ILLINOIS STATE E-LUMNI NEWS - Volume 2, No. 5
March 19, 2003
LEADERSHIP UPDATES: NEW PROVOST ARRIVES, INTERIM PRESIDENT NAMED
Illinois State was pleased to welcome to campus our new Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. John W. Presley, on March 3rd. Dr.
Presley (no relation to Elvis, though for fun President Boschini tried to claim it was so. . .) comes to us from Oswego, New York, where he served as Provost at SUNY-Oswego. He is a professor of English. For more information and a photo, see www.provost.ilstu.edu/staff/provost.shtml.
Dr. Presley will work with President Boschini and Interim Provost Al Bowman until May 31, when Boschini leaves to become Chancellor at Texas Christian University. At that time, Dr. Bowman will take the helm as Interim President of Illinois State University, as announced by the Board of Trustees at their last meeting. Dr. Bowman has been with Illinois State for 24 years; he is a professor of Speech Pathology. For more information and a photo of Dr. Bowman, see www.mediarelations.ilstu.edu/releases/0203/Feb/bowman.shtml.
BREAKING NEWS: ILLINOIS STATE SEEKS NEW HEAD BASKETBALL COACH
Director of Athletics Perk Weisenburger announced March 12 that Illinois State will not be renewing the contract of head men's basketball coach Tom Richardson, which expires on April 18, 2003.
Richardson served as the Redbirds' head coach for the last four seasons and has been at Illinois State for 10. As the head coach, he compiled a 56-64 overall record. For the season just ended, the Redbirds were 8-21.
For details, see www.redbirds.org and choose "Basketball - Men's".
BUDGET UPDATE
Financial issues continue to plague Illinois State and other public universities in Illinois. For those of you outside the state, in January Rod Blagojevich became the first Democratic governor in the state in 26 years. The new governor has indicated that, in dealing with the state's $5 billion budget deficit, he will expect public higher education "to aggressively seek and implement measures to reduce expenditures," according to a recent budget statement by President Boschini. As such, Boschini announced that he is initiating a plan for the University to review and reduce administrative costs over the next several years.
As Illinois State University continues to feel the impact of the state fiscal crisis, the Office of Media Relations again this year will provide up-to-date budget information to the University community. Alumni may also access this information, including links to statements by President Boschini and media reports, at the University's home page at www.IllinoisState.edu. A Contacts link offers E-mail address and business
telephone numbers for President Boschini and our local legislators. Each link will be updated as information becomes available.
ALUMNI AWARDS
The Alumni Association is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2003 Alumni Association Awards. Please see www.IllinoisState.edu/alumni/awards.shtml for a list of Awards and this year's recipients. All alumni are invited to celebrate the successes of their fellow graduates at ceremonies on Saturday, March 22, 2003, at 4 p.m. in the Ballroom of the Bone Student Center. R.S.V.P. is required to
or (800) 366-4478.
Alumni may take note that nominations are accepted from fellow alumni for these honors. The Web page cited above provides access to criteria and a nomination form.
In addition, several of the University's colleges bestow awards at the College level. The College of Business and the College of Education both name alumni to their "Halls of Fame" at Homecoming each year. Mennonite College of Nursing selects its award recipients in the spring for presentation at Homecoming as well. For details:
College of Business: www.cob.ilstu.edu/cob/alumni_hall_of_fame.htm
(Deadline is March 31.)
College of Education: www.coe.ilstu.edu/infoforfacstaffalum/alumni/halloffame/index.shtml
(Deadline is April 18.)
Mennonite College of Nursing: www.IllinoisState.edu/alumni/mennonite.shtml. (Deadline is May 1.)
If you know an alum that you feel fits the criteria for ANY of these awards, please feel free to submit their names for consideration.
DON'T FORGET THE WEB POSTCARDS DESIGN CONTEST!
We're looking for your creativity to help with an upcoming Web site feature
-- Web postcards! Last month we announced a contest where you can submit your ideas, designs, or photos to help us come up with a variety of postcards.
VIDETTE STILL SEEKS NOSTALGIA, PANTAGRAPH IS GRATEFUL
As a reminder, the DAILY VIDETTE is interested in hearing your memories of your time at Illinois State for possible publication. For details or to share your memory, contact VIDETTE Editor Erick Bieritz at enbieri@IllinoisState.edu.
Alumna Kelly Josephsen '99 published a great story on ISU alumni memories in a Sunday feature story in THE (Bloomington) PANTAGRAPH, thanks to your response from our December E-LUMNI NEWS. Says Josephsen, "Being an ISU alum myself, I really enjoyed working on this story. . . . All of my responses did come from the note in the [E-newsletter]. ... I really heard from a diverse group -- all ages, people living in all parts of the
country, people from all fields of study." Thanks, readers, for sharing
your memories with Kelly!
ASK ALUMNI SERVICES
QUESTION: "Dear A.S., my ISU diploma got damaged in a house fire. How can I get a replacement?" --- Anonymous, Chicago
ANSWER: Anonymous, we're so sorry to hear that -- but glad we can help.
The Office of the University Registrar can replace diplomas for very nominal fees for loss, damage, name change, etc. They can also provide replacement diploma covers (the red padded cover provided at Commencement).
They have conveniently put all the details on getting replacements online at http://www.arr.ilstu.edu/registrar/alumni/diplomainformation.stm.
QUESTION: "If I sent a current photo of my family, would you post it for my friends to see, and where?" --- Peg Chure '82, O'Fallon, Illinois
ANSWER: Peg, your question is quite timely. Beginning in May, YOU can post a photo of yourself and/or your family to your personal profile in the Alumni Online Directory. That's one of the fun new features of our soon- to-be-upgraded Web site! We confess, we're using your question to tantalize everyone. Be sure to keep checking the Alumni Web site for the new "roll out," decide on your favorite photo, and get ready to show fellow alums how much you've changed!
QUESTION: "[A previous] E-lumni News mentioned that there are 148,426 alumni. About how many receive the E-lumni News?" --- Joe McDonald '94, Normal
ANSWER: Hi, Joe. We're not surprised that an actuary would send in this question asking about the numbers! (Hint, readers -- we know Joe; he's an alumni volunteer.) And a good question it is. The last E-LUMNI NEWS went to 33,220 E-mail addresses, or just over 22 percent of our alumni. Which brings up a good point... Recent studies indicate that probably 80 to 90 percent of our alumni have E-mail -- we just don't yet have their addresses. In these times of tight budgets, E-mail is an inexpensive way for us to communicate with alumni. So please, help us out and remind any of your friends and fellow alumni to send in their E-mail addresses!
PS -- After the December graduates joined us, we're now at 149,576 living alumni!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Details on alumni events can be found on our Events Calendar Web page.
