The importance of the University of Illinois being at the forefront of higher education by connecting the dots between industry, governments and communities was emphasized at the Urbana-Champaign Senate meeting Monday.

Lawrence Schook, vice president of research, said he strives to lead this dialogue through UI Labs, a concept he presented for the first time to faculty at Monday’s meeting.

A visioning team, appointed by the chancellors of all three campuses, is conceptualizing the nonprofit UI Labs. The group was tasked with identifying the University’s core competencies and how the it can begin to lead the future, Schook said.

Schook stressed that the planning around UI Labs is more focused on how the lab will move all three campuses forward rather than what the functions of the lab are.

“If we really look at this as a 25- to 50-year voyage, identifying the ‘what’ today is really shortsighted,” Schook said.

The lab is envisioned as a self-empowered think-tank to move the

University of Illinois and the world forward not only in areas of math and science but also in the humanities and arts, Schook said.

“We need to have our vehicle for empowering our people and our ideas. … We need to have a future of increased competitiveness, a hub of innovation,” Schook said. “This is, if you will, a region where great ideas are not only formed, but they’re realized.”

The lab will not be on campus but will involve faculty from all campuses and possibly graduate and postdoctoral students, said Nicholas Burbules, University Senates Conference chair.

However, Schook said UI Labs would still have an affiliation agreement with the University of Illinois.

“(This) would allow us to address both needs — protecting the academy, while at the same time addressing the stakeholder needs of the citizens of the state of Illinois and our communities,” Schook said.

More and more students on the east and west coasts stay in their communities after graduation, Schook said.

“One of my concerns is that our best and brightest students are leaving and then someone at Stanford or MIT is handing off their intellectual property to them, and we need to do that closer to home,” he said.

Schook said the location of the labs is currently being discussed. The mayors of Chicago, Champaign and Urbana have all been receptive toward the project coming to their cities.

At the meeting, some faculty members raised their concerns at the direction of the project.

History professor Megan McLaughlin said the project seems to be focused on technology and science.

“The last committee you showed, I believe, had not a single humanist or artist on it. It was entirely made up of scientists and tech people,” McLaughlin said. “So in other words, the university of the 21st Century is looking a lot to me like a university with no place at all for a significant humanities or arts program.”

Schook said the groups visioning UI Labs are answering how they will make change, rather than what they will change in terms of research and production at the lab.

“We have not tried to focus on specifics at this time, but have agreement that this is a way we can begin to work together,” Schook said. “I think that’s an incredible step. … This is our path forward together.”

 Tyler can be reached at [email protected].