The UI Board of Trustees unanimously approved the appointment of a new chancellor at the Chicago campus when the Trustees met July 24 at UIC.
The board approved Paula Allen-Meares’ appointment as chancellor at the UIC campus effective Jan. 15. Allen-Meares, who currently is dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Michigan, received her master’s and Ph.D. at the Urbana-Champaign campus and was dean of the School of Social Work at Urbana from 1990-1993.
“We’re so very grateful to welcome her back into the University of Illinois family,” said board chair Lawrence Eppley before the board vote. “It will be great when she gets here.”
Three new Global Campus programs are scheduled to begin early next year after receiving approval.
Trustees unanimously approved the recommended tuition rates for three online certificate programs that will begin Jan. 7.
A Biblical Approach to Mental Health, a graduate certificate program, will be offered in partnership with UIC’s department of psychiatry in the College of Medicine.
Traditionally, psychological concepts are based on Greek thought, but the new Global Campus program will examine biblical stories as psychological case studies, said Kalman Kaplan, visiting professor of clinical psychology at UIC.
“It provides a vehicle for people who are not formally religious to look at the wisdom inherent in the biblical tradition and apply it to real-life problems,” Kaplan said.
Tuition for the program is $5,940 for Illinois residents and $6,600 for nonresidents. University alumni who are nonresidents but are contributing members of the Alumni Association also receive the in-state tuition rate.
Two new graduate certificate programs – Business Process Management and Information Technology Project Management – will be administered by the College of Business and Management at the Springfield campus.
Tuition for each certificate program is $5,172 for Illinois residents and alumni, and $5,748 for nonresidents.
At its May 22 meeting, the board approved an additional $3.4 million in funding for Global Campus.
Other business
Trustees approved the appointment of Ravishankar Iyer as interim vice chancellor for research at Urbana, effective Aug. 4. Iyer is a professor of electrical and computer engineering and an affiliate in the computer science department.
Iyer succeeds Charles Zukoski, who will become a full-time faculty member.
Debasish Dutta was approved to become dean of the Graduate College, effective Jan. 16, 2009. Dutta is a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan, and a scholar-in-residence at the Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education, National Academy of Engineering.
Dutta replaces Richard Wheeler, who will serve as vice provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. Wheeler is a professor of English.
Trustees approved the establishment of the Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability, in accordance with a legislative mandate that transferred the state scientific surveys to the Urbana campus. William Shilts, former chief of the State Geological Survey and an adjunct professor of geology, was selected as the institute’s executive director.