Aiken: Focus on single issue of draft reports of Academic Plan 'disappointing and sad'

By Craig Chamberlain

There are hundreds of ideas for the future in draft reports recently
released by 10 committees involved in developing an Academic Plan for the
Year 2000.

So far, only one of those ideas has gotten most of the attention, said
Chancellor Michael Aiken, in comments at the annual meeting of the faculty
Oct. 24. Most of the other ideas, which carry more consequence for the
university's future, have gotten little notice, he said.

That single issue, which Aiken did not mention by name, is the
recommendation by one committee studying inclusivity to retire Chief
Illiniwek as a university symbol.

"It is disappointing and sad," Aiken told the faculty in attendance for the
meeting, "that, to date, the greatest public response to these reports has
been to a single issue that has deeply divided this campus, while
comparatively little attention has been given to the full range of issues
mentioned in these documents."

Attention in the campus community needs to be focused, he said, "on the
very great issues facing this university, answers to which will determine
whether we shall enter the next century a stronger and a better university,
or slide sideways, or even lose ground."

As he has before, Aiken urged faculty and staff members and students to
examine and respond to the 10 committee reports, copies of which are
available at the Office of Public Affairs, on the third floor of the
Swanlund Administration Building. Comments are sought by Dec. 15, and
should be sent to the Chancellor's Office, in the Swanlund Administration
Building.

Faculty members at the meeting got a brief review of four of the 10
reports, from the chairs of committees dealing with the research
environment, undergraduate education, retaining and renewing a quality
faculty, and public image.

They also heard from UI President Stanley O. Ikenberry, who is retiring
next summer and therefore was speaking for the last time at the annual
meeting.

Ikenberry said he believed the university was "a stronger, better place"
than a decade ago, even though many of the years during that period were
not easy ones. "We certainly are a more open and diverse university
community than we were 10 years ago," he said.

"I believe the best days of the University of Illinois are still before
us," Ikenberry said. The challenge during the next 10 to 15 years, however,
will be how to do more, at higher levels of quality, and with fewer
resources.

Despite criticisms of recent years, the research university may be the
strongest institution serving the larger society, Ikenberry said. As a
result, society may be coming back to research universities over and over
in the years ahead for help in solving an array of problems.