Tuesday, November 15th, 2016 | TechNeWS campu5@technewsiit_com IE: I“: i : EEI 3

Campus inclusiveness, college affordability, more take center stage at President, Provost Forum

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The second online question, one that was
a common refrain online at the beginning
of the semester, asked why a brand new
building (the Ed Kaplan Family Institute for
Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship) was
being constructed on campus while tuition
was increasingi Why, the submitter inquired,
would the university dedicate resources to
creating a multimillionedollar construction
project rather than renovating existing
facilities and tamping down the economic
burden placed on students? Cramb reiterated
the fact that the Kaplan Institute was funded
entirely by donations, not tuition money, and
that its construction was only one part of a
larger master plan to transform campus which
included the alreadyecomplete renovations of
E1 (now the John T Rettaliata Engineering
Center) and Life Sciences (now the Robert A,
Pritzker Science Center), as well as the sale of
Main Building to a private developer earlier
this year on a 307yea.r land leasei

Prompted by a followup question
from a student in attendance at the event,
conversation was directed more toward
the subject of tuition increases, putting
the talk of campus facilities asidei Cramb
asserted that annual tuition increases were
largely inevitable due to the university’s own
constantly increasing expenses (such of which
could be attributed to monetary inflation), but
that Illinois Tech was attempting to grow the
student body faster to bring down pereperson
tuition costs Overall enrollment was lower
than expected this academic year, but costs
were reduced as well, and the university’s brief
deficit was remedied during the last fiscal year,
Illinois Tech’s Board of Trustees requires the
president to present balanced budget annually,
and Cramb expressed that the school couldn’t
simply generate money "from nowhere"
to ensure that balance, Another student at
the event asked whether the university had
considered eliminating bonuses during
unsatisfactory financial periods, to which
Cramb explained that no bonuses were taken
during the previous fiscal year and all staff
salaries were frozen at the previous year’s level
(apart from promoted individuals) in response
to budget issues plaguing Illinois Tech at the
timer

Moving on after time had run out
for that issue, a student approached the front
of the room to ask whether plans were in the
works at any level to increase the number of
Teaching Assistants (TAs) aiding education
at Illinois Tech, He pointed to examples of
other technological universities which more
thoroughly integrated TAs into their classes,
and said that he had consistently advocated
for the same to be done here but had never
seen progress made Dr Chris White, the
university’s Vice Provost for Academic Affairs,
and Dr Joseph Orgel, Chair of the University
Faculty Council (UFC), were both invited
up to provide answers White explained that
TA numbers were largely up to each college,
and offered an initial rebuttal to the premise
of the question, stating that “what [Illinois

Tech] doesn't want to do is tip the balance
more toward graduate students running the
classroom? ' Orgel expanded on that idea,
pointing out that one of the biggest selling
points of this institution is direct interaction
between welleregarded faculty and students,
even at the undergraduate level That said,
he agreed that “the opportunity to assist
instruction is a training and mentorship
opportunity," especially for graduate students
aiming for careers in academia, and expressed a
personal view that “it could be folded into part
of the education" He said he “would be willing
to commit some [UFC] time to consideration
of this and discussion of this," prompting a
statement hope from the original asker that
changes could be set in motion before his time
at Illinois Tech ended later this year

Next, another online submission
suggested that moving the university’s spring
commencement ceremony indoors could avoid
issues caused by inclement weather Cramb
stated that the university did have an inclement
weather plan for each commencement, but that
the scale of the main ceremony would not be
possible within any onecampus facility Both
he and Bronet gave background to an analysis
done in recent years to determine the costs of
moving the ceremony to Chicago’s McCormick
Place conference center, expressing that college
deans were asked to opine on the venue and
the majority supported keeping it on campus
for reasons of both cost and sentimentality

The next question presented in the
room came from a current membereatelarge
of the President’s Student Advisory Council
(PSAC), who asked Cramb’s opinion of the
current state of that group and the overall
task of bridging the perceived gap between
students and administrators at Illinois Tech,
Cramb praised PSAC for reforming quickly
and efficiently with a slate of mostly new
members this semester, but implied that some
members of the group may have approached
the beginning of the semester without the
mentality that they were to represent the
opinions of Illinois Tech students en masse
(or the individual subsections thereof which
certain members are delegates of), not
themselves Cramb said that the whole group
had quickly learned that “none of the members
of the President's Student Advisory Council
are there to represent their own issue; they are
there to represent the student body," and that
conversation had been very productive since
that point, He expressed hope that an effective
PSAC could help address the latter half of the
question asked, designing new input avenues
and pursuing projects on behalf of the student
body

An online submission brought
the focus of the event back to the dichotomy
of campus improvements and tuition costs,
seeking clarification about how students
would be directly affected by the $250,242,380
raised by the university during its Fueling
Innovation donation campaign Bronet spoke
first about the utility of the aforementioned
Kaplan Institute, which was funded as part of
the campaign, and then turned to the broad
topic of the distribution of the money overall

"Fundamentally, when we're raising money,
some of that is going into an endowment,
some of it is being used to control the costs of
the universitynit is critical to bring in dollars
that can be used for scholarships," she
asserted, alluding to the $104,267,914 from
the campaign which will go directly to the
university’s endowment and the $48,677,561
which is earmarked for scholarships and
fellowships Cramb focused on faculty and
facility improvements, citing 15 new endowed
chairs and otherhiring funded bythe campaign,
as well as the three major building projects
which had been discussed earlier (all of which
were part of the campaign) Addressing a
followup question from an audience member
who had viewed a recently published campus
master plan (which includes major building
renovations, demolitions, and construction
through 2030 and beyond), Cramb explained
that one of his priorities as president was to
oversee transformation of most of Illinois
Tech’s onecampus housing, and that this work
would be part of future funding campaigns
Though the master plan’s constructions are
largely unfunded at this point in time, Cramb
stated that, "if we don't plan twenty or thirty
years in advance, then it never happens"

An international student in the
ballroom expressed concern about a recent
uptick in robberies on both the eastern and
western sides of campus, and asked Cramb
what could be done to reduce risk to the
university’s students, especially international
students (who are more commonly victims of
crime than domestic students at Illinois Tech)
Cramb spoke of a daily report he received from
Illinois Tech’s Public Safety Department, and
of an increase in Public Safety stafiing that had
been enacted recently He then brought Vice
President of Facilities and Public Safety Bruce
Watts forward to provide more detail Watts
explained that the Chicago Police Department
(CPD) had increased their own patrols near
the locations of recent robberies, and that
Public Safety had modified the route of their
shuttle service to allow dropeoffs directly at
the doors of buildings at Lake Meadows and
Prairie Shores, two large apartment complexes
east of King Drive that are very popular with
international students He also spoke about
a meeting he had with the local CPD district
commander to create sessions on campus
for students to learn more about protecting
themselves, with a particular focus on helping
students know the process of pressing charges
against those who commit crimes against
them For international students who are often
unsure of their right to file a report with CPD
and the mechanisms to do so, this program is
meant to provide insight and confidence when
interacting with police Cramb also made an
effort to mitigate fears that the spike in crime
was connected in anyway to an inherent aspect
of the Illinois Tech campus, stating, "this is an
issue of the city right now; this is not just here
that this is happening"

The final question of the scheduled
time for the President and Provost Forum,
and the final online submission, expressed
concern about significant administrative

layoffs announced during the spring, asking
why that decision made and what was being
done to get those offices functioning again.
According to Cramb, "we could not actually get
to a balanced budget without decreasing the
number of people on our staff," an issue that
first came to the forefront when the university
reported an operating loss in the fall of 20151
In the end, he said, "It was a tough decision to
make, but it was a decision we had to make"
Cramb urged a more thorough examination,
however, of certain vacancies which had been
perceived by students as layoffs despite no cuts
being made to certain departments, explaining
that certain staff from the International Center,
the One Stop, and more had chosen to leave
following the layoff announcement and into
this semester, and that many offices were
currently in the process of filling voluntary
vacancies and getting back to normal in that
regard,

Prompted by a specific question
about the Student Health and Wellness Center
(SHWC), which is currently down on staff
and has become the center of contentious
discussion among many students, Vice Provost
for Student Affairs and Dean of Students
Katherine Stetz came to the microphone to
explain that the SHWC had not been part of
the elimination of positions at the beginning of
2016, but a training program of the office had
been on hiatus due to a stafiing vacancy, which
removed six interns who would typically have
seen students in appointments As a result, wait
time for appointments has been longer this
year, but hiring is ongoing and the program
is intended to be running once again after one
more hire is made within the SHWC, Following
up, Cramb said, "we are very serious about
mental health, and we always have professional
staff on hand for that," Students who have not
been able to consistently receive a response
from the SHWC when attempting to make an
appointment were encouraged to contact Stetz
to resolve their situation, and Stetz assured
those in attendance that, “any emergencies we
will be able to manage immediately"

Though the scheduled length of the
President and Provost Forum was limited as
always by the confines of the student lunch
hour and the busy schedules of both Cramb
and Bronet, students were encouraged to
mingle after the event with many of the staff
and faculty members present and to ask
questions or brainstorm ideas with them for
improving the areas of the university they
overseer Additionally, in this instance, Cramb
and Bronet continued to take questions for
an additional fifteen minutes beyond the
President and Provost Forum’s official 1:45
pm end time, conversing with students who
did not have to leave for classes at the time If
the tradition of the forum itself is continued by
SGA, the next President and Provost Forum
will take place in the Spring semester

American Express offers resources for business and consumers on Small Business Saturday

Teesta Iain, Donna Rockin
KNAPP ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTER

Small Business Saturday is a
relatively recent American tradition that has
been gaining momentum each and every
year since it launched on November 27,
2010 in Massachusetts This year, be part of
celebration and shop at your neighborhood
independentlyeowned and operated stores
on Saturday, November 26th Small Business
Saturday is during the Thanksgiving holiday
weekend between Black Friday and Cyber
Monday

American Express is the official
champion of the “shop small" movement,
American Express and the City of Chicago’s
Department of Business Affairs and Consumer
Protection hosted the Small Business Saturday
Bootcamp in Chicago, IL, on Tuesday,
October 18 from 4 to 7 pm at the Chicago
Cultural Center (78 E Washington) The Boot

Camp featured small business strategist Ms
Rhonda Abrams Abrams is president of The
Planning Shop and a publisher of books for
entrepreneurs Her column appears Fridays at
USATODAYicomI

The small businesses are major
anchors of local economies, creating
employment opportunities and serving
as engines of economic growth to local,
neighborhood economies Small businesses
preserve neighborhoods around the country
and make these neighborhoods more livable
and convenient They bring growth and
innovation to the community and help to
create and implement new products and
services the community needs

American Express launched its
new Shop Small Studio to make it easy for
small businesses to participate and create a
buzz in their communities Check out about
americanexpressc0m/news/pr/2016/amexe
new,shop,smallestudioetoolsaspx to take
advantage of the free resources, customizable

materials, and education content to help small
business owners to prepare for Small Business
Saturday Easyto use free resources are available
at americanexpresscom/us/smallebusiness/
shopesmall/i Available resources include event
flyers and posters, website badges, Facebook
and Twitter cover photos and other social
media assets Small Business 101 includes a
multimedia hub (americanexpresscom/us/
smallebusiness/shopesmall/promoteii/sbs101)
American Express also offers big rewards for
shopping small this particular year,

Finally, on Saturday, November
26, remember to help the small businesses
in your neighborhood thrive and survive,
Shop and invest your dollar power on Small
Business Saturday at your local hardware store,
bakery, beauty salon, florist or independent
restaurant, pizza parlor or sub joint, In
2015, it is estimated that 95 million people
went to their neighborhood streets to shop
small, The statistic cited is an estimate based
on consumer selfereported data from the

Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights
Survey commissioned by American Express
and the National Federation of Independent
Business (NFIB) The survey was conducted
anonymously by independent marketing
performance specialist Ebiquity, on November
29, 2015 among a nationally representative
sample of 2,363 males and females 18 years of
age or older That sample was collected using
an email invitation and an online survey,
which has an overall margin of error of +/7 210
percent, at the 95 percent level of confidence,
Mark your calendars and be part of the Small
Business Saturday movement and put your
money where your home is!