Experts: U. of Ill. image suffers little after admissions scandal

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Experts say the University of Illinois certainly has a black eye after being dragged through a high-profile admissions scandal, but its reputation and the fast public reaction from state officials could ward off long-term damage.

They believe the worst is likely over after months of backlash from news reports that revealed trustees at its flagship Urbana-Champaign campus kept a list of politically connected students -- who in some cases were admitted over more qualified applicants.

State officials almost immediately began a public investigation, the governor asked all of the school's trustees to resign and, just this week, university president B. Joseph White resigned.

"The issues surrounding admissions at the University of Illinois pose a minor problem to the university when one considers that the institution is a world-class entity," said Sheldon Steinbach, a former longtime lawyer for the American Council on Education, a group of college presidents and chancellors.

"It has been a three-month story that has played significantly only in Illinois."

Some faculty members are already more optimistic, just 10 days after formally calling on White and campus chancellor Richard Herman to be replaced.

Associate professor Joyce Tolliver, chair of the Faculty Senate, which voted in favor of the resolution calling for new leadership, said those responsible for naming White's successor will likely look for "a leader who is very firm about establishing where to draw ethical lines."

But she the next president needs to be more: "Someone with a lot of energy, and it has to be someone who is willing to interact with faculty and students."

Others agree that the university still has repair work ahead of it.

"I would spend my time trying to promote the hell out of the academics and the things that make the university great," said John F. Burness, a former spokesman for the Urbana-Champaign campus and more recently for Duke University.

Burness teaches a course on higher education and the media at Duke and has discussed the University of Illinois scandal with his students.

"You've been in a tough situation. Basically you've dug your way out of it," he said, adding that the university must now start reminding the state and the country of the work that happens on campus.

Faculty from the university's other campuses said the scandal seems to be isolated.

"We can understand that there's an earthquake going on down in Urbana, but it doesn't really affect us too much," said Robert Paul Becker, an associate professor of anatomy and cell biology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The university also has a campus in Springfield.

White's decision to step down followed almost four months of news reports on the influence of political connections on admissions at Urbana-Champaign. After acknowledging it kept a so-called "Category I" list, Gov. Pat Quinn called for the resignations of the trustees that oversee the university and most stepped down.

Herman, the campus chancellor, has so far declined to resign. Herman has acknowledged he made mistakes in handling admissions inquiries for well-connected students, but has said he hopes his record at the university outweighs his missteps.

At the faculty Senate meeting earlier this month, which attracted several hundred people, some said colleagues at other schools commented on the scandal. One man said he heard snickers about the school at summer conferences and worried about its reputation.

Steinbach said the university has little to worry about. Its reputation for innovation in computer science and any number other areas -- such as the 23 Illinois faculty and graduates who have won Nobel prizes -- matters more than the admissions troubles, he said.

That said, "One of the most damaging aspects of this series of stories was that it undermined the faith of the citizens of Illinois," Steinbach said.

But that, he argues, has been addressed by the board resignations and efforts now under way by the university to wall off admissions from political influence, and doesn't matter as much with most people in the state as much as Illinois" reputation for offering a top-drawer education for far less than most private schools.

"I pretty much think they have done what they need to do," he said.