OK, but where’s the plan and the budget?
Monday, Apr 3, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Gov. Rauner yet again pointed to the great economies created around Stanford in the Bay Area and Harvard and MIT in the Boston area as something Illinois should emulate…
Rauner cited founders and executives of Oracle Corp., PayPal Holdings Inc. and Yahoo Inc. who graduated from or attended the U of I but whose companies are located elsewhere.
“We have an ecosystem, but we have not been strategic about them working together and about location of that capability,” Rauner said. “We’ve got to figure out how to keep the geniuses in Illinois.”
OK, I agree. Universities should be economic engines for their regions and for the entire state.
* And then he said this…
Rauner envisions a state-university system that doesn’t duplicate programs as much as is the case currently.
“I want to see them succeed, but we’ve got to be thoughtful about which degrees they offer,” Rauner said. “I believe in specialization and being great at certain things and not trying to be OK at a bunch of stuff.
“Do we need every school to offer the exact same stuff, but they’re two hours from each other? Should we think more strategically about the offerings?”
I don’t necessarily disagree, but pretty much the only concrete actions to come out of this administration have been to either propose huge cuts to higher education or squeeze them slowly to death by not passing a budget.
The only way a vision like this can be implemented is after the state government moves past its constant crises. And that just doesn’t look like it’s going to happen any time soon.
* Related…
* Education Secretary Defends Gov. Rauner’s Higher Education Budget Proposal: In a two-hour grilling that one Republican called “an inquisition,” representatives pressed Purvis to justify slashing higher education by almost 60 percent over the past two years. Her answers repeatedly referred to the ongoing “budget crisis,” pension costs, and students leaving Illinois to go to school in other states. She was also asked what the administration had done to help schools. “Actually, the responsibility of running those universities and those programs falls directly on those boards. So in appointing high-quality candidates to those boards, I think the governor has done a very important job, as has my team, in putting people on those.” Rauner has proposed funding higher education at up to 90 percent of the 2015 level. That’s the last time Illinois had a full budget. A recent report from bond rating agency Moody’s says state universities have been shorted $2.2 billion dollars since the budget fight began.
- Handle Bar Mustache - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 9:24 am:
==we’ve got to be thoughtful about which degrees they offer,” Rauner said. “I believe in specialization and being great at certain things and not trying to be OK at a bunch of stuff.
“Do we need every school to offer the exact same stuff, but they’re two hours from each other? ==
Dude, what a lame excuse for the singular misery Rauner has inflicted on higher ed.
The Illinois Board of Higher Education has the power to approve majors at Illinois universities. Rauner appoints the chair and members of the board. Rauner has full authority to insert his ideas about degree programs there. Has he? No. Proving again what a phony he is.
- Do your job Governor - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 9:29 am:
Wow just wow at this incompetence. Does he really not see his actions do not match his words
- illini - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 9:30 am:
Two facts say it all —
— Funding for State Universities have been slashed by 60% in the past two years, and
— State Universities have been shorted $2.2 Billion on that time.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 9:32 am:
Gov. Rauner can’t passively allow Eastern and Southern to close, let Western be unaccredited and then think “this is my reorganization plans for Illinois Higher Education.”
No, this is reall Rauner destroying Eastern, Western, and Southern, and trying to say “I’ve had s secret plan all along, you just didn’t see it… here it is”
Understand. Rauner “donates” to things, Rauner Library, Rauner Dormatoty, Payton Prep… Rauner donates for Rauner means. Rauner squeezes and destroys anything he has no respect for… Higher Education, Social Services…
… let’s be frank for a moment… Rauner makes clear Dartmouth is important to him. The University of Illinois system hasn’t been fully funded since Rauner took office, no full budgetary funding has been given to any state university since Rauner took the oath.
I said, if Rauner, well before trying to close state universities, had come up with “the Lincoln University System”… Lincoln University… Charleston, Macomb, Carbondale, Edwardsville… Chicago Campuses… I can be about that, but crushing and destroying universities not named “Dartmouth here in Illinois” is a cruel way, a heartless way to seem willing to change things.
By left-handedly trying to force state university closures… and pretend it’s about reorganization?
It’s not. Don’t be fooled.
This is saving face now. Saving face because governors open universities, they don’t board up whole university campuses.
- spidad60 - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 9:37 am:
apparently those geniuses are smart enough to listen to him wale on about how broken Illinois is and move to a better place to make their billions
- up2now - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 9:37 am:
Avoid duplication? OK, now I get it. A student would take math at ISU, then drive to EIU for English lit., then over to SIUE for principles of marketing, then back to ISU for geography, then up to WIU for history of western civ. Should work out fine.
- Earnest - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 9:39 am:
>“Do we need every school to offer the exact same stuff, but they’re two hours from each other? Should we think more strategically about the offerings?”
Do we need to first destroy the system before we make thoughtful changes to have a positive impact on the state? Rauner is bright, has a vision, a strategic mind and works very hard. That makes it doubly a shame that he has used his talents to damage the state with his time in office.
- il annoyed - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 9:44 am:
If rauner has a vision for the state’s universities he should have articulated it and created a plan to implement it, instead of sewing destruction and under cutting the entire system.
I suspect he just has contempt for those who work and learn in public institutions, which is a little like having contempt for those who rely on public roads to get to work…but he’s an ideologue not a pragmatist.
- Blue Bayou - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 9:49 am:
Universities do not simply serve “geniuses” and create Silicon Valley-type products. The majority of students at state universities are trying to better their lives by gaining skills. These skills are needed in every kind of industry in which someone might work: from technical (engineering, hard sciences) to writing, critical thinking, etc.
Universities take people where they are and move them forward. Think about what it means if this service disappears. High schools will be finishing schools. And with all due respect, that will not give people what they need to succeed in an ever-competitive world.
Rauner needs to learn what universities do and he needs to support this or the state is going backwards.
- titan - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 9:54 am:
When all that’s left is the U of I (in a couple locations), and ISU, then the non-duplication of degrees too close by part will be pretty much achieved.
- Because I said so.... - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:08 am:
Closing universities has been Rauners plan all along. Photo’s of shuttered institutions of higher learning across the state will make for great campaign material.
Thanks for nothing Bruce!
- Scamp640 - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:11 am:
The fun point about hurting the downstate universities and their host communities is that Rauner is accelerating the depopulation of downstate. As downstate Illinoisans either move to the suburbs or flee the state, Illinois becomes increasingly urban, Chicago-centric, and therefore Democratic. Hence, Rauner is unwittingly (?) making Illinois more democratic. Is this part of the Turnaround Agenda that we don’t know about? Clever.
- Handle Bar Mustache - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:11 am:
==OK, now I get it. A student would take math at ISU, then drive to EIU for English lit., then over to SIUE for principles of marketing, then back to ISU for geography, then up to WIU for history of western civ. Should work out fine.==
LOL. Sounds about right!
- illinoised - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:17 am:
For someone with university degrees, Rauner has no understanding of the significance of public higher education. I attended a public university on scholarship because my family was dirt poor. I’ve had a decent career and my current job helps people and allows me to provide technical help to entities which are economic engines. And he cuts funding to my alma mater and starts the town which hosts it on a downward slide. He ain’t helpin’ and he’s doin’ a lot of hurtin’ which reminds me, quit affecting a talking style which we rural folks find demeaning and condescending.
- wordslinger - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:19 am:
Social Darwinism by executive fiat is not “thoughtful” envisioning of anything. It’s just shallow dilletantism in action.
Perhaps the governor can explain to his Downstate base how gutting public universities and community colleges will excite all those “job creators” he has lined up.
Does the governor envision a manufacturing future in which you walk out of high school and work at the local factory for 30 years without any continuing education? Engineers will run the new factories.
Perhaps the governor can explain to his Downstate base how they’re going to keep their kids around without those continuing education opportunities.
- Steve Rogers - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:25 am:
For someone with an ivy-league education, the governor hasn’t used it very well. Practically every state in the country has public universities that “duplicate” curricula. I’m sure Indiana, Indiana State, IUPUI, and the University of Evansville, all within a few hours of each other offer a similar “bunch of stuff.” Good grief!!
- Henry - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:28 am:
Specialized state universities only makes sense if every student knows which career they are pursuing before submitting applications.
- Anonymous - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:29 am:
Are there programs at the state schools that have low numbers of students? You bet. But the schools have to report on those programs to IBHE annually. The schools can close them, merge them, or explain why they are justified. Guess what, a “small program” like Chemistry enrolls students from lots of other majors too. So cutting a Chemistry program because there are only 8 majors graduating one year hurts hundreds of other students in various programs. Also, the lab space, classrooms, and faculty all get used for graduate programs and general education courses as well so to pass judgment on a program based solely on the number of graduates exposes a great deal of ignorance about higher education. Ask questions, have discussions with experts, then develop a plan if you want to do something.
- Ryan - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 10:49 am:
Gov. Droppi G won’t be happy until all stated-funded universities are replaced with private one. He can talk all he wants about how he supports them, but the fact is, he doesn’t.
- Langhorne - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 11:03 am:
As always, a flimsy description of how things ought to be changed, sounding like it was hashed out over single malt at the club. (”My friends in colorado say…”)
No analysis. No public discussion. No plan. No bills. You dont need a plan, if you are happy with starve the beast.
- DuPage - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 11:30 am:
@ 10:29 Anonymous
Agree 100%. Also, a lot of students are unsure or change their minds on their majors. Many high school seniors THINK they know what they want to do, but after a year or two of college they shift over to something else. To have specific majors eliminated would cause the student to have to start over at another college if they wanted to change their major. Other states universities are not doing this, and they will attract even more Illinois students.
- NoGifts - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 11:31 am:
Henry — great comment. Thank you. Maybe the donors will put in orders for personnel and the universities will establish the degrees and create them. What isn’t on the industry shopping list can be eliminated. Like a terrible machine serving products to industrial tycoons.
- Exit 59 - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 11:39 am:
Ya know…I lived at home and attended SIUC. In today’s world that is one of the few ways to graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree and not have huge debt attached. We aren’t all wealthy enough to afford to move to go to school.
- Roman - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 11:49 am:
He’s spit-balling ideas like he’s a mid-level bureaucrat at a community college.
C’mon, dude…you’re the freaking governor. Offer an actual plan. Maybe give the Brd of Higher Ed real statutorily power over the schools; maybe group the universities into a couple governing boards; Maybe embrace U of I’s new funding model and apply it to the other universities; Heck, maybe have the guts to close or consolidate campuses. Give us something. You’re not some bystander. What’s your plan, governor?!
- Anon221 - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 12:03 pm:
There is a thing called General Education Requirements. Is one and only one university in Illinois supposed to “supply” those to ALL students who plan to take higher ed in Illinois? And, as stated above regarding Chemistry requirements, many, many other majors require Chemistry. In my freshman year I took an Intro to Chemistry course and in one section alone we had over 300 students- not all Chem majors! I’m sure Rauner had to take Gen Ed at Dartmouth (https://tinyurl.com/kuztva5).
Here’s ISU’s, for example: https://illinoisstate.edu/catalog/pdf/gen_ed.pdf
And, not everyone enrolled in these courses are traditional 4 and out year students. These are the types of courses that can help people get back on their feet and into a better life. Rauner works in a world of silos, and cannot seem to make the connections between (for instance) what he wants to achieve in criminal justice change and what those people will need to succeed if they choose to return to school- higher ed at a university or at a community college as a gateway to university.
- OH - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 12:22 pm:
I thought the governor hired Beth Purvis as the newly created “Education Secretary” to turn these ideas into policies.
Turns out, she’s being paid $250,000 a year just to give testimony at legislative hearings and issue press releases attacking the governor’s critics.
She has yet to unveil the governor’s K-12 funding proposal and a strategic plan for higher ed.
Another “superstar” gettin’ things done.
- @misterjayem - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 1:40 pm:
“pretty much the only concrete actions to come out of this administration have been to either propose huge cuts to [𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮] or squeeze them slowly to death by not passing a budget.”
The Bruce Rauner edition of Mad Libs is pretty depressing.
– MrJM
- Pot calling kettle - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 1:45 pm:
==Her answers repeatedly referred to…students leaving Illinois to go to school in other states.==
You would think that a governor with a strong business background would try to get those “customers” back. Perhaps the loss of students tracks with the steady decline in higher ed funding going back to 2000. Perhaps an investment in Higher Ed would turn that migration around. Perhaps building the universities and bringing back students would be attractive to those businesses Gov. Businessman thinks are so important.
- dr. reason a, goodwin - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 2:21 pm:
So much of the damage is already done. Students are fleeing to other states.
- Biscuit Head - Monday, Apr 3, 17 @ 3:34 pm:
* * You would think that a governor with a strong business background would try to get those “customers” back * *
This Governor’s business background is carving up companies and selling off the pieces. He’s really not familiar at all with the concept of “customers”.