MACOMB, IL -- The newly organized Western Illinois University Trustees in a two-day meeting, Oct. 3 - 4, 2019, got an earful from the public comments, and listened.
On Oct. 3 they named the acting president Martin Abraham as interim president while a search committee looks for a permanent president. My bet is on Abraham, who is personable and smart. During the public comments on Oct. 3, ten people, WIU faculty including the faculty union president and the faculty senate president, spoke in favor of Abraham. That must be some kind of record.
Here is a recording of the first round of comments on Oct. 3.
A highlight: Merrill Cole of the English Department made the point that no one who participated in last year's illegal closed trustee meetings should be promoted into the president's office. (See earlier posts on the violations of the Illinois Open Meetings Act. Those trustees have left the board, resigned or fired.)
That would eliminate internal candidates for the position.
I spoke in favor of funding WIU's NPR radio station, and a staff member asked for more funds for the study abroad program for students. Later in his address to the meeting, Abraham mentioned both requests. Smart!
Here's a Peoria Journal Star story on Abraham.Tri-states public radio, the campus NPR station, also has stories at tspr.org.
The second round of comments on Oct. 4 included a history professor who asked the board not to destroy any minutes from closed meetings, but instead deposit them in the WIU Library, as they are part of the university's history. The official minutes are not adequate, he said.
Bill Thompson, president of the faculty union, is also a librarian, and agreed that the minutes should go into the library, especially since WIU is still being investigated by the Illinois Attorney General's office for Open Meetings Act violations.
The trustees later decided not to destroy these recordings, according to the McDonough Voice.
He also asked the trustees to cancel the university's contract with an anti-union law firm. Since 2015 it's been paid $1 million, he said, money that would have been better spent on university needs, such as books for the library. None have been purchased since 2013, he said.
A recording of these comments includes the meeting which followed until a break, with the rest of the meeting not included.
Some highlights:
The university is working to boost enrollment; its reserves (money) "are exhausted;" the capital budget lists a science building and rehab of the current building, since its labs are 30 years old, and the performing arts center (are there any billionaires out there who would like to sponsor a building?); all buildings need roofs; Tillman Hall needs $30 million in remodeling.
The meeting was recorded by Macomb's low power FM station WTND, at 106.3 FM, and wtnd.org. It will be broadcast soon, likely Oct. 7 or 8. Check the Facebook page for information.
Here is a link to WIU's story on the meeting.
-- Elaine Hopkins
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