Legislation that would separate SIU Carbondale and SIU Edwardsville passed out of a House Committee Thursday. Representative Jay Hoffman's bill would create a separate board for SIUC and SIUE, and it would have the School of Medicine be a part of Edwardsville's structure. Hoffman says his proposal would boost both campuses.
"I have no desire at all to hurt the Carbondale campus. I really believe that if each campus were to have its own board like the rest of the university systems do, that we - and you - could focus on the strengths." Hoffman says.
Hoffman's proposal has been presented before, without success. This bill was introduced after SIU's Board of Trustees last week failed to approve a plan to reallocate $5 million in state funds from Carbondale to Edwardsville in next year's budget.
