Urbana campus business items dominated the July 23 agenda of the U. of I. Board of Trustees, with a number of measures and appointments garnering final board approval.
Meeting on the Chicago campus, the board approved an affiliation agreement for the new Carle Illinois School of Medicine, named several new deans and signed off on a long list of new campus academic programs and renovation work.
Medical school progress
The affiliation agreement was discussed in detail at the board’s July 9 University Healthcare System Committee meeting following a presentation by Ilesanmi Adesida, the Urbana provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs.
The agreement sets out the governing structure of the technology-focused medical school and delineates the academic, clinical and financial responsibilities within the partnership. The new college will continue to operate as a unit of the university and would be separately accredited from the UIC medical school.
“The affiliation agreement ensures that our educational commitments to our students are honored,” Adesida told committee members. “It will operate on the campus and be subject to the university’s statutes, general rules and other university policies.”
Oversight will be provided through a joint leadership team led by the chancellor and Carle’s chief executive officer. The Urbana provost and Carle’s chief medical officer will provide regular oversight for the medical college dean, who also will hold the title of chief academic officer in the Carle system.
A joint liaison committee comprising five members from each organization will oversee the budget process and strategic planning. There also are provisions to resolve unforeseen disputes, and protections for the university in the event Carle is ever sold.
“Illinois will have authority over the education program for the medical students, and Carle will be responsible for clinical oversight activities undertaken at Carle and non-Carle provider sites,” Adesida said.
The U. of I. will not use state funding for the venture and will raise $135 million within eight years, while Carle will provide $50 million over the next five years for startup costs and another $50 million once the college earns provisional accreditation from the national Liaison Committee on Medical Education.
Next steps include a national search for a dean by a joint search committee, the development of a curriculum, accreditation and approval by the Illinois Board of Higher Education. The accreditation process could take up to 18 months, with the college expected to open in the 2018 fall semester.
Dean spots filled
Trustees also approved the appointment of three new Urbana campus deans and the reappointment of another:
- Vikram Amar, a senior associate dean for academic affairs and a professor of law at the University of California at Davis School of Law, was named dean of the College of Law and the Iwan Foundation Professor of Law effective Aug. 16.
Amar succeeds John D. Colombo, who has served as interim dean since June 2014, when former Dean Bruce Smith returned to full-time faculty service. Colombo will return to full-time faculty service.
- Jeffrey R. Brown, a leading researcher in public and private insurance markets and the William G. Karnes Professor of Finance and the director of the Center for Business and Public Policy, was named dean of the College of Business.
He replaces Larry DeBrock, who is returning to the faculty after serving as dean since 2009.
- Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, a leading researcher in aging and health who is currently a professor and the head of the department of kinesiology and community health, was named dean of the Graduate College. He succeeds Sarah Theule Lubienski, who has served as interim dean since July 2014, when Debasish Dutta resigned to become provost at Purdue University. Lubienski will return to full-time faculty service.
- Jan Slater was reappointed to a three-year term as dean of the College of Media. She has led the college since 2010.
Academic additions
The board also approved the establishment of two new campus master’s programs and a new academic center, and renamed or transferred several other academic programs.
The master of science in information management, through the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, will be offered on campus and online to provide a separate degree program “for those interested in information-intensive professional roles in a very broad range of sectors.”
The master of science in strategic brand communication, through the colleges of Business and Media and the Graduate College, will combine a traditional media education with business concepts that are designed to emphasize the “big-picture view” of advertising or media campaigns.
The Deloitte Center for Business Analytics in Accountancy, through the College of Business, will provide students with a comprehensive education in business analytics and create education resources to support business analytics education.
The center, which has campus approval but still must be approved by the Illinois Board of Higher Education, will be established with a $7.5 million gift from Deloitte, which will be a combination of a $6.5 million endowment and $1 million in current-use funds.
Tenure-stream faculty members will not hold appointments in the center, nor will the center offer courses. The director will be a tenured professor with an academic appointment in accountancy.
Project approvals
The board also approved a $40 million program to improve campus energy efficiency, with the costs of the improvements repaid with anticipated energy savings over the next 20 years.
The program would employ an energy service company to conduct work on several buildings that have been identified for high-return energy projects. Those buildings include Engineering Sciences Building, Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, Loomis Laboratory, Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, and the Superconductivity Center.
The building work includes research, teaching and office spaces. The work consists of installing occupancy sensors, building controls systems, centralized process water loops, heat recovery systems, and upgrading or replacing air-handling units, steam traps, motors and fume hoods.
The board awarded Energy Systems Group LLC, of Newburgh, Indiana, the ESCO contract for professional and construction services. Funding will be provided through the institutional funds operating budget.
The board also approved the selection of Legat Architects, of Chicago, which will prepare the construction documents, bidding and construction administration phases of the $15 million Turner Hall classroom renovation project.
The firm will be paid $823,000, plus contingencies, for the work.
The renovation is being conducted because of the growth of the departments of crop sciences and of natural resources and environmental sciences.
The board also approved an additional $1.6 million for ongoing roof construction work at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
Fee increase
The board also passed a proposed increase in the undergraduate application fee from $60 to $75 for both domestic and international applications. Revenue from the increases will be used to offset increased recruiting and application costs.