College of Arts and Sciences Advancement Plan

The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) is committed to creating a learning community rich in faculty-student collaboration on research and scholarly endeavors, promoting in our students an appreciation of diversity, providing guided experiences through internships, community-based learning and practical experiences, and instilling intellectual agility and the habits of mind and spirit necessary for living a fulfilled life in a rapidly changing world.

Transformational Development Opportunities

Large gifts could transform CAS in its ability to fulfill its mission and goals. The creation of new research and public service centers requires significant funding support. A new center for environmental monitoring/control and another for substance abuse would allow CAS to forge ahead in these important global and social areas. A multi-million dollar gift could also help CAS meet its goal to expand teaching and learning experiences at the Kibbe Field Station on the Mississippi River. Resources to support new laboratory and teaching facilities and land acquisition at the station are needed.

Center For Environmental Monitoring/International Citizen Scientist Center For Environmental Quality

Environmental pollutants in the air, in the water, or in the soil can be detected through observing genetic damage in plant and animal cells. Dr. Te-Hsiu Ma has developed highly sensitive, simple, and economical tests for detecting environmentally induced genetic damage. Many existing techniques can be taught to practitioners with a relatively limited scientific background, and techniques may be implemented with limited instrumentation/equipment. Examples of the use of these genetic tests include: epidemiology of respiratory patients; ecology and ecosystem change around a radioactive pollutant; carcinogen screening; effects of exhaust fumes; contaminated soil from ammunition testing grounds; analyses of drinking water in rural communities. The center will focus on disseminating the currently known monitoring methods, developing new methods and techniques, and collecting data on genetic cell damage due to environmental pollution. The center will also contribute to our support of genetics instruction and faculty and student research. The center will be housed in the Department of Biological Sciences and closely affiliated with the Institute for Environmental Studies

Development Needs

Benefits to the Donor

Support of local, regional, and global environment and economy; recognition at college and university functions; naming possibilities for endowed faculty/chair position and the center.

Alice l. Kibbe Field Station

Researcher at Kibbe Station.The field station is a living laboratory offering research opportunities for faculty, and learning and research experiences for graduate and undergraduate students, Illinois public school teachers, and high school students across the nation. In 2003 a major grant from the National Science Foundation, matched by the CAS and the University, made possible the addition of a 4,200 square foot, fully winterized facility with 48 beds, a kitchen, and a conference area. A new laboratory and teaching facility will allow the College to expand significantly Kibbe’s capacity for on-site, year-round teaching and learning experiences. To protect an important glen environment at Kibbe, the land holdings should be expanded to include 220 acres currently held in private agricultural holdings. A facility on the shore of the Mississippi River with boat storage and docking capabilities would allow ready access to boats during the research season; such a facility will facilitate development of long term projects related to environmental projects on the river.

Development Needs

Benefits to the Donor

Support of local and regional environment and economy; advancement of environmental issues; advancement of education; advancement of local grade school education; providing local students with educational opportunities; recognition at college and university functions; naming possibilities for the building, stations, and fellowships.

Center for Education and Research on Substance Abuse (CERSA)

The Department of Psychology is well positioned to provide training for students who wish to become Certified Substance Abuse Counselors. Integrating substance abuse counselor training with our Psychology degree program would fill a niche in the treatment community by providing graduates with substance abuse counseling training built upon a strong foundation of psychology, thus producing graduates who bring more than just occupation-specific skills to their professions. A certificate in substance abuse may also be of interest to nursing and health sciences students. The center will also conduct research to develop cutting edge counseling techniques.

Development Needs

Benefits to the Donor

Enhanced quality of life for people in region; recognition at college and university functions; naming possibilities for the chair and faculty positions.

Student/Faculty Research and Creative Activity Fund

Dr. Bonnan and student measuring bones.The CAS undergraduate research and creative activity programs have had a phenomenal impact on students’ learning experiences. In these programs undergraduates work directly with faculty mentors in numerous areas throughout the college to conduct research and creative activity projects. Students present their findings to the university community during the Undergraduate Research Day each spring and also attend and present at professional meetings. Through these programs students learn for a lifetime how to seek answers in a logical, methodical way and how to communicate these answers to people who may not be specialists in this particular area.

Development Needs

Benefits to the Donor

Support of excellence in education; support of faculty/student mentoring; development of potential workforce; recognition at college and university functions; naming possibilities for the grants and fellowships.

John Hallwas Liberal Arts Lecture

CAS is an intellectual center where fundamental knowledge in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and mathematics is created, preserved, and communicated. The liberal education facet of our academic programs helps our students become life-long learners who can think clearly and critically; communicate precisely and effectively; and interpret with insight, imagination, and compassion. Our commitment to liberal education is celebrated during the John Hallwas Liberal Arts Lecture, which is an annual lecture dedicated to “engaging the WIU community and the public with essential issues and fundamental questions through perspectives from the liberal arts.”

Development Needs

Benefits to the Donor

Support of excellence in education; support of liberal education values; development of potential workforce; recognition at college and university functions; naming possibilities for the endowed scholar-in-residence program.

Technology In Teaching and Learning

The College of Arts and Sciences is an active promoter and supporter of use of technology to enhance teaching and learning. The College operates and maintains a number of electronic teaching classrooms in its five buildings.

Development Needs

As using a technology enhanced education becomes more of a practice, there is a continual need for additional facilities.

Benefits to the Donor

Support of excellence in education; support of development of a technologically savvy potential workforce; recognition at college and university functions; naming possibilities for the rooms.