Eastern Illinois University launches its vitalization project. More than two hundred people were nominated to be part of the project's task force. A team of nearly 70 university administrators faculty and students will work for the next few months identifying marketing strategies ... program sustainability and student enrollment growth. It's a plan many hope will attract more people and programs campus! "Given the current financil situation in the univeristy given our enrollment problems and so on...we have to have some sort of coordinated vision for the university and we have to try and make tough decisions about programs marketing facilities. Eastern Illinois University President David Glassman announced his vitalization project during his state of the university address earlier this month.The project will consist of nine workgroups that will analyze different programs on campus on their viability, efficiency, and sustainability. "I love that he separated them into different committees because I feel like if you tried to correct everything on campus with one big committee it would take forever and it's hard to narrow down so with these narrowed committees they could focus more on that certain area." The different workgroups will focus on different topics such as marketing and branding technology enrollment management and athletics. Student Body President Catie Witt says it's important for the different groups to have student input. "I think with this plan academics will be shown student engagement will be shown even having students on those committees will look good especially if high schoolers are coming and see that students are involved with administrators and faculty and professors and even President Glassman." EIU Philosophy Professor and a member of the Faculty Senate Grant Sterling says even though this is a positive idea for the university similar plans in the past haven't evolved. "On the one the one hand I think it's necessary and it had to be done and there's some parts of the process that are very positive. On the other hand it could've been a much better process that would be much more likely to lead to something that was helpful and useful but no opportunity for consultation was given so some of those helpful ideas can't be implemented it's too late now." Sterling says he was nominated to be a member of a workgroup but he hasn't received an email saying if he was accepted or not. Once members are selected the first round of recommendations must be submitted to Eastern's president by December.
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