After recent years marked by scandals within University administration, an Illinois Student Senate resolution to create a campuswide integrity statement will move on to the Urbana-Champaign Senate, following a move Monday by the Senate Executive Committee.

Student senator Keenan Kassar, senior in Business, introduced the resolution to the committee at its regular meeting.

“A couple months ago, I was looking to see if there was one integrity statement that was all-encompassing (for the University),” he said. “I did not find that. Perhaps Chancellor Wise can create an ad hoc committee to draft a one-page statement.”

Kassar said he has intentionally left the resolution broad because he did not want to impose his opinion on what the statement should encompass.

He read the Purdue University statement to the committee as an example.

“There are some things I would change (to the Purdue Statement), but it’s hard to disagree with any of this,” said Nicholas Burbules, general university policy chair and professor. “But that’s also the downside; to say something that everyone agrees with doesn’t really have power.”

Burbules added that he wasn’t opposed to the idea and that the University could do a better job coming up with a unique statement.

The executive committee moved to add the resolution to the December Urbana-Champaign Senate meeting for further debate and possible action.

Committee members also discussed diversity efforts on campus. Chancellor Phyllis Wise is in the process of appointing a committee of faculty members to work with the University administration on such efforts.

“We need to work from the chancellor down to increase diversity on campus, not just because of the numbers, but because it is important to the competitive advantage and to students on campus,” she said.

Also at the meeting, Mike Bragg, interim dean of the College of Engineering, presented information about the Illinois Applied Research Institute, which was launched mid-August of this year.

“We see there is a large portfolio of research that isn’t appropriate for our model of faculty doing discovery research and students who are doing theses and dissertations,” he said.

Bragg said he thinks the institution will allow faculty to conduct translational research and bring internship opportunities for students.

The institution is receiving $5.5 million as a start-up from the College of Engineering but hopes to be self-supporting after five years, Bragg said.

During discussion, Joyce Tolliver, University Senates Conference representative and associate professor of Spanish, addressed some of the benefits of the institution.

“It’s going to take a lot of money,” she said. “But it would bring in money and create jobs and internships. It’s also good for students, could bring dual career couples and revenues would go towards sustaining the institute.”

Corinne can be reached at [email protected].