Cost Effective Access to Higher Education via University Centers G. Gary Grace, Executive Director & Dean, UCLC

What Is the University Center of Lake County?

University Center is… A unique and voluntary consortium of 18 Illinois colleges and universities--9 private, 8 public and 1proprietary Offering both continuing and returning place-bound and adult students the ability to earn baccalaureate and advanced college degrees as well as to enhance their professional development A full-service, state-of- the-art conference center

Vision The University Center aspires to be recognized throughout the region as a leader in transforming lives, developing talent, and creating success through innovative and responsive approaches to higher education—emphasizing accessibility, flexibility, and choice.

Mission The mission of the University Center, a consortium based center, provides high quality educational opportunities for the residents, workers, and employers of the Lake County region.

UCLC Member Institutions  Benedictine University  Concordia University Chicago  Chicago School of Professional Psychology  DePaul University  Dominican University  Governors State University  Illinois State University  Kendall College  National-Louis University  North Park University  Northeastern Illinois University  Northern Illinois University  Roosevelt University  Saint Xavier University  Southern Illinois University Carbondale  University of Illinois (Chicago, Springfield, Urbana-Champaign)  College of Lake County

College of Lake CountyUniversity Center of Lake County Additional Locations: Waukegan, Great Lakes Naval Training Center & Online

Facility Snap Shot  A total of 100,000 square feet of instructional, administrative and student service space in two permanent facilities in Grayslake and Waukegan  Student services area with open computer area  Twenty-nine “smart” classrooms  Four computer labs  Two distance learning classrooms  Eight seminar rooms  Three conference rooms  Library  Conference center with large multipurpose room, lanai, lecture hall, and tiered classroom with distance learning capability  Educators’ Center and computer lab

Budgetary Snap Shot FY 2009FY 2010 State appropriation$2,931,856$1,718,000 Revenue/Interest 355, ,133 Capital Grant 0 125,000 From Operating Reserves 0 325,000 $3,286,856$2,689,833

Governance Snap  Governance groups with which the UCLC relates:  Illinois Board of Higher Education  University Center of Lake County Governing Board  Council of Member Institutions  Student Advisory Council  The CMI reviews petitions of new members and new degree programs for approval by the Governing Board  UCLC is a 501 (c) (3) organization. The legal entity is the independent governing board consisting of eight business and community representatives (including a trustee shared in common with the College of Lake County,) and six academic representatives (including SAC representative)

Staffing Snap Shot  13.5 FTE Professional Staff  3 Executive level administrators  1 Librarian  1 Waukegan campus manager  2 User support technicians (IT & A/V)  1 Building operations manager  1 Certified meeting planner/conference center director  1 Financial manager  2 Administrative support staff .5 Educator’s Center Director  7 Part-time staff (6 receptionist & 1 set-up person in CC)  Outsourced security, maintenance/custodial, food, & network services

Enrollment Snap Shot

Student Population Demographics: Gender Illinois Public Universities (selected) University Center of Lake County

Student Population Demographics: Program Level Illinois Public Universities (selected) University Center of Lake County

Student Population Demographics: Enrollment Status Illinois Public Universities (selected) University Center of Lake County

Program Snap Shot  Over ninety academic degree, certificate and professional development programs offered in either face-to-face, blended, or in online instructional formats.  35 Undergraduate programs  36 Graduate programs  22 UG/GR Certificate programs  5 Professional development programs  Degrees and certificates offered by Southern Illinois University, Dominican University, Northeastern Illinois University, Saint Xavier University and North Park University account for 80% of our offerings.  Programming the three University of Illinois campuses are exclusively online.

Why and How Did University Centers Develop?

Why University Centers? External Forces Internal Forces  Increased societal expectations for higher education to be more efficient, competitive, accountable, accessible, and generally “out of the ivory tower”  Genuine internal desire of colleges and universities to be more responsive to stakeholders, their needs, and state and regional conditions

Why collaborative partnership?  Responds to changing conditions and pressures  Enables a state or region to tackle complex and expensive issues  Legitimizes and energizes common enlightened interests of varied and often competitive organizations, political leaders, and businesses  Can lead to collective commitment and formal agreements between two or more parties that they will plan and work together voluntarily on a given problem or task (e.g. increased access to higher education opportunity in Lake County)

Why University Center in Lake County IL  Lake County was the fastest growing county in the 1990s  Economic shifts were occurring in the City of Chicago and the surrounding collar counties as major corporations relocated to the suburbs to reduce costs  Changes in population demographics with significant increases in Hispanic citizens with different educational goals and cultural characteristics  State-wide and regional political leadership was in place strategically for innovation and significance  Aspirations of community colleges to acquire bachelor degree authority

Illinois Board of Higher Education Vision “ The Board is proposing a university center, not a university. A university is large in terms of facilities, programs, and students; it is self-contained; and is quite expensive to construct and operate. On the other hand, a university center is small in scope in its programs and numbers of students. Also, it is collaborative, bringing together the resources of many institutions, and it is cost-effective. The university center concept enables the state to meet educational needs in Lake County for less than one quarter of the cost of building another public university.” -Dr. Doug Day, Deputy Director for Planning, IBHE addressing the Board & Agenda Item #1

Why nonprofit 501 (c) (3) approach?  Not business as usual and it symbolically said that we are not in the business of establishing a thirteenth stand- alone institution or satellite of an existing public institution  IBHE and staff desired a more facile and unique organization than traditional college/university and one that didn’t need to follow state procurement requirements  Avoided permanence trap of state statutory route  Placed primary impetus for development in hands of region and independent governing board

A Valuable Investment for Illinois  The University Center achieves cost efficiencies for IBHE and the Lake County community by leveraging instructional resources already developed by member institutions.  Operational support to the Center includes regional outreach and needs assessment; 100,000 square feet of award-winning instructional space, plus technology, student advisory, and library support to students and faculty.  The University Center continues to grow to meet community needs—of the citizens and area businesses.

The University Center provides access to higher education degree programs and lifelong learning opportunities for a population representative of Lake County population distributions. Lake County, IL ** University Center Illinois **Illinois Universitie s’ Students ** United States ** Black6.7%10%15% 12.8% White67.9%64%65.3%67%66.4% Hispanic18.7%8%14.7%7%14.8% Other *6.3%18%4.6%11%5.6% * Many students choose not to provide ethnicity data; these numbers are included for Other in the University Center data. ** Data from U.S. Census Bureau, Sate & County QuickFacts (2006). The University Center Mirrors the Region

Expenditures per Student: Instructional Programs

Expenditures per Student: Non-Instructional Programs (Operational)

It is a Cost Effective Investment Elements of the University Center budget support shared instructional program costs – such as student advising, technology consulting and support, and library support. Much of the University Center budget supports operational expenses.

Why it usually works…  Strong local leadership of the Governing Board (sustainability and financial stability) and the Council of Member Institutions (high quality academic degree program)  Shared vision—provide increased access to higher education and a constant questioning of where do we want to be, not just where are we?  Entrepreneurial spirit  Transparency