I want to welcome
new and returning students, faculty
and staff to Western Illinois University.
While these continue to be challenging
times, there is much for which we
should be thankful.
First and foremost,
we need to express appreciation for
our outstanding faculty and staff.
Let me—as I have the previous
two years— again thank each
of you for your understanding and
support this past fiscal year. Western’s
loyal and dedicated faculty, staff,
administration and student body has
exhibited a willingness to make and
accept difficult budget decisions,
improve efficiencies and keep our
student instructional mission as our
top priority. Such decisions have
allowed us to avoid significant reductions
of course offerings for our students
and massive layoffs during the past
3 years as well as to provide 3.5
percent pay raises this year.
We begin the
fiscal year with state funding at
the same level as at the start of
FY04. I am extremely appreciative
that the governor and legislature
did not reduce our general revenue
funding this year and that there is
also an agreement protecting higher
education against a rescission. In
addition, the FY05 budget contains
$300,000 in new funds for faculty
and staff in the Quad Cities. We are
very fortunate to receive any new
appropriated dollars in such dire
fiscal circumstances.
As I indicated
last year, we are also fortunate to
have additional income fund support
due to growing enrollment, even as
we continue our innovative, well-managed
Cost Guarantee program which freezes
tuition, fees and room and board rates
for incoming students at levels appropriate
for those entering the University.
This remarkable program has brought
us statewide and national attention
again during the past few months,
including articles in the New
York Times and the Wall Street Journal. And we are now the only university in the state to offer
the cost guarantee to graduate students.
We are thankful
that our freshman enrollment will
probably again increase for this fall
and last year our graduation rate
increased by 5 percent. Our new enrollments
were so strong, that for the first
time we had to close admissions by
August 1. Due to our campus wide commitment
to new recruitment initiatives, this
year we have a more diverse student,
faculty, and staff population.
I am very excited
that we have completed national searches
for an associate provost to oversee
the Quad Cities and extended studies
and academic deans to lead the colleges
of Arts and Sciences, Fine Arts and
Communication and Education and Human
Services. We also had a successful
internal search for our interim dean
of the College of Business and Technology.
I know you join me in welcoming our
new academic leaders to the campus.
I look forward to working with all
of them.
We are also
thankful for the progress we have
made on campus facilities projects.
We have opened a new residence hall
and partnered with the credit union
for a location for their new facility.Funds
for the Memorial Hall rehabilitation
have been released and we should do
intensive planning for that project
this year. Our entrepreneurship center,
along with many related activities,
has moved off campus to partner with
MAEDCO and we have received statewide
recognition for moving so quickly
in this area.
While we have
not received funds for our new Quad
Cities Riverfront Campus, the governor
has indicated that this is a top priority
for economic development in that region.
We are hoping that $1.5 million will
be allocated for architectural and
engineering work at the November veto
session. And, of course, we will continue
to politic for the release of the
planning funds for our Performing
Arts Center. The project has received
strong support from the Illinois Board
of Higher Education and we are hoping
that an improved economic climate
will lead to the start of that project.
I am also thankful
for all of the hard work that has
gone into creating our campus theme
for this year, “Civic Engagement,”
which will be incorporated into a
variety of programs, including academic
discussions, public forums and reading
groups. Our pilot first year experience,
which we are testing with our incoming
Honors students, will incorporate
many of these activities. In addition,
we are continuing to participate in
the American Democracy Project, which
will strive to find ways of encouraging
civic engagement among our students.
And I am most
thankful that we have completed our
strategic plan: “Higher Values
in Higher Education.” I know
that the plan will be a road map to
future success and excellence at Western
Illinois University. We will soon
be putting together implementation
teams and developing mechanisms for
reporting progress to the campus.
I hope you will join us as we enter
this new phase of the process.
It is hard for
me to believe that I am entering my
third year as President at Western
Illinois University. I am so honored
to be a member of this university
community. Please know I look forward
to an outstanding new academic year.
