Last year was a challenging one for the University of Illinois.
With the state budget impasse still looming large, high-profile administrator positions needing to be filled and plans for a new medical school to be finalized, there's no indication 2016 will be any less challenging.
Inside Illinois recently asked several campus leaders for their expectations for the new year.
Without exception, they were hopeful about the university's ability to successfully navigate the next 12 months and maintain its status as one of the world's premier universities as it readies to celebrate its sesquicentennial.
Barbara J. Wilson
Interim chancellor and the Harry E. Preble Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
"Whenever difficult situations arise, I am heartened by moments I can spend with our tremendous faculty, staff and students.
“An hour with bright and eager undergraduate leaders who are working to make the campus a better place … a cup of coffee with one of our world-class faculty members … or a meeting with longtime staff who are so dedicated to their units … that is what inspires me to keep going.
“I am energized by the community of people who call Illinois their home. They remind me every day why it is so important to do whatever I can to make this top-ranked institution an even better place for all of us."
Edward Feser
Interim vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost
"We enter 2016 facing both adversity and opportunity. We have tremendous resources at our disposal: our exceptional faculty, students, staff, alumni, friends and partners; our global reputation and distinguished record of accomplishment; and our extensive facilities and beautiful campus.
"With vision, clear thinking, a spirit of collaboration and a commitment to vigorous and honest debate, together we will chart a path that addresses our challenges, captures new opportunities and further strengthens us as one of the world’s truly premier institutions of higher learning. How lucky we are to have such important work to do."
Peter Schiffer
Vice chancellor for research
"The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has a legacy of interdisciplinary research that drives positive change in our communities, our state, our nation and the world. Much of this research relies on funding from federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
"Before adjourning for the winter holiday recess, Congress passed the fiscal year 2016 omnibus appropriations bill, which provides significant increases to federal investments in research, education and health care programs. This is excellent news for the entirety of our Illinois research enterprise.
"I am excited to see the innovations, breakthroughs and scholarly achievements that the coming year will hold as the Illinois research community builds upon our strengths and continues to address the world’s most pressing problems."
Vikram David Amar
Dean, College of Law, and the Iwan Foundation Professor of Law
"I’m really looking forward to 2016. Since this is my first year at the U. of I., my learning curve concerning the institution and the state is still pretty steep. But I am very impressed by what I have seen so far from the faculty, staff, alumni and students.
“The legal profession and legal education are changing these days, but in many important respects this is a great time to attend and graduate from law school. I am quite optimistic that if we make the right strategic choices and investments, the College of Law can end up in a stronger position than it’s ever been.
“It goes without saying that having more stability in – and clarity and support from – the state government would be helpful. But we are not letting uncertainty in Springfield prevent us from moving forward.”
Jeffrey R. Brown
Dean, College of Business, the Josef and Margot Lakonishok Professor of Business and the Dean and William G. Karnes Professor of Finance
"2016 marks the start of the second century for our College of Business. We are determined to build on our formidable strengths – including our world-renowned accountancy program – to build a reputation as one of the world’s leading business schools.
“We seek to be recognized as a global leader in technology, innovation and entrepreneurship.
“This starts with the January 2016 launch of our highly innovative iMBA, the world’s first fully online MBA program in partnership with Coursera, which offers a top-quality education at an affordable price.
“We also are initiating important collaborations with the College of Engineering and the Illinois business community to create an ‘Innovation Corridor’ between our campus and Chicago that will someday rival Silicon Valley and Kendall Square as a source of innovation and economic growth.
“In short, 2016 marks the start of a new century of innovation by the University of Illinois College of Business."
Andreas C. Cangellaris
Dean, College of Engineering, and the M.E. Van Valkenburg Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering
"The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a national treasure, one of the world's most influential institutions of higher education. We, its faculty, its staff, its alumni, hold in our hands its future.
“Our past laurels are many and have brightened the world's well-being. Our graduates have brought the brilliance of the orange and blue the world over. This brilliance we must keep alive during these challenging times.
“The fuel that sustains it is precious and expensive. We must steward it and use it wisely, for our pre-eminence to keep burning strong, for our students to feel nourished and empowered, intellectually and emotionally.
“As Maya Angelou reminds us, ‘People will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’"
Peter Constable
Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine
"The University of Illinois has endured previous fluctuations in state support and has sufficient strength and resilience to overcome the current budget challenges. "Great public institutions, such as ours, have transformed society and provided a wonderful model for higher education programs around the world.
"Our university will continue to have global impact, one person at a time, and I am excited to be a part of that future."
Wojtek J. Chodzko-Zajko
Dean, Graduate College, and the Shahid and Ann Carlson Khan Professor
"In recent years, much has been written about the crisis facing higher education in the United States.
“Many institutions across our nation, ourselves included, are facing serious challenges. It is clear that substantive efforts will need to be made if we are to maintain our leadership on the world stage.
“We will need to develop new and sustainable strategies to attract and retain the very best students in the face of growing competition. We will need to prepare students for both traditional and innovative career pathways. We will need to redouble our efforts in areas related to diversity and campus climate, while continuing to focus on issues related to student support, degree completion and attrition.
“Perhaps most importantly, we will need to do all this with substantially less support coming from the state of Illinois. I am convinced that we will rise to the challenge. Illinois is deservedly a world leader in higher education and will continue to be so for generations to come. With our amazing students and our extraordinary faculty and staff, we are ideally positioned to address and overcome the many challenges facing higher education in our nation and beyond.
“I am extremely optimistic about the future and am looking forward to working closely with all of you in 2016."
Kathleen Harleman
Acting dean, College of Fine and Applied Arts, and director, Krannert Art Museum
"The imperative is stronger when uncertainty and limitations abound. Relegate the small stuff to the wings. Focus, act boldly and leap into the void with conviction."
Mark Henderson
Chief information officer
"Dark financial clouds may loom in the future, but Technology Services at Illinois is facing into the storm. We see these challenges as opportunities to reinvent ourselves and improve the technology landscape at the University of Illinois.
"In the year ahead, Technology Services will continue to partner with the campus to broaden our support for research and teaching endeavors in alignment with the missions of the university and its strategic plan. We will strengthen our offerings to help enable student successes and enhance their experiences at the university. We will be driven to create connections and to develop technology solutions that enable the work of faculty, students and staff – all while providing great customer service.
"Even in the face of challenging forecasts, Technology Services will be here to help connect you with the technologies that you need to achieve your goals."
Mary Kalantzis
Dean, College of Education
"We enter a new year in the context of a heightened and increasingly vexed public discussion about the shape of a New America. Over the past year, the Black Lives Matter movement has brought to our attention the disproportionate distribution of violence and injustice, highlighting graphically the incivilities of unequal rights that are ultimately rooted in America’s history of slavery.
“Discussions of economic inequality have become unusually frank. The plight of refugees has tested our common humanity. Fault lines of gender and sexuality have been exposed. These are areas of unfinished social business that we have a shared responsibility to address.
“We urgently need a transcendent agenda that we can agree serves us all. This is what the promise of democracy demands of us. Education is at the heart of any solution to these great challenges of our time – affording equitable opportunities and learning the necessary civics of a new, self-consciously diverse America."
Wynne Korr
Dean, School of Social Work
"Progress would not be possible without the trials we've experienced as a campus. Change is a challenge that brings many positive opportunities. As we begin 2016, I am filled with hope for the future of this great university as we continue to strive for excellence in all that we do."
Reitumetse Obakeng Mabokela
Vice provost for international affairs and global strategies
“As the university approaches its sesquicentennial, its global impact and relevance have never been more evident.
“Not only has our campus earned critical acclaim for excellence in higher education – which attracts the brightest, most talented and most passionate students and professors from all over the world – but it has positioned itself as the model for a globalized education in the 21st century.”
Brian Ross
Executive associate dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
"While 2015 was a challenging year, LAS continues to move forward and excel in teaching, research and outreach.
"We welcomed 51 new faculty members in August along with more than 2,800 new freshmen and transfer students. Renovations of key campus buildings, including the Chemistry Annex and Natural History Building, continue. Research funding remains at a high level, and our faculty and students continue doing important work in the many diverse areas of the college, from classics to chemistry.
"Our people received various honors. Four faculty members received National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships, three faculty members were elected into the National Academy of Science, two alumni were inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and one student was named a Marshall Scholar.
"We recognize challenges await in 2016, but we remain optimistic and excited about LAS and the pivotal role our outstanding people play, and will continue to play, in this excellent university."
Jan Slater
Dean, College of Media
"The world of media in which we live, converse, socialize, inform, persuade and entertain will continue to challenge us as educators, confuse us as consumers and compel us to change how we teach.
"The disruption that we experience in the world of media is not going away; it will only become more intense and more rapid.
"In the College of Media, we find that exciting, even though it requires us to rethink how we teach and how we prepare students for jobs that, in all likelihood, do not currently exist.
"I believe this is true in higher education as well. We are living in a disruptive time that will not go away; it requires us to rethink everything we do on campus – and in our units – to better serve our current students and faculty, as well as our future students and faculty.
"This can be, and should be, an exciting time to do innovative things. After all, we live in an environment where discovery is the future."