Plans for the University of Illinois System’s new Access 2030 initiative to increase the number of graduates from ethnic and racial minorities were introduced to the Board of Trustees at its regular meeting on Thursday.
Access 2030 is being created to increase the number of graduates from underrepresented groups by 50 percent by the end of the decade. This will include students from disadvantaged backgrounds — ethnic and racial, rural and urban.
The new initiative is intended to increase equity and diversity across the U of I System universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield.
“Access 2030 will strengthen our bedrock commitment to the public good, ensuring that as we work to improve life in our state, we leave no one behind,” U of I System President Tim Killeen told trustees. “It will build on our ongoing efforts to create more opportunities for Illinoisans of all backgrounds.”
Each university is developing its own plans tailored to its campus and population, but Access 2030 will be comprehensive, Killeen said. It will focus on student readiness, recruitment, retention and, importantly, graduation, supporting success through mentoring, bridge programs and other efforts.
The initiative is being tooled to close equity gaps throughout the student pipeline, working from K-12 through college.
The U of I System universities have increased enrollment of students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups by more than 68 percent over the past decade. Currently, about a third of enrolled undergraduate students are from such groups, almost 20,000 students in all.
Systemwide retention rates for these students are near or, in most cases, exceed national averages.
But, Killeen said, the system can and will do more through the new initiative.
Trustees dismiss professor
Trustees on Thursday voted to dismiss a tenured professor at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) following allegations that he engaged in a series of inappropriate interactions with graduate students in his program and misused university equipment and resources.
Following an outside investigation, UIC and U of I System administrators recommended that Paul Schewe’s tenure be revoked.
In accordance with the University Statutes, a hearing was first conducted by the UIC Faculty Senate’s Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure (CAFT), which recommended that Schewe’s tenure be revoked.
Schewe requested and was granted a hearing before the Board of Trustees, pursuant to the University Statutes. On Thursday, trustees voted unanimously to terminate his employment, effective immediately, finding that the record “clearly and convincingly” requires his dismissal.
Schewe was an associate professor in the Department of Criminology, Law, and Justice within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at UIC since 2009.
According to a statement from the trustees, “Taking all of the evidence submitted to the board into consideration, we conclude that the record clearly and convincingly establishes that Prof. Schewe has been grossly neglectful of his duties and that he can no longer be relied upon to meet the standards of competence and responsibility required of our faculty members.”
Appointments
Trustees on Thursday appointed Mark S. Cohen as dean of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Carle Illinois College of Medicine, effective May 16. Cohen is currently a professor of surgery, pharmacology and biomedical engineering and director of both the Pathway of Excellence in Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Center for Surgical Innovation at the University of Michigan. He will also serve as senior vice president and chief academic officer of Carle Health System and be recommended for appointment as a tenured professor at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine. Cohen will succeed Uretz J. Oliphant, who has served as interim dean since January 2022.
Trustees also appointed Stacey Swearingen White as the new dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at UIC, effective July 1. White is currently director of the School of Public Affairs and Administration at the University of Kansas. She also will be appointed as a tenured professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Policy at UIC. White succeeds David F. Merriman, who has served on an interim basis since August 2021.
Also Thursday, trustees appointed Susan A. Rowan as interim dean of the College of Dentistry at UIC, effective April 1. Rowan is a clinical professor of restorative dentistry, associate dean of clinical affairs for dental clinics, and executive associate dean in the College of Dentistry. She succeeds Clark Stanford, who is retiring from UIC to become the dean of the University of Iowa College of Dentistry.
In addition, trustees voted to extend the contract of UIC Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Michael Lipitz by two years, through 2026. Lipitz was appointed in 2019. Over the past year, the UIC Flames posted the best academic results in school history, recording a cumulative 3.4 GPA. UIC also captured its first-ever Horizon League Women’s All-Sport Trophy in 2021, with team championships in softball, women’s tennis and volleyball.
