From: Official Announcement Date: February 7, 2008 11:52:38 AM CST To: OFFICIAL_FACULTY@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU Subject: [OFFICIAL] Message from the President Reply-To: Official Announcement To: University of Illinois Community From: President B. Joseph White Subject: Resources Initiative In December 2007, following discussions with the chancellors, I convened a university-wide resources summit attended by 125 leaders representing the three campuses, university administration and the foundation and alumni association. The summit was designed to open dialogue on how we can deliver maximum resources to the academic front lines: faculty positions and salaries and financial support of our core academic missions of teaching, research, service and economic development. This is an important initiative because while the university's rate of total revenue growth has been quite strong over the past three years, the demands on these revenues to fund utilities, deferred maintenance, staff growth and other areas have been substantial. Looking ahead, we do not expect the university's rate of revenue growth to increase significantly in the near future. Therefore I decided, in consultation with the chancellors, to launch an important new resources initiative for the university at the summit. The purpose of the initiative is to focus our resources to the fullest extent possible on our core academic missions and the faculty, staff and students who are integral to their success. The chancellors and I have encountered widespread concerns about resource adequacy among some of our academic colleagues, despite our relatively strong financial situation. The resources initiative will help us address those concerns. Stated differently, I believe that for the amount of incremental revenue we are earning each year as a university, not enough of it is reaching the academic front lines. The resources summit began a collective and open dialogue on these important and difficult matters. In this letter, I want to provide the university community with an overview of the summit and describe the next steps of the resources initiative. Review of the Resources Summit The chancellors and provosts of the three campuses and the vice presidents of finance and academic affairs assisted me in developing the list of attendees which included deans, representatives of the faculty, the campus senates, the senates conference, a student leader from each campus and senior administrators. Prior to the meeting the participants were provided with a case study of the university's current resources picture, including questions like these: • How can we reduce the growth of central costs at all levels—university administration, campuses, colleges/schools and departments? • Are we trying to support "too much university" with the dollars we have? How can we collectively examine the scope of academic offerings and units at each campus to improve quality and free up resources for faculty, academic programs and student support? • How can the president and vice presidents, chancellors, provosts, deans and faculty best collaborate to undertake this initiative in a way that will yield meaningful and constructive results? Chief Financial Officer Walter Knorr provided the summit participants with an overview of university revenues and expenditures. The provosts provided examples of how they handle resource challenges on their campuses. The deliberations of discussion groups and a summary of the summit were posted on an interactive website where the participants provided feedback. That feedback included many good ideas. All this information is now available at: http://www.uillinois.edu/president/ResourcesSummitDocuments.cfm At the end of the summit, I told the participants that as we strive to manage our resources more effectively, I am passionately committed to: • Strengthening the quality, academic environment and reputation of the University of Illinois. • Making and encouraging fundamental change to achieve these goals. Next Steps The summit initiated constructive dialogue necessary for change. Participants stressed transparency and collaboration at all levels as we move forward with resource planning. This communication is part of the collaborative effort. We will pursue a two-pronged approach, long-term and short-term, so as not to lose momentum. Long-Term Plans: We will develop a five-year view of our resource future so we can capitalize on resource opportunities that require more than a single year to plan and execute. • We will develop a five-year projection of annual operating budgets and a five-year capital plan (our long-range plans). • We will streamline our central organizations through careful planning and attrition. • We will be good stewards of the environment and achieve cost containment through leadership in energy production efficiency and energy conservation. • We will maintain high quality academic programs and avoid sprawl and mediocrity by regularly and rigorously reviewing all academic programs. • We will seek change in externally imposed regulatory requirements and procedures that are incompatible with cost effectiveness and the university’s mission and culture. Short-Term Actions: A number of ideas suggested at the summit can be implemented in a relatively short period of time. • We will ensure that every faculty member has access to proper financial support in pursuing her/his teaching, research and professional development. • We will take immediate steps to accelerate energy conservation such as changing to more energy-efficient lighting and inviting members of our community to identify and innovate ways to conserve energy. • We will develop service centers to support aggregations of small departments where this makes sense. • We will join together to reduce bureaucratic waste and resulting frustration. Resources Steering Group: With the chancellors' concurrence, I am forming a university-wide resources steering group comprised of the three provosts and the three vice presidents to help guide the resources initiative. This group will charge campus-level working groups, convened by the provosts, to address issues at each campus. A fourth working group will be in university administration. The working groups will meet and report regularly to the steering group. The steering group, chancellors and I will work together to ensure that the changes will focus our resources and strengthen the quality and reputation of the university. In summary, the goal of the resources initiative is to operate the university in a way that delivers the most resources possible to the academic front lines. Dialogue is central to the success of this initiative. I welcome your insights and involvement. The chancellors and I will keep you updated on progress. From: Official Announcement Date: February 14, 2008 9:19:46 PM CST To: OFFICIAL_FACULTY@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU Subject: [OFFICIAL] Message from the Chancellor Reply-To: monique@uic.edu Dear UIC Students, Faculty and Staff, On behalf of the campus, I express our deepest sympathy to the Northern Illinois University community, especially to those killed and injured in today's shooting and their families and friends. UIC has sent five counselors to NIU to help members of their community cope with Thursday's tragedy. Our counseling staff is always available to talk with UIC students who need assistance. The Counseling Center is located in the Student Services Building, Room 210, and the telephone number is 312-996-3490. Words are inadequate to convey our sense of loss, but I know that all of us at UIC will keep our friends and colleagues at Northern in our thoughts. Sincerely, Eric A. Gislason Interim Chancellor From: Urgent Official Announcement Date: February 15, 2008 8:04:09 PM CST To: URGENT_FACULTY@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU Subject: [URGENT] SECURITY ALERT FROM UIC POLICE Reply-To: chiefjwr@uic.edu SECURITY ALERT FROM UIC POLICE This afternoon, an anonymous e-mail was received by a number of people at UIC, threatening violence on campus sometime this spring. While we have no way of knowing at this time whether this is a genuine threat, the UIC police department is pursuing it very seriously. A full-scale investigation is underway in conjunction with the Chicago police, and patrols on campus, already stepped up in the wake of Thursday’s tragedy at Northern Illinois University, have been increased further. In the meantime, all campus operations will continue as normal. However, we ask everyone to be attentive, and as always, if you see criminal or suspicious activity, please notify the UIC police immediately at (312) 555-5555 (or 5-5555 from campus phones), or, if you are off-campus, dial 911. For general questions about safety and security, the number for UIC police is (312) 996-2830. Please also be aware that an update from me on campus security in the wake of yesterday’s shootings at NIU was transmitted earlier today and should be arriving in e-mail boxes sometime tonight or in the early-morning hours, and already is posted on the UIC Emergency Information page (link on the UIC home page). This note gives a further overview of security measures in place on the UIC campus. Sincerely, John Richardson, Chief of Police From: Official Announcement Date: February 15, 2008 4:22:01 PM CST To: OFFICIAL_FACULTY@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU Subject: [OFFICIAL] UIC Campus Security Reply-To: chiefjwr@uic.edu A MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF OF UIC POLICE To the Students, Faculty, and Staff of UIC, In light of Thursday's tragic events at Northern Illinois University, I would like to give our campus an update on the security measures in place at UIC. The UIC Police Department has more than 70 uniformed officers on staff and patrols the campus 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with the mission of protecting students, faculty, staff, patients, and visitors. Our officers are trained, dedicated, and prepared to respond on a moment's notice. Rest assured that they are ready when called upon. UIC police work closely with Chicago police and our colleagues at neighboring institutions on the near west side to provide a safe environment for our community. Several years ago, the UIC Police Department established its "Safe Schools Plan" which outlines the response procedures that the UIC police will take in the event that there is an "active shooter" on the campus. Each newly hired UIC police officer undergoes three days of tactical response training in this plan and receives refresher training once per year thereafter. UIC police officers attend the Chicago Police Academy and are state-certified. Additionally, we have several officers on each shift who are qualified in Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT). These officers train with and can be backed up by units of the Chicago Police Department and US Marshals Service should the need arise. Thus, we are prepared to respond immediately to an incident like the one at Northern Illinois. UIC Police have conducted "active shooter" training exercises at various locations on the campus over the past year. Also, we have the capability to remotely lock building exterior doors precluding ! anyone from entering a facility, but allowing occupants to leave. This system is already in place in some buildings, and we will continue to expand this system across the campus. There are more than 1,000 Startel alarm stations (the call boxes with the blue lights) which anyone can use to make an emergency call to the UIC police to report an incident. Your call will be immediately answered from our state-of-the-art telecommunications center. From this center, UIC police can be dispatched to any location. We also have almost 60 real-time surveillance cameras monitoring outdoor areas of the campus and tunnels on the west side of campus. In case of a major event, the UIC Police Department will activate its Incident Command System, which allows us to track events on the campus by communicating with officers at the incident location and through our extensive network of surveillance cameras. We can also call on assistance from the Chicago and State Police. UIC utilizes a number of means to communicate emergency or other urgent information to the campus. These include: --the new SMS text-messaging system. Every member of the UIC community is strongly encouraged to register for this system by visiting the Web site https://ness2.uic.edu/perl/password/bluestem/pass.cgi?dispatch=set_sms_panel. Signing up takes only a few moments. --URGENT mass e-mails, which go to everyone with a uic.edu e-mail address. --Postings to the home page and/or emergency information pages of the UIC Web site (www.uic.edu and http://www.uic.edu/index.html/emergency_preparedness.shtml respectively). --the emergency information telephone line (312-413-9696). Finally, I would urge everyone on campus to visit the UIC Police Department Web site http://www.uic.edu/depts/police/index.html and watch the UIC Police Informational Video, which includes vital information on how to contact the Police Department and receive assistance. Please never hesitate to contact us if we can be of service. Our new emergency phone line is (312) 355-5555 (5-5555 from campus phones) and the general number for the police is (312) 996-2830. We are always available to give safety and security briefings to departments and groups on campus. Sincerely, John Richardson, Chief of Police From: Urgent Official Announcement Date: February 16, 2008 1:38:17 PM CST To: URGENT_FACULTY@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU Subject: [URGENT] Security Alert/Update Reply-To: chiefjwr@uic.edu To All UIC Students, Faculty and Staff, An arrest was made today in connection with the anonymous e-mail threat sent to several people at UIC on Friday afternoon, which was the subject of my security alert Friday evening. Mahtab Shirani, 24, of Wheaton, a senior at UIC, was arrested by UIC police this morning and charged with disorderly conduct. Everyone charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. The campus will implement an immediate emergency suspension until a disciplinary hearing can be held. This arrest was the result of an investigation by UIC police. As always, we are very grateful for the assistance and cooperation of the Chicago Police Department. This incident should demonstrate that we take any threat of this sort, by e-mail or any other means, very seriously and that our response will be swift and certain. Sincerely, John Richardson, Chief of Police From: Official Announcement Date: February 19, 2008 12:42:02 PM CST To: OFFICIAL_FACULTY@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU Subject: [OFFICIAL] Faculty at Commencement Reply-To: nandra1@uic.edu Dear Colleagues: This spring, each college will hold its own commencement ceremony to recognize graduates from the summer 2007, fall 2007 and spring 2008 semesters. At each college ceremony, undergraduate, graduate and professional degree students will be individually recognized as degrees are conferred. As you have been instrumental in our students' achievements, it is important for us to join other members of the campus community, friends and family as our graduates celebrate this important milestone. Appropriate academic attire is required for commencement and is provided at no cost to faculty who submit a completed Faculty Academic Apparel order form. You should obtain the Faculty Academic Apparel form on the commencement website unless instructed otherwise by your Dean’s office: http://www.ssb.uic.edu/commencenew/facultyapparel_start.asp. The deadline to request academic apparel is March 2, 2008. All electronic orders will be confirmed via e-mail, with an opportunity to make corrections if necessary. Requests for specific regalia received after the deadline may not be able to be accommodated. If you miss the deadline to request academic attire, UIC regalia can be provided to allow you to participate in the commencement ceremonies. The commencement hotline (x3-5006) and the commencement website, (http://www.vcsa.uic.edu/MainSite/departments/commencement/home), should provide answers for most of your commencement questions. I look forward to seeing you at this important event. Sincerely, Eric A. Gislason Interim Chancellor From: Official Announcement Date: February 25, 2008 4:12:09 PM CST To: OFFICIAL_FACULTY@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU Subject: [OFFICIAL] UIC Richard J Daley Urban Forum Reply-To: sstillwa@uic.edu Dear UIC Students, Faculty and Staff, The fourth annual Richard J. Daley Urban Forum will be held on Tuesday, April 29, from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at the UIC Forum on South Campus, 725 W. Roosevelt Rd. The topic of this year’s Forum is “Five Billion Urban Dwellers: The Creative Opportunity in the Growth of Cities.” The Forum will bring together mayors from around the world, business leaders, key policymakers, leading scholars and commentators to assess the different ways in which cities are experiencing this new stage of urbanization, and will examine how new forms of public and private interaction shape the quality of life of city dwellers. More information about the keynote speaker, specific panel topics and panelists will be forthcoming next month, but we wanted to give members of our community who might be interested in attending the Forum the opportunity to save the date. As always, UIC faculty, staff and students will receive complimentary admission. Registration for the 2008 Forum opens March 13 at www.RJDUrbanforum.uic.edu. Sincerely, Clark Hulse Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate College