Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1952 [PAGE 539]

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636

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

PART T W O

[March 13

It may be generally agreed that 1951 is a good time to study the reorganization of public higher education in t h e State of Illinois. Among other factors, the following enter into this timeliness: (1) The trial status of Southern Illinois University under a separate Board of Trustees whose terms expire August 31, 1951. (2) The continued unrest of the colleges under the State Teachers College Board as at present organized. (3) The recognized need for better facilities in public higher education in Chicago. (4) The increased cost of public education at all levels. Since these factors bear upon the progress of the University of Illinois, various members of the University staff have studied the implications of t h e Russell Report. We believe that the Report has accomplished a valuable purpose in directing attention t o certain problems, even though some of us regard its five alternative plans as incomplete. We appreciate also the patient work of Dr. John Dale Russell and his associates and the foresight of the Governor in setting up the Committee. I think the first memorandum and my remarks in Part One show why we are dubious about the effectiveness of any plan that transfers policy-making authority from a board of trustees to a superimposed co-ordinating board presumably operating from Springfield. Such a plan (Alternative III in the Russell Report) has received serious study. We have come to the conclusion that t h e price to be paid for unity under this plan would be a subtle decline in the quality and zestfulness of the academic life. For a governing body to be removed one more step from the work of professors and students is to invite decisions that hamper growth and freedom. Without further preamble I should like to bring to the attention of t h e Board four major proposals. They are, in effect, a substitute for the five options offered by the Russell Committee. Proposal I — Minimum Reform (A) Adopt Alternative II, page 54 of the Russell Report, with one exception: It reads: "Alternative II. Continue the present three boards with modifications of their authority. The modifications suggested are as follows: "(1) Remove institutions of higher education from the jurisdiction of the State Code Department of Registration and Education; "(2) Set up a single merit system for non-academic personnel in all the State institutions of higher education; "(3) Set up a single purchasing authority for all the State institutions of higher education, separating this function from the control of the State Purchasing Office; "(4) Possibly remove the State teachers colleges and Southern Illinois University from the supervision of the State Architect's Office (the desirability of this step is questioned); "(5) Give the State Teachers College Board authority to select its ow,n officers; "(6) Provide for a succession in the membership of the State Teachers College Board when the Governor fails to make an appointment; "(7) Change the name of the State Teachers College Board to 'State College Board'; "(8) Change the method of selecting members for the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois." For the reasons given in my memorandum of January 23, I should delete paragraph (8) above. (B) Strengthen the work of the Council on Higher Education by providing a aid Executive Secretary to be nominated and financed, for rotating one-year terms, y the respective members of the Council. (C) Add to the staff of the State Director of Finance an expert assistant in t h e field of public higher education. Proposal II — Limited Reform (A) Place Southern Illinois University under the State Teachers College Board as reorganized in accordance with the first seven terms of Alternative II of the Russell Report. (B) Strengthen the work of the Council on Higher Education by providing a

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