CONTINUANCEKnowledge and Understanding Passing from Generation to Generation

25Celebrating

In This IssueHistory of the Intergenerational InitiativeCelebrating 50 Years of IBHEThe Amazing P-20 CouncilNational Leaders Connect GenerationsPresidents and Chancellors

Spring/Summer 2011 Vol. 25 Nos. 3 & 4

A groundswell of support from education and ag-ing organizations along with a a Higher Education Cooperation Act grant of $35,000 helped establish the Intergenerational Initiative in 1986. The first major action of the project was a two-and-a-half-day retreat that connected nearly 50 organizations representing aging, service and education at all levels. Participants said, “The retreat gave us time to learn about other organizations and develop new partnerships.” It was important to tell the stories about these new partner-ships, so in 1987, Continuance started as a 4-page newsletter and then evolved into a magazine in 1999 with funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service.

The late 1980s and early 1990s marked unprecedented intergenerational development bringing older tutors to classrooms, retiree discussions on how they could contribute to the workforce, and listening sessions that left no doubt about the value of education to older Illinoisans. A partnership with the Retirement Research Foundation, IBHE, AARP and the Illinois Community College Board helped establish the Life-long Learning Coalition –– an organization of older learner programs.

Illinois played an important role preparing for the 1995 White House Conference on Aging, with 30 re-gional speak outs that were co-sponsored by RSVP programs and resulted in Illinois gaining national prominence for intergenerational coalitions.

In 2000, a new wave of storytelling brought attention to the enormous potential of generations learning and serving together. As a result, the Illinois Board of Higher Education appointed a task force for inter-generational service learning. In 2005, Senate Presi-dent Emil Jones, Jr. launched the first Senate Forum

Celebrating 25 YearsHistoric Highlights of the Intergenerational Initiative

on Intergenerational Leadership. The outcome was a new series called Aging is an Asset, an effort to redefine retirement as a time for civic engagement. A 2006 study with SURS called The Joys of Retirement provided some guidelines: The best way to recruit older adults is “Just ask!”

In 2008, through the leadership of Charles John-son, director of aging, and in cooperation with the National Governors Association, the Illinois Policy Academy on the Civic Engagement of Old-er Adults was created. In 2009, Senate President John J. Cullerton and Republican Leader Christine Radogno convened the first Senate gathering dedi-cated to the civic engagement of older adults and Governor Pat Quinn set the Year of the Engaged Older Adult for 2010. In September 20, 2010, the first Summit on Aging and Education was con-vened by State Supt. Christopher Koch and Direc-tor Charles Johnson. Later in 2010, community college presidents created local intergenerational coalitions to discuss increasing graduation rates and promoting healthy lifestyles.

Health issues have always been front and center with the Intergenerational Initiative. We have to remember that the seeds for good health are planted in the early years and often determine the quality of life and staying independent in the later years.

We can build on the history of the Intergenerational Initiative as we shake out specifics for the Eight-Point Plan listed on the opposite page.

Begin by joining other generations on Septem-ber 26 with the question: “How can I help?” Editor - Jane Angelis

Jane Angelis (1987)

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HistoryoftheIntergenerationalInitiativeandPreparingan Eight-PointPlanfortheFuture

1.ConnectingOrganizations2 2.CreatingNewPrograms4 3.PromotingHealthyLifestylesforAllAges6 4.LeadingacrossGenerations7 5.ContributingtotheWorkforce8 6.LearningforaLifetime9 7.BuildingCoalitions10 8.TellingandWritingtheStories11

GenerationsServingGenerations12 Lawyer-toLawyerMentoring RealMenRead

Celebrating50YearsoftheIllinoisBoardofHigherEducation13

TheAmazingP-20Council18

NationalLeadersConnectGenerations,FlattenSilos20 CorporationChairApplaudsUniversities21 ACallforCompleteCollegeAmerica21 CollegeChangesEverything22 21st-CenturyInitiative:AFutureVisionforCommunityColleges22

Presidents&Chancellors:OvercomingBarriersandJumpingHurdles23 AbouttheUniversityJournalists23 AboutthePresidentsandChancellorsofPublicUniversities25-36

CongratulationstoRSVP37 Acknowledgements37

CONTINUANCE

Coming:September26,2011

How Can I Help?ASummitonAging,EductionandService

DedicatedtoBuildingNewMomentumforReadingandWritingacrossGenerations

SponsoredbytheIllinoisNGAPolicyAcademyontheCivicEngagementofOlderAdultsandtheIntergenerationalInitiative:CenterforHealthLawandPolicy:SIUSchoolofLaw

Location:IllinoisStateUniversityAlumniCenter,Normal,IllinoisForadditionalInformation:www.solit.siu.edu/GenServeGen

Spring/Summer2011 Vol.25Nos.3&4

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1. Connecting Organizations

1986-ConnectingOrganizationsatAllertonParkinMonticelloTheBeginningoftheIntergenerationalInitiative

Administration on Aging, Region VAmerican Association of Retired PersonsBoard of GovernorsCenter for Understanding AgingChicago Metro. lntergenerational CommitteeChicago State University Congress of Parents and TeachersDaily American Newspaper, West FrankfortEastern Illinois University ElderhostelGovernor’s Office of Senior InvolvementGovernor’s Office of Voluntary ActionIllinois Alternative Education AssociationIllinois Association of Area Agencies on AgingIllinois Association of School AdministratorsIllinois Association of School BoardsIllinois Assoc. of Regional SuperintendentsIllinois Assoc. of Senior CentersIllinois Board of Higher EducationIllinois Community College BoardIllinois Community College Faculty AssociationIllinois Community College Trustees Assoc.

Illinois Community Education AssociationIllinois Council of Community Coll. PresidentsIllinois Department on AgingIllinois Dept. of Children and Family ServicesIllinois Education AssociationIllinois Federation of TeachersIllinois Gerontology ConsortiumIllinois Principals AssociationIllinois Retired Teachers AssociationIllinois State Board of EducationIllinois State Library Illinois State UniversityNorthern Illinois UniversityOakton Community College, Preschool Prog.RSVP - Retired Senior and Volunteer ProgramSangamon State CollegeSouthern Illinois University at CarbondaleSouthern Illinois University at EdwardsvilleTeachers Retirement SystemUniversity of IllinoisUniversity of Illinois at Urbana/ChampaignWestern Illinois University

OrganizationsRepresentedatthe1986IntergenerationalRetreat

Everyone knows that a silo is a large storage tower for grain, but silos are also used to symbolize the isolation between organizations. These social silos result in diminished communica-tion and the loss of opportunities to take on problems as a united force. The silos of education and aging, which are all too common, are readily seen in schools and communities. One of the most important outcomes of the Intergenerational Initiative has been to help flatten the silos.

Nearly 25 years have passed since a group representing P-20 educa-tion, aging, and community service organizations created a new inter-generational network. The partici-pants spent 2 1/2 days pondering the benefits of generations working together. The idea was to get people from aging and education to set in motion a cooperative, systematic plan to understand our respective missions and how we might sup-port one another.

The dialogue has continued as a driving force for creating new programs, stimulating new connections between education and aging groups and taking action. Connecting organizations has been the number one priority of the Intergenerational Initiative for 25 years.

A Tribute to Charles Johnson, Illinois Intergenerational Leader Charles Johnson retired on August 1 after 40 years of leadership in the aging network and as Director of the Illinois Department on Aging. His contributions to intergenerational efforts are legendary. In 2008, Johnson submitted a proposal to the National Governors Association for a project called the Public Policy Academy on the Civic Engagement of Older Adults. His proposal was approved.

Congratulations and godspeed to Charles and his wife, Joyce, from the leadership team of the Illinois NGA Policy Academy on the Civic Engagement of Older Adults.

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Celebrating25

2009 - Connecting Organizations during a gathering at the Illinois Senate

On May 11, 2009 Senate President John Cullerton and Republican Leader Christine Radogno sponsored a Gathering in the Senate to promote the Civic Engagement of Older Adults. Over 200 participants representing four generations discussed the changing image of retirement and how Illinoisans of all generations envision a state where the talents of older generations aren’t left on the sidelines. The participants set two goals: First to celebrate the contributions of older adults, and second, to expand the civic engagement of all Illinoisans. The effort was a cooperative venture with the National Governors Association for civic engagement across generations to support education, health and liveable communities.

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Helene Block Fields tells a story about Grandma Ruth an 85-year old friend to preschool children at Oakton Community College. Grandma Ruth helped when the children felt the insecurity of a new environment. ” Another favorite, Grandpa Al tells the story about one child who said, “Grandpa Al is happy that I am his friend since his grandchildren live far away.”

A 1990 oral history program brought Grant Elementary School students in Chicago’s west side to the senior building across the street. Each meeting started with introductions--going around the table. The students were very shy, but the seniors encouraged them. Mary Miller, one of the mentors, brought a chuckle from everyone when she said, “I hear you yelling out on the playground—I know you can speak.” The improvement in the students was noticeable in each meeting. One student could barely make eye contact or tell his name in the first session. At the end of the semester, he surprised the older mentors when he said, with perfect articulation, that being with them had helped him stay away from the gangs.

Mary Simon, a retired English pro-fessor at SIU Carbondale, worked

with Associate Chancellor Seymour Bryson, to organize a retiree men-toring program that fostered basic skills. When one of the students lost in a beauty contest, she said it was her mentor who helped her under-stand winning and losing.

A Benton High School English teacher, Brenda Stewart, found that her group of lower achiev-ers needed some oomph. She involved local senior citizens in a poetry club with the students and seniors writing together. One student wrote a poem about his feelings of isolation and how that had changed since he had become involved with the senior citizens.

Larry Wallingford and Ann Gale from the Chicago Department on Aging, produced a curriculum for Chicago Public School students and teachers called, “Let’s Cel-ebrate and Enjoy our Grandpar-ents.” Ann said, “Today’s children will enjoy an unprecedented longevity so it is essential for chil-dren to develop positive attitudes toward older people and their own aging.”

Carla Gosney’s RSVP volunteers at John Wood Community College in Quincy joined with Chaddock School to develop Carry-out Cara-

Preschool-OaktonCommunityCollegeChildren gather around the table with Grandpa Al to take on the challenges of build-ing and math.

College:SIUCarbondaleA retiree mentor talks to a 101 students about taking note in class. SIUC launched a mentor-ing program linking retired faculty and staff with freshman students. The retirees assisted students with basic skills such as note taking, accessing university support systems, and preparing for examinations.

2. Creating New Programs

Elementary:RockwellGardensinChicagoAn eighth grade student from Grant Elemen-tary School starts his tape recorder and interviews Mary Miller during an intergenera-tional program at Rockwell Gardens, a senior housing building across the street. The proj-ect was a partnership with the Retirement Research Foundation in cooperation with the Chicago Public Library, Chicago Housing Authority, Chicago Public Schools, University of Illinois at Chicago and the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

For thousands of years, storytelling has been key to passing history from genera-tion to generation. As a nation, we value our family stories because they connect the past to the present and give us direction for the future. The following stories and anecdotes, both heart-wrenching and humourous exemplify intergenerational pioneers in Illinois. Today as we anticipate developing the Eight-Point Plan for the Future, younger generations will ably make the point that technology is key.

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Gilson-BrownElementarySchool-GodfreyAfter cutting a Hole in the fence and get-ting rid of the barrier that separated them, students and senior citizens can spend time together.

HURRAHProgram-NapervilleRuss Marineau says “Involvement with younger people and being a partner with our schools in the education process has been a key part of the retirement phase of my life and a source of great personal satisfaction.”

van, a food shopping project for homebound seniors. The program gave students and retirees first-hand experience with intergenera-tional leadership. Rochelle Lee, a retired school librarian, started a reading program for teachers and helped them understand the best ways to teach reading and develop good reading libraries. Frank Ertl a member of AARP started a Penpal program in the Home-wood schools. The students started printing and making letters in the fall and sent notes to their older penpals. In the spring they came together and met to celebrate their writing progress.

Principal Jerry Montagne at Gil-son-Brown Elementary School near Alton talked about the isola-tion of the generations. He said, “The fence separating the nursing home and the school was a four-foot equivalent of the Great Wall of China.” So when the students wanted to visit their elder friends, they had to walk along a danger-ous highway. The solution seemed simple: to put a gate in the fence. Finally, after two years of red tape, they cut a hole in the fence, and the nursing home and school were connected.

Janet Case and Ida Moon founded HURRAH (Happy Upbeat Re-cycled Retirees Actively Helping), in 1989, which involved retirees helping students with study skills, one-on-one reading assistance, and tutorial help. Today the program continues and director Russ Mari-neau describes an added program that is staffed by students to help retirees with computers. Marineau

says “Because of their interaction with these friendly and knowledg-able students, volunteers are more likely to want to help at the high schools.”

Joanne Alter and Marion Stone started Working in the Schools (WITS), a mentoring program for Chicago students at Sojourner Truth School. Pat Bearden, a retired teacher, started a family history project at McDowell School in Chi-cago that encouraged research for middle school students. She said, ”Sharing our family history opens doors of understanding and con-tributes to the peace and harmony in our world.” Joan Wood started a program at Pekin Public Library called Share the Magic. The pro-gram was a chance for older and younger generations to congregate at the library for a holiday pro-gram, picture-taking session and making a special holiday gift.

Students at Field School in North-brook studied how senior citi-zens were portrayed in literature, television shows and in magazines and then they wrote poems, col-lected data and made graphs. They decided that they would like to do a project with senior citizens. The students designed the computer course based on a survey they con-ducted with older adults at a local senior center. When they finished, one student said that he had a greater appreciation for teaching and his teacher.

HistoryComesHomes-ChicagoResearch and writing family history is a great experience according to this student from McDowell School in Chicago.

Computers-FieldSchool-NorthbrookMiddle school students tutor a senior citizen about how to surf the Internet and send a note by e-mail to his grandchildren.

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2008-AgingisanAssetforHealthPromotionSIUSchoolofLaw: Gene Basanta, direc-tor of the Center for Health Law and Policy makes a suggestion discusses the connection between education and health with Lana Campbell and Cynthia Simms, “Developing life-long health really begins with young children. Older adults have many ways to help promote the health of younger genera-tions and our schools are a great community resource to bring people together to do this.”.

The Center for Disease Control reports that “Good education

predicts good health, and dispari-ties in health and in educational achievement are closely linked. Educational success and health are generational challenges. So it makes sense that all generations should face this battle together. Health is an economic issue for all generations, but particularly for

3. Promoting Healthy Lifestyles for All Ages

older adults. The cost of caring for aging U.S. residents will add 25% to the nation’s overall health care costs UNLESS those residents actively work to stay healthy and preventive services are provided to help them. If we are to experience economic prosperity, it must begin with in-dividuals taking responsibility for fostering healthy lifestyles and that begins with younger generations.

However, health habits among college students are often abysmal according to a campus survey at Chicago State University conducted in 1997. They found students at risk for a variety of problems, such as hypertension, diabetes, eat-ing disorders, and other diseases that were preventable. The Health

AgingisanAssetforP-12Education: Carla Gosney and Charles Johnson lead an intergenerational discussion on education, aging and health. Participants discussed the contributions of older adults and the idea that they are resources, not problems. Other Aging is an Asset Forums addressed higher education, communities, the workforce, health promotion, the media and civic engagement.

Intergenerational Partners paired students with retirees from the community and they developed contracts together on healthy eating and exercise. Another program at Naperville high school features students conducting health assess-ments of older generations and then working with them to set goals for improving their health habits.

A 2010 series of local discussions led by community college presi-dents targeted the ways that com-munities could support healthy lifestyles across generations. Many health departments around the state are connecting generations in seeking solutions for obesity, diabe-tes, and other preventable diseases.

First Lady Michelle Obama’s quest for healthy lifestyles is called Let’s Move. The website describes ideas for nutrition, gardens, exercise and new momentum for health. http://www.letsmove.gov/

TheHealthIntergenerationalPartners(HIP) was started at Chicago State University in an effort to support good nutrition and exercise.

Successful Aging, a MacArthur Foundation study, found that perceptions about aging are gradually changing. The myth that older people are inept, incapable, and burdens to so-ciety is slowly being replaced by a more healthy and realistic perception. Marilyn Hen-nessy, board member of the Retirement Research Foundation, notes the shift in public attitudes: “Society’s perceptions of older persons have changed as the active life span has lengthened. Although some negative myths persist, older persons today are recognized as assets to family, workforce and community.” There is also a better understanding that healthy aging begins when young.

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4. Leading and Understanding across Generations

On November 1, 2005, the first Senate Forum on Intergenera-

tional Leadership was convened by Senate President Emil Jones Jr. Retir-ees and students were the delegates appointed by university and commu-nity college presidents. The delegates put their heads together in Senate and House hearing rooms and found potential for joint leadership on their campuses and communities. They spoke from the Senate floor empha-sizing their willingness to take leader-ship. Journalism students wrote about the events as they witnessed them from the Senate press box. President Jones urged all generations to learn more about one another: “Sit next to someone you don’t know, particularly some-one of another culture and get to know them.”

If intergenerational leader-ship is such an important force for education why isn’t it more visible in our universities, communi-ty colleges, and schools? James Belasco may have the answer. He describes the way that elephants are conditioned to quiet behav-ior in Teaching the Elephant to Dance. “Trainers shackle young elephants so that

they will stay in place. Older elephants have been conditioned not to move as long as they have that metal piece around their leg. Like elephants, many universities and schools are bound by conditioning. They don’t tap the po-tential for intergenerational leadership, because it is unimportant, but because they have never done it.

On the back cover of this issue is a photo of the most recent Senate Forum on Intergenerational Leadership. The four generations discussed their

Traditionalists(1922-1945)

Boomers(1946-1964)

Generation X(1965-1980)

Generation Y(1981-2000)

Core Values Respect for AuthorityConformityDiscipline

OptimisticInvolved

SkepticismInformality

ConfidenceSocial/Fun

Family TraditionalNuclear

Disintegrating Latch-Key Kids Merged Families

Education A Dream A Birthright A Way to Succeed Expensive

CommunicationMedia

Rotary phonesMemoLetters

Touch Tone PhonesAccessibilityIn Person

Cell PhonesImmediate Contact

E-mailPicture PhonesText Messaging

Work Ethic Maximum EffortPlay by the Rules

WorkaholicPersonal Fulfillment

Self-relianceStructure andDirection

Multi-tasking TenacityTolerant

History World War IIDepression

Viet NamCivil Rights

ComputersDiversity

9/11My Space

Leadership Style DirectiveChain of Command

CollegialCooperation

ChallengesEquality

Seeks AdviceParticipative

Messages That Motivate

Your Experience is Respected

You Are Valued and Needed

Do It Your WayForget the Rules

You Will Work with Other Bright and Creative People

Information gathered from Four Senate Forums on Intergenerational Leadership and with additional information from EduMagazine Online, Winter/Spring 2005; Generations Active Matrix, Boomer Barameter, Agelessons, Chicago; and Generational Differences in Perceptions of Older Workers Capabilities, The Center on Aging and Work/Workforce Flexibility at Boston College

Characteristics of the Four Generations

similarities and differences as well the topics in the chart below. One of the building blocks for intergenerational leadership is understanding other generations because we are very different. Not only are the memorable historical events very different for each generation, the approach to communication, leadership, core values and education are different. Those differences are apparent when the question is asked, “What is your favorite music?”

The history of our country is based on intergenerational leadership—all ages working together for the common good. In disasters like Katrina, we see losses suffered across generations. And then the rebuilding begins. Sons and daughters, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, grandparents and great grandparents pitch in to help families and friends and as a result, the interconnectedness of generations is reaffirmed.

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For most of the 20th century, the United States could take pride in having the best-educated workforce in the world reports the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce. That is no longer true. The U.S. is tenth in the proportion of those holding a college degree. Add that challenge to the fact that 76 million boomers will leave the workforce, and we have a top-down, bottom-up dilemma. What to do?

In 1997, a series called Workforce Wisdom involved two hundred retirees from business and labor—from

10 cities, towns, and rural communities throughout Illinois. They put their heads together in focus groups and laid out a blueprint of recommendations for younger generations. The retirees cited the importance of perseverance and hard work. They laughed at their aging, shared retirement anecdotes, and agreed that humor is an important part of work and life success. One comment summarized these brainstorming sessions: “Others in my life helped me; now it is my turn to help others. ”The communities that hosted workforce discussions included Quad Cities, Qunicy, Chicago, Carbondale, East St. Louis, Oakbrook, Momence, Galesburg, Elgin and Springfield.

In 2007, Aging is an Asset for the Workforce brought Arthur Rothkopf, the vice president of the U.S. Cham-ber of Commerce to share his ideas about the value of the aging population to the workforce. He said that employers must plan ahead. “Workforce organiza-tions need to get the best practices from well-managed companies and gather data about loss of the mature workers.” Further, he said “we need to collect stories of organizations that have lost institutional knowledge.”Senator Ed Maloney, chair of the higher education committee, added that the two greatest challenges for the aging workforce are to communicate the pos-sibilities for mature workers to retirees and employers and to create an awareness of the nature of the aging workforce.

2007-AgingisanAssetfortheWorkforceMichael Skarr describes what work means to men. L to R: Pat Fera, Will County Investment Board. Tom Laue,editor, LifeTimes, BlueCross Blue Shield; Peggy Luce, vice President, Chicagoland Chamber of Com-merce; Jennifer Frazier, Two Rivers Head Start Agency; Michael Skarr, president and CEO, Naperville Chamber of Commerce; Arthur Rothkopf, vice-president, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Anne Edmunds, Man-power. Not pictured: Facilitator: Debra Fulmer, Manpower, Naperville and Dolores Solomon Chagin, BP America, Inc.

5. Contributing to the Workforce

TheFourGenerationsandtheWorkforceJerry Carduci, Age Lessons, describes the characteristics of the four generations during the Aging is an Asset for the Workforce Forum. Marilyn Hennessy notes the shift in public attitudes: “Although some negative myths persist, older persons today are recognized as assets to family, workforce and community.”

WorkforceWisdom-EastSt.LouisDuring the Workforce Wisdom group sessions, retirees in discuss how they can help younger generations. There was consensus that students need encouragement and sometimes, lots of it. Retirees said they can assist students with academic and social challenges.

Others in my life helped me; now it is my turn to help others.

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Lifelong learning isn’t a new concept in Illinois. In 1989, David Pierce, the director of the Illinois

Community College Board, conducted a study of community colleges to find out how many colleges included older people on their campuses in educa-tional programs. The number was much greater than he expected, and that knowledge led to the formation of the LifeLong Learning Coalition, which was es-tablished through funding of the Illinois Community College Board, the Retirement Research Foundation, AARP, and the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Lifelong continues today as a coalition of programs for older adults on community college and university campuses as well as health organizations. The group meets twice each year to share ideas about program-ming for older learners and the executive committee meets an additional time. Current membership is 52 universities and community colleges, including three Osher Institutes for Lifelong Learning at Bradley,

6. Learning for a Lifetime

There are 2 million older adults in Illinois who have vivid stories, individual experiences with the real world, and a con-cern about how they leave the world for younger generations. William Butler Yeats said that “education isn’t the filling of a pail, it is the lighting of a fire.” Service-learning and civic engagement leave all generations fired up as they become ac-tive learners, real-world citizens, and have a chance to spread their wings. It’s a concept that older adults know well –– “use it or lose it. 1991-FirstMeetingoftheLifelongCoalition.

A breakout group discussed programs for older adults with Sally Petrone, St. John’s Hospital; Penny Neal and Connie Jeffries, Belleville Area College; Mike Shore, Highland Community Colleges; Lisa Madi-gan, Wilbur Wright College; Lila Christensen, Lincoln Land Community College. The Models discussed included urban, rural, service, and academic.

Northwestern and the University of Illinois at Ur-bana/Champaign.

Carol Davis, chair of the Coalition says, “The Lifelong Coalition seeks to actively address the challenges and initiatives outlined in The Maturing of Illinois Report in the areas of lifelong education, civic engagement, second and third careers, economic development, and recreation.” On April 7, 2011, the executive commit-tee met at the Illinois Board of Higher Education to set goals for the coming year. One of the goals is a publicity campaign so that those 50+ are aware of the opportunities to get involved, stay active and explore new directions. The next meeting will be held at Il-linois State University on September 26.

LearningandServiceforaLifetimeJoseph Arrigo is a walking advertisement for science. He takes his show to classrooms entrancing children with shows called: “A whirl-wind tour of 26 fun sciences from astronomy to zoology,” or “Turn-ing peanut butter into diamonds,” or “Taste, touch, hear, see, and smell chemistry.” Arrigo is an organic chemist who says he “spent 27 challenging years in industrial research, then launched his second career lecturing, writing, and teaching real-world chemistry.” Now he is in his third career, describing the impact of chemistry on our daily lives to young people and helping them learn about science as a possible career. He says, “I lay out a feast of chemical inventions and rhapsodize about the flesh-and-blood stories behind each of them.” The products run the gamut from everyday items such as Superglue and Super Slurper to exotics like a catalytic converter cutaway and an artificial hip joint.Generations Exchange - Palatine

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7. Building Coalitions

2000-IBHESpringfield-ACoalitiontoPromoteServiceLearningacrossGenerationsApproximately 42 people crowded into the Chatterton Room at IBHE to discuss P-16+ Service Learning. Leading the Symposium were (l to r) Keith Sanders, Executive Director, Illinois Board of Higher Education; Joseph Cipfl, President and CEO, Illinois Community College Board; Senator Lisa Madigan, Minority Spokesperson for the Senate Education Committee and symposium chair; Deputy Governor for Education Hazel Loucks, and State Superintendent Glenn “Max” McGee.

The story of Stone Soup is a fitting model for building coalitions in

2011. If you remember the story: Three soldiers, tired and hungry, trudged down the road in a strange land. They came upon a poor village and offered to make stone soup. Amazed the villagers filled a large pot with water and the soldiers dropped three round stones into the pot saying,”Stones like these generally make good soup, but oh, if there were carrots, it would be much better.” Villagers brought carrots, then potatoes, onions and more. When the soup was ready, everyone feasted together and never had the villagers tasted such delicious soup.

From the first days of the Intergenerational Initiative, the number one goal has been to connect generations to maximize the resources available, that is, to effectively use the symbolic stones, carrots, potatoes and onions and make something out of nothing. State leaders from education the boards and aging organizations have helped bring people to the table. Beginning with the first retreat in 1986, followed by several events over the next 25 years including the regional meetings in 1995, the Service Learning Coalition in 2000, Generations Connect in 2006 and the Policy Academy in 2008, the Summit on Aging and Education in 2010 as well as the Local Discussions are only a few of the examples. As Illinois implements the Eight-Point Plan, coalition building will be key to the success.

2011-FourGenerations-HowGenerationsCanWorkTogether:The foundation for a strong coalition is getting to know one another. SIUC Chancellor Rita Cheng, Logan President Bob Mees joined Gerontology Chair Julianne Wallace and Masters Student Kevin Winstead to begin a discussion about the four generations. David Yepsin, Simon Institute, the moderator, asked for personal experiences regarding each generation. There was consensus that generations can work together and can be effective partners in taking on dropouts, chronic disease and other cross-generational issues.

LocalCoalitionsinCentralIllinoisMichael O’Donnell and EIU President William Perry are joined by retirees and students as well as representatives of business, service and community organizations to celebrate Martin Luther King Day in Charleston by discussing community service and how working together can lead to solutions for the great challenges faced by their community.

ACoalitionwithLeadersfromAging,EducationandService plan the First Summit on Aging and Education. L to R: Christopher Koch, Illinois Superintendent of Education, John Hosteny, Illinois director, Corporation for National and Community Service; Ted Gibbs, CEO, Serve Illinois Commission, representing Governor Pat Quinn, and Charles Johnson, director of the Illinois Department on Aging

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8. Telling & Writing the Stories

When young and old get together, one of the first topics of conversation is “What was it like when . . .?” These questions lead to oral history, formally and informally, and bind younger and older generations to one another with the threads of history.

Student journalists have been valued companions over the 25-year history of the Intergenerational Initiative.

They have participated in conferences, Senate Forums and have written articles for Continuance. Most important, they take the stories back to their communities.

In surveys on aging, often students are asked about their perceptions of age. Is age something to be feared? What are the effects of aging, such as hearing loss, arthritis, and other biological changes that come with time and how does this impact communication with older generations particularly when gathering a story?

For thousands of years, storytelling has been key to pass-ing history from generation to generation. As a nation, we value our family stories because they connect the past to the present and give us direction for the future. Through oral history and storytelling, cultures were described and preserved.

Pat Bearden, longtime family history educator, says that recording our family histories and sharing them with others brings energy and curiosity about different coun-tries and people. She spoke with journalism students and urged them to explore their histories while their rel-atives are living. She said that one of her greatest disap-pointments was that her grandmother had died before she could ask questions about the past. She said that journalists can encourage older generations to write or record their stories so that their legacies are not lost. Young people must the ask the questions so they can also write and preserve their heritage. Younger and older generations, say that the interviews help each generation get into the shoes of the other, and they learn to listen.

2002-StudentsfromSIUCarbondaleandCarbondaleCommunityHighSchool are taping Senator Emil Jones for a P-16+ Service Project that pro-motes dialogue on diversity. They will plan a community discussion on racial and ethnic diversity and produce a videotape. 2004 Students interviewed state leaders as a part of a project called, Saving Our Stories. Video conferences and one-on-one interviews linked students with state leaders for discussions on state issues as well as the history and background of leaders.

2001-PressConferenceduringthe15thAnniversaryoftheIntergenerationalInitiative. The press conference gave students an opportunity to learn more about national and state policy from education leaders in Washington and Springfield. High school journalists query Assistant Secretary Carol D’Amico about educational issues. The students asked questions about testing, the future of education and current educational policy. Eighty students from Chicago, Mt. Pulaski, Bradley, Her-rin, Blooimngton, Princeton, Alton and Urbana attended the press conference.

HealthPromotionConferenceHostedbytheIllinoisPressAssoc.Dennis DeRossett guides participants in the ways to write their stories and get the attention of the media. Left Wojtek J. Chodzko-Zajko, the evidence-based guru for kinesiology at UIUC and Mary Jane Temples, an gerontology student at Eastern Illinois University.

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Lawyer-to-Lawyer Mentoring

Supreme Court Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier and Dean Cynthia

Fountaine announced that the Il-linois Supreme Court is teaming up with the SIU School of Law and Jackson County attorneys to begin a mentoring program for newly ad-mitted lawyers. Karmeier said that it is important for all to give back to their communities.

Dean Cynthia Fountain added “I am excited about this opportunity

Carbondale- L to R: Jesse Rochman, SIU graduate; Jayne Reardon, Commission of Profes-sionalism; Justice Lloyd Karmeier, Dean Cynthia Fountaine, and Cary Gill, past president, Jackson County Bar Association.

New Programs: Generations Serving Generations

Real Men Read

In January 2010, Springfield Public Schools introduced Real Men Read

in its five middle schools and Douglas School. Over 100 seventh grade stu-dents participated in the pilot. Each student received a free book for each month of the program. Program coordi-nator, Donna Treadwell says, “The Real Men help a great deal with recruiting. You know the old saying, ‘Word of mouth is the best advertising.’”

“We use the materials from Scho-lastic’s R.E.A.L. program. The book selection is diverse and includes many award winners,” said Treadwell. Results: 72% of 6th grade students said they would like to participate in the program next year; 66% of these same students said they were inspired to read because of Real Men Read; 85% of teachers said student interest in reading increased as a result of the program.

For information: : www.springfield.k12.il.usScholastic R.E.A.L.: http://mediaroom.scholas-tic.com/node/210

Springfield:RealMenReadParticipants: (Seated l-r) James Dahlquist, Glenn Jackson, Doug King, Dr. Walter Milton (superintendent), Herman Senor, Dr. Kamau Kemayo, and Dan Weisman (Standing l-r) Michael Gaines, Fred Stewart, Jeff Alexander, Dr. Mark Puczynski, Dr. Michael Afolayan, Dave Saunders, Joe Ludtke, Phillip Harris, Derrick Stapleton, Bill McGee, Roger Washington, Norman Calmese, James Cockrell and Anthony Thompson.

to collaborate with the profession to enhance the ability of all lawyers to serve our communities. As we seek to expand the availability of legal services to ensure greater ac-cess to justice for people all sectors of the economy, it is important that the profession take a leadership role in helping new lawyers develop the skills and expertise they need to successfully fulfill their role in our democracy.”

For further information contact the Commission on Professionalism:http://ilsccp.org/pdfs/ilsccp_lawyer_to_law-yer_mentoring.pdf

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Illinois Board of Higher Education

In August 1961, the General Assembly passed Senate Bill 766 to establish a board of higher education in Illinois. The board consisted of 8 members with

the mandate for three functions: approval of any new units of instruction, budget for state universities, and preparation of a Master Plan for higher education in Illinois. Governor Otto J. Kerner named Ben Heineman, a Chicago businessman and CEO of Northwest Industries, Inc., chair. The board met for the first time on January 18, 1962 in the Chicago boardroom of Northwest Industries.

The staff in 1962 included Richard G. Browne, Executive Director; Lyman A. Glenny, Associate Director; Charles N. Dold, Budget Analyst; Mary M. Ryerson, Secretary; and Wanda Sexton, Stenographer. The first office was Room 600 in the State House.

At the time there were 121 institutions of higher learning: universities, junior colleges, and proprietary schools. Two commissions had been formed in the ‘50s to determine the need for a coordinating board and the issues for higher education.

Early History Illinois Board of Higher Education

Appointed by the Governor• Conrad Bergendoff• Hugh S. Bonar• George S. Harris• Mrs. Auguste C. Hershey• Louis A. Turner• Fred W. Heitmann, Jr.• Richard J. Nelson

Sup’t of Public Instruction• George T. Wilkins

Events Leading to the Illinois Board of Higher Education

• 1917 Teachers College Board established (replaced independent boards for normal schools).

• 1943 General Assembly prohibits professional courses except at Ul.

• 1949 General Assembly removes SITJ from Teachers College Board. Establishes SIU Board of Trustees.

• 1951 General Assembly makes Teachers College Board an independent agency. (Changed from jurisdiction of the Dept. of Registration and Education.)

• 1957 State Colleges became Northern IL University, Eastern IL University, and Western IL Univ.

• 1957-58 Illinois State Scholarship Commission funded (Later became the Illinois Student Assistance Commission)

• 1961 General Assembly estab-lished the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

From Matsler, Franklin and Hines, Edward. State Policy Formation in Illinois Higher Education. 1987. Center for Higher Education, Illinois State University

From Governing BoardsUniversity of Illinois• K.E. Williamson• Howard W. Clement• Wayne A. JohnstonSouthern Illinois University• John Page Wham• Melvin C. Lockard Teachers College Board• Royal A. Stipes, Jr.• Morton H. Hollingsworth

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First Board Members - 1962

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Letter of TransmittalTo Governor Otto J. Kerner and Members of the Illinois General Assembly:

I have the honor to submit the First Biennial Report of the Illinois Board of Higher Education. This report covers the Board’s work during the year 1962. The board was created by Senate Bill 766 of the Seventy-second General Assembly, approved August 22, 1961. The Board held ten meetings in 1962 as follows: January 18, Chicago; February 6, Chicago; March 6, Chicago; April 3, Chicago; May 1, Chicago; July 10, Chicago; September 11, Chicago; October 2, Chicago; November 12, Chicago; December 4, Chicago. At each meeting a quorum was present and regular business was transacted.

The Board established an office for its staff in Springfield in Room 600 of the State House. The staff consists of three professional persons and two clerical employees. In addition, the Board has had two special studies, relative to university expenditures and accounting, made by the Arthur Andersen & Co. Staff reports concerning various matters within the scope of the Board’s authority were presented at each meeting of the Board. The presidents of the six state universities were present at each meeting by invitation and members of the press were also in attendance.

The statute creating the Board assigned to it three major functions:1. The approval of any new units of instruction, research, and public service proposed by any of the state universities.2. The analysis of the operating and capital budget requests of the stateuniversities and the reporting of the Board’s recommendations concerning them.3. The preparation of a “Master Plan” for Illinois higher education considering the plans and future development of all segments of higher education, the state universities, the non-public institutions, and the public junior colleges.

This report describes the actions taken thus far and the work presently underway in carrying out each of these three assignments.Throughout the first year’s work of the Board, I have been impressed by the devotion of its members, the cordial cooperation of the university administrators, and the favorable attitude of the public toward this important enterprise.

Respectfully, Ben W. Heineman

Historical Highlights of the Illinois Board of Higher Education

1960 - Master Plans Phases I,II, III • Creation of the Illinois Community College System and numerous com-munity colleges; • Establishment of the Chicago Circle Campus of the U of I and the Edwardsville Campus of SIU; • Transfer of the Chicago Teach-ers Colleges South and North to the Board of Governors as Chicago State University and Northeastern Illinois University; • Expansion of the Monetary Award Program of ISAC; • Creation of the System of Systems.

1970 - Master Plan Phase IV Education for the Health • Establishment of Sangamon State University and Governors State Uni-versity and more community college campuses; •Establishment of the SIU School of Medicine and the Regional Campuses of the Medical School of the U of I and numerous health professional pro-grams. • Enactment of the Health Services Education Grants Program, The Fi-nancial Assistance Act for Non-Public Institutions, and the Higher Education Cooperation Act.

1980 - System Stabilization and Enrichment

• Merger of the Chicago Circle Cam-pus and the Medical Center Campus into the University of Illinois-Chicago;

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Richard D. Wag-ner was executive director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education when the P*Q*P initiative started. In October 1991, Board of Higher

Education Chairman Arthur Quern presented the vision and basic concep-tualization for P*Q*P. Quern stated “We must choose to support quality and eliminate less effective programs. Acting on priorities means that we put our support behind those things most important to our mission.”

The IBHE provided 25 productivity guidelines in the areas of instruction, research and public service, and overall academic and administrative pro-ductivity. These guidelines provided universities and community colleges a way to examine their priorities and de-termine the ways to use their resources more efficiently and effectively in sup-port of quality. All resources generated by a campus from the P*Q*P initiative stayed with that campus. And addi-tional state resources were provided by Governor Jim Edgar as his support for the P*Q*P initiative.

The budget reallocations were used to raise faculty salaries, reduce un-dergraduate student-teacher ratios, strengthen library resources and finance minority student fellowships, among other priorities.

P*Q*P Priorities, Quality, Productivity

For more on P*Q*P, see the Report from the Education Commission on the States http://www.sheeo.org/account/Priorities.pdf.

Executive Directors of the Illinois Board of Higher Education

• Richard Browne 1/62–8/65• Lyman Glenny 9/65–12/68• Arthur Browne (Acting) 1/69-6/69• James B. Holderman 7/69 – 5/73• Cameron West 6/73 – 10/74• Richard D. Wagner (Acting) 11/74 – 12/74• James M. Furman 1/75 – 9/80• Richard D. Wagner 10/80 – 2/98• Keith R. Sanders 1/98 – 5/02• Daniel J. LaVista 5/02 – 7/04• Thomas R. Lamont (Acting) 8/04 – 11/05• Judy Erwin 11/05 – 8/10• Don Sevener (Acting) 8/10-12/10• George Reed 12/10 - Present

Illinois Tops All States in 2000 Report Card

Measuring Up, a report card issued by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, a California-based think tank on postsecondary education issues, placed Illinois first in the class.

College Preparation AParticipation in College AAffordability ABenefits of Higher Education to the State BCollege Completion COverall Grade Point Average B+

Illinois ranked first among all the states, followed by Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, and Mas-sachusetts.

• Enactment of tax increases to pro-vide additional support for Higher Education; • Enactment of the Science and Engi-neering Capital Initiative.

1990 - P*Q*P A “less is more” initiative encouraged universities and community colleges to enhance educational quality by eliminating high cost, low enrollment, low quality programs and inefficient and ineffective administrativeactivities and programs. All resources generated stayed with the campus choosing to make the tough decisions.

2000 - Citizens Agenda and Illinois CommitmentThe Commitment was premised on the conviction that higher education provides the foundation for Illinois’ future by enhancing the social, eco-nomic, and civic well-being of the state and its residents.

Goals for the Illinois Commitment:Goal 1: Economic GrowthGoal 2: Partnerships with P-16Goal 3: AffordabilityGoal 4: Access and DiversityGoal 5: High QualityGoal 6: Productivity and Accountability

2010 - Public Agenda Based on hearings throughout Illi-nois, the Public Agenda is a planning blueprint for the State of Illinois to direct state policies and resources to the higher education and career needs of Illinois residents and to address the current and future economic needs of the state (See page 17).

For additional information about the es-tablishment of the IBHE see the memoirs of Richard G. Brown, the first Executive Director of the Board.http://www.uis.edu/archives/memoirs/BROWNER.pdf

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Guy Alongi

Proshanta K. NandiFrances G. Carroll

Robert J. Ruiz

Carrie Hightman

Jay Bergman

Elmer Washington

Not pictured: Kym M. Hubbard, Ex Officio Member representing Illinois Student Assistance Commission and new student members of the Board of Higher Education who will be elected during the August meeting of the Student Advisory Commission.

Heba Hamuda

John Minogue

Alan KarnesSantos Rivera

Addison Woodward

Comments on the 50th Anniversary of IBHE

Carrie Hightman: “The mission and choosing the goals of the Public Agenda are the most important things we have done. Simply put, Illinois needs effective and quality education for all people. Our vision is that the Illinois Public Agenda for College and Career will create one Illinois to face the future.”

Proshanta Nandi: “The 50th an-niversary of the IBHE finds itself facing one of the most challenging times in its history. Public support for education is dwindling, profes-sors are grumbling, and the students largely apathetic, creating indeed an age of educational discontent-ment. While some schools reach the frontiers of knowledge despite all this, most are simply marking time happy with mundane accomplish-ments. An increasing number of the students, especially the minorities, are falling off the band-wagon. The situation calls for some revolution-ary measures that would resurrect the pristine values of education viz., discipline, skill, breadth of perspec-tive besides stimulating a compel-ling urge to explore the vast possi-bilities of the mind. This is unlikely to happen without a major societal investment in our educational enter-prise.”

Elmer L. Washington: “From 2005 to the present, during my tenure as a member of IBHE, I have seen the IBHE negotiate the challenging internal and external environments of declining resources, increasing educational diversity, and greater private and public expectations. These challenges have been ef-

Board Members in August 2011

fectively addressed in The Illinois Public Agenda for College and Career Success. The successful implementation of this action plan will ensure the achievement of national and international competitiveness for all Illinois higher educational institutions and programs.”

Jay Bergman: “The role of the IBHE has changed and is now more im-portant than ever. Ten years ago, its primary role was to recommend funding levels to the Governor and legislature for the state universities. With the rapid growth of the private, for profit institutions, a major task now is to protect the students of the state of Illinois by making sure that these profit driven “universities” give our students a quality education in exchange for their tuition.”

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George Reid, executive director, IBHE, has a unique understanding of the Public Agenda and the mission of

Illinois higher education. Reid says that his parents instilled in him an important idea that has been part of his life, “One of the great responsibilities that comes with learning is to share it.”

He said “My mama was a mere 100 lbs, but she had all the chil-dren wrapped around her finger. We wanted to please her.“ He said that growing up in the small rural town of Hertford, North Carolina, he was challenged by peers and had to constantly prove himself. “I played sports and was involved in everything. Mama tried to keep me out of trouble, she kept me in church and in the boys choir, but I still had time to hang out.” Reid did indeed have mentors but acknowledges that “there was al-ways the potential for things going badly.”

He said that when he was a junior in high school he had some prob-lems and “as a result made a deal with myself, that if I ever got out of this mess, I would listen to mama. From then on I did.” He said that when he went to college, “Twelve other students started with me but I was the only one who made it past the first semester. In four years I graduated from the Univer-sity of North Carolina.”“Too often society looks down on

When Illinois Accomplishes the Public Agenda

Itspopulacewillbeamongthebesteducatedintheworld. Illinois will be among the leaders in the proportion of its population with a high school diploma and college credentials. It will narrow the achievement gap by race at all stages of the educational pipeline and increase college attainment for persons of color and those with disabilities. It will rank among the top states in the number of adult learners with college credentials and will raise college attainment in un-derserved geographic regions to levels of the best-performing counties.

Itwillbeoneofthefivemostaffordablestatesinthenationinwhichtopursueacollegeeducation. Illinois will reduce the proportion of family income needed to pay for college for the lowest income quintile to compete with the best-per-forming states. Similarly, the average student debt load will be in line with leading states. And the college participa-tion rate for low-income students will rise annually to the level of the top states.

Itwillhaveawell-educatedworkforcewiththeskillsandcompetenciestocompeteinthemoderneconomy. Il-linois will increase the number of people with quality postsecondary credentials, with particular emphasis on fields of critical skills shortages, such as, initially, nursing, allied health professions, and information technology. It will remove barriers to transfer between associate’s and bachelor’s degree levels to meet the needs of students and employers.

Itwillrankamongthefivetopstatesineconomicgrowthandvitality.Illinois will use its vast research, education and train-ing, and innovation assets as the sparkplug to ignite entrepreneurial activity and economic expansion to compete with the leading New Economy states, those which have embedded knowledge, technology, and innovation into their economies.

older generations. Once you are not gainfully employed you are not worth anything,” said Reid. “Boomers can help reach back and provide a bridge to guide students who are struggling to succeed and reach a more ful-filling life.” How can students help older adults? “For students, service learning provides chances to give back and to pass on what they know,” Reid said.

To Boomers and older adults “The Public Agenda is your agenda because you are the movers and shakers in our society. We have to create one society in Illinois and we need your help.”

To Boomers: We Need Your Help

Chairs of the IllinoisBoard of Higher Education

• Ben Heineman 12/61 – 12/68 (appointed by Gov. Kerner)• George L. Clements 12/69 – 12/72 (appointed by Gov. Ogilvie)• Donald M. Prince 1/73 – 1/79 (appointed by Gov. Walker)• William B. Browder 2/79 – 1/91 (appointed by Gov. Walker)• Arthur F. Quern 2/91 – 10/96 (appointed by Gov. Edgar)• Bob Kustra 12/96 – 4/98 (appointed by Gov. Edgar)• Jerry D. Blakemore 5/98 – 5/99 (appointed by Gov. Edgar)• Philip J. Rock 4/99 – 4/02 (appointed by Gov. Ryan)• Steven H. Lesnik 5/02 – 3/03 (appointed by Gov. Ryan)• James L. Kaplan 4/03 – 2/07 (appointed by Gov. Blagojevich)• Carrie J. Hightman 2/2007 - Present (appointed by Gov. Blagojevich)

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The Amazing P-20 CouncilThe Illinois P-20 Council is a group of committed individuals representing education, business, students, and civic groups. It is inspirational to watch these good citizens dedicate their time and efforts for a better Illinois. Their impressive commitment is a civic engagement model for all Illinoisans. - Editor

Miguel del Valle said his first task as chair of the P-20 Council was “to get the stakeholders to the table.” He has accomplished that task and more as the Council has changed the tradition of organiza-tions working in isolation. Instead they are working together to ad-dress a daunting goal: to increase the proportion of Illinoisans with high-quality degrees and cre-dentials to 60 percent by the year 2025. Today, about 41 percent of the state’s nearly 7 million work-ing-age adults (25-64 years old) hold at least a two-year degree, so reaching this goal will require the coordination of efforts at all levels of the state education system.

Glenn Max McGee former State Superintendent recalls some early attempts at P-20 conversations. “The meetings were generally infor-mal in nature and involved a small group of stakeholders.” Now that we have formalized and expanded the P-20 Council, numerous citizens are engaged and included in both our vision and our work. “We are working to create a seamless sys-tem in Illinois by ensuring collabo-ration at all levels,” said del Valle. The Council targets their efforts through 5 working committees.

• Teacher and Leadership QualityCo-chairs: Erika Hunt, Illinois State University and Josh Anderson,

Teach America: Monitoring, report-ing upon, and advising policy makers on teacher and leader quality. • Data, Assessment, and AccountabilityCo-chairs: Glenn Max McGee, Illinois Math Academy and and Robin Steans, Advance Illinois Promoting the creation and use of data systems, assessments, and accountability systems to promote access, improve equity, and enhance learning.

• Family, Youth, and Community EngagementCo-chairs: Kathy Ryg, Voice for Il-linois Children and Debra Strauss, IL PTACreating timely dialogue and infor-mation exchange on critical educa-tional issues among students, families, educators, legislators, and community members.

• College and Career ReadinessCo-chairs: John Rico, Rico Com-puter Enterprises and Sharon Thomas Parrott, Devry, Inc.Making actionable recommendations on what skills, systems, resources, and alignment efforts are required for all Illinois residents to be college and career ready in an innovative and globally competitive society.

• Finance and GovernanceCo-chairs: Ray Hancock, presi-

dent, ICCB Foundation and Laurel Prussing, Mayor of UrbanaStudying the State education system and recommending a governance and finance structure that will provide adequate, equitable, and sustain-able funding to sustain high quality educational opportunities throughout the state.

Projected Goals for 2012 “In the next 12 months” said Ray Hancock, “I hope the Finance and Governance Committee will be able to recommend to the Coun-cil, the Governor, and the General Assembly a new, comprehensive plan for financing and governing Illinois education in order to pro-vide a system of education from pre-school through the doctoral degree that is fair, high quality, and equitable to all Illinoisans.”

The Data Committee also looks to their accomplishments: “During the next twelve months, we will produce a new state report card for our schools, a recommended set of survey questions for students and teachers to provide feedback re-garding a school’s learning climate and ideally convince policy makers of the importance of developing high quality performance assess-ments of the common core stan-

Miguel del Valle chairs the P-20 Council and Lt. Gov. Shelia Simon chairs the P-20 Joint Education Leadership Committee.

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dards” said McGee. “Worth noting, too,” said Brenda Steans, “that our Committee worked closely with the Parent & Family Engagement Com-mittee to pull together focus groups of teachers, administrators, parents, and community leaders to provide feedback on new state report cards for schools. The level of engage-ment has been extraordinary.”

Erica Hunt and Josh Anderson reported, “As chairs of the Teacher and Leadership Effectiveness Com-mittee, we consider the greatest accomplishments to date to be the work that we are doing in devel-oping a Teacher and Leadership Dashboard. Within the next 12 months, we will release a series of white papers that will include rec-ommendations on teacher certifica-tion and teacher leadership.

The Council has assisted in the advancement of several education reform measures this year, includ-ing the revamping of principal preparation programs, the devel-opment of the Longitudinal Data System, redesign of the state school report card and implementation of the common core standards. Next year, the Council will continue to support the implementation of other Illinois reform initiatives, such as the Learning and Perfor-mance Management System and the Kindergarten Readiness Study.

The members of the Illinois P-20 Council meet to collaborate and ensure alignment of state educa-tion systems from birth through graduate education and work to make the systemic changes needed to reach that goal. The P-20 Coun-

Local P-20 Councils

The Southern Illinois P-20 Education Al-liance has fos-tered many partnerships between higher education, grade school, high school and early childhood fac-ulty. Donna Manering, a former administrator for the Illinois Edu-cation Association helped estab-lish the P-20 group in Carbondale that gives educators at all levels a chance to sit down and talk on a monthly basis. Manering was re-cently named to the Southern Illi-nois University Board of Trustees. She has been an energetic sup-porter of teachers, service learning and P-20 issues.

Josh Anderson, Teach for AmericaPerry Buckley. IL Federation TeachersRon Bullock, Bison GearTom Choice, Kishwaukee CollegeBarbara Flynn Currie, IL House of Rep.Ray Hancock, IL Community College FoundationDennis Holtscheider, DePaul UniversityErika Hunt, Illinois State UniversityChristine Johnson, Illinois SenateMichael Johnson, IL Assoc. of School BoardsJoyce Karon IL State Board of EducationDebra Kasperski, Nat’l Board Certified TeacherMaggie Laslo, Service Employees InternationalKimberly Lightford, Illinois SenateJohn Luczak, Joyce FoundationJean-Claude Brizard, Chicago Public SchoolsCordelia Meyer, Commercial Club of ChicagoJerry Mitchell, IL House of RepresentativesGary Niehaus, Superintendent McLean CUSDJeffrey Owens, Advanced Technology Serv, Inc.Sharon Thomas Parrott, DeVry, Inc.Cynthia Plouche, Williams Capital ManagementGlenn Poshard, Southern Illinois UniversityLaurel Prussing, Mayor of UrbanaJohn Rico, Rico Computer Enterprises

Kathy Ryg, Voices for Illinois ChildrenAudrey Soglin, Illinois Education AssociationRobin Steans, Advance IllinoisRick Stephens, Boeing CorporationDebra Strauss, IL Parent Teacher Association

Ex Officio Leadership CommitteeMiguel del Valle, Chair, P-20 CouncilLizanne Destefano, University of IllinoisJohn Sinsheimer , IL Student Assistance CommissionChristopher Koch, IL State Board of EducationGlenn Max McGee, IL Math & Science AcademyGeoff Obrzut, IL Community College BoardDiana Rauner, Ounce of PreventionGeorge Reid, IL Board of Higher EducationWarren Ribley, IL Dept. of Com. & Economic Opportunity

Leadership CommitteeKaren Hunter Anderson, IL Community College BoardElaine Johnson, IL Community College BoardBrenda Klostermann, IL Education Research CouncilDeborah Meisner-Bertauski, IL Bd of Higher EducationSusan Morrison, Illinois State Board of EducationJulie Smith, Illinois Early Learning CouncilJason Tyszko, IL Dept. of Com. & Economic Opportunity

TheP-20CouncilMembers&Leaders

cil is the only vehicle in Illinois that brings all stakeholders together, including students and parents, to focus solely on improving the quality of education for all. Miguel del Valle said, “Membership is open to those willing to commit time and lots of energy. We invite you to join in the work of improv-ing our Illinois education system, and to explore the resources avail-able on this website.”

The P-20 Council Staff includes Dr. Lizanne DeStefano, Council Coor-dinator, University of Illinois; Ann Courter, Policy Analyst, UIC, and Amber Kirchoff, a Dunn Fellow, who assists in the work through the Gov-ernor’s Office. The Illinois Education Research Council, SIU Edwardsville provides research support.

Donna Manering

http://www2.illinois.gov/gov/P20/Pages/default.aspx

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National Leaders Connect Generations, Flatten Silos

Three events focused on developing communica-tion between agencies and organizations serving

younger, older and middle generations, in other words, connecting the silos. On May 13, national leaders gath-ered at the Department of Education to discuss ways that they can share resources and mount a coordinated campaign toward the needs of education and aging. Under Secretary Martha Kanter said, “We need a social compact among the generations, not the silos we have now. We want to create a culture of mutual benefit, a win-win for both parties, not something with one way benefits.” Those participating agreed that communica-tion between organizations is important so that greater goals can be accomplished by sharing resources. Kanter noted, “Better connecting these systems to increase our effectiveness and leadership capacity as a nation is ever-more essential if we are to succeed in the 21st century.”

The second event was held on May 19, which was a National Thought Leaders meeting hosted by AARP and

sponsored by the Administration on Aging. The purpose was to join several aging and community groups across generations. The project, called the National Ag-ing Civic Engagement Technical Center, is a partnership between the Administration on Aging and multiple national organizations, with key leadership from the Nat’l Assoc. of Area Agencies on Aging. Cindy Padilla, assistant secretary

Cindy R. Padilla, Principal Deputy Assistant SecretaryAdministration on Aging

from the Administration on Aging said, “The three-year project is working toward enhancing the engagement of volunteers in the Aging Network, with increased opportunities for volunteers, increased non-traditional roles, and effective strategies for recruiting, training, managing, and retaining volunteers—leading to positive experiences for the Aging Network, the volunteers, and most importantly, the Older Americans served.” There is a special emphasis on the unique contributions and needs of Boomer volunteers, age 47-65. The goal is to recruit 1000 volunteer coordinators by 2013.

The third event was held in early June, during the National Service Conference. The White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships demon-strated that flattening the silos was an effective way to reach mutual goals. The workshop called Connecting Communities for the Common Good is a good model for cooperation. The office advances their work by connect-ing with Centers and staff in 13 federal agencies. New efforts target extending their efforts to states and the grass roots.

The Intergenerational Dialogue was convened by Martha J. Kanter, Under Secretary, United States Department of Education and Jo Anderson, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Education

IntergenerationalDialogueSponsoredbytheU.S.Dept.ofEducation(L to R) Asim Mishra, Corporation for National and Community Service (CNS); Erwin Tan, Senior Corps, CNS; Allison Alt,, Generations United (GU); Donna Butts, GU; Frank Chong, U.S. Dept. of Education (USDE); Cheryl Keenan, USDE; Tom Murphy, United Federation of Teachers; Jo Anderson, Jr., USDE; Michael Robbins, USDE; Mark Smith, Nat’l Ed. Assoc. Not Pictured: Mary Sue Vickers, Am. Assoc. of Community Colleges; Carol M. Crecy, Administration on Aging; Elliot Massie, The Learning Consortium; Jane Angelis, SIU School of Law; Kenneth Bedell, USDE; Amy Gotwals, National Assoc. of Area Agencies on Aging; Todd Crenshaw, Nat’l Education Assoc.; Megan Hookey, Nat’l Retired Teach-ers Assoc./AARP; and Hal Plotkin, USDE

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Corporation Chair Applauds Universities

Mark Gearan, Board Chair for the Corporation for National and Community Service says that Illinois has a great his-tory of public good and supporting education. Thread-ed through the history of Illinois is John Dewey from the University of Chicago, a strong advocate for service and a proponent for experiential learning.

Gearan applauded universities for the ways they are engaged in their communities. States and communities should celebrate the success and recognize the achieve-ments of these institutions. ”Partnerships are developed within the community and faculty and students imagine how service fits in different disciplines. New faculty often bring their experiences in service learning that was part of their high school, college and university experiences.” Chairman Gearan said that this generation of students wants to make a difference. “Unlike generations in the past who want to change the world, students today say, ‘I am going to change my part of the world.’” Students who are involved in service through their curriculum are more engaged and their academic performance is noteworthy.

“I love President Obama’s reference to ‘all hands on deck.’ Everyone needs to be involved.” Gearan said that the service movement has matured and there is no question that boomers are a sleeping giant for education. The Administration has done a good job bringing together agencies of the federal government in a collaborative effort based on service. Gearan described the Corporation for National Service as a public-private partnership that engages Americans of all ages in service. www.nationalservice.govMark Gearan is the president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, New York.

Stan Jones, the president of Com-plete College America, says that he was motivated toward public service after the Kennedy-Nixon debates in the 60s. He said “The campaign galvanized a lot of young people with the call to serve.” Now he is sounding the call to others.

That call –– for college completion –– has been heard by 29 states so far. Since 1970, college enrollment has grown nearly 35 percent. Yet completion rates have been flat. “We’ve made progress in giving students from all back-grounds access to college, but we haven’t finished the all-important job of helping them achieve a degree.”

Jones’s preparation for Complete College America comes from his experience as a policymaker and head of higher education in Indiana. Jones says “College is an unfulfilled dream for so many students.” Five foundations including Gates, Carnegie, Ford, Lumina, and Kellogg came to the same conclusion and they helped Jones establish Com-plete College America in 2009. The project was founded to focus on increasing the nation’s college completion rate through state policy change, and to build consensus for change among state leaders, higher education, and the national education policy community.

Jones said, “The untold story of the recession is that people aren’t buying cars and houses, they are buying education. We have record enrollment throughout the country. People who don’t have a lot a money have cho-sen to bet on higher education as a way to steer through economic insecurity.”

The challenges for Illinois are no different than the other states, but there’s no question that “Illinois is on track to make great progress,” said Jones. The three big chal-lenges: 1) fix the badly broken approaches to remedia-tion, 2) restructure academic delivery for students who must balance work and school, and 3) use performance funding to encourage student success and completion, not just enrollment. www.completecollege.org

A Call for Complete College America

“Unlike generations in the past who wanted to change the world, students today say,

‘I am going to change my part of the world.’”

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Patricia Granados and Walter Bumphus

Over the last decade, community colleges have experienced unprec-edented growth – both in enroll-ments and in visibility. What does that portend for the future, and what are the big ideas that will redefine success and opportunity? Within the context of a six-month listening tour of regions around the nation, the American Asso-ciation of Community Colleges President Walter Bumphus and college leaders spoke to the realities, the challenges and the enduring dream of access with success that community colleges represent. One lis-tening session was held at Triton College. Triton President and AACC Board Member Patricia Granados applauded the “focus on students and student success.”

As phase II of an ambitious 18-month initiative, Dr. Bumphus introduced a new 21st-Century Commission, which will synthesize information from the listening tour events and develop a roadmap that will help lead community colleges into a new era. Allen Goben, Presi-dent of Heartland College and member of the Commis-sion said, “The 21st-Century Commission will work to help America advance community colleges as the best return on investment in higher education and will en-sure that community colleges expand on our exemplary ability to help students and communities develop a path to success.”

State and National Leaders bring enthusiasm to the College Changes Everything Conference. L to R: Stan Jones, President, Complete Col-lege America, Jerry Weber, President, College of Lake County; Martha Kanter, Under Secretary, U.S. Dept. of Education and George Reid, executive director, Illinois Board of Higher Education

21st-Century Initiative: A Future Vision for Community Colleges

College Changes Everything

Jacqueline MorenoManaging Director of College Access InitiativesIllinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC)

The purpose of the College Changes Everything conference was to raise awareness about college access and comple-tion in Illinois and to launch our statewide campaign to raise awareness about the importance and relevance of college access and completion issues and policy.

Those of us involved in college-access policy spend a lot of time talking to each other but that won’t solve the problem. We need to engage everyone in finding the solution. It will take more than the secondary and postsecondary community to increase to 60% the num-ber of adults in Illinois with a postsecondary credential by 2025. Higher education is at the heart of every policy issue. For example, life expectancy, voter participation, reading levels, and personal income all increase with ad-ditional years of education beyond high school. Poverty, unemployment, murder rates, obesity, low birth weight babies, and cigarette smoking – all decrease with ad-ditional years of education beyond high school. These are just a few examples of the ways in which education/higher education policy is tied to so many other causes about which people feel passionately. We need to work together to bring about efficient, effective, expedient, and long lasting positive social change. The more visible part of the campaign, sponsored by a KnowHow2GO grant from the Lumina Foundation, has been the wonderful student-focused media and ground campaign promoting the four steps to planning for col-

lege: Be A Pain; Push Yourself; Find the Right Fit; and Put Your Hands on Some Cash. The campaign focuses on breaking the rather complex college preparation pro-cess down into four basic – and memorable – categories of action.

As part of the work of this campaign ISAC has been building a stronger and broader network of higher educa-tion, social service, and other student advocacy and college access professionals to support Illinois in its adoption of Lumina’s 2025: 60% of adults attaining a quality postsec-ondary credential by 2025.

http://www.knowhow2goillinois.org/

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Illinois State UniversityAndy Steckling has had a passion for writing since the seventh grade, when he was asked to be the editor of his team’s newsletter. Throughout the last nine years, that passion has grown into a lifestyle, as he continues to sacrifice sleep for breaking

stories. After graduation, he would like to transition into a daily newspaper lifestyle, eventually working his way into a cinematic role, be it a movie critic.

Northeastern Illinois UniversityJanean L. Watkins began her writing career with Wright Times. She is the founder of Seeds Literary Arts Journal at NEIU, as well as the Editor in Chief for the NEIU Independent. She is currently constructing a trilogy fiction novel and a

college navigation guide for urban teens. In May 2010, Janean celebrated her first international publication with an essay featured in Ebony Magazine. She aspires to pursue a career in news writing, public relations, news blogging, and information media.

Chicago State UniversityAmelia N. Flowers, a recent graduate of CSU, majored in Accounting with a minor in Diversity. She has been a member of the National Association of Black Accountants and was chosen NABA

Chicago Student of the Year. She serves as a recruiter, mentor, and tutor for CSU students and just accepted a position with Deloitte Tax LLP.

Eastern Illinois UniversityEmily Steele is a recent graduate from Eastern Illinois University. One day she hopes to work as a magazine editor and to always push for online innovation.

Governors State University Kimberly Snapp is a staff writer for the PHOENIX. She is also an actress heading to California in 2011 for Disney and to explore potential movie roles. She has several writing credits for the Phoenix

Student Newspaper at GSU.

Overcoming Barriers and Jumping Hurdles

Stories about presidents and chancellors in Illinois.Presidents and chancellors of public universities provide life examples of overcoming barriers and jumping hurdles similar to those faced by students today. The presidents and chancellors come from a variety of backgrounds and many different fields. However, there are some striking similarities: many came from modest means and were the first generation to go to college. Their families recognized the importance of education. Most important, they have sense of humor and fun as you will find in the articles that follow.

The university journalists who conducted the interviews and wrote the following articles, heard interesting stories from the presidents and chancellors helping them relive their experiences as students, applaud their mentors who provided examples of what they hoped to be, and, on a more serious side, reflect their vision for the future. Students, presidents and chancellors –– Well done! - Editor

About the University Journalists

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currently a PhD candidate in English at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she specializes in British Romanticism. She hopes to become a professor and mentor who challenges, inspires, and encourages students as she herself has been.

University of IllinoisAlex Iniguez is a 2011 journalism graduate from the University of Illinois. Iniguez, 22, is currently a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund sports copy editing intern at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and is pursuing a career in editing or reporting.

University of Illinois SpringfieldBradford Colten is currently a senior communication major at the University of Illinois at Springfield. He works at the university newspaper, the Journal, as the assistant editor for news and as a staff

photographer.

Western Illinois UniversityAlyse Thompson, junior journalism and Spanish major, is currently the managing editor at the Western Courier, Western

Illinois University’s student newspaper. In the future, she hopes to work for a publication, either in English or Spanish, and continue to study journalism

Northern Illinois UniversityNora Lindvall is an English and political science double-major at Northern Illinois University. This summer she is working in Brussels, Belgium as an intern for the Vice President of the European

Parliament, and she will also collect data in Sweden for her grant-winning research project on the emergence of an extreme right-wing populist party in the Swedish Parliament. She hopes to attend a master’s program in Conflict Resolution and Governance at the University of Amsterdam and later complete a JD/PhD program in the U.S., focusing on international human rights law.

Southern Illinois University CarbondaleBrandon Coleman is a Southern Illinois University Carbondale alumnus who majored in journalism and specialized in creative writing. He has a twin brother

and a younger brother, who attends SIUC. Coleman plans to be a writer for an entertainment magazine, news magazine or for news broadcast. His hobbies and passions are food, fitness and screenwriting. Coleman has four screenplays written to date.

Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleKassandra Garrison is currently a senior at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville with a double major in English and Mass Communications. The

most important reason why she writes is to understand. She loves delving into a topic, no matter how difficult, and conquering it. Writing opens doors to knowledge that she believes most other disciplines cannot. After graduation, she plans to continue her education by attending Law School.

University of Illinois ChicagoAmy L. Gates has a background in corporate communications, graphic design, and marketing. In 2000, she began teaching English classes part-time at a local community college and

rediscovered the joy of academic life and of helping others read and think more critically and communicate more effectively. She returned to graduate school in order to pursue this career path in earnest and is

Congratulations to Al Goldfarb on His Retirement from Western Illinois University

If all the word’s a stage, then theater professor and Western Illinois Univer-

sity President Al Goldfarb made a grace-ful exit on June 30. “I joke very often that I’ve learned a good deal about leadership from theater,” Goldfarb said. “I sometimes view being an administrator sort of like being a theater director. You are very often staging a play that has a great, long history. You are not going to want to destroy that play’s history; your job is to try to find new ways a making it work in the contemporary world.” Alyse Thompson

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Chicago State University

Chicago State UniversityFounded: 1867Number of students: 7,131www.csu.edu

Originally founded as an experimental teach-er training school, the institution has evolved into a multipurpose university committed to meeting the needs of the urban community.

Amelia N. Flowers, National Association of Black Accountants

His mom would say, “I would leave him on the floor with

nothing but sticks and he’d build a fort,” and build a fort is exactly what he’s done! Who is this “he” who is so inventive, so creative that he would build parachutes from his mother’s towels? His name is Dr. Wayne D. Watson, or “Lil Wayne,” as CSU students have so affectionately nicknamed him. Dr. Watson came to Chicago State University in October 2009 after much encouragement from friends and colleagues who applaud-ed his professional experience. He served the City Colleges of Chicago for 30 years. Watson channeled the energy and creativity he displayed as a young boy into his management style and created a world of his own: Wayne’s World. In Wayne’s World, students and their needs come first. Dr. Watson was profiled by the Chronicle of Higher Education as an Agent of Change. So let’s get to know this agent.

Heroes included Silas Purnell and educator Ada S. McKinley. Mr. Pur-nell always inspired him to strive for, but never achieve, excellence. Mr. Purnell also imparted wisdom by stating, “Leave before you are asked to. If you’re asked to leave, you’ve stayed too long.” Another hero was his wrestling coach, who had a saying that has remained with him to this day: “Never walk onto the mat unless you’re there to win!”

The three greatest challenges for the future of education in Illinois are:

• A level playing field so that all students are afforded equal access to capital, human, and endowment resources. This combination will lead to comparability and competi-tiveness amongst universities and is predicted to yield equal return on invested resources.• Keep the doors of education open- to ensure that all people regardless of race, creed, color, or economic status have access to education and have sustainable resources for success in higher education. Dr. Watson said, “The American dream must be attain-able and sustainable for all.”• Competent leadership from the ranks of education will ensure that fiscal, academic, and capital deci-sions are made clearly and under-standing the impact that synergy, or lack thereof, creates. Decisions should be student-focused not politi-cal or bureaucratic.

President Watson’s message to students is that CSU is a university that will embrace you, engage you, enlighten you, and empower you to achieve educational excellence. This is the university’s motto, which we strive to deliver every day. Educa-tion is a journey to achieve for/with/and around students.

When asked about his view of ser-vice and its relationship to student success, Dr. Watson said, “You can’t have one without the other.” He went on to say, “They are intercon-nected. Students who don’t receive instructive and customer-friendly service will lose a teachable moment, withdraw, and create attrition.”Likewise, change management, that

President Wayne D. Watson

is, striving to provide educational excellence, creativity, energy, and persistence are all synonymous with Wayne Watson. This is why his repu-tation in the educational arena is being polished, not tarnished, by his current role as President of Chicago State University.

Hermene Hartman wrote, “The reali-ty of Watson’s CSU tenure is that the morale on campus has moved from negative to positive and graduation and retention rates have increased.” (The 2011 2005 cohort graduation rate is 23.2%, up 78% from the prior year’s reported figure.) President Watson has described the change process as “rebranding.” He isn’t rebranding, he’s recalculating. This approach is something that should have been done a long time ago. Albert Einstein said, “Not every-thing that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts.” Maybe the school’s second-ary motto should be: “We are who WE say we are!”

About the Presidents And ChAnCellors

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Eastern Illinois University

Eastern Illinois UniversityFounded: 1895Number of Students: 12,179www.eiu.edu

The University was established as Eastern Illinois State Normal School by the Illinois General Assembly. In response to growth and change, the institution became Eastern Illinois State Teachers College in 1921, then Eastern Illinois State College in 1947, and finally Eastern Illinois University in 1957.

Emily Steele, Editor-in-Chief Daily Eastern News

Eastern Illinois University President William Perry still

remembers the first class he ever taught and the students who chal-lenged him. “What I found was once the students accepted you and they figured you knew your stuff, they were very accepting, and they would work very hard,” Perry said. Now, four decades later, Perry still teaches a math class, but he spends most of his time pushing Eastern to be a first-choice university in the region.

Perry said he cannot pick one defin-ing moment from his childhood in Missouri where he knew he wanted to be a teacher, but teaching just felt natural. Perry double majored in history and mathematics at Park College, Parkville, Mo. He then earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He began working at Texas A&M as an assistant profes-sor of mathematics from 1977 and remained there until 2007 when he came to Eastern.

Perry said he has had many heroes in his life starting with his high school math teacher who would show students how to solve a

problem without telling them. “She had this ability to help you learn,” Perry said. His other heroes include Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln and Helen Keller who he says inspire him because they all overcame adversity to do so much. “They didn’t let them-selves be limited,” Perry said.

Three greatest challenges for the future of education in Illinois:• Reinforcing the concept that higher education has value. Perry said people need to think of educa-tion as not just having individual benefits, but having societal ben-efits as well. “The more folks you have with a better education, the more people are strongly engaged citizens,” Perry said. • Access to education. State fund-ing for higher education has declined partially because there has been a lot of stress on the bud-get, which is putting pressure on potential students.“As tuition goes up, access declines,” Perry said. • Keeping the public trust. Perry said the public sees that higher edu-cation is important, but universities should be contributing to commu-nities in some way. “We’ve got to make sure that the trust that they put in us we continue to earn every day,” Perry said. Older adults have an impact on education as students and as po-tential volunteers to help younger generations. Perry is a believer in life-long education, with each level having a role in society. “Educa-tion is not the province of any age group,” Perry said. He said online

learning is a great way for adult learners to continue their education and the learning process should continue throughout life to create a higher level of understanding. “If you stop learning when you get out of college, it isn’t going to be a very satisfactory life for you, and you won’t be able to contribute to society.”

President Perry’s view of service and its relationship to student success is clear: “Anytime you’re involved with something that is bigger than yourself and that has a wider vision, it helps with your personal development,” Perry said. “Service gives you a big-ger vision of the world and helps you to make decisions.” From the standpoint of the university, Perry said it benefits the community, the university and the students because it is an opportunity for people to come together and un-derstand each other.

President Perry also had some ad-vice for students and older adults about the future: “Leave no stone unturned in the search for educa-tion that fits you.”

President William Perry

About the Presidents And ChAnCellors

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Governors State University

Governors State UniversityFounded: 1969Number of students: 7,750www.govst.edu

Governors State University was chartered by the General Assembly and designed to serveundergraduate transfer students and those seeking master degrees. Governors State University addresses the needs of the tradi-tional and nontraditional learners throughthe breadth of its curriculum, the flexibility of the teaching strategies, and the advance-ment of the instructional technologies.

Kimberly Snapp, ReporterThe PHOENIX

Writer, mother, and educator: three words describe Gov-

ernor State University’s President Elaine P. Maimon. This education-al background is the basis of the vivid journey she took to become Governor State University’s Presi-dent. Maimon described her edu-cational history in these words, “I loved learning and loved school. I was an avid reader and loved writ-ing plays.” Maimon explained she loves educating because she enjoys making a difference.

Maimon and her daughter Gillian have an essay they scribed togeth-er called, “Mothers/Daughters/Writing/Teaching.” This essay describes the goals Maimon had to achieve to get where she is today and how she prepared for her posi-tion at GSU. Maimon shares how her own mother was deprived of a college education, but her mother’s love of books helped to teach her to read. Upon her mother’s pass-ing and realizing education’s importance, she went to college on scholarships. By 25, she had a Ph.D. and a daughter. Throughout her education, Maimon said she believed, “Low income students deserve higher education.” This is why she chose to work in the public sector of uni-versities after working for several private institutions such as Arcadia and Brown University. Maimon says, “To improve society, you

have to be in the public sector.” When the opportunity came for her to fulfill her passion for stu-dents, she was offered two posi-tions: one at the University of Alaska Anchorage and the other at Governors State University. Maimon said she took the op-portunity at GSU because, “We have our own board of trustees, no bureaucratic systems.” She enjoys the more student oriented ap-proach to education.

Something Maimon mentioned several times was how she likes to serve students of all backgrounds. Her goal is, “to get them to think and write independently. “ She also wants to be able to provide all students a quality higher educa-tion. One way she is doing this is strong ties with the community colleges surrounding Governors State University.

While she was a provost at Ari-zona State University, it was a great opportunity to learn. She said, “Arizona was very much like GSU. They had strong ties with the community colleges. In eight years, I accomplished a lot.” This, along with being able to work with a board of trustees, unlike most institutions, gave Maimon the opportunity to fulfill her goals of helping students to write and think independently.

President Maimon is an advocate for returning adults in higher education. With today’s job mar-

ket, the rise in returning adults is continuing. When she worked at Brown University, she served on a special committee reviewing adult applications. According to Maimon, “Students who were ad-mitted by this committee got out-standing financial aid.” Maimon has the same mission at GSU: “To serve working adults.”

President Maimon has advice for future students: GSU has “a lifelong learning commitment to the completion of degrees. GSU will be committed to a seamless educational experience, pre-school to graduate school, with special emphasis on partnerships between GSU and community colleges.”

President Elaine P. Maimon

About the Presidents And ChAnCellors

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Illinois State University

Andrew StecklingDaily Vidette News Editor

Here at ISU, we know him well.Basketball games, university

events, weeklong celebrations, what-ever the case may be, the name Al Bowman is synonymous with Illinois State University. But who is the man who has grown to become the most well-known and beloved Redbird on the Bloomington-Normal campus? What inspired him to become a teach-er and then an administrator?

Clarence Alvin Bowman never grew up with the notion of becoming a teacher. From early on, like most children, he wanted to one day hear his name called at a Major League Baseball match-up. A non-educa-tional-based career continued with Bowman throughout his life, until the first year of his Ph.D. program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Up until that point, his desire was to enter the medical field as a clinician.“Part of my grad assistantship assignment involved teaching a 100-level course and I decided at that point that I wanted to pursue a career in higher educa-tion,” Bowman said. He became an ISU faculty member in 1978 in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Again, it was not his intention to step into an administrative role. Instead, Bow-man wanted to serve the university

as a faculty member, which allowed him to pursue his two loves – teach-ing and research.

“As I’ve watched people in academ-ic leadership over the years, those who seem to be most effective tend to be the ones who are very engaged in campus life. It is important to be visible, to be approachable and to serve as the face of the institution,” Bowman said. ISU’s 17th president knows how he got to the office, knows where ISU is headed and is curious to see what the future holds. However, he still remembers some of his personal heroes. Martin Young, the first chair of Communication Sciences and Disorders, tops the list. “He was first and foremost a scholar, he had a very sharp intellect and he was a fair-minded and gifted administra-tor. John O’Neil, chair of speech, hearing and science at the Univer-sity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign when Bowman pursued his doctoral degree, is another hero. “He had incredible work ethic. He was very hands on and reached out to faculty and students in a way that I thought was very effective,” Bowman said. Michael Midgley, Bowman’s high school forensics coach, rounds out the list. “It was in his class that I first developed an interest in communica-tion and that led to a career in speech pathology,” Bowman said.

Over the years, Illinois State has had a strong service component associat-ed with the undergraduate program. as well as more globalized efforts. I believe that part of our responsibili-ty, as a university, is to help students understand their role as leaders in their communities. Highly educated

people are an important resource for communities and through our American Democracy Project, we are helping students understand how they can assume those important responsibilities as they graduate and become members of our society.

Retired adults bring a wealth of professional experience to college campuses and the challenge has been for the universities to find ways to help them engage meaningfully with current students. We’ve done a good job in that effort through our Senior Professionals Program. That group is very active, they provide mentoring, relationships with students. They are involved in mock interviews and they do fundraising for the campus that results in student scholarships. As that group grows, they will have an even greater influence on our students.

I have a firm belief that the future of America is extremely bright. I am optimistic about our ability to con-tinue to thrive economically. We will continue to be a world leader. The short-term challenges that we face today are overshadowing the inher-ent strengths of our society. We will continue to be a country that is a des-tination and if we embrace that role, it will allow us to continue to accept immigrants who can help strengthen and move the country forward. I think our best days are ahead of us.

President Al Bowman

Illinois State UniversityFounded: 1857Number of students: 20,762www.ilstu.edu

Illinois State University was founded as the first public institution of higher education in the state. Abraham Lincoln drafted the docu-ments establishing Illinois State as a teacher education institution. Today, ISU is a multipur-pose institution with degree programs at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels.

About the Presidents And ChAnCellors

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Northeastern Illinois UniversityFounded: 1867Number of students: 9,191www.neiu.edu

Northeastern Illinois University traces its ori-gin to the beginnings of teacher training in Illinois. It was founded in Blue Island as Cook County’s first teacher-training school. The institution has evolved into the comprehen-sive university that it is today. Its campus at 5500 N. St. Louis Avenue opened in 1961.In 1971, with a total enrollment of approxi-mately 7,000, the college became North-eastern Illinois University.

Janean L. Watkins, EditorSeeds Literary Arts Journal

Some say that the roots of the most successful individuals are often

paved with simplicity and consis-tency. That is only half of the story for Northeastern Illinois University president, Dr. Sharon K. Hahs. Hailing from a meager beginning in Indiana, Hahs’s family moved around quite often due to her father’s work with B&O Railroad. His work would take the family, and young Sharon, from her hometown in Indiana to Alabama; and then back to Indiana again. The family finally settled in Illinois where Dr. Sharon Hahs completed high school and obtained her baccalaureate at Illinois Weslyan, in Bloomington.

Hahs had an extensive interest in chemistry and went on to earn her undergraduate degree in that field. During college, she married her husband, who’d been her high school sweetheart. Immediately after gradu-ation, she and her husband moved to England where her husband com-pleted his undergraduate degree in History at Cambridge. They returned to the states together to pursue their Master’s degrees at the University of New Mexico. It was here that she received her Master’s and Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry.

Her first teaching job was at Metro-politan State College, in Denver, CO, where she spent 10 years becoming familiar with the instruction side of education, a lesson that would later come in handy. It was at this univer-sity that she also gained experience in the roles of a department chair and special assistant to the Vice President of Academic Affairs.

Seeking more of an administrative role, she then went on to the Univer-sity of South Carolina, Spartanburg, where she became the Dean of Arts and Sciences for 12 years. While she was Dean of Arts and Sciences, Hahs realized that she loved being an administrator in higher education. It was then that she decided to return to her roots in Illinois. Hahs arrived at Southern Illinois University at Ed-wardsville as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and quickly moved up the administrative ladder, becom-ing Provost after only five years.

Hahs holds true to the adage that perceptions of higher education are critical. She cites that it is the respon-sibility of the entire community to be engaged and commit themselves to equity in public higher education. Dr. Hahs states, “It is my goal to keep to that commitment and to create life-long learners.” She works dili-gently to exhibit the values that she’s learned from great leaders like John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln – the values of wit, wisdom and humanity.

As the great-great-granddaughter of Israel Putnam, a General from the Revolutionary War who led the charge at Bunker Hill, Hahs showcas-es her admiration for five principles for which her ancestor was well-known: integrity, optimism, commu-nity, energy/vitality, and generosity of spirit. She stands firm and often speaks of being committed to creat-ing a community where those who might not always have educational opportunities are able to “learn in the city and lead in the world.”

Hahs feels that her commitment isn’t limited to students in a certain age

bracket. She states that older adults, who are generally the university’s non-traditional students, “bring a richness to our classrooms, they bridge the gap and bring a certain wisdom to the classroom that en-livens the educational experience.” Her keen eye and vast experience, in and out of the classroom lead her to the conclusion that older students tend to mentor younger ones in the classroom. Hahs states that she “con-tinues to appreciate their roles and presence on the campus.”

Hahs encourages all students to invest their energy and talent to the educational process. To find balance, especially within her university, she encourages students to take advantage of the diversity of NEIU and to take part in service learning opportunities, which she feels, are an enriching part of the educational process. Sharon Hahs has lived a life full of learning, service, and prog-ress. She lives a full life and encour-ages her students to do the same.

Northeastern Illinois University

President Sharon K. Hahs

About the Presidents And ChAnCellors

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Nora LindvallEnglish and Political Science Major

A native of Ohio, President John G. Peters fell in love with universi-

ties at a young age. With Bohemian and Polish roots, Peters is a first-gen-eration American. His mother did not finish high school, and his father had a fourth grade education. Growing up milking cows on his family’s farm, he spoke about visiting his older sister, 10 years his senior, at The Ohio State University, when he was in first or second grade. This experience pro-foundly impressed him and made an impact on his future. Peters recalls, “I got to live in a dorm room, and I remember how excited I was about what a wonderful life that was. I was fascinated with the library. . .all those books. . .all that knowledge. That fo-cused me right from the beginning. I have never, in fifty or sixty years, left universities.”

Peters’ mother was passionate about world affairs and politics, reading the newspaper to him each morn-ing after he would come in from morning chores. “It would always be world articles,” Peters explains, “the Korean War or something Eisenhower did that she didn’t ap-prove of. She was very much into it, and I caught the bug in the study of politics.” His mother encouraged him to become a lawyer, but Peters remarked that, “I feel deeply about a lot of things, and I’d have trouble

standing up defending something I didn’t really believe in.” His interest in politics led to enrolling at John Carroll University, a small, Jesuit, liberal arts college, for his baccalau-reate degree, followed by obtaining an MA in government from Athens University and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Il-linois at Urbana-Champaign.

Peters feels that believing in heroes is an American trait, one he finds unre-alistic. However, he finds inspiration from those who, in their personal or professional lives, had to reach within themselves and make a critical decision in the face of uncertainty. Citing Abraham Lincoln as a prime example of such a person, Peters re-marks how “he was able to rise to the occasion and change and adapt.”

The challenges for the future include the social contract that has existed between our governments, state and federal, with regard to ensuring that all qualified individuals could have access to a good four year college ed-ucation. That contract has been bro-ken. The question going forward is how do we educate this increasing, growing population that is not going to get a post-secondary education? Because this means a less-educated population, less able to contribute to society, to have a career, to pay taxes, to have a mortgage, to contribute to community and family, and to the social well-being of society.

Regarding the involvement of older adults in the community, Peters has spoken with many seniors who are pouring their energy back into orga-nizations that they feel have made an impact on their lives, universi-

ties included. Despite the economic downturn, Peters explains how more wealth is shared now than ever be-fore. He adds that, “Because of their philanthropy, seniors are investing in young people. That is another way that they like to contribute.”

Peters is passionate about service learning and its importance to stu-dent success. He cautions, however, that, “If service learning is really going to be meaningful, it has to be integrated into an academic experi-ence. After the experience there has to be serious reflection as to what they experienced and how this relates to theories and the literature and discussions that they had in the classroom.” Peters is especially thrilled when engaged learning opportunities result in meaningful ways to help the less fortunate.

Not surprisingly, Peters is an advo-cate for the importance of obtaining a university education. He urges students to take advantage of one of the only times in their lives that they will be able to devote all their time to the pursuit of scholarly knowl-edge. Finally, he advises students to “Press yourself as much as you can.” Lifelong learning is a central theme in Peters’ life, and he urges students to, “Develop good habits and stay disciplined. It really does pay off.”

Northern Illinois University

Northern Illinois UniversityFounded: 1895Number of Students: 25,313www.niu.edu

Northern Illinois University was founded as the Northern Illinois State Normal School for teachers, a college for aspiring elementary and secondary teachers. In 1921 the state converted the school to a four-year institution with the new name Northern Illinois State Teachers college, and in 1957 the school of-ficially became Northern Illinois University.

President Dr. John G. Peters

About the Presidents And ChAnCellors

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Southern Illinois University CarbondaleBrandon ColemanDaily Egyptian

Rita Cheng described the role models in her life. Her mother,

who was a school teacher, and father, who was a farmer, had a great impact on how she perceived education. She witnessed the importance of educa-tional skills as she watched her father operate and manage his farming business with the essential math and reading skills he attained in school. She said her parents encouraged a strong work ethic as well.

Cheng’s role in positions of leader-ship began in high school where she was senior class president and served multiple positions within the National Honor Society. She was also involved in the youth develop-ment organization called 4-H (head, heart, hands and health), a girls athletic association, and held a chair position in her high school band. Her childhood was fairly relaxed until she took on leadership roles in high school, but she had yet to face extremely daunting tasks until adulthood when she had to balance parenting, schooling and working.

Cheng said she didn’t decide to become an academic administrator on a whim one morning. It was her experience in administrative settings as well as studies in financial and public administration that helped propel her decision. While in school for her master’s degree in account-ing, Cheng worked on staff full-time at the University of Rhode Island as she was enrolled as a part-time stu-dent. At URI Cheng was the busi-ness manager of a non-profit and

self-sustaining unit of the university and then later worked on staff in human resources at the University of Minnesota. Cheng said she was able to see the impact public policy had on financial situations during her career at Rhode Island, which also influenced her to pursue leadership roles. The two directions coupled with her undergraduate degree from Bishops University in Lennoxville, Quebec allowed her to blend her managerial experience at the univer-sities with her background in finance and accounting. “I had the good fortune to have worked with and for very accomplished leaders. Watching them in their work and providing input in their decision making helped me to focus on a goal of having meaningful work in a significant leadership role.”

Aside from working with more ac-complished colleagues at the begin-ning of her career, Cheng said John F. Kennedy was her hero while growing up. She recalled the hope he instilled in people through his charismatic personality. Chancellor Cheng said her advice to students who want to achieve their goals and be successful is to always be prepared, continue to work hard and take advantage of new opportunities.

Campus and city community mem-bers help the growth of SIUC by sug-gesting strategies toward becoming a top 75 research institution. “When you look at our student successes, faculty successes and the wonderful careers of our alums, you know that SIUC can transform lives.” Older community members can also con-tribute as mentors in youth groups

geared toward college preparation. Their volunteerism helps future col-lege students, SIUC bound or not, enter higher education campuses better prepared to tackle fields of their choosing. This guided track to success starts in preschool and con-tinues through high school. “Service is very much a part of academic work,” Cheng said.

“It can only enrich the experience for students as older adults come back to campus. There is great potential for wonderful interactions and learning to take place across generations,” she said. Life experiences that older stu-dents possess mixes with the youth and energy that stems from younger students. Differences in gender, race, ethnicity and religion help to create diversity and a well-rounded learn-ing experience, Cheng said.

Chancellor Rita Cheng

Southern Illinois University CarbondaleFounded: 1869Number of students: 20,037www.siu.edu

In 1869, the General Assembly authorized the founding of a university at Carbondale. The first “Main Building” began its construction in 1870 and the university was known as South-ern Illinois Normal University. In the early years, the major mission was to train teachers for area schools. In 1943, the Illinois legisla-ture authorized SINU to confer a wide range of liberal arts and sciences degrees as well as a Master’s degree in education. In 1947, the university changed its name to Southern Illinois University and later in 1969 the name changed again and became Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

About the Presidents And ChAnCellors

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Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Southern Illinois University EdwardsvileFounded: 1962Number of Students: 14,133www.siue.edu

A planning team investigated sites in the Metro-East counties and selected one south of Edwardsville. In 1960, the Illinois legislature authorized the construction of a new state university campus. After two and one-half years of planning, ground breaking ceremo-nies took place for the first permanentbuilding. In the fall of 1965, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville moved onto its new campus.

Kassandra GarrisonEnglish & Mass Communications

Coming from a family of five children, funding for educa-

tion was an issue, said Chancellor Vaughn Vandegrift. “My mother was a stay-at-home mom. She had five children, and my dad was a la-borer. If I hadn’t had Montclair State nearby, I wouldn’t have completed a college education.” After finish-ing his education at Montclair State, Vandegrift became a high school chemistry teacher and found a pas-sion for both chemistry and teach-ing. He made the decision to obtain his Ph.D. and teach at the college level. Through working hard and accepting challenges, he rose to the position of Chancellor at SIUE.

Some of the challenges that we will encounter are the perception that higher education has switched from a public benefit to a private benefit. In past decades, higher education was seen as a benefit to society because those who earned degrees would give back to their communi-ties and be contributing taxpayers and citizens. However, education for one is no longer seen as benefitting the whole. Rather, education is seen as something that is solely beneficial to the student. Thus, the financial

costs to students increase. Chancel-lor Vandegrift sees state funding as a crucial element in the continued success of public higher education.

Another challenge is improving the online curriculum that will be es-sential to the future of the university. Vandegrift feels the need to improve and expand SIUE’s online courses and capitalize on the versatility that online classes offer students.

Finally, Vandegrift believes that the university must work to increase efficiency and that the proper ques-tions must be asked to understand why some students are graduating, and others dropping out.

Chancellor Vandegrift defends the value of a bachelor’s degree, despite difficult economic times and spikes in undergraduate enrollment. He believes that it is a mistake to associ-ate a bachelor’s degree as a fast-track to employment. Those with under-graduate degrees will statistically continue to make more money than those without but the degree is not meant to be a meal ticket. Chancel-lor Vandegrift says that the value of a bachelor’s degree lies in the col-legiate experience, one that encour-ages every student to become “a better and more informed citizen.” So no matter the economic scenario, Vandegrift describes it as still in the best interest of our country to have educated, informed, and intellectu-ally able people at the helm of our society.

Chancellor Vandegrift sees SIUE’s greatest asset as its sense of com-munity and its tendency to pull together to do more for itself and for others. As a result, the university has seen such tremendous growth in past decades. This growth includes a new general education curriculum, a Pharmacy school that has graduat-ed its third class, and a nursing pro-gram that has doubled in size. For the Chancellor, there is no growth plateau. “My goal was to be nation-ally recognized by 2015 In 2011, we achieved this. The reputation of the university will continue to develop, more prepared students will enroll, and the new programs will grow and mature to serve the region.”

Vandegrift says, “Always be pre-pared. Do more than what is expect-ed of you. When given a profession-al opportunity that frightens you because it means doing something you don’t think you are capable of doing, take that chance and you will soon find that you’ve grown and expanded.”

Chancellor Vaughn Vandegrift

About the Presidents And ChAnCellors

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University of Illinois

University of IllinoisFounded: 1867Number of students: 76,886www.uillinois.edu

Chartered in response to the Federal Land Grant Act, the University of Illinois is one of the largest and best comprehensive research universities in the nation. Its mission is to ad-vance human knowledge through teaching, research, and public service.

The University’s three campuses are Chicago, Springfield, and Urbana-Champaign. The University opened in Urbana-Champaign in the rich farm belt of central Illinois with 77 students and one building.

Alex IniguezJournalism Graduate

Hard work and close family bonds are the cornerstones of

“Midwestern values.” Growing up in Waterloo, Iowa, University of Illinois President Michael Hogan learned to live his life according to those values and that continues in his work at the University of Illi-nois. “There’s a healthy degree of re-spect for work, for family, for tradi-tion, for your roots,” Hogan said. “I was raised that way. There’s a direct connection between my own person-al values that I was raised with and the values of this university.”

Hogan received his bachelors de-gree in English at the University of Northern Iowa with the intention of becoming a journalist. In order to become a better journalist, Hogan thought, he would go to graduate school for history. He received grad-uate degrees from the University of Iowa, where he had his first taste of teaching as a teaching assistant, and never left the academic world. Holding various positions at Iowa, The Ohio State University, Miami University, Stony Brook University and the University of Texas, Hogan most recently was president at the University of Connecticut.

“That became my inspiration: to be a newspaper guy; to have my own column,” Hogan said. “I wanted to write on politics and foreign policy. That was my ambition. So I went to grad school for history –– with the plan just going to go for a couple

years, pick up an M.A. in Ameri-can politics and foreign policy, just history of it. I never got out. I got trapped by history, as they say.”

Hogan has a reputation as an acces-sible academic leader, often making appearances at athletic contests and other events. While at Connecticut, the campus bookstore printed out a cardboard cutout of Hogan for a promotion. Eventually, the cut-out popped up at other university events around town, and the cam-pus community began creating more cardboard versions of its president. Hogan said one notable appear-ance by “Cardboard Mike,” as it was dubbed, came when the cutout popped up in the background of an ESPN college basketball pregame show broadcast. Hogan said, “While he did not contribute to the creation or circulation of Cardboard Mike, he appreciated the messages that the cutout presented: that he is an accessible and recognizable public figure. “

“Oddly enough, that was a way of being accessible – being a regular guy, I guess you could say,” Hogan said. While he’s not sure whether Cardboard Mike will reappear at Illi-nois, Hogan said he plans on getting out of the office more in his second year as university president as he has less transition work to do.

With the tough financial times that the state of Illinois is dealing with, the University of Illinois is facing similar difficulties. Hogan said that he believes the university will deal

with its problems successfully – just as he experienced with “at least three or four” budget crises over the course of his administrative career, even though this is what he called “easily the worst” crisis he has encountered. In order to overcome the school’s budget issues, Hogan said he may see the university as a smaller institution in 10 years.“At the margins, you have to set your priorities and allocate to your priorities,” Hogan said. “That will sometimes mean in these hard times that stuff on the margin doesn’t get funded the way it used to because there aren’t resources for it. But I think if we manage the crisis the right way, we’ll emerge from it, and we’ll emerge stronger than ever.”

President Michael Hogan

About the Presidents And ChAnCellors

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University of Illinois Chicago

Amy L. Gates Ph.D. Candidate in English

Following fifteen successful years as dean of the University of

Michigan’s School of Social Work, Paula Allen-Meares began her duties as chancellor at the University of Illi-nois at Chicago on January 16, 2009. She seems to have been preparing for this leadership role at a diverse, engaged, public research university since childhood. She grew up in an integrated neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, where her parents taught her the importance of hard work, education, and caring for others. In her youth, Allen-Meares put what she learned from her parents into practice as a volunteer helper for neighborhood senior citizens, as a candy striper at a local hospital, and as a day-camp counselor.

She earned her bachelor of science degree from State University of New York at Buffalo; then she pursued graduate studies in social work and educational administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her father believed that gaps in society can be bridged through education, and Allen-Meares conveys what she learned of education from her father to stu-dents, often quoting Joseph Addison at commencement exercises: “What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the human soul.”

Allen-Meares explains, “I think of education as truly comparable to shaping and developing the human capital of our nation.”

Allen-Meares counts her mentors in education, past and present, among her heroes. Particularly, she credits Professor Lela B. Costin, her Ph.D. mentor, for establishing her on the path she continues to follow and for helping her develop her first book project, Social Work Services in Schools, which is now in its sixth edi-tion with numerous translations. On a campus that already enjoys an ethnically, racially, culturally, and economically diverse student body, Allen-Meares anticipates adding to that diversity with more adult learn-ers in the future: “Lifelong learning has to be a part of our lexicon be-cause many of us will have multiple careers.” Through her committee work as a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies she has focused on the necessary changes in the healthcare workforce for an aging America. However, she is aware that updating skills and one’s repertoire of knowledge will be vital to adults in all fields: “Great public institutions like this one are going to have a necessary role.”

This sense of mission and response to community and social needs reflects Allen-Meares’s commitment to service learning that helps stu-dents learn outside the classroom, apply what they learn in practical situations, and give back to the com-munities. That emphasis on service comes naturally at UIC: “I think that is a part of our DNA. I think Jane Addams’s legacy, whether it be social

justice, civil rights, taking care of immigrants, acculturation of immi-grants into the world as it were, dur-ing her era, is a part of the fabric of this institution. We attract faculty and students who want to translate their research, their learning, into some kind of public good. The roots of Jane Addams permeate this place.”

Her advice to students incorpo-rates her commitment to education and community service. She urges students to strive for excellence in whatever career or task they take on, to lead by example, to think globally and act locally, to get involved and promote the social good, and to be a lifelong learner.

Allen-Meares feels “passionate about the university and fortunate to be selected to be a partner with the faculty to try to make things better for our students.” About her role at UIC, Allen-Meares says: “I want to do the Chancellor’s work. It’s not about the title; it’s doing the work of the chancellor’s office. I am fortunate to have this grand oppor-tunity to help carry on the tradition of excellence and innovation of those individuals who came before me.”

Chancellor Paula Allen-Meares

University of Illinois at ChicagoFounded: 1946Number of students: 27,850www.uic.edu

Medical instruction dates back to 1896. In 1946, an undergraduate division of the University of Illinois was established at Navy Pier. This facility, renamed the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, moved to its present location in 1965, when it opened its doors as a four-year university. University of Illinois at Chicago adopted its present name in 1982 after consolidation of the two Chicago campuses.

About the Presidents And ChAnCellors

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University of Illinois Springfield Colten Bradford, Assistant EditorThe Journal

Susan Koch grew up in a large family in South Dakota where

she learned to treasure the impor-tance of education and hard work. She takes these experiences and uses them as she moves forward as the University of Illinois at Springfield’s most recent Vice President and Chancellor. Because her father was both an academic and a person who wanted to do everything himself, Koch not only learned of the importance of education but also how to work as a team in construction activities, such as roofing houses, and being proud of the work accomplished. “Over the years I realized that it has been a metaphor not only for building one’s career but also for being part of creating something really important, and that is what a university is all about,” Koch said.

Koch received degrees from Dakota State University in South Dakota and the University of Northern Iowa. She began her academic career as a faculty member and later held administrative positions at Northern Michigan University, as provost and vice president for academic affairs, and the University of Northern Iowa, as associate provost and dean of the graduate college. As Koch looks back on her career, she finds that she looks up to and is inspired by three women in particular. These include Eleanor Roosevelt, Virginia Woolf, and Hannah Webb (her husband’s grandmother). “Their examples

have caused me many times in my life to reach a little bit beyond what I thought I could do, and not to be afraid to risk something,” Koch said. She believes it is important to have someone as a role model, and in the classroom she feels that the older students play that role. “I remember very clearly as a faculty member what a joy it was to have older adults in the classroom,” Koch said. “They contribute with great enthusiasm and will very often set the bar and expectations for younger students. They enrich the learning environment and bring added expe-rience and a different perspective.”Koch also values the potential of older adults as volunteers to help the younger generation as well as stu-dents who become volunteers within the university and community. She says volunteering is very important for a student’s education because it makes connections for the student and also the collective impact that the 5000 students at UIS can make on the community. Koch believes that higher education has countless challenges, but three stand out in particular. The first challenge is the ability to provide access to higher education for the highest percentage of citizens as possible. “Education is a huge part of the solution for the economic challenges facing this state,” Koch said. “But access leads to the next major challenge, which is financing education. We can’t expect students and their families to bear the burden of financing higher education.” The last challenge for higher education is utilizing technology to its fullest

advantage. Koch said it is important but difficult to prepare students to live in a constantly changing high-tech environment while us-ing technology in a way to enhance education. Koch advises students to immerse themselves in the education experi-ence in every way because it is a privilege to be a student. She appre-ciates all of those who contribute to the educational experience.

For the future, Koch hopes to learn everything she can about the univer-sity and, as part of the University of Illinois, hopes to provide the most exceptional educational experience for students.“UIS has already estab-lished a fine reputation and part of my goal will be to uphold it and to expand it.”

President Susan Koch

University of Illinois at SpringfieldFounded: 1969Number of students: 5,174www.uis.edu

UIS is the newest and smallest of the three University of Illinois campuses, formerly known as Sangamon State University. When it joined the University of Illinois on July 1, 1995, the campus was renamed UIS.Sangamon State had been governed by the Illinois Board of Regents since 1969 when it was established by the Illinois General As-sembly as the first of two senior institutions in the state, offering course work at junior, senior, and graduate levels. The university was charged with addressing public affairs within the framework of liberal arts curriculum.

About the Presidents And ChAnCellors

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Western Illinois UniversityFounded: 1899Number of Students: 11,300www.wiu.edu

Western Illinois University was established as Western Illinois State Normal School. The school offered its first instruction at post-secondary level on September 34, 1902, and awarded the first degree in 1918. The school changed its name to Western Illinois State Teachers College in 1921 and then changed its name again to Western Illinois State College in 1947. The University adopted its present name in 1957. In 1988 the Rock Island Regional Undergraduate Center was opened on the campus of Black Hawk College at Moline, Illinois.

Western Illinois University

Alyse Thompson, Managing Editor Western Courier

As a young child growing up in the center of the “Black Belt,”

President Jack Thomas’ mother, a farmer in rural Lowndes County, Alabama, told him he needed to do “something a little different from what they had done.” So he did. Upon graduating from high school, Thomas enrolled at Alabama A&M University with the encourage-ment of his mother, father and his community. That encourage-ment helped him earn a bachelor’s degree in English and continue his education through the English doc-torate program at Indiana Univer-sity at Pennsylvania.

Thomas says his education positive-ly changed his life, and he hopes Western Illinois University stu-dents’ lives will continue to change for the better. After serving as senior vice president of academic affairs for Middle Tennessee State University, Thomas became the provost and vice president of aca-demic affairs at Western in 2008. “I’ve had a great career here,” Thomas said. “I’ve enjoyed the last

three and a half years as provost and academic vice president, and I am happy to have been selected as the 11th president at Western.” Thomas will serve as Western’s first black president, and this achievement can be credited to his dedication to education. “I am always intrigued by what an education does for a person in terms of the kind of life that you want to live,” Thomas said. “I always say that you can live on a higher plane or you can live on a lower plane. An education is going to get to where you need to be in terms of quality of life.”

The greatest challenge for the fu-ture is the budget. A second chal-lenge is that individuals need to recognize the importance of edu-cation. Legislators and everyone must realize that education has to be on the forefront, and we have to make sure our students in the state of Illinois and across the nation are getting a high-quality and well-rounded education. Individuals also need to make a commitment to higher education.

Thomas says Western has made a great commitment to providing older or “non-traditional” students with programs and curriculum that can help them obtain an edu-cation while continuing to work. Western offers a General Studies Bachelor of Arts program, which allows students a flexible schedule and transfer credits.

Thomas also feels giving adults the tools to succeed in a changing economic and technological envi-ronment is necessary. “The way the economy is right now, the way technology is, in order for non-traditional students to keep up, they have to become knowledgeable about the latest technology, the latest trends, and particularly keep up with the young people,” Thomas said. “We have to make sure that we are aware of what is happening.”

The advice of President Thomas to students stems from his view of the economy. “I think we are going to be in this recession for a few more years, but I encourage individuals to hold fast to what they have right now. There will be better days, and we must continue to strive for excellence no matter what.

President Jack Thomas

About the Presidents And ChAnCellors

EDITORIAL & TECHNOLOGY: Jane Angelis, Ph.D., Director, Intergenerational Initiative Alicia Ruiz , Director, Communications Tom Forby, Ph.D., Director of TechnologyLAYOUT: Jane Angelis, Center for Health Law & Policy Shannon Wimberly, Printing & Duplicating Barbara Helen Smith, School of LawADDRESS: Intergenerational Initiative Center for Health Law and Policy SIU School of Law, Carbondale, Il 62901 618-453-8636, www.solit.siu.edu

v Founded in 1987 v With Funding from the Illinois Board of Higher Education

CONTINUANCE MAGAZINESpring/Summer 2011 Vol. 25 Nos. 3 & 4

Knowledge and Understanding Passing from Generation to Generation

Congratulations to RSVP on 40 YearsRSVP has been the backbone of intergenerational programs in the U.S. and a valued partner during the 25 years of the Intergenerational Initiative. Shortly after the Initiative was launched, Coles County RSVP reported on a penpal program at Carl Sandburg School in Charleston. Later, Carla Gosney implemented the Carry Out Caravan program in Quincy. Grandma Please, developed by the Hull House RSVP, helped school children with a telephone contact. In preparation for the 1995 White House Conference on Aging, RSVP joined education and aging organizations to conduct information-gathering ses-sions. Over the years, RSVP programs have provided energy, expertise and a passion for involving senior citizens.

National history: Established in 1971 and now one of the largest senior volunteer organizations in the nation, RSVP engages people age 55 and older in a diverse range of volunteer activities. Volunteers tutor children, renovate homes, teach English to immigrants, assist victims of natural disasters, provide independent living services, recruit and manage other volunteers, and serve their communi-ties in many other ways. Illinois has programs in 23 communities that touch 63 counties. John Hosteny is the state director.www.nationalservice.gov

Interviews of Presidents and ChancellorsFirst, a hearty thank you to the young jour-nalists who gave so generously of their time to interview the leaders of our public univer-sities: Amelia Flowers, Emily Steele, Kimberly Snapp, Andy Speckling, Janean Watkins, Nora Lindvall, Brandon Coleman, Kassandra Garrison, Amy Gates, Alex Iniguez, Bradford Colten and Alyse Thompson. An equally hearty thank you to the schedulers and staff members who pulled the loose ends together for the interviews: Vicki Clements, Kimberly Durr, Elizabeth Krocs, Charlene Lambert, Kerry Lemaster, Dana Navarro, Pen-ny Perdue, Dori Hooker, Julie McDannel, Joy Hearn, Mark Rosati, Jay Groves, Pam Brown, and Judy Gorrell, as well as faculty who helped identify these talented students: Debra Landis, Victoria Pierce, Marilyn Yirku, William Freivogel, Sharon James McGee, Mark Canuel and John Ryan

Senate Forum on April 6, 2011: Thank you to Senate President John Cullerton for conven-ing the Fourth Senate Forum on Intergenera-tional Leadership and to speakers, Charles Johnson, George Reid, Susan Cisna, Darlene Ruschitti, Lawaune Moorman, Jillayne Rock and Senator Edward Maloney

Thank you to Republican Leader Christine Radogno, Patty Schuh and members of the Senate who supported the Senate Forum:

Senators Christine Johnson, Mattie Hunter, Da-vid Luechtefeld, James Meeks and Tim Bivins.

Thank you to the members of the Senate Staff who helped make the forum possible and followed with a timely proclamation: Jill Rock, Kathryn Underwood, Andy Manar, John Charles, Ted Pruitt, Rikeesha Phelon, Brandy Renfro, Molly Kershaw, Joe Domin-guez and Nancy Hill

IBHE 50-Year Article: Thank you for helping to delve into the history of IBHE: George Reid, Carrie Hightman, Linda Oseland, Candace Mueller, Don Sevener, Donna Logan, Jim Forstall, Arthur Sutton, Trish Fenton, Richard D. Wagner and members of the board National Leaders Interviews: Thanks to Cathy Williams, Brenda Jones Watson, Mike Baumgartner, Tom Sugar, Rene Davidson, Alex Sanchez, Allen Goben, Patricia Grana-dos and Norma Kent for helping to put na-tional issues in focus

If I have inadvertently omitted someone,consider this a thank you.

Most important: Thank you to the heroes of 25 years of printing Continuance to Rich Bauer and his amazing staff at SIU’s Printing and Duplicating. Jane Angelis

AcknowledgementsThank you to all who contributed to this issue of Continuance and to the thousands of individuals across all generations, who have been part of the intergenerational movement, three cheers for your many contributions!

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Grandma Please, a program with the Hull House RSVP provided an after-school phone contact for children in Chicago.

Senate President John J. Cullerton welcomed 55 delegates representing four generations to the Illinois Senate Cham-ber. The four generations discussed current issues in aging and education and recommended a focus on reading as an important skill for increasing graduation rates and promoting healthy lifestyles. A Senate Proclamation called Reading across Generations calls for a Summit on September 26 to build new momentum for reading and writing.

Photo by Brandy Renfro

Senate Forum on Intergenerational Leadership