THE
Daily Egyptian SERVING THE SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY SINCE 1916.
DAILYEGYPTIAN.COM
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2024
VOL. 108, ISSUE 4
Staff and faculty repond to administrative bonuses
Annalise Schmidt aschmidt@dailyegyptian.com
Cairo’s 11th annual Blues and Gospel festival Attendees dance towards the end of Mike “D” Big Time Rhythm & Blues Band’s set at the 11th Annual Heritage Blues & Gospel Festival near the Ohio River Sept. 6, 2024 on Historic Downtown 8th Street in Cairo, Illinois. Lylee Gibbs | @lyleegibbsphoto See story and more photos on Page 6
SIU sees enrollment increase for fall 2024 semester Lylee Gibbs lgibbs@dailyegyptian.com
Southern Illinois University’s overall enrollment for the fall 2024 semester grew 3.8% to 11,790 according to numbers released by the university on Wednesday, Sept. 4. Undergraduate enrollment rose 4.5% and graduate program enrollment is up 2.3% according to a news release from SIU. In-person enrollment is up 1.6% from last year. The university welcomed 1,758 new freshmen for the fall semester, 8.45% more than last year and is the fifth consecutive year the freshman class has seen an increase according to the release. New students with a GPA of 3.0 or higher have increased by 8.4% from the previous year. 9,379 students take classes in person, 8,953 being on campus while 426 attend classes at offcampus sites. 2,411 students are enrolled online, a 13% increase from last year according to SIU Director of Communications Kim Renfeld. According to the release, this year marks the highest enrollment jump
in 33 years, the highest overall boost of enrollment since 1991 and highest percentage increase since 1978. The diversity of SIU’s student body increased with 9% more Black students, 12% more Hispanic students and 2.5% more international students. Online student enrollment increased with the help of the Saluki Step Ahead program which allows graduates of partnering community colleges to earn their degrees online through SIU. “We have agreements, actually, with all 48 community colleges in the state,” Chancellor Austin A. Lane said. “We worked that deal out about two and a half years ago with the Illinois Community College Board.” Saluki Step Ahead increased enrollment 111% including 62% in the southern Illinois region. SIU’s retention rate is 67%, Lane said. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, the national average is 76.5% as of 2022. “We’re not satisfied with that
but we’ve got plans for that fall to fall retention to be even closer to 80%,” Lane said. “We’re putting our infrastructure in place, making sure that we’ve got the right support staff that’s here to help those students get from orientation to graduation.” According to Lane, not retaining a student isn’t always because of academic reasons, but rather some students being unable to cover the final gap in the cost of their tuition. “So we actually probably would have been closer to 12,000 students if we had a few of those students, if they have been able to cover some of the cost of their tuition for the next semester,” Lane said. “If we could fill that gap, we would see our numbers increase even more.” The university is on track to enroll 15,000 students by 2030, set in the IMAGiNE 2030 strategic plan, the release said. According to Lane, the priority is to highlight and red carpet the southern Illinois regions to prospective local students. “We’ve got to be connected to ENROLLMENT | 2
In the wake of salary increases and bonuses awarded to some of SIU’s top administrators, faculty and staff across campus are offering diverse reactions, ranging from concern over university priorities, to acknowledgment of the competitive pressures that leadership faces. This comes after the SIU Board of Trustees approved significant bonuses on July 11 for both Chancellor Austin Lane and System President Daniel Mahony, and approved a title change for Wendell Williams. Williams was promoted to Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management, a title change that came with a salary increase. Previously earning $165,000, his salary was raised to $185,203, a change Lane recommended due to Williams’ responsibilities in managing enrollment and strategic planning, according to previous reporting by the Daily Egyptian. Meanwhile, Lane and Mahony
received bonuses as incentives for their work. The incentive compensation is included in both administrators’ contracts with the university. While the condition allows for annual performance bonuses, it does not mandate that they be awarded. A member of the SIU system communications team declined a request for comment from Lane and Mahony. However, SIU Board of Directors Chairman, Phil Gilbert, confirmed that his previous statements regarding the board’s approach to leadership evaluations and performance bonuses, as discussed in the Daily Egyptian article about student and alumni opinions, remain relevant for this discussion as well. “SIU is committed to strong ethical standards,” Gilbert said. “We always welcome public input, though the board is committed to making decisions that are in the best interest of the university system as a whole. The board works to fairly evaluate our
FACULTY THOUGHTS | 2
Centerstone hosts 5K for suicide prevention Participants Sarah Heer, Helen Blackburn and Martha Martinko run the Centerstone 5K Sept. 7, 2024 at Harry L. Crisp Sports Complex in Marion, Illinois. Jason Isele | @iselephotography See story and more photos on Page 10