To: All Faculty & All Academic Professionals & All Civil Service Staff &
           All Undergrad Students & All Grad Students <everybody@illinois.edu> 
    From: "Chancellor Robert A. Easter" <chancellor@illinois.edu>

Reply-To: stewardingexcellence@illinois.edu
 Subject: MASSMAIL - Welcome Back

Date:	August 27, 2010

To:	Members of the Campus Community

From:	Robert A. Easter
	Chancellor and Provost (Interim)

	Richard P. Wheeler
	Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (Interim)

Re:	Welcome Back

	We write to welcome you back for Academic Year 2010-2011 and also 
to update you on some of the campus activities that have taken place over 
the summer and to provide you with the most current status of our fiscal 
situation.
	To date, we have charged 17 Stewarding Excellence @ Illinois 
Project Teams, 16 of which have submitted reports.  To learn more about 
each project, visit http://oc.illinois.edu/budget/projectteams.html. We 
are grateful for the hard work of the project teams and to the campus 
community, who demonstrated their thoughtful engagement with this process 
through their public comments. It is heartening that faculty, staff, 
students, and the public care so deeply about our institution and are 
committed to our continued excellence.
	Nine projects have completed the initial feedback process and have 
been submitted to the Office of the Chancellor and the Office of the Vice 
Chancellor for Academic Affairs. Our staff has reviewed those documents 
and has consulted broadly with the Council of Deans, Faculty Senate, 
student leaders, and the Campus Advisory Committee to identify short-term 
and long-term actionable items. We have carefully considered the public 
comments and the unit responses and incorporated those diverse 
perspectives and ideas in our decision-making process. In the days and 
weeks to come, we will tell you about the solutions we will implement this 
fall that will produce change on our campus that achieve both cost-savings 
and institutional transformation that will protect the quality for which 
we are known and better position the University to meet the current and 
future needs of our students, our state and the larger community.  We will 
also launch new projects early this academic year as we continue the 
activities of Stewarding Excellence.  Our objective remains to minimize 
the stress from this difficult financial time while transforming the 
institution for a bright future.  
	As we begin a new academic year, we continue to face the 
extraordinary financial challenges that we encountered in Fiscal Year 2010 
due, in large part, to the serious fiscal problems of the state of 
Illinois.  As of this writing, the State owes the University $119 million 
for FY 2010 (which ended June 30, 2010) and $122 million that has already 
been billed for this fiscal year.   In light of questions about the level 
of state support we might receive and an uncertain national economic 
recovery, we have taken steps to make the institution more fiscally nimble 
without compromising our core values.
	One of those steps was to offer voluntary programs to reduce our 
workforce.  More than 500 employees took advantage of our Voluntary 
Separation Incentive Program, and some 90 tenured faculty members and 16 
adjunct professors and lecturers will leave the University under the 
Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program. Achieving this reduction in staff 
through voluntary programs minimized the dislocation and disruption that 
would have resulted from more drastic measures.  We thank you for your 
patience and cooperation as we adjust to the reality of a smaller 
workforce.  We believe that these are significant short-term actions that 
position us more favorably for the future.
	Although some of the employees who participated in these voluntary 
separation programs will be replaced, most will not. We continue to 
carefully monitor these and any hiring requests to ensure that approvals 
to hire are based on demonstrated strategic or operational needs and 
further the campus' commitment to a diverse workforce.  Additionally, 
because of the talent of our current workforce, we restrict necessary 
hiring to internal applicants whenever appropriate.  
	We are mindful that our great faculty remain attractive prospects 
for other institutions. Illinois is strong because, for 143 years, we have 
provided a nurturing and supportive environment for faculty to teach and 
engage in their research.  In an effort to retain our stellar faculty, we 
are working with the Council of Deans and department heads to proactively 
demonstrate our commitment to provide our faculty with competitive 
compensation, a productive working environment, and outstanding research 
support.  To this end, we have taken measures to retain faculty and those 
staff who we were at risk of losing to other institutions.   
	On Monday, August 23, classes began.  During our Convocation this 
year we welcomed 7,000 first-year students to Illinois - our Class of 
2014.  They, along with returning, transfer, graduate and professional 
students will comprise a projected total enrollment of approximately 
42,000 students on our campus.  Our students come not only from Illinois, 
but also from throughout the United States and the world.
	Thank you for your tremendous contribution to our institution.  We 
wish you a productive academic year.

This mailing approved by:
The Office of the Chancellor

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