Speeches and statements
TestimonyPresident B. Joseph White Chair: David Miller Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: Thank you for the opportunity to meet with you today. Thank you, also, for your support of the University of Illinois. I will limit my remarks to a few key points. Then, I will be happy to hear your comments and respond to questions. Let me first state directly that I support the Governor’s higher education agenda as spelled out in his budget address last week. After four years of cuts and no growth in operating funds, the 1.5% increase the Governor has recommended is welcome support that will help us begin to restore and maintain academic excellence. Throughout the last four difficult years, we have worked hard at the U of I to maintain quality by reducing administration and cutting other costs. We have made annual reallocation of funds within budgets a way of life. We have been largely successful in maintaining quality but not completely. Class sizes have grown as has the student-faculty ratio. And, our deferred maintenance backlog, now at least $700 million and compounding rapidly, has grown. I sincerely hope that this year’s budget message is the beginning of a turnaround in state support. I have now served as president of the U of I for a year. I have come to believe with complete conviction that the University of Illinois is the state’s single most valuable asset in creating a prosperous future for the people of Illinois, the nation and the world. I am proud that we offer a $20,000 to $30,000 a year education for about $8,000 in tuition. This is an extraordinary value for our students. Each year, we educate 70,000 students in high quality programs in Chicago, Springfield and Urbana and award 17,000 degrees. Over 90% of our undergraduate students come from Illinois and most stay in Illinois. We also bring to Illinois nearly $650 million per year in research grants and contracts that generate thousands of high paying jobs for our state. That research produces the discoveries that are the foundation of tomorrow’s companies, industries, and jobs for Illinois. Looking ahead, I have two overarching concerns about the University of Illinois. One is maintaining the academic excellence that is imbedded in our faculty, including Nobel Prize winners like Anthony Leggett and Paul Lauterbur and geniuses like Nick Holonyak and Carl Woese, as well as our most recent MacArthur Prize winner, Todd Martinez. The other concern is getting on top of the compounding deferred maintenance problem. Therefore, I support the Governor’s desire to secure funds for capital improvements in higher education. High on our list of capital needs is Lincoln Hall, a landmark building on the Urbana campus that is in desperate need of refurbishment. For thousands of students and hundreds of faculty, Lincoln Hall is the very symbol of the academic quality of the U of I. We need to make it a symbol of which we can all be proud. You’re also aware of the extraordinary facility challenges we face in our role as the primary provider of health care education for the State of Illinois. The University of Illinois is a gateway of opportunity for thousands of students. That gateway is open and inclusive. We intend to keep it that way and make it even better. Across the three campuses of the University, enrollment of underrepresented minority students — African American and Latino — reached 10,294 students in Fall 2005. We value Project CHANCE and other programs that enable us to increase access for such students. We’re also expanding opportunities for students and reaching out to communities via programs like CeaseFire and the Urban Health program in Chicago, extension programs offered by the Urbana campus throughout the state, and the Springfield campus’s legislative internship program here in the state capital. I want you to know that the University of Illinois is an excellent institutional citizen of our state. Here is one example. This year, the Inspector General’s mandatory ethics training for all state employees was deployed at the U of I with an astounding 99.93% completion rate. Fewer than 40 out of more than 40,000 employees have not completed the training and we are tracking down each of them in pursuit of 100% compliance. Finally, let me end on a point of pride. Great faculty attract outstanding students; then excellent education happens. Last week, we learned that our newly appointed Provost of the Urbana campus, Linda Katehi, as well as Ade Adesida, the Interim Dean of Engineering, have both been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, the highest professional honor in the engineering profession. This brings to 25 the number of U of I faculty so honored. Thank you again for your support of the University of Illinois. I am personally grateful for your understanding and support of our mission, to transform people’s lives through education and create a positive future for Illinois through research, service, and economic development. I would be happy to hear your comments and respond to questions. |
