A university appointed task force has made several recommendations for the transition to an engineering-based medical school on the Urbana campus.
The task force, led by emeritus U. of I. President B. Joseph White and Dimitri Azar, the dean of UIC’s College of Medicine, submitted its report at the May 7 U. of I. Board of Trustees meeting.
U. of I. President Bob Easter formed the task force after the board in March approved the Urbana campus entering into partnership with Carle Health System to create the Carle-Illinois College of Medicine.
Trustee Timothy Kortiz, the chairman of the board’s University Healthcare System Committee, said at the May 7 board meeting that he was confident the recommendations, made at a committee meeting earlier in the week, would lead to a smooth transition and set the foundation for future cooperation between the university’s medical schools on the Chicago and Urbana campuses.
“It was thoughtful, logical, considerate, fair and inspiring,” he said of the report’s findings. “It is just what you’d expect from the U. of I.”
The task force report recommends decoupling the Urbana campus from the current UIC regional medical school structure, which will retain its campuses in Chicago, Rockford and Peoria.
The UIC-based College of Medicine serves about 1,300 students, with the Urbana campus added in 1971.
The report also recommends that the process be phased in for seven years to allow current students to complete the Medical Scholars Program, the Urbana-campus based M.D./Ph.D. program. The final class in the program would graduate in the 2021-22 academic year.
“The task force believes it is not fair or practical to direct (more than) 50 students, many with families, to move … to complete their education,” the report said.
Under the plan, MSP enrollment would be halted for two years, with a new class under the Carle-Illinois structure starting in 2018.
Students admitted to the program in the coming academic year would complete their studies on a regional campus other than Urbana.
“U. of I. College of Medicine leadership is committed to providing resources and support for students who may need to deviate from their original plan,” the report says.
The report also considers the unusual situation the transition creates for faculty members and assures them that tenure rights and existing employment arrangements will be honored. A transition team will be appointed to oversee the process, with an ombudsman serving as a “focal point for individuals affected by the transition.”
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