July 30, 2013
APAC Representatives Meet With President Easter
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APAC members and other
employee leaders met with President Robert Easter.
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MICHAEL MOSS, APAC chairman, and two other APAC
representatives came away from their most recent meeting with University
President Robert A. Easter
expressing optimism with his take on University issues.
“IT WENT pretty well,” Moss said. The meeting
lasted about one hour, and it was “high level,” he added. APAC Vice Chair Ahlam Al-Kodmany reported, “It was nice
to see President Easter’s understanding and empathy.” Marelet Kirda, an APAC Senator, said, “It’s definitely a great
opportunity to hear the President’s perspective.”
THE THREE APAC members were joined in the
meeting at the President’s house in Urbana by representatives of the Urbana and
Springfield campuses who are on the University Professional Personnel Advisory
Committee (UPPAC). The June 11 meeting came toward the end of Easter’s first
year as U of I President, and the session won’t be the last, the three APAC
members said.
THE UNIVERSITY’S increasing dependence on tuition to
fund its operations was a recurrent theme, Kirda said. Easter said that the
American people at some point will say, “that’s enough,” and look at other ways
of funding universities. Since time was short, they did not get into a lot of
specifics, Moss said.
PENSION PLANNING drew further talk. Easter is “front
and center,” working on it, Al-Kodmany said. Easter said he is working in
collaboration with leadership from other State Universities to push a pension
plan developed by the Institute of Government Affairs to the “attention” of
State legislators. Lawmakers are looking at it, Al-Kodmany added. “This is
clearly a president who has rolled up his sleeves.”
IMPROVING ON efficiencies is a goal of the President’s, Al-Kodmany noted. For example, Easter asked why seven or eight
signatures need to be on a contract before it gets to him. He is “clearly not a
bureaucrat,” she added.
UNIVERSITY-BUSINESS partnerships were another focus.
Easter wants to build more ties to businesses, along with increasing endowments
and investments, to better fund University programs and support students, Kirda
said. UI LABS is an example of the kind of partnerships that can be developed,
she said. UI LABS is a pathway to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in
private and government funding that wouldn’t otherwise be available for
Universities to pursue.
HE UNDERSTOOD that Academic Professional staff
should be recognized as major contributors to the University’s mission,
although he conceded the work of Academic Professionals is not discussed often
enough in public, Al-Kodmany said. “We are the foundation” for faculty and
student retention and promotion, she said. “It was like a light bulb that went
on when we talked about that.” He said,
‘You are absolutely correct.’”
SOMETIMES INDIVIDUALS
at high levels are “too politicized,” Al-Kodmany said, noting that “Their
responses have no depth”—but that is not the sense she got during the meeting
with Easter. “He was listening.” Moss agreed. “He has a level of understanding
of the University that is very unique.”
FURTHER MEETINGS will be scheduled, probably twice a year, Moss said. Easter is committed
to “continuing that engagement” with UPPAC. Kirda added that APAC also
appreciates the opportunities afforded to the group to meet with the Chancellor
and Provost a couple of times throughout the year.
ALL THREE APAC members believe the U of I is the
better for Easter’s time at the helm. Easter has agreed to stay on board for
two-and-a-half more years until June 30, 2015, when he will be 67 years old.
“Easter has provided strong leadership during challenging times – we will
definitely be sad to see him go,” Moss said.
WHEN THE U of I Board of Trustees approved
Easter as president in March 2012, he was asked to serve until June 2014. A new
agreement has extended his tenure by a year.
“THERE IS a consensus, and this is not just on
the board but throughout the institution, on campuses and among external
audiences, that this first year has gone very well indeed," said U of I
spokesman Tom Hardy.
FOR MORE about U of I private-public partnerships,
log on to:
http://research.uillinois.edu/innovation-infrastructure/interdisciplinary-research/ui-labs-future-today.
For University administration reviews and a message from President Easter, log
on to: http://www.uillinois.edu/uareview/.
For Springfield News-Gazette coverage
of Easter’s contract extension, log on to http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2013-07-19/easter-contract-be-extended-year.html.
New APAC Officers Named
APAC RECENTLY held an election for officers.
THE FOLLOWING individuals will serve in 2013-2014: Chair: Michael
Moss, Associate Director, Budget Operations and Financial Analysis, (312)
996-0306, mmoss2@uic.edu; Vice Chair: Ahlam Al-Kodmany, Director, Institute
for Health Research and Policy, (312) 996-7485, ryyan@uic.edu;
Secretary: Mary Berta, Assistant to
the Head, Department of Occupational Therapy, Allied Health Sciences, (312)
413-8355, mberta@uic.edu; and Treasurer: Agnes Kawalec, Visiting Center Coordinator, Center for Clinical and
Translational Science, (312) 413-7353, akawal2@uic.edu.
COMMITTEE CHAIRS also were chosen: Communications: William S. Bike, Director of
Advancement and Alumni Affairs Communications, College of Dentistry, (312)
996-8495, billbike@uic.edu; Chancellor’s
Academic Professional Excellence (CAPE): Al-Kodmany; Building Communications
and Education: Kawalec; Professional Development: Donn Kamm, Assistant Director, Office for Access and Equity, (312)
996-6424, donn@uic.edu, and Uma Sriram, Accounting Consulting,
Office of Business and Financial Services, (312) 355-4935, usriram@uic.edu; Representation: Margaret Moser, Director,
Administrative Operations, Vice President for Health Affairs, (312) 355-5701, mlmoser@uic.edu; and Bylaws: Berta and Colleen Piersen, Assistant head for
Administration, Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, (312)
413-9299, cpiersen@uic.edu.
THE WEBMASTER is Jeff Alcantar, Assistant Director for Web Services, Office of
Business and Financial Services, (312) 996-0959, alcanta1@uic.edu. University Professional
Personnel Advisory Committee (UPPAC) Representatives are Al-Kodmany; Moss; and Marelet Kirda, Assistant to the Vice
Chancellor for Research, (312) 996-6174, brugada@uic.edu.
UPPAC alternates are Jacquie Berger, Director
of Communications, Vice Chancellor for Research, (312) 413-0075, jacquieb@uic.edu; Deidre Rush, Associate Director, Financial Aid
Office, (312) 996-5563, deidreb@uic.edu;
and Berta/
Be A Mentor
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THE APMP will host a series of roundtable
discussions led by UIC personnel who have been mentors in the program. They
will share their insights on what it takes to be a mentor -- their professional
experience, the nature of the mentoring relationship, time commitment, and the
benefits of the program – and more. The tables will be moderated by APMP
committee members. Light refreshments will be served.
Save the Date: October 14 Panel Featuring President Easter
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President Robert Easter
(right) with UIC Provost Lon Kaufman.
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EASTER WAS appointed President-Designate of the University of Illinois in March 2012. Before becoming President, Easter spent his entire, nearly 40-year career as a senior administrator and faculty member on the University’s Urbana-Champaign campus.
ALL SURS eligible
faculty and staff are welcome to attend.
APAC Meetings Scheduled
ALL
APs are invited to
the monthly APAC meeting at 12:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month.
Meetings are held either in Room 5175 of the College of Medicine Research
Building, 909 S. Wolcott, or Room 2750 of University Hall on the East Campus.
Next meeting is August 14 in Room 5175 of the College of Medicine Research
Building. For information, call (312) 996-0306.
BENEFIT BEAT
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THE UIC Children’s Center provides full-day early childhood education services to 50 preschool children of UIC students, faculty, and staff. The children range in age from two years, nine months to six years. All children must be toilet trained.
THE CHILDREN’S Center is on the West Side of campus, 1919 W. Taylor St., Room 116, MC 525, (312) 413-5330.
THE PROGRAM is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and licensed by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
AS WELL as providing quality, developmentally appropriate full-day preschool services, the Children’s Center serves as a demonstration site for the constructivist philosophy developed by former UIC professors Constance Kamii and Rheta DeVries and based upon the theory of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget.
THE CONTINUING CRISIS
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A POSITIVE retirement solution for public and
private workers. See the Georgetown
Public Policy Review, June 13, http://gppreview.com/2013/06/13/a-positive-retirement-solution-for-public-and-private-workers/?utm_source=PI+Extra+6.27.13&utm_campaign=PI+email+6.27.13&utm_medium=email.
NEW LAW makes it harder for University to
rehire retirees. See the News-Gazette, July
11, http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2013-07-11/ui-prepares-comply-new-law-rehiring-retirees.html.
PAYMENT DELAYS by State causing problems for dentists
who treat State employees. See the News-Gazette,
July 14, http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x946752067/Payment-delays-gnaw-at-dentists-patients#ixzz2Z7ahxbCw.
CONSULTANTS, TRUSTEES urge University to realign University
of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System. See the News-Gazette, July 24, http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2013-07-24/trustees-agree-ui-medical-enterprise-needs-realignment.html.
Vol. 6, No. 7 July 2013
ISSN 1946-1860
Editor: William S. Bike
Staff: Lucia Gonzalez, Neal Lorenzi, Gail Mansfield, Susan S. Stevens, Monica M. Walk
Vice Chair: Ahlam Al-Kodmany
Chair: Michael Moss
Secretary: Mary Berta
Treasurer: Virginia Buglio
Web Chair: Jeff Alcantar
Web Chair: Jeff Alcantar
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