In the face of looming budget cuts, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has issued a message to its professors, staff members, and students: Got any ideas?
Prompted by a suggestion at a recent town-hall-style meeting on the campus, the provost’s office at the Urbana-Champaign campus has created an online suggestion box for recommendations on how campus officials might trim expenses. “Your thoughts, ideas, and questions will help guide us as we navigate the challenges we face as a campus,” reads a message on the Web page.
“In light of the economic downturn it has become difficult to anticipate the size of state appropriations and we must plan for the possibility of significant reductions in state funds for this fiscal year and the next,” wrote Richard Herman, the university’s chancellor, and Linda Katehi, the provost, in a statement on the site. “We must bring together our collective knowledge of the campus so that we can find ways to move forward in these difficult times and become stronger and more productive as a result.”
No word yet on whether anyone shot back with a silver bullet for the budget woes. —Steve Kolowich
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