out of business outright. That ain’t going to happen. Doesn’t mean they still can’t succumb to the social Darwinesque squeeze-the-beast plan. Same for Eastern and Western, too. - t munz - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 1:29 pm: Part of that Trib editorial gets at the real problem — elimination of the Board of Regents and the Board of Governors in the mid-90’s. That gave all the universities outside the U of I and SIU systems independent governance. Since then, of those schools, only ISU has held steady, all others have lost enrollment — some drastically. - wordslinger - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 1:36 pm: –Part of that Trib editorial gets at the real problem — elimination of the Board of Regents and the Board of Governors in the mid-90’s. That gave all the universities outside the U of I and SIU systems independent governance. Since then, of those schools, only ISU has held steady, all others have lost enrollment — some drastically.– What did those particular governing boards have to do with enrollment, one way or the other? I’d wager that the great majority of those who attended NIU, ISU and SSU back in the day were barely aware, if at all, that the Board of Regents existed. - Smitty Irving - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 1:37 pm: t munz - Even though it was 1995, IPI blames Madigan in 3 2 1 … - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 1:41 pm: ===I’d wager that the great majority of those who attended NIU, ISU and SSU back in the day were barely aware, if at all, that the Board of Regents existed=== I was an ex officio BoR member when I was student prez. As I recall, the board didn’t do all that much. I got a state car to attend meetings, tho, so that was fun. - Ryan - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 1:48 pm: “What did those particular governing boards have to do with enrollment, one way or the other?” Nothing. - m - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 1:51 pm: What’s so bad about transferring CSU to U of I? SSU is growing now that it’s UIS, but I think it’s safe to say it has a very different environment and mission than UIUC or UIC. Remember that despite squeeze the beast, U of I had an enrollment bump again this year. That’s because of the big piles of cash and assets they have sitting around. Access to those $ would be pretty good for CSU right now. - Anonymous - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 2:01 pm: One of the issues that has hurt WIU is the addition of the QC campus. The state provided money to build the campus, but never added to their operating budget for the additional staffing needed from support staff to faculty to administration as well as utilities. Then the QC campus started eating away enrollment from the main campus. In fact, some of the students on the main campus actually take classes in/from the QC campus. I don’t know if it is still running but they actually ran a bus back and forth for the Macomb students to get to the QC campus. So much of the “growth” was actually just a displacement. Then the events of the last two years have just compounded their troubles. - Team Sleep - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 2:03 pm: Word - well…if the boards (whose members are appointed by the Governor) make bad decisions or hire the wrong people to run the school then I would think they could have a hand in declining enrollment. If the school is run poorly and the board members do nothing to correct the problems then potential students (and their parents) might take that into account. - Anonymous - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 2:06 pm: @Oswego Willy: Will you ever acknowledge that many of the crises and scandals that have cost Chicago State University occurred under a Board of Trustees appointed by Democrats? Pat Quinn could have stopped some of the bleeding in 2013 when it was time to appointed board members, but he sided with his political allies who supported those who were allegedly looting the university while enrollment declined rapidly. The reform minded trustees were sacked and the political patronage hacks were empowered. You ought to credit Rauner for choosing Vallas. As of the current semester, CSU has fewer than 3,000 students, but, hey it has dormitories and a basketball team that travels across the entire country to play games. - Team Sleep - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 2:09 pm: M - yep. Time to create a University of Illinois umbrella system. - Pot calling kettle - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 2:10 pm: ==And maybe the governor and those remaining legislative Democrats who are resisting a deal will finally realize the damage they’ve done to our “economic development engines” around the state these past two years. == I was wondering what kind of response our governor would have if any other industry was posting a net loss of over 16,000 customers who each pay $25,000-$50,000/yr for four years? On top of that, higher ed prepares the workforce for the jobs he is trying to attract. On top of that, higher ed research makes the innovations that start new industries. I recall several downstate legislators promoting a research-tech corridor along I-74. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 2:13 pm: ===Remember that despite squeeze the beast, U of I had an enrollment bump again this year.=== Admission standards were also lowered. === That’s because of the big piles of cash and assets they have sitting around=== Really? So having over $800 million less in funding the U of I system was “no big woop”? ===Access to those $ would be pretty good for CSU right now.=== So, UIC and UIS is willing to now add an additional campus to fund, all the while CSU’s “old” mission would have to be scuttled to align with the U of I system, something even Gov. Rauner didn’t run on, and actually is forcing by not funding ANY higher education at all. This isn’t a “good” thing, and Vallas is making his case which isn’t the case I typed above. - wordslinger - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 2:15 pm: – I got a state car to attend meetings, tho, so that was fun.– I bet it was, lol. –Word - well…if the boards (whose members are appointed by the Governor) make bad decisions or hire the wrong people to run the school then I would think they could have a hand in declining enrollment. – Meh, I went to both NIU and SSU. I don’t recall the Board of Regents being on the radar. The separate administrations ran the shows. I think demographic change and competition have a lot to do with enrollment. I do recall, however, that when Bill Monat was president of NIU, he banged the drum for years that the school should have an independent governing body. Strangely though, when Big Jim made him chancellor of the Board of Regents, Monat had an epiphany, and declared that all three schools should remain under its jurisdiction and that independent governing bodies was a bad idea. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 2:16 pm: 1) ” - Anonymous - “, pick s name. 2) “Pat Quinn failed” … “Bruce Rauner closed CSU”? 3) I think I make clear my feelings on Vallas and stand by my original comment. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 2:25 pm: - Team Sleep -, With respect, I would go for the “Grand Slam” strategy… I’d call it the “Lincoln University” System. I’d mirror it like the SUNY or Pennsylvania State or Cal State systems. It would include Chicago State, Eastern, Western, and both Southern schools, ex. “Lincoln University at Carbondale”, and keep school colors, mascots, traditions… What I’d also do is actually “run” on these changes, as a realigning the state university system(s) while keeping “local integrity” to places like Macomb, Carbondale, Edwardsville, Charleston, even Chicago. It will isolate Illinois State, the state of Illinois’ oldest higher education institution, and allowing Northern to be a decision based on economics. The U of I system would take if their own. But, I would run on this, not try to close universities first in hopes they shrink instead of trying to grow them collectively. - wordslinger - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 2:32 pm: –M - yep. Time to create a University of Illinois umbrella system.– It would make a lot of sense to explore that idea, if for no other reason than to mitigate wasteful competition and redundancies among state institutions. That’s a conversation that should be happening. That’s why governors get the Big Chair, to initiate and manage such far-reaching ideas. The sneaky Social Darwinism occurring right now ain’t the way to go about it. If an honest, open discussion of a centralized university governing system ever happens in Illinois, it will be the biggest regional Battle Royale the state has ever seen. Champaign-Urbana would probably seek to become the 51st state; Carbondale would probably greet those pushing the idea as they did those strikebreakers in Herrin back in the day. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 2:33 pm: Ugh. I was typing too fast for my thinking. I’d also have Northeastern Illinois in the “Lincoln University” system… - t munz - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 2:36 pm: Illinois’ old system of systems allowed for some measure of co-ordination, strategic planning, and shared costs between our schools. That just doesn’t happen now. And a lot of the wackiness at CSU started when they lost system oversight. Unlike Illinois, most big states have one or two governing boards that oversee all the state universities. This enables colleges in those states to coordinate budgets, engage in low-cost group purchasing, and implement a unified strategy on which campus offers programming in which academic discipline. They can also better co-ordinate with community colleges and state high schools. In Illinois, the lack of unified governance means our public universities compete against each other for federal grants and state funding (they all have their own army of lobbyists.) They struggle with high purchasing costs and staff-up with layers of bureaucrats to handle administrative task on their own. Each Illinois university is free to determine what majors they offer, which encourages them to be all things to all prospective students by maintaining under enrolled programs. All these things drive up costs and increase tuition, which chases students out of state. - Team Sleep - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 2:45 pm: Willy - call the system whatever you want but it has to happen. Too many entities are pulling in too many direction, and though regionalism can be important it should not dictate our discourse. Word - your sentiment is spot on. The ball needs to start rolling - even if feelings will get hurt - and this is a discussion we NEED to have. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 2:57 pm: - Team Sleep - I think that’s why naming the whole shabang “Lincoln University at… ” helps in all losing their territorial names as an identity. But, I would run on this, not let these places erode and see which schools are left, then save them. - Liberty - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 3:12 pm: Budgets, majors, buildings and so on are controlled by the BHE. - City Zen - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 3:35 pm: We wouldn’t want Chicago State to lose their WAC status. They’ve got a big game coming up against the Vaqueros of UT Rio Grande Valley. - t munz - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 3:37 pm: @Liberty IBHE has been stripped away of almost all their statutory authority over the years. They research, compile higher ed stats, and make recommendations, but they don’t call the shots. - Obamas Puppy - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 4:21 pm: The praising of Brucey for his “support” for Hi Ed is an example of political back slapping that is truly nauseating. - DuPage - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 4:55 pm: @-m- 1:51 ===Remember that despite squeeze the beast, U of I had an enrollment bump again this year. That’s because of the big piles of cash and assets they have sitting around. Access to those $ would be pretty good for CSU right now.=== A better idea. How about access to the state money that the state already owes to CSU? How about a budget that includes Higher Education, including the community colleges? - Signal and Noise - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 4:57 pm: Vallas and the new board have two major problems on the way in. First, as long as Nikki Zollar is still on that board, things ain’t changing easily. She is the biggest sacred cow protecting a failed status quo. Second, the accreditation body is already keeping a close eye on CSU’s ability to function. That may be part of the plan. They “agree” not to absorb the university and let the accreditors do the dirty work and then say “we didn’t want to but now we have to” - Anonymous - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 6:25 pm: @Oswego Willy: Some of us have actually been on the CSU campus (which is as vacant as the Old Chicago shopping mall and amusement park that was recently demolished) and anonymity is essential to those who have had to suffer under the vindictive Watson gang who have run the university into the ditch. It is hard to defend an educator who has cost the taxpayers millions (both at the City Colleges of Chicago and CSU), but you seem perfectly capable of performing impossible acts and defending the indefensible. Yeah, it is all Rauner’s fault even though the “D’s” were the ones cashing the checks while CSU burned. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Jan 17, 17 @ 8:56 pm: ” - Anonymous - ” (Ugh) ===…you seem perfectly capable of performing impossible acts and defending the indefensible.=== I’d say that’s to your backhanded and left-handed compliment, but with your eyes and your history with CSU, you are failing to see the political… ? ===Yeah, it is all Rauner’s fault even though the “D’s” were the ones cashing the checks while CSU burned.=== Nah. Here’s where you miss my whole point, the big picture. Had CSU closed abruptly under Quinn, Candidate Rauner would’ve said “Pat Quinn failed”, because any governor that has a state university close on their watch, they own that. Now with Rauner, Rauner purposely has refused to fund higher ed. You can choose to “compliment” me and think I see things through a pea soup fog, but while you want to look at the bad and dire before Rauner that did exist, you’re choosing not to see a reality of a governor wanting state universities to close, it appears, and looking for others to blame for his choices. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.