UIUC and Community Investment

Community investment was a major topic at a recent conference hosting roughly a hundred local community leaders. From today's News-Gazette:

UI chancellor: Chicago initiatives will add resources for C-U, not drain them
Chancellor Robert Jones reassured community leaders Tuesday that expanding the University of Illinois' presence in Chicago won't drain resources from Champaign-Urbana, arguing that two new initiatives there will do "just the opposite."

He also committed to expanding the "wildly successful" UI Research Park in Champaign — with its 100 companies, 2,000 employees and $60 million payroll — arguing that it will be a major draw for Chicago innovators looking to develop startups and use the UI's expertise to become more competitive globally.

Jones was referring to the proposed Discovery Partners Institute in Chicago, a public-private research partnership led by the UI that would anchor a statewide "innovation network," in addition to a new joint project with the University of Chicago in Hyde Park...

Topping his list is the new Carle Illinois College of Medicine, which just accepted its first class of 32 students and will open its doors July 1.

Drawing applause, Jones credited the vision and determination of former Chancellor Phyllis Wise and Carle CEO James Leonard "for bringing something to the table that we believe is going to revolutionize health care, how medicine is taught and how medicine is practiced."

He predicted the medical school could be the catalyst for a new medical district, "a robust biomedical and health sciences research and innovation ecosystem second to none on the planet."

On other topics:

— Enrollment: With more than 40,000 applications for fall 2018, Jones predicted the next freshman class could be a record, falling somewhere between 7,500 and 7,600 students. A total of 7,518 freshmen enrolled last fall, just below the 2016 record of 7,592.

— Hockey: Asked for an update on a proposed hockey arena downtown, Jones said the university has to make sure that adding hockey makes sense programmatically, academically and financially. With startup costs estimated at $50 million, its future hinges on donor support, he said.

"We're excited," Jones said, but added, "It's not going to happen next year."

— Advisory council: Jones plans to finalize his new community advisory council in a few weeks, made up of civic and business leaders. He said membership will rotate to ensure broad perspectives are included. He hopes it can address economic development as well as larger challenges such as homelessness and access to education and health care.

Full article with more details here.