FEATURE STORY — September/October 2006

Ambitious goals propel UI plans far from home

By Mary Timmins

Singapore: Ancient port, pirate hideaway, island city-state, mega-mecca for the high-tech inspirations of a new millennium.

Washington, D.C.: postcolonial vision of the Founding Fathers, inside-the-Beltway city qua non of intrigue, bureaucracy on steroids, political hub of the known universe.

And not to forget China and India.

What's a nice land-grant institution doing in places like these?

One-word answer: strategy.

In January, University of Illinois Chancellor Richard Herman proposed a plan for the Urbana campus, in which the need to stake a claim on the world frontiers of research and development occupies a short but pivotal chapter. Atop a "local to global" strategy (which includes new partnerships in Champaign-Urbana and a growing footprint in Chicago) are plans to head to Washington and hang out in Asia.

"We have been contributing to the world," said Herman. "And we want a larger presence on the world stage."

Of course, long beyond its humble beginnings in the Morrill Act, the U of I has expanded to reach into many areas of academic endeavor, both intellectual and geographical. Extension has taken agriculturalists around the state. Study abroad sends students around the world. Research and collaboration find the faculty practically everywhere. Alumni have made it all the way to outer space. And plans have been announced to expand the University's online education program on a global scale (but that's a story for another day).

"Our mission of outreach and service remains deeply rooted in the concept of a land-grant institution,' said Charles Zukoski, who as vice chancellor for research is deeply involved in engaging national and international partners for the University. "But the model has changed."

Shaped by the dual spin of globalization and technology, the University's growth is being determined by a worldwide drive to draw and develop the best. The best students, the best faculty, the best research, the best education ‚ like attracts like. And being the best depends ever more upon relationships: in research, recruitment and support to local and national businesses and in international collaborations on the forefront of trade and technology.

"If the University of Illinois is going to remain strong, the state and national economies are going to have to remain strong," said Zukoski. "If the state and national economies are going to remain strong, the corporations have to remain strong.

"It all depends on Asia."

(Washington, too, but we'll get to that.)