Well, it appears we have factions not happy with either President Dunn or Chancellor Montemagno. One faction thinks Dunn wants to split apart SIUC and SIUE with both of them on an equal regional footing. The other faction thinks Montemagno has been sent in to weaken SIUC at the behest of Gov. Rauner (see the letter on page 5 of this week's Carbondale Times) and return it to regional status as well and that Dunn is the only one standing in his way. It would appear that, based on this, SIUC is in trouble no matter who is in charge.
Not sure why people still want SIUC and SIUE together - other than the fact that they have been together for decades. They have completely separate missions, are in completely different areas (rural vs urban) and have very little in common. SIUC should stay branded as Southern Illinois University and get the law school, SIUE should be rebranded Edwardsville University and get the medical school. The things they share (unions, etc) would still be shared because they would still both be a part of the Illinois higher educational system. But by separating them they could FINALLY each focus on their VERY different mission. SIUC could perhaps focus their business school on business in rural america (a huge opportunity that to my knowledge no business school currently focuses on). There is no reason to keep them together other than fear and the status quo. There are lots of reason to separate them.
ReplyDeleteI think the main reason is that the two institutions present a stronger front as one combined unit when negotiating with the state. Of course, the two squabble so much that it is hard to see them agreeing on anything.
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