Sylvia Manning to retire

[Big D]

According to the Tribune, UIC Chancellor Sylvia Manning plans to retire at the end of the school year. I think she did good things for this university....

[Chuck A]

bigd said:

According to the Tribune, UIC Chancellor Sylvia Manning plans to retire at the end of the school year. I think she did good things for this university....

I agree. I just hope the board of trustees and however in charge of the search and hiring process do an outstanding job of securing the next Chancellor.

[anonymous]

When you look at the before/after of the UIC campus during Manning's tenure as chancellor, the picture is truly remarkable.

Way back in 1999, most of Maxwell Street was still standing, and the plans for South Campus phase 1 had just landed on my desk. I will never forget the shock the first time I saw the renderings, and I immediately said to my co-worker (also a UIC alum), "this is going to totally transform the place".

Looking back now, I realize that was an understatement.

A more accurate description would have been: "this is going to totally transform the West Side of Chicago". From blighted to thriving, socially dysfunctional to stable and serene, UIC's expansion created not only new buildings, but new expectations. Mundane things like walking around the neighborhood at night are now so commonplace that it seems inconceivable that it would ever have been viewed as risky.

This injection of a sense of normalcy is what will probably be remembered most about Manning's tenure. UIC is a less exotic, less edgy place than it was when she took over, due in no small part to the efforts to take some of the edge off. It is also a far more student-friendly place than it ever was in the past, and somehow it just seems "normal" that UIC is also a top-50 research school that attracts better and better students every year. Furthermore, she was able to do this without compromising UIC's social mission, proving that the two are not mutually exclusive.

She leaves the school stronger, physically, academically, and socially, than when she found it, and will be remembered as one of the great chancellors of this university.

The question is: what does UIC need from a chancellor going forward?

Any thoughts?

[season ticket holder]

Maybe she can take Collins and Schmidt with her into retirement.

[Chuck A]

season said:

Maybe she can take Collins and Schmidt with her into retirement.

Funny! She can take Collins, but leave Schmidt- he's done a pretty good job in his coaching hires.

What we need from the next Chancellor is more of a focus on our academic programs. Although we are a top 50, or more like top 75 research institute, it wouldn't hurt to try to get some of our programs in the upper echelon of academia. Our engineering department for as long as it's been behind Illinois and Purdue, should be on a par with those institutions.

I work in Chemistry and within the last 5 years we've lost a number of Chemistry professors, with their grant monies. When was the last time we've heard of a UIC chemist coming up with some type of research breakthrough?

Those are just a couple of things I feel the next Chancellor could work on. What Manning did for the aestetics, economic development and overall outer appearance of the campus will never be forgotten, but now let's focus on the UIC academics and programs.

[soccer fan]

I agree. UIC has been extremely focused on facilities, although the fact that neither the new chem labs nor the college of business building were built means that not all of the original objectives were accomplished.

But any way you look at it, South Campus/University Village has made a huge difference in the general vibe at that school, and has boosted UIC's image among the public.

And now that it is winding down (after 7+ years), it is time to boost the academic reputation to go along with it.

I'd like to see the next chancellor a little less focused on the medical school. It clearly has an important role to play, but it often seems like lately it has been receiving a disproportionate amount of money. Wasn't another $30 mil just approved by the Board of Trustees for the Rockford Campus on top of the $170 mil for the recently-opened medical research building in Chicago? It amazes me that one college can get those kinds of funds when there are so many pressing needs.

Other universities are building nano-technology research centers, but not UIC. Everything here seems to be med or pharm related, but not having a more balanced research program constrains even those. I've never seen the med school ranked higher than 60, roughly the same rank as the college of engineering, you have to wonder whether all that money is being spent wisely.

A little more emphasis on athletics would also be wecome.