UIC no pushover...
Jun 20, 2009 11:03:41 GMT -6
Post by Big D on Jun 20, 2009 11:03:41 GMT -6
UIC med school not a pushover for clout
NO LIST | Documents show Blagojevich, other bigwigs lobbied for applicants -- but not always successfully
June 20, 2009
BY DAVE NEWBART Staff Reporter dnewbart@suntimes.com
Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich tried to use his position to clout at least one student into the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, but documents show that applicant was rejected.
However, the university's chairman of the board of trustees pushed another candidate with poor credentials, leading to a conditional offer of admission at a later date -- an offer the school now says should have never been extended.
"To the extent there was a compromise of any kind to political pressure, in retrospect, it was wrong,'' Dean of Medicine Joe Flaherty, who was not involved, said Friday.
Nearly 500 pages of documents obtained through a Freedom of Information request show state lawmakers, school trustees and school officials pushed applicants to the highly competitive medical program, similar to what was found at U. of I.'s flagship Urbana-Champaign campus.
However, documents show the admissions system at the medical school was harder to influence, and inquiries from those with clout were fewer.
What's more, the medical school did not maintain a special "Category I'' list of applicants with clout, as U. of I. did Downstate, officials said -- although the school's lobbyists did track students pushed by lawmakers.
Officials said about 10 percent of the 6,700 to 7,000 applicants each year are admitted to the school, the largest medical school in the country. They said they received only about a dozen or so inquiries a year about students.
Applicants, who must be approved by a faculty committee, are admitted based on numerical scores based on strict criteria.
The candidate Blagojevich pushed was an international student who apparently didn't have a proper visa. Furthermore, "there were significant negative comments about his character in the committee letter from his undergraduate college,'' one document reads. He was denied.
In 2003, then-UIC Chancellor Sylvia Manning offered help to a student who was pushed by then-board chair Larry Eppley. The student had "very poor grades at the start of his college career,'' she said. But the college crafted a plan: if he got good grades in a one-year program at the Chicago Medical School, he could enroll in a UIC program to help boost his score on the MCAT, a test required to attend medical school. If he got a "B'' average in that program and an average score on the MCAT, he would be allowed to transfer in, Manning wrote Eppley.
The student never attended UIC, officials said.
But the system was at times so difficult to influence that one administrator in UIC's external affairs office lamented to Terry McLennand, assistant director of state relations at U. of I., that they couldn't guarantee an interview for an applicant requested by state Rep. John D'Amico (D-Chicago).
"DOH! These health professions are toughies,'' Teresita Soto Plutz, assistant director for administrative services, wrote in February. "The admissions committee just won't grant an interview unless the committee decided they meet the criteria for admission.''
McLennand responded that he understands but doesn't "entirely agree.'' The student was eventually denied admission.
McLennand was also upset when last December the school told an applicant he had been put on a waiting list without going through the government relations office. He said his "friend and . . . legislator'' (who was not named) looks like a "dolt'' for not knowing the applicant's status.
"This does make the Chancellor look bad,'' he wrote.
U. of I. spokesman Tom Hardy said Friday that McLennand's comments were "inappropriate.''
www.suntimes.com/news/metro/blagojevich/1632056,CST-NWS-uic21.article
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With all the drama down in Champaign regarding its Category-1 list, it was nice to read this article. Now, while I'm sure that this caving to political pressure occurs to some extent at many universities, its nice to see that UIC has largely rejected it. Much like with grade inflation, UIC has not compromised its standards and ideals...this time so that "important" people can attend the university. UIUC, however, is the $2 crack whore of Illinois public universities. They'll do anything to have "important" people at their university....they'll do anything to make themselves look better than they actually are. Whether it be by admitting Michael Jordan's son, who wouldn't have even sniffed the manure of the UIUC campus had it not been for his last name, or any of the other non-qualified people that were admitted due to their connections....pathetic. Reason number 35,617 UIUC is overrated.
NO LIST | Documents show Blagojevich, other bigwigs lobbied for applicants -- but not always successfully
June 20, 2009
BY DAVE NEWBART Staff Reporter dnewbart@suntimes.com
Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich tried to use his position to clout at least one student into the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, but documents show that applicant was rejected.
However, the university's chairman of the board of trustees pushed another candidate with poor credentials, leading to a conditional offer of admission at a later date -- an offer the school now says should have never been extended.
"To the extent there was a compromise of any kind to political pressure, in retrospect, it was wrong,'' Dean of Medicine Joe Flaherty, who was not involved, said Friday.
Nearly 500 pages of documents obtained through a Freedom of Information request show state lawmakers, school trustees and school officials pushed applicants to the highly competitive medical program, similar to what was found at U. of I.'s flagship Urbana-Champaign campus.
However, documents show the admissions system at the medical school was harder to influence, and inquiries from those with clout were fewer.
What's more, the medical school did not maintain a special "Category I'' list of applicants with clout, as U. of I. did Downstate, officials said -- although the school's lobbyists did track students pushed by lawmakers.
Officials said about 10 percent of the 6,700 to 7,000 applicants each year are admitted to the school, the largest medical school in the country. They said they received only about a dozen or so inquiries a year about students.
Applicants, who must be approved by a faculty committee, are admitted based on numerical scores based on strict criteria.
The candidate Blagojevich pushed was an international student who apparently didn't have a proper visa. Furthermore, "there were significant negative comments about his character in the committee letter from his undergraduate college,'' one document reads. He was denied.
In 2003, then-UIC Chancellor Sylvia Manning offered help to a student who was pushed by then-board chair Larry Eppley. The student had "very poor grades at the start of his college career,'' she said. But the college crafted a plan: if he got good grades in a one-year program at the Chicago Medical School, he could enroll in a UIC program to help boost his score on the MCAT, a test required to attend medical school. If he got a "B'' average in that program and an average score on the MCAT, he would be allowed to transfer in, Manning wrote Eppley.
The student never attended UIC, officials said.
But the system was at times so difficult to influence that one administrator in UIC's external affairs office lamented to Terry McLennand, assistant director of state relations at U. of I., that they couldn't guarantee an interview for an applicant requested by state Rep. John D'Amico (D-Chicago).
"DOH! These health professions are toughies,'' Teresita Soto Plutz, assistant director for administrative services, wrote in February. "The admissions committee just won't grant an interview unless the committee decided they meet the criteria for admission.''
McLennand responded that he understands but doesn't "entirely agree.'' The student was eventually denied admission.
McLennand was also upset when last December the school told an applicant he had been put on a waiting list without going through the government relations office. He said his "friend and . . . legislator'' (who was not named) looks like a "dolt'' for not knowing the applicant's status.
"This does make the Chancellor look bad,'' he wrote.
U. of I. spokesman Tom Hardy said Friday that McLennand's comments were "inappropriate.''
www.suntimes.com/news/metro/blagojevich/1632056,CST-NWS-uic21.article
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With all the drama down in Champaign regarding its Category-1 list, it was nice to read this article. Now, while I'm sure that this caving to political pressure occurs to some extent at many universities, its nice to see that UIC has largely rejected it. Much like with grade inflation, UIC has not compromised its standards and ideals...this time so that "important" people can attend the university. UIUC, however, is the $2 crack whore of Illinois public universities. They'll do anything to have "important" people at their university....they'll do anything to make themselves look better than they actually are. Whether it be by admitting Michael Jordan's son, who wouldn't have even sniffed the manure of the UIUC campus had it not been for his last name, or any of the other non-qualified people that were admitted due to their connections....pathetic. Reason number 35,617 UIUC is overrated.