THE DAILY ILLINI | WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM

FROM 1A

PRESIDENT Wheeler said faculty and students in the search committee will help ensure that the next president has the leadership needed to make progress at the University. “It is an important job, and it is a really great credit to the University of Illinois that faculty and students will have a role in helping determine the leadership for the future,” Wheeler said, adding that the next president should be someone who “(understands) the role of a land-grant institution and someone with a vision about how to take us forward and make us the best public institution not just in the country, but in the world.” After a scandal that led to former University President Michael Hogan’s resignation in March 2012, a presidential search committee was not used to select Easter as president; he was instead selected by chancellors and deans after they consulted with key members of the faculty senate, Hardy said. The University has not used a presidential search committee since Hogan was selected in 2010.

FROM 1A

LAS DEAN December, said Paula Kaufman, chair of the search committee and professor of the University Library. “I think we have a strong group of people that we are bringing to campus,” Kaufman said. “The candidates meet with a wide variety of people so that those people also get to provide input to the search process.” So far, candidates have only met with the search committee, but upon coming to campus, they will meet with deans and with the vice chancellor for research, Kaufman said. Faculty and staff will then be able to give their input on the finalists following the on-campus visit. After taking into account the input from faculty and staff, the search commit tee w i l l compi le recommendations for each candidate and send them to the Office of the Provost to make the fi nal decision. No date has been established yet for the fi nal selection of the new dean.

MaryCate can be reached at most2@dailyillini.com.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

“I don’t think past episodes really has anything to do with or reflects on the advisory search committees or the work they performed,” Hardy said. “Everyone who is a part of this process gives a lot of their time. The fact that the presidency was vacated due to difficult circumstances is no reflection of the search committee.”

“We have a really strong set of nominations. They are going to be a really good team.” ROY CAMPBELL

ENGINEERING PROFESSOR

Search committee members will be responsible not only to search for presidential nominees, but also to help define the role of the next president, Campbell said. “Our flagship campus has some

Dean finalists’ presentations

The finalists will be on campus over the next two weeks to give presentations about their vision for the future of the College of LAS and the University.

James Glaser Dean of Academic Affairs, School of Arts and Sciences, Tufts University Professor, Department of Political Science Monday, April 7 Public Presentation & Reception 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. Beckman Institute – 1025 (Auditorium) Beckman and the Beckman Atrium

Joseph Francisco Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Education, College of Science, Purdue University William E. Moore Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemistry and Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Wednesday, April 9

really strategic goals that we need to satisfy,” Campbell said. “(The University presidential candidates) must maintain educational excellence, and maintain a presence in Springfield and coordinate our campuses under budget constraints.” Campbell said that any of the six faculty candidates will be suited for the search committee, but it will be up to the Board of Trustees to decide which candidates will best represent the diverse constituencies within the University. “We have a really strong set of nominations,” Campbell said. “They are going to be a really good team to help choose the president. In certain ways, we couldn’t have put a better foot forward.” Hardy also emphasized that diversity within the selection committee would be key. “(The Board of Trustees) will consider recommendations of potential advisory search committee members from all walks of life within the University,” Hardy said. “And obviously, students will play an important role.”

MaryCate can be reached at most2@dailyillini.com or @marycate_most.

Public Presentation & Reception 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. Location TBA

Elizabeth Spiller Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Florida State University Professor, Department of English Monday, April 14 Public Presentation & Reception 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. Location TBA

Barbara Wilson Executive Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs, University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign Kathryn Lee Baynes Dallenbach Professor, Department of Communication Wednesday, April 16 Public Presentation & Reception 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. Location TBA

3A

Library-IT fee rate remains steady, funds fully allocated BY TYLER DAVIS STAFF WRITER

The University will no longer see an additional influx of funds from the campus Library-IT Fee, used to expand and enhance library and information technology resources. When the fee was instated in 2007, it was only applied to incoming students after the summer semester, resulting in an approximate 25 percent yearly increase in additional funding until the fee was fully implemented four years later in 2011, said campus spokeswoman Robin Kaler in an email. “Now that the fee is in its sixth year, there is no additional influx of funds to distribute and the recurring money is spoken for on long-term services,” Kaler said. She added that there has been no increase in the fee level for several years, remaining at $244 per semester for students taking 12 or more credit hours. As such, there is no longer a need for the LibraryIT Fee Advisory Committee, composed of faculty from CITES and the University Library as well as representatives from student stakeholder groups, to make allocation recommendations to the Office of the Provost. The advisory committee meets only when called together to review allocations of additional revenue. Kaler noted that the campus plans to review allocations as its needs change. At that time, students will once again be involved in the decision-making process. Since its approval, the fee has funded enhancements to the Urbana campus, including upgrades to classrooms, libraries and computer labs as well as additions to print and digital resources for the University Library. Associate Dean of Libraries Tom Teper, co-chair of the advisory committee, said the fee has “certainly enhanced the University Library’s ability to move ahead on a great number of initiatives.” “We were really interested ... in trying to expand services, to attempt to improve space across the libraries, and improve what we had in the way of collections, both in terms of discovery and materials,” Teper said. In 2007, funding from the Library-IT Fee was used to provide 24-hour service five days a week at the Grainger Engineering Library Information Center. Just a year and a half later, the Under-

A selection of Library-IT Fee projects

The campus Library-IT Fee has been used since 2007 to expand and enhance University Library’s technology and resource offerings within libraries. 2012 “Hidden Collections” Uncovered For Your Use With support from the fee, the University Library has cataloged tens of thousands of materials previously difficult to locate and use for teaching and research. These materials include foreign language materials, children’s literature, rare books and special collections. 2011 Student Services Development Team This proposal established an expert software development team that creates IT-based graduate Library began to provide similar hours, adding weekend hours as well. During the 2007 to 2008 school year, more than 1.7 million people visited these two libraries — a 10 percent increase over the previous year. Additionally, fee money allowed the campus to increase the power grid supporting the Undergraduate Library in 2009, as well as increase the number of available power outlets by 300 percent. “One of the first things we did was look at the 24-hour libraries, and we did that because of (student input),” Teper said. “We looked at power to the Undergraduate Library early on, because frankly, we knew we had to do something there. The input of the students (on the advisory committee) really helped us shape the priorities.” More recently, Teper said the fee has allowed the library staff to process “huge collections of backlogged materials,” including tens of thousands of materials that had been previously difficult to use in teaching and research. In addition, the fee has allowed

tools to improve campusspecific student services. The team’s projects are chosen and prioritized by a steering committee. 2009 Digital Library Expands The fee is used to allow further user access to online content. This proposal supports ongoing subscriptions to electronic resources and other acquisitions and allows University Library to acquire back files and new electronic resources to support the needs of students. 2007 24-hour libraries The fee was used to provide 24hour service five days a week during the academic year at the Grainger Engineering Library Information Center. In spring 2008, the same hours were extended to the Undergraduate Library. SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PROVOST

the libraries to provide wider access to ebooks and other online resources. Teper said the University’s digital collections have millions of downloads a year for licensed online resources. “At this point, about 71 percent at the end of the last fiscal year of our materials allocation went to electronic resources,” he said. “Frankly, the changes in the publishing industry are moving in that direction.” Although Teper said resource prices continue to increase, Kaler said the fee has not increased in the past three years; however, if there were a need, she said the Tuition Policy Advisory Committee — composed of undergraduate and graduate student members — would review the possibility when they make their recommendations in the fall. The campus has not asked for an increase in the past three years and the committee has agreed that the fee remain flat.

Tyler can be reached at tadavis2@dailyillini.com and @ TylerAllynDavis.