OP-ED: KIRK DILLARD May 27, 2026 By KIRK DILLARD As someone who has spent their career in both policy and higher education, and as a current trustee for Western Illinois University, I have sadly witnessed the erosion of state support for regional universities. In fact, the western region of Illinois isn’t known as “Forgotonia” for no reason. Illinois has over time morphed into a public higher education system of inadequate, inequitable and unstable funding of our vital region

Special to the McDonough County Voice Updated May 15, 2026, 5:19 p.m. CT Western Illinois University is the most underfunded public university in Illinois. According to Advance Illinois, WIU currently gets less than half the state funding needed to serve its students. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, however, is funded at nearly 90% adequacy. The gap is no accident, but the result of a funding system that has never been based on equity or student need, but only on

Walter Hudson, May 1, 2026 from The EDULedger Between 2012 and 2024, the number of faculty represented by unions at private colleges and universities increased by 56 percent. For graduate student workers, the growth has been even more explosive, with a 133 percent increase over the same period... ...Long before St. John's University decided to dismantle its faculty union, American higher education had already undergone a seismic structural shift in who teaches. Since the 1970

4/23/2026 Special thanks go to Dr. Kristi Barnwell for also giving testimony on the critical need for equitable funding. Please see her statement below: I am first-generation college student, the child of a single mother who lived in financial precarity for most of my childhood. I loved learning always. Like many of my students, I understood higher education’s value for creating social mobility and increasing my chances of having financial stability. My university education i

Allan Bettis Special to the State Journal-Register April 14, 2026, 3:31 a.m. CT I’ve worked as a building service worker at the University of Illinois Springfield for seven years. I take pride in what I do. My job is to make sure students walk into clean classrooms, that buildings are safe, and that the campus runs the way it should. Some may think it’s not glamorous work, but it’s essential. I’m also a proud husband and a father of two amazing children. My kids are growing f

April 11, 2026 Dozens of members of UIS United Faculty and student supporters in the Illinois State Capitol Thursday telling lawmakers how Chancellor Gooch's failure to secure adequate funding for UIS hurts students and faculty alike! UIS needs leadership that advocates for students instead of pitching campus into crisis by pushing faculty to strike!

NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS | By Sean Crawford Published April 15, 2026 at 12:42 PM CDT A high-ranking legislator who chairs a committee that oversees state funding to colleges and universities said the University of Illinois Springfield administration should do more to end the ongoing faculty strike. Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, appeared at a rally with striking faculty on Wednesday morning. Ford, who also serves as Chairman of the Illinois House Higher Education Appropriation

April 2, 2026 UIS students, staff, and faculty rally for a #FairContractNow outside the Chancellor's philanthropy dinner. We're grateful for donor contributions but wanted them to know what Chancellor Gooch does with their money—busting staff and faculty unions!

April 3, 2026 UIS Faculty FB page