PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 20, No. 6, Sept. 21, 2000

Trustees laud Aiken’s accomplishments, review Siebel Center drawings

Becky Mabry, Assistant Editor
(217) 244-1072; mabry@illinois.edu

Chancellor Michael Aiken told the UI Board of Trustees Sept. 14 of some of the accomplishments achieved at the Urbana campus over the last five years, and when he was finished the board and others gave Aiken a hearty and lengthy ovation.

The trustees met Sept. 13 and 14 in the Illini Union.
"It’s a better campus and a more competitive campus," said President James J. Stukel at the end of Aiken’s presentation. "On behalf of all the trustees and the faculty, administrators and staff, we thank you."

Aiken, who has announced he’ll retire next August, created a plan that he called "Framework for the Future" shortly after he took the position in 1993. Of the 134 specific initiatives in the plan, most have been accomplished, he said.

Highlights of the accomplishments include:

• Faculty salaries increased an average of 5.4 percent. Full professor salaries moved from seventh to third in the Big 10. In the IBHE comparison group, however, the salaries rose only from 20th to 17th, and Aiken said this issue needs to remain a priority.
  
  
• Campaign Illinois raised more than $1 billion for the campus. One of the accomplishments of the campaign was increasing the number of endowed chairs and professors from 32 to 194.
  
  
• The campus moved toward rebuilding faculty strength. Nineteen new faculty members were hired through the Faculty Excellence Program, with 22 additional offers outstanding.
  
  
• More women are at the associate professor level now, up about 19 percent since 1994, and there’s been a 20 percent increase in the number of women in the full professor ranks, despite an overall decline in the size of the faculty.
  
  
• The base stipend for all graduate students increased from $7,500 for a nine-month, 50 percent appointment, to $10,600. There have been improved health-care benefits and services for graduate students.
  
  
• The first-year undergraduate experience was expanded by offering more living and learning communities – now at six – and offering the New Student Convocation in the fall. The Discovery Program brings freshmen together with faculty members in small classes of 20 students or less. The Discovery Program now serves nearly 66 percent of the freshman class.
  
  
• The Teaching Advancement Board was formed to support teaching excellence, much like the Research Board does for the research mission of the campus.
  
  
• Major new facilities were constructed, such as the Chemical and Life Sciences building, Campbell Hall for Public Telecommunications and Spurlock Museum. Major projects under way include the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences Library and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science addition. Other projects in the planning stage include the National Center for Supercomputing Applications building, the Post-Genomics Institute and the Siebel Center for Computer Science.
  
  
• In addition, major renovations were made to the Assembly Hall, Daniels Hall, Commerce West and $12 million was spent for improved seating, lighting, multi-media capabilities and air conditioning in classrooms.
  
  
• The South Campus Master Plan was completed, which includes the relocation of the South Farms and animal research centers to areas south of Windsor Road.
  
  
• Participation in study abroad programs increased by 35 percent, with about 1,200 students participating, ranking the UI sixth in the nation for the largest study abroad program of all U.S. universities.
  
  
• The developer has been selected and construction initiated for the Research Park on the south campus.
  
  
• Two women’s sports have been added – soccer and softball – which helped increase female participation in intercollegiate varsity sports from 29.9 percent in 1994 to 40 percent in 2000.
  
  
• Campus budget reform was implemented beginning in FY99. Refinements and improvements are made each year to improve the process.
  
  

In other matters
Trustees received architectural drawings for the Thomas M. Siebel Center for Computer Science. The 218,000-square-foot building is being built with gift money from alumnus Siebel, and money from the state and College of Engineering. The building will be located near the proposed NCSA building on the northeast corner of campus.

The Siebel Center will provide classrooms, faculty offices and research labs, and administrative offices for the department of computer science. The plans call for a site encompassing two square blocks. The NCSA building will occupy the northern half of the site and the Siebel Center will be on the southern half. The north boundary is Clark Street, and the south is Stoughton Avenue; the east-west boundaries are Goodwin and Mathews avenues. The building will be brick and limestone, to match the historic buildings on campus, and it will be four stories tall and also have a lower level.

Trustees also considered the proposal from an alumnus to build a chapel or "quiet place" on campus. Aiken said the donor proposes the building be available to those who seek a quiet place of solitude for meditation or reflection, and also as a meeting space for religious groups or for personal counseling. The 6,300-square-foot building would cost $4 million to $5 million, all of which would come from the donor, according to the proposal.

Some trustees expressed concern about a "chapel" on state-owned property. Chairman William Engelbrecht suggested the donor be asked if it could be called the McFarland Quiet Place, rather than McFarland Chapel, and if it could be open to all groups, and not just religious ones.
Also at the meeting, trustees learned that the search for a new chancellor for the Springfield campus has resulted in 16 active applicants and 14 nominations. The committee hopes to have a list of finalists to the board by January. Chancellor Naomi Lynn announced her retirement last year and has agreed to stay on until a new chancellor is hired.

The board also heard concerns from three people who spoke against the sale of 1,800 acres of farmland at Allerton Park. The board is considering the sale of the land to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which wants to restore it to a natural prairie. Proceeds from the sale would go toward maintenance and improvements at the park.

A representative from Women in Computer Science asked that the new Siebel Center be designed to include a "parents’ office." The room would be a place where a parent could work while supervising a child, but the parents would not leave their children unattended, said Kay Connelly, the representative. She said it would allow parents to get some work done without bothering their co-workers at times when they must bring their children to work.

Stacy Fifer with the Graduate Employees’ Organization urged the trustees to provide more child-care facilities on the Urbana campus. She said the UI’s lack of response to a child-care shortage demonstrates the need for the graduate employees to be recognized as a collective bargaining unit. She said the graduate assistants need a union in order to have their concerns heard.

Trustees approved a resolution that allows the university to use its power of eminent domain to acquire land for the South Campus expansion, if needed. The resolution states that if the land purchases cannot be negotiated with the owners, the UI can use eminent domain to acquire specific parcels of land north and south of Church Street, between Curtis Road and Airport Road.