University of Illinois administrators are warning legislators that leading faculty are already looking for positions elsewhere amid a 9-month state budget impasse.
Addressing a Senate committee today, President Timothy Killeen said the instructors were among those he calls ‘economic miracles’, just under 200 faculty who bring in a half billion dollars in annual research.
Interim Urbana Chancellor Barbara Wilson told the panel that the U of I’s number of retention cases, or those who have given notice they may leave, is up 76%.
“I learned about a very high level prominent biology faculty member, who’s a Howard Hughes institute investigator – we only have three on our campus. And he’s considering an offer at another Big Ten institution. And he told me ‘I don’t even want you to bother with a retention offer, cause I’m fed up with the state right now.”
Killeen also touched on the impact the budget impasse is having on student aid and recruitment. The U of I has reserve funds in place this year, about 60-million dollars, to help students who rely on state-funded MAP grants. But Killeen told senators that won’t be the case in the next fiscal year.
The president said high school counselors in the Chicago area are advising students not to attend any public universities in the state due to the budget impasse.