Chancellor Phyllis Wise and Provost Ilesanmi Adesida attended the Illinois Student Senate meeting Wednesday night to take questions from senators. 

“Last August, a strategic plan was unveiled that outlined goals of recruiting the very best faculty and providing students with the best learning experience they can get anywhere, both in and outside the classroom,” Wise said. 

She commented on Alma Mater being back on campus today, describing it as “very beautiful.”

Senator Sachin Bhide, junior in Engineering, asked what the administration is doing to help curb the cost of attending the University and assist students with paying off loans. 

“We’ve put a lot more money in the last two years into student aid. Both private contributions of donors, as well as our own central money, so that now, we are able to reach farther to give some kind of financial aid,” Wise said. “We are working all the time. I have to say I spend a good third of my time off campus working with potential donors.” 

She also said the I Promise program for families making under $40,000 helps low-income families pay for college tuition. 

Adesida added that minimizing the student debt is a “critical” issue for the administration. 

Senator Joseph Mosely, junior in ACES, brought up the comparison between newer buildings, like Bousfield or Lincoln Hall, to the cultural houses on campus. He said the condition of these cultural houses is “disheartening” and questioned if any form of renovation will happen in the future. 

Wise said they are looking closely at each house to determine which ones need renovations. She added that the reason they care so much about Lincoln Hall is because roughly 98 percent of students have at least one class there and mentioned that the hall previously had squirrels running in and out. 

“It’s not an either-or, but it is in order in terms of when we get to it,” she said.

Moseley asked about branding the University more and marketing each college more equally.

Wise said that they are working on branding the University as a whole and that each college is working on branding and marketing themselves. 

“What we are centrally interested in is branding the University as a whole,” Wise said. 

Senator Zach Bass, junior in Business, questioned what the administration is doing to market the University on a national stage, noting that the graduate business college has dropped in recent rankings.

“We are working very hard in terms of branding and marketing the University in Chicago where we have over 200,000 alumni and as well as more nationally,” Wise said. “We need to have our alumni be our ambassadors, and we also need to do a better job marketing and branding. I think this is something we haven’t be attentive to in the past, and we are convinced of putting more investments into.”

Adesida added that while countries like China and India are very familiar with the University, the University needs to continue to market itself both globally and nationally. 

Senator Tony Fiorentino, graduate student, asked about increasing the retention rate of minority students and about requiring classes that would promote diversity. Adesida said the retention of minority students and bringing the “best and brightest” to this campus “is our job.”

Wise added that finding the right courses to fulfill a diversity requirement would be “very torturous,” as every department has to have a say about what classes would qualify.

“We’ve started that process. It will take a while, but we understand how important it is,” Wise said.

Senator Luke Sailer, senior in LAS, questioned if the University will push mental health counseling for students who need it. 

Wise responded that the University plans to increase investments in mental health counseling, as they realize how stressful the learning experience can be. They are increasing the number of counselors on campus at the McKinley Health Center. 

Edward can be reached at [email protected].