Presidential Search Speeded UpBecause of Chancellor Search

President Robert Easter and Chancellor Paula Allen-Meares meet with faculty.

SELECTION OF a new University President has sped up, with hopes that President Robert Easter’s successor will be chosen before Thanksgiving. The administration wants the next President to participate in the search for a new UIC Chancellor to succeed Dr. Paula Allen-Meares, who plans on leaving her post in January of 2015.

UNIVERSITY TRUSTEE Pam Strobel, who co-chairs the University of Illinois Presidential Search Committee, told the News-Gazette of Springfield, IL, on July 12 that the University Board of Trustees decided the President’s search should be “on a parallel path” so the President can be involved with picking the Chancellor.

URBANA PHYSICS Professor Doug Beck is the other Co-Chair. Kostas Yfantis, Manager of Teaching and Learning Services with Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services at the Urbana campus, is the Academic Professional on the committee.

THE NEWS-GAZETTE article also reported that President Easter said that the growth of UIC will be a major factor for the next President, and he mentioned a possible move to make UIC a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities.

THE PRESIDENTIAL search committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, Aug. 20, and Wednesday, Sept. 17.

THE PRESIDENTIAL search informational website is at http://www.bot.uillinois.edu/presidentialsearch. It provides links to the position announcement, information on job duties and qualifications, background on the 19-member search committee, news releases and media coverage, the committee’s meeting schedule, and more.

MRINALINI RAO, Professor of Physiology and Biophysics and former Vice President for Academic Affairs, chairs the UIC Chancellor’s Search Committee.

STEPHANIE WHITAKER, Research Program Coordinator in the Department of Political Science of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is the Academic Professional on the Chancellor’s Search Committee.

AP Conversions Still a Hot Topicat Cool Ice Cream Social

By APAC Building Community and Education Subcommittee

APAC’s MEET, Greet, & Treats ice cream social event, held on a humid June 24, yielded a modest turnout with interesting conversations about the ongoing concerns about AP conversions. Several people said they attended to meet fellow APs and learn about the campus from the veterans in the group.

THERE WAS a good assortment of individuals, from those who work in the hospital to the library, to the newly created Office of Procurement Diversity in the Office of Business and Financial Services (OBFS), and others.

APAC MEMBER Marelet Kirda pointed out, “It was well worth it to stop in, especially since folks were able to bring some ice cream treats back to their respective offices since we had so much!”

LOOK FOR the notice for a similar event on the East Campus to start off the 2014-2015 Academic Year! We hope to see you there!

APAC Election Results

After the recent APAC balloting, Kate Pravera, Academic Director, School of Continuing Studies, was elected to APAC. Marelet Kirda, Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Research, was re-elected to the University Senate for a three-year term. Jennifer Rowan, Executive Director, Research Administration and Operations, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, and Diedre Rush, Associate Director, Financial Aid Office, have decided to step down from APAC.

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 the College of Medicine Research Building (CMRB), 909 S. Wolcott, or Room 2750 of University Hall on the East Campus. Next meeting is Aug. 13 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in CMRB 4175. For information, call (312) 996-0306.

APAC PROFILE

APAC member Nester Komolafe.

Nester Komolafe Works to Shape Policies via APAC

By Susan S. Stevens

NESTER KOMOLAFE joined UIC in 2008 as a Contracts Coordinator in the Purchasing Division, UIC Office of Business and Financial Services. He has also worked in the UIC Office of Business Development Services.

HIS KEY responsibilities are drafting, reviewing, and negotiating complex University contracts in accordance with State of Illinois statutes, and University policy and requirements.

IN 2011, Komolafe received the UIC WOW Award in recognition of his outstanding service which reflects UIC’s core values. He served as an executive member of UIC Senate Committee on Academic Services during the 2013-2014 academic year. The panel reviewed policies regarding, and the performance of, units which provide support for UIC academic programs.

HE JOINED APAC in 2013. “APAC has done many great things for UIC Academic Professionals,” he said. “I was motivated to join APAC in 2013 in order to apply systemic thinking and pragmatic solutions to shape policies that deliver positive impacts.”

“I AM looking forward to making my contributions to APAC to be an affirmation that dynamism and good leadership can give muscular expression to Academic Professionals’ legitimate yearnings and aspirations for good governance and accountability.” Komolafe is a member of APAC’s Subcommittee on Bylaws.

AN EXPERT in contracting, procurement, and supply chain management, he has more than 20 years of professional experience in both private and public sectors. He has worked for private corporations in the fields of publishing, garments, transport, real estate management, building construction, manufacturing, cable telecommunication, and satellite and broadband telecommunications.

“I AM distinctively privileged to have worked and obtained academic degrees and professional qualifications in contracting, procurement and supply chain management on three continents – each in Africa, Europe, and North America,” Komolafe said.

KOMOLAFE has several academic degrees and professional qualifications: a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Physics from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, a Master’s degree in Procurement and Acquisitions Management from Webster University in St. Louis, MO. and a second Master’s degree in Law and Public Policy from the University of Illinois at Springfield, IL.

HE OBTAINED a Certificate of Completion in Sustainable Global Supply Chain Management from the University of San Diego, CA. He also has a Royal Charter Certification in Purchasing and Supply (MCIPS) from studies in the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, Stamford, England. Some certifications obtained in the United States include Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB) and Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM).

“I AM a research-minded person, driven by very passionate quest at finding solutions to complex problems,” Komolafe said.

KOMOLAFE’S PHILOSOPHY is simple, he said. “One thing I have learned is that I have not learned anything -- the pursuit of knowledge is endless; the more I know, the more there is to know.”

HE IS a family man who has clear faith in Jesus Christ. He enjoys spending time with his lovely wife, Dr. Lois Komolafe, a pharmacist, and three cheerful children; Virtuous, Valor, and Victorious.

HIS ONLY hobby is photography. “I am a photo-happy guy!” he said.

AP RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT

Mentorship Program Returns

UNDER THE direction of the Office for Access and Equity (OAE), members of a volunteer committee with members from APAC and the Chancellor's Status Committees are pleased to announce the Fall 2014 Academic Professional Mentorship Program (APMP), a mentoring program for all staff at UIC including Academic Professionals and Civil Service employees. Civil Service employees must have their supervisor’s approval before joining the program.

THE MENTORING program allows UIC staff members the opportunity for professional development, advancement, leadership development, and skill building in their careers. The program will run from the beginning of September 2014 through May 2015. A kick-off event for all participants will be held in mid-September. The date is to be determined.

IF YOU are interested in becoming a mentor and/or a protégé for the first time or participating in program again, visit the APMP website and complete an application: http://www.uic.edu/depts/oae/Forms/APMP.htm.

IF YOU have questions, please contact the committee at apmp_committee@uic.edu. 

THE CONTINUING CRISIS

Editor’s Note: “The Continuing Crisis” is a section of APAC News which links to news pertinent to the State budget crisis and other financial matters as they affect the University and Academic Professionals. These news outlets are not affiliated with or endorsed by APAC.

UNIVERSITY TO ask for 3.8% boost in State funding, News-Gazette, July 15, 2014. http://www.news-gazette.com/print/1281539

CITIGROUP SETTLEMENT will put $84 million in Illinois pension coffers, Chicago Tribune, July 15, 2014. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-citibank-0715-biz-20140715,0,1520978.story

IS AMERICA’S GREAT UNIVERSITY SYSTEM BEING DESTROYED? AlterNet, Feb. 28, 2014. http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/chomsky-how-americas-great-university-system-getting?paging=off&current_page=1#bookmark

Vol. 7, No. 6, July 2014

ISSN 1946-1860

Editor: William S. Bike

Staff: Neal Lorenzi, Gail Mansfield, Susan S. Stevens, Katherine Vega, Monica M. Walk

Chair: Michael Moss

Vice Chair: Ahlam Al-Kodmany

Secretary: Mary Berta

Treasurer: Colleen Piersen
Web Chair: Jeff Alcantar

http://www.apac.uic.edu

May 2014 APAC News Vol. 7, No. 5

Kostas Yfantis, an Academic Professional at Urbana, to Serve on Presidential Search

Kostas Yfantis, the AP rep on the Presidential Search Committee.

KOSTAS YFANTIS, Manager of Teaching and Learning Services with Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services (CITES) at the Urbana campus, was named on April 18 as one of the 19 members of the search committee that will assist the Board of Trustees in selecting the next President of the University of Illinois. The committee will identify and screen candidates to replace President Robert Easter, who plans to retire when his term ends on June 30, 2015.

“I AM humbled by the distinction to serve on the committee to help with the selection of the next President,” Yfantis said. “I have been part of the U of I family for over 18 years in a set of roles including those of student and academic professional and I will do my best as part of the committee to help find a strong leader for our University. I believe that the committee’s charge [1] articulates well some of the qualities and criteria for evaluating potential candidates.”

AS REPORTED in the news media, there are three town-hall meetings planned for June to get input from students, faculty, staff and alumni: June 23 in Springfield, June 24 in Chicago, and June 25 in Urbana. “This is an opportunity to provide feedback and I recommend participating in this important process,” Yfantis said.

YFANTIS HAS worked for CITES for ten years and in his current role, he manages the group that provides support to faculty, students and staff using a set of IT services with a focus on Blackboard Learn. His experience includes consulting, training, communication, and marketing and he takes an active interest in best practices in eLearning, management, and leadership.

YFANTIS RECEIVED his undergraduate degree in Communication from the Urbana-Champaign campus. He has served as Chair of the Council of Academic Professionals at Urbana as well as Chair of the University Professional Personnel Advisory Committee (UPPAC). In these and other capacities he has collaborated extensively with students, faculty and staff from the Springfield, Chicago and Urbana campuses.

IN THE last three years, Yfantis has served on at least seven search committees, ranging from executive to entry-level positions, transcending units and campuses. In spring 2014, he served on a search committee for a position with Academic Computing and Communications Center (ACCC) at the Chicago campus.

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[1] http://www.trustees.uillinois.edu/trustees/agenda/April-18-2014/001-apr-Search-Com-Charge.pdf

Injunction Temporarily Stops Pension Reform Act…

THE WE Are One Illinois union coalition, the State Universities Annuitants Association (SUAA), and plaintiffs filed a motion for injunctive relief in Sangamon County Circuit Court that seeks to stop the implementation of pension reform legislation, Senate Bill 1, Public Act 98-599, by seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction until a final resolution on the bill’s merits is reached.

CIRCUIT JUDGE John Belz granted the temporary injunction May 14.

THE ACT makes cuts to the pensions of working and retired members of the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) Teachers' Retirement System, and State Employees' Retirement System. It reduces the value of retirement benefits through cutting cost-of-living adjustments. It also caps the amount of salary that earns a pension.

MICHAEL T. CARRIGAN, President of the Illinois AFL-CIO, made the following statement to the media explaining why an injunction is critical:

“The pension theft bill must not be implemented before the courts have ruled. The fair and proper thing to do is not to allow this legislation to cause any damage until the courts have spoken on its constitutionality. Otherwise, teachers, first responders, nurses, and other state and university employees and retirees will be irreparably harmed. People are being forced to make irrevocable, life-altering retirement decisions. Yet they face these decisions in an uncertain economic environment while awaiting a court ruling. The pension theft bill should -- and, we believe, will -- be overturned, but the decision to retire cannot be undone. A complete stay of the bill's implementation is necessary to avoid irreparably harming active and retired teachers and state and university employees.”

THE JUDGE’S action stays the legislation in its entirety so that the pension systems and other defendants are enjoined from implementing or administering any provisions of the act until the court issues a final ruling on the merits of the act’s constitutionality or until further order of the court. In other words, the injunction will remain in effect until a determination is made on the law’s constitutionality, unless the court takes further action on the injunction prior to that time.

THE COURT found that plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on their contention that Public Act 98-599 violates the Pension Protection Clause of the Illinois Constitution.

“THIS IS an important first step in our efforts to overturn this unfair, unconstitutional law and to protect retirement security for working and retired Illinois families," said Carrigan. "We are pleased the court prudently chose to halt implementation of these sweeping changes, which have caused so much fear and uncertainty and are likely to be overturned."

IN ADDITION to its injunctive efforts, the coalition will continue to seek to overturn SB 1 through a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the bill.

…Attorney General Agrees to Postponement as Well

State Attorney General Lisa Madigan agreed to postpone implementation

of the pension reform law, but still wants to see it enacted.

THE STATE Universities Annuitants Association (SUAA) and other groups representing employee and retiree interests reached a tentative agreement with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to postpone implementation of the State’s new pension law Senate Bill 1, Public Act 98-599.

THE AGREEMENT is pending as it requires judicial approval before going into effect. The agreement delays implementation of the pension law until July 1, 2015. Specifically, the agreement protects SURS members currently eligible for retirement by allowing them to delay their retirement decision until the constitutionality of the new pension law is determined. It allows them to calculate their money purchase annuity based on the effective rates as of June 30, 2014, and allows them to avoid the skips in the annual increases if the changes to the pension are upheld. The agreement also ensures that any unnecessary pension contributions will be refunded. 

“IT TOOK time and a lot of work but in the end we reached an agreement on a critical issue to our members,” said SUAA Executive Director Linda Brookhart. “The agreement ensures that our members will have all of the facts before they have to make a decision on whether to retire or not. It is my hope the court will do the right thing and allow this agreement to stand.”

HOWEVER, WHILE Madigan’s “filings all but concede that the benefit cuts passed by the General Assembly appear to violate the plain language of Article VIII, Section 5 of the Illinois Constitution that deems all State and local government pensions to be ‘an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired,’” according to Eric Zorn in the Chicago Tribune, Madigan still is asking the courts to ultimately uphold the law. See http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-05-18/opinion/ct-oped-zorn-0518-20140517_1_pension-crisis-state-pension-pension-changes.

SUAA ALSO has filed a lawsuit challenging Senate Bill 1, PA 98-599. The case is pending in the Sangamon County Circuit Court. SUAA's lawsuit challenges the changes to the pension code on the basis that they violate three different clauses of the Illinoi s Constitution. The suit claims Senate Bill 1 violates the Pension Clause, Article 13 Sec. 5, which forbids diminishment of pensions, the Takings Clause, Article 1 Sec. 15, which forbids taking of private property for public use without just compensation, and the Contracts Clause, Article 1 Sec. 16, which forbids the State to breach contracts that it makes.

SURS MEMBERS have the ability to choose one of three different retirement options but once they choose a retirement option – they are locked into their retirement plan. By changing the rules governing the various SURS retirement plans, SUAA believes the State is in breach of contract.

Money Purchase Glitch Fixed

THE BOARD of the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) on May 8 approved an emergency rule that will preserve benefits employees have already earned under the “money purchase” option.

THE SURS board’s emergency ruling addresses an unintended glitch in the State’s new pension law, and guarantees that the retirement benefits employees have earned as of June 30, 2014, will not be reduced – even if they retire months or years later.

BEFORE THE ruling, those benefit levels under “money purchase” would have been locked in as of June 30, 2013, eliminating a year of contributions and interest, and creating an incentive for employees to retire, whether they wanted to or not.

“I AM grateful to the SURS board for its decision to correct the “money purchase” problem, and its efforts to curb large-scale retirements that would have cut deeply into the quality of our academic and research missions, and our service to students and the State,” President Robert Easter wrote in an email to the University. “I also want to thank House Speaker Michael Madigan, whose letter to SURS helped clarify the legislature’s intent to preserve money purchase benefits that have already been earned. And I want to thank University of Illinois Board of Trustees Chairman Christopher Kennedy and Avijit Ghosh, my senior advisor, for their leadership on this critical issue and their commitment to our employees by personally attending the SURS board meeting and advocating on behalf of employees at the state’s public universities.”

SEE ALSO:

FLAW IN pension law sparks retirements. See Chicago Tribune, April 29: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-04-29/news/ct-university-retirements-met-20140429_1_pension-law-pension-changes-state-universities-retirement-system.

RECORD NUMBER seek retirement. See UIC News, April 29: http://news.uic.edu/retirement-applications-counseling-on-the-rise.

RULE CHANGE will protect pensions, prevent University brain drain. See Chicago Sun-Times, May 8: http://www.suntimes.com/news/27319181-418/rule-change-will-protect-pensions-prevent-university-brain-drain.html#.U3oxeBBdWTN

EMPLOYEES CAN “unretire.” See UIC News, May 20: http://news.uic.edu/judges-ruling-halts-pension-law