U of I president sees long-term shift from state funding

The new University of Illinois president warned that the university must address a long-term trend of fewer state dollars, but it also must protect what is most important to the university.

“We have to talk about what is important at the U of I and what is important in ACES (College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences),” Michael Hogan told Illinois Farm Bureau board members during their recent board meeting.

Hogan, who started his new position July 1, said he had no specific plans, but he mentioned a need to control costs and reduce duplication among the three campuses in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, and Springfield.

“The state and university have serious financial problems. These are not short-term problems,” the president said. “As we deal with this crisis ... we will deal with it as part of a long-term trend that will not be reversed.”

But the state isn’t alone in shortchanging the university -- especially for valuable research, according to Hogan. Research is a net cost to the university, although it received $800 million in research funding, he said.

For example, the U of I spends $1.40 for every $1 it receives in grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Hogan explained. “We need to convince the federal government to step in and identify the research that is important to U.S. competitiveness” and fund it accordingly, he said.

Underfunded activities, such as research, increase the pressure to raise tuition, Hogan noted. But families and students expect money from higher tuition to be spent on undergraduate education, he added.

“People like me have to strike a balance, and I’m not sure what that (balance) is,” Hogan told IFB board members. “As we reshape the university, there are some things that we’re not going to be able to do anymore.

“We have to identify what is truly important at the U of I ... I think ACES will come out pretty good because we’re a land-grant (university),” Hogan said.

Hogan said he learned the U of I administration and IFB have had a strained relationship at times, but he assured board members, “This is a new day.”

That new relationship started while Hogan was still at the University of Connecticut. IFB was the first organization in Illinois to reach out to Hogan after he was named U of I president, he said. “I feel at home in Illinois and at home with people who do what you do,” Hogan said, adding that he has Iowa farm roots.
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