President

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Kori Bowns
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The semesterly President and Pro-
vost Forum is a tradition at IIT that provides
students the opportunity to ask any questions
they have regarding university policy to the
top two university administrators, President
John Anderson and Provost Alan Cramb.
Organized by the Illinois Tech Student Gov—
ernment Association (SGA), this semester’s
President and Provost Forum was hosted over
the lunch hour on Thursday, October 30 in the
Hermann Hall Expo. Tables with varieties of
free sandwiches and sides lined the edges of
the expo, and 200 chairs were lined up in front
of a stage for the event, of which about three
quarters were filled through the duration of the
event.

The event began with a few opening
remarks from Akinade Aderele, SGA Presi-
dent. He thanked those in attendance and ex-
plained the purpose of the event. “This event
gives the students of IIT some face—to-face
time with the top leaders at the university. It’s
an excellent opportunity for you to ask ques-
tions about the university’s future and any of
the things that you think about as a student at
this university.” Aderele also introduced the
moderator for the event, Gabriel Connors, an
SGA Senator from the Lewis College of Hu-
man Sciences.

The president and provost began to
hear questions that had been collected by SGA
through an online form prior to the event. The
first question was regarding the ever-popular
topic of tuition increases at the university. It
asked whether the university would consider
a locked-in tuition rate instead of having tu—
ition increase each year for every student.

 

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“Tuition increases annually because expenses
increase annually, and because of this, we need
to increase tuition,” said Anderson. In regard
to locking in a tuition rate that never goes up
and stays the same for all of a student’s years
at the university, President Anderson offered
some insight. “This has been tried at several
universities and it’s usually been a very nega-
tive experiment. One reason is that, when par—
ents compare the cost of education between
schools, they forget that the tuition is locked
in; we initially have to have a raised tuition
cost for a locked—in rate, and they compare it
to another school’s tuition that will increase
annually.” Provost Cramb also added that IIT’s
sticker price is not usually a true reflection of
the price to students, as many students receive
a lot of aid. He also explained that the tuition
increases are tiered; continuing students face
lower increases than incoming students.

The next question, also submitted
prior to the event, asked what the outlook
was for the graduate student programs aLIlT.
Provost Cramb responded to the question, ex-
plaining that the university looks to stabilize
the number of graduate students to around
5,000 students, keeping the enrollment very
close to where it is now. “Our goal is to grow
the undergraduate population by another
thousand students over the next five years.
We’d like to see this campus become 50 per-
cent undergraduate and 50 percent graduate
students.”

The next question expressed that the
university needs to put more funding into ath—
letics at IIT in order to attract more students to
the university and asked what the university’s
plans were for increasing funding for athletics.
President Anderson stated the importance of
varsity, intermural, and recreational athletics.

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, Provost Forum

ent concerns

He said, “We’re not talking about very large
increases in funding for athletics currently. All
of the student fees paid for athletics from the
past five years have gone to infrastructure im-
provements for athletics.” He also added that
the university is looking to hire a new full-time
director of intermurals. Anderson then passed
the question to Provost Cramb, who will be
succeeding Anderson as president of the uni-
versity in August 2015. Cramb added that the
university will continue to support the idea of
the scholar-athlete, where we have exceptional
students who also participate in athletics as
opposed to having specific athletic scholar-
ships for athletes. He also shifted the focus of
the conversation to the overall extracurricular
experience at IIT and said, “The university will
spend more on student life, and athletics are a
part of student life. I wouldn’t separate the two.
There are many parts of student life, the expe-
rience outside of the classroom, that are very
important to the development of our students.”

Provost Cramb’s transition into the
presidential role at IIT was the subject of the
next question. President Anderson said, “Pro-
vost Cramb and I have worked together for
almost seven years at IIT. Like any two indi-
viduals, we don’t agree on everything, but we
do agree on most things, and we form partner-
ships and strategies together. The provost was
in charge of the strategic plan that we just fin-
ished last year. The transition, I think, will be
very smooth. I applaud the board of trustees
for selecting the provost to be the next presi—
dent because I know that he has a vision and
commitment to the university, which is very
important.”

Cramb added, “I’m fully behind our
vision for the future. We’re going to become a
much better—known university. We’re going to

focus on the accomplishments of our gradu-
ates and our faculty. 1 think, from the student’s
perspective, they will see no hiccups.”

After all of the previously-submitted
questions had be asked, the floor was open for
attendees at the event to ask any questions. Af-
ter no response, Connors suggested that the
president and provost take some time to talk
about the Kaplan Innovation Center, the new
building to be built on campus in the near fu-
ture.

President Anderson says that the
Kaplan Center will be located in Morton Park
north of Hermann hall three years from now,
and it will be the first new academic building
on campus since Stuart Building was built in
1968. “Undergraduate students will take two
semesters of courses there because all of the
IPROs will be taught in this building. The Idea
Shop will be moved there, The Institute of
Design will be moved there from downtown,
we will have Leadership Academy and Entre-
preneurship Academy here, and we will have
adjunct faculty come in from businesses that
will do residencies here. This building will be a
place where you will be inspired to apply what
you’ve learned,” said Anderson. He adds that
construction on the building intends to break
ground in 2016 and finish the building by
2017.

A follow-up question came from an
audience member asking what will happen to
the old building where the Idea Shop is cur—
rently located. Cramb says that the plan is to
completely move classes out of the Tech Busi-
ness Center on campus, adding that the Kaplan
Innovation Center will be a 24-hour building
where students will be able to work on proj-
ects related to their courses as well as personal

PmiectS- (Continued on Page 4)

Photo by Kevin Zheng
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