Southern Illinois University: Knowledge is Power

Education
Written by Eric Slack
Friday, 30 November 2007
Chairman of the board Roger Tedrick describes how this university system built a legacy by providing access to a quality higher education. For more than a decade, the cost of a college education has grown faster than inflation. But some universities have dealt with the problem a little better than others. Southern Illinois University has proven that diversity can spur institutional profits as much as tuition hikes. Roger Tedrick, Chairman of Board of Trustees SIU’s diversity is evident throughout its structure. At first glance, the school’s five unique campuses are the most noticeable aspects. Southern Illinois University is made up of two institutions: SIU Carbondale and SIU Edwardsville. Carbondale has a school of medicine in Springfield and a law school in Carbondale while Edwardsville has a school of dental medicine in Alton, a school of pharmacy in Edwardsville, and a center in East St. Louis with programs for children and adults. This gives SIU a wide footprint across the land of Lincoln. Having such a presence has allowed the school system to expand to its current level of nearly 35,000 students. “Our first president, Delyte Morris, took us from being a teacher’s college to a university about 50 years ago. We had a lot of political strength at the time in our area, and we dovetailed that into building our university,” said Roger Tedrick, chairman of SIU’s board of trustees. Looking at the programs offered throughout the SIU system, it becomes clear that the theory of diversity applies to fields of study. The East St. Louis Center runs programs addressing various urban educational needs, working with everyone from preschoolers to post graduates. The main campuses offer degrees in a wide range of programs, including education, engineering, and liberal arts. Combined with a medical school and a dental school, SIU is in position to be the school of choice for many in the region. Getting the word out Tedrick said the university system is actively building for the future, rather than resting on its laurels. For example, the board is taking steps to improve the school’s marketing efforts, bringing in outside consultants to help in the development of a new branding campaign. “With marketing, we haven’t always been as successful as we’d like, and we are in the process of changing that,” said Tedrick, noting the school plans to launch this campaign sometime after the beginning of 2008. “The new marketing plan was done on a system-wide basis, because each campus does have a little different mission.” The school is also actively upgrading its facilities. As part of an improvement to its transportation technology programs, the school hopes to build a $40 million facility at the Southern Illinois airport, which is part of a funding bill being considered by the state legislature. Another initiative, called the Saluki Way, is a 10-year project, begun in 2005 and aimed at reshaping the Carbondale campus around new academic and athletic facilities. “Some of our facilities on the Carbondale campus are outdated. Our football stadium, which sits right in the middle of campus, was originally built in 1939. It needed immediate attention. We have also planned to simultaneously undertake significant renovations to academic buildings around the campus as well as build a new student services building,” Tedrick said. Commitment to people Southern Illinois University’s campuses have traditionally sought to foster one more aspect of diversity. According to Tedrick, attracting minorities and first-generation college students showcases the school system’s mission to offer educational opportunities to everyone. The school has a history of success bringing in minorities from Chicago public schools. It has a vice chancellor for diversity and runs a variety of programs tailored towards the different groups it recruits. “One of the problems we’re running into is that our public education system is having trouble teaching science and math skills. Some students need remedial education, and we try to bring those students in over the summer for an intensive program teaching them how to excel at the university level,” said Tedrick. He added that SIU has developed relationships with community colleges designed to steer those who aren’t ready four-year schools into programs to prepare them for bachelor degree studies. Taking these steps help SIU keep its reputation among the prospective students it targets. Another factor in earning that reputation is its traditionally low cost. In fact, until recently, SIU had the lowest tuition in the state. Due to funding issues, the board was forced to raise tuitions, but SIU is still ranked among the least expensive universities in Illinois, and the administration proved it was capable of making the hard choices. “Like other universities, we have to adjust to the soaring cost of medical and retirement benefits. State funding doesn’t cover as much of the costs as it used to. We also had to cut some programs, as any business would have to,” said Tedrick. And it hasn’t affected the number of students coming in. According to Tedrick, the Edwardsville campus is growing, and in recent years had to cap enrollment. While Carbondale is more mature, Tedrick is confident that SIU can keep enrollment at the levels it needs to keep the system strong from top to bottom. “We strive to keep the university affordable without hurting the product we put out. We also have a need for more infrastructure improvements, so we have to figure out how to pay for those upgrades,” Tedrick said. And it will be easier to pay for future projects with proper financial planning. One such example is SIU’s involvement with the Illinois Public Higher Education Consortium. This consortium allows the school system to make large-scale purchases of various goods and services for all its facilities, rather than each campus having to make its own orders. “We try to consolidate what we can purchase as a system because it gives us more purchasing power. There are a lot of purchases indigenous to a particular program or campus, and we have guidelines for that, but any time we can consolidate, we do,” said Tedrick.

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