SIU leadership receive bonuses, salary increase from Board of Trustees
Carly Gist | CGist@dailyeGyptian Com
Three proposals received approval by the SIU Board of Trustees regarding compensation for university officials at the July 11th meeting.
The board members voted unanimously to increase the salary of SIUC Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management Wendell Williams, while SIUC Chancellor Austin Lane and SIU System President Daniel Mahony received bonuses.
The first proposal aimed to increase Williams’ salary and change his title to Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management. The matter was recommended to Mahony by Lane, who presented his case during the meeting.
“Over the last three years I think Wendell has been here, he’s been a very valued member of our team,” Lane said. “[He] is very connected inside of the community, very connected with me, with superintendents and principals and counselors all over the southern Illinois region and across the state and even outside of our state.”
Lane said Williams leads enrollment efforts and offices that aid in enrollment, including the registrar’s office, admissions office and financial aid office.
“He is responsible for the development, the direction and the strategic management of the enrollment management efforts that we have,” Lane said. “A couple of years ago, we put together a strategic enrollment management plan [IMAGiNE 2030], and we’re seeing the results really pay off.”
He said Williams’ area has “expanded a little bit.”
“We’re putting SIU online; some of the things we’re doing on the online environment and the graduate enrollment into his shop to really watch those areas as well,” he said. “Before it was more focused on the undergraduate students. So I bring this forward to you for your approval for Mr. Wendell Williams to serve as our Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management.”
The proposal will increase Williams’ salary from $165,000 to $185,203 to reflect this.
The second proposal discussed an incentive compensation for Lane and was presented by Mahony.
“As many of you know, in Chancellor Lane’s contract, he’s eligible for a performance bonus each year of $65,000,” Mahony said. “I should point out that it’s entirely funded by the SIU foundation so it does not use any state dollars or any general appropriations to fund that…Based on my review of the last year’s performance at SIU
also be found in the agenda.
During the public comment period of the meeting, SIUC Professor and Faculty Senate President Yueh-Ting Lee spoke about the importance of stability and longevity in academic leadership but also advocated for more resources towards the rest of the SIU community.
He said SIU is fortunate to have had Lane and Mahony in office since 2020 and that the school is “moving in the right direction.”
“We want to see the continued stability with our top leadership for the benefit of our students, faculty, staff and for the southern Illinois region,” he said. “It is very important that the board members continue to support our current top leadership for the success and the growth of SIU and the region.”
However, he also discussed the need for other allocations of funding.
“We understand that growing enrollment is very important… Your help in securing or carrying more state budget appropriations for us is equally important,” he said. “SIU is the economic engine for the southern Illinois region… therefore, for the southern Illinois economy to grow we would appreciate you to advocate more sternly for us.”
He said faculty members have “depressed” salaries as well as an “increased cost of living,” and that “faculty salary equity issues exist.”
“Over the last three years I think [Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management] Wendell [Williams] has been here, he’s been a very valued member of our team.”
- Austin Lane SIUC Chancellor
Carbondale, I’m recommending the full amount.”
“Increases in enrollment” and “increases in fundraising” were parts of Lane’s performance that Mahony recognized. Lane’s annual evaluation letter can be found in the meeting’s agenda posted on the SIU System’s Board of Trustees webpage.
The third item proposed the approval of incentive compensation for President Mahony. Chair J. Phil Gilbert presented the case.
“President’s Mahony’s leadership since he has been a president of this
university has been nothing short of outstanding,” Gilbert said.
“He has built a strong leadership team [and] he provides stability throughout the SIU system.”
Gilbert said he was a member of the board of trustees when “things were not as good as they are now” and credited Mahony for how the school system has improved.
“Stability at higher levels of administration correlates with the success and improvements of the institution…[Mahony] has become a leader not only in the state and region but the nation,” he said.
Gilbert mentioned Mahony’s
educational events and fundraising efforts, and said that moving him to Springfield when they hired him was “one of the best moves that [they] made.”
“This university is doing better than a lot of universities in not only the state but the country and it’s due to his leadership and the leadership team he’s put together,” Gilbert said. “And so it’s gonna be my recommendation…that we grant him the full $115,000 incentive compensation, which again, is not state dollars, but it’s paid for through the foundation.”
Mahony’s evaluation letter can
“These must be addressed with increased financial resources,” he said. “We work very hard to increase our enrollment, including retention and graduation rate. However, you as honorable members of SIU Board of Trustees, can allocate for us more successfully for the state resources and increase the budget we founded in front of our state legislators and government officials.”
He said the faculty members “represent SIU pretty well in the state, in the nation and around the world.”
After Lee concluded his speech, Gilbert said that everything Lee mentioned was “spot on.”
“I will say, in all the years I have been on this board, this is the first time I’ve agreed with everything that a speaker has said,” he said.
The meeting ended with a call of an omnibus motion. The three proposals were included in a list of items and acted upon in one vote. Once again, the items were approved.
A recording of the meeting can be found on the SIU Board of Trustees Meeting YouTube channel.
Reporter Carly Gist can be reached at cgist@dailyegyptian.com.
Photo provided by University Communications and Marketing.
22-year-old Carbondale man charged in Keeshanna Jackson shooting death
Alli GoerinG AGoerinG@dAilyeGyptiAn com
A Carbondale man has been charged in the death of 18-yearold SIU student Keeshanna Jackson after a shooting that took place in August of 2021 on West Cherry Street in Carbondale, Illinois.
It was announced that 22-yearold Keavonte Nesby has been charged with first degree murder as well as other offenses; two counts of first degree murder, two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm and one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
On August 14, a press conference was held at the Carbondale Police Station in regards to Jackson’s death. The conference was held by the States Attorney of Jackson County, Joseph Cervantez and Carbondale Chief of Police, Stan Reno.
“On August 22, 2021 Keeshanna Jackson’s life was cut short by an act of violence that left her family, her loved ones and our entire community devastated,” Reno said. “Keeshanna was one of four people struck by gunfire in the early morning hours of [that]
Sunday on [West] Cherry Street. Despite the best efforts of our officers and first responders, we tragically lost her that morning.”
The Carbondale Police Department responded to 911 calls on August 22, 2021 in regards to a shooting on 501 West Cherry Street. Officers arrived at the end of a house party to find Jackson with a life-threatening gunshot wound in the yard where she was immediately transported to Memorial Hospital of Carbondale where life-saving efforts were finished. The shooting was a result of feuding between two rival groups at the time of the incident.
Since the incident occurred, the Carbondale Police Department has been working to find answers for the family of Jackson. Reno explained that the department conducted over 100 interviews with witnesses and suspects to obtain as much evidence as possible and piece together the events during the night of the shootings.
“The investigation quickly began with the investigations bureau here at the Carbondale Police Department, SIU public
safety, State Police [and] the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. After hundreds of interviews and a lot of work we eventually arrived at this point,” Cervantez said. “So at this point, the defendant, Mr. Nesby, is detained and his first [court] appearance will be September 4th here in Jackson County, at the Jackson County Courthouse.”
After the conference adjourned, Jackson’s mother and aunt sat down to answer questions and address how this has affected them. They both shared about Jackson’s personality and her goals.
Her aunt, Kechell White, said she is “very hopeful” and “very grateful.”
“We’re just grateful even hearing that charges were made today and there were some type of records,” she said. “We’re very hopeful. We’re happy. We’re glad. We’re just happy about everything that is taking place as of right now.”
Cervantez said he was interviewed by a local news station about a year after the shooting.
“During that interview, I remember specifically stating that I was confident that we would see an investigation through,” he said.
“The story is senseless and tragic. The lesson is fairly simple, don’t shoot in Jackson County because when you do you’re going to be held accountable,” Cervantez said.
Cervantez and Reno opened the meeting for questions after they finished speaking. They provided the information that Nesby has no affiliation with the University. They also addressed a question pertaining to remaining safe at large events.
“The more people that care about the community and the safety of their streets and their neighborhoods, the quicker we solve these crimes. So my advice to anybody who is going to parties or get-togethers is to know who’s there, and when you suspect something, because we all do, don’t be afraid to reach out. We all have to stay invested in us,
pick up the phone and don’t be afraid to build that relationship with your local police officer,” Cervantez said.
Nesby will appear for the first time regarding the case at the Jackson County Courthouse in Murphysboro, Illinois on September 4. The Carbondale Police Department, State Police, FBI, Jackson County Sheriff’s office and the SIU Department of Public Safety are continuing to investigate this case.
According to Illinois Department of Corrections online records Nesby is currently serving a 10 year sentence on a charge of aggravated discharge of a firearm at Western Illinois Corrections Center.
Staff reporter Alli Goering can be reached at agoering@dailyegyptian.com
Illinois Department of Corrections booking photo of Keavonte Nesby.
Behind the Scenes: Salukis Back to School
Alli GoerinG AGoerinG@dAilyeGyptiAn com
The first two weeks of welcoming SIU students back to school is full of activities for students to participate in and attend. These events take months of planning for SIU staff across campus.
“We know how important it is to get the students engaged right from the beginning, to make sure they know who their resources are, making sure they see friendly faces,” Jennifer Phillips, Director of New Student Programs, said.
The first event took place on Wednesday, August 14th and was move-in day for new students. These two events are exclusively for students who are moving into the campus dorms. After parents and family members helped their student move-in they attended “Sweet Goodbyes,” which provided sweet treats for families and students to bond over while they said their goodbyes.
“We brought back Sweet Goodbyes, which is a sweet treat that we provide through the Saluki Family Association for our families, kind of our nice way of saying, we’ve got it from here,” said Phillips.
The “Light up the Lake” event was scheduled for the next day
but due to bad weather it was rescheduled for Friday, August 16th. The event was renamed to “Glow at the Gridiron.” Originally the “Light up the Lake” event was supposed to take place at campus lake and have free food, canoeing and inflatables.
Friday, August 16th was packed with events for SIU students; Commuter Dinner, Saluki KickOff Pep Rally, Dawgs Nite Out, Glow at the Gridiron, Late Night at the Rec and Late Night Pancakes with the Wesley Foundation. These events took place across campus and were open to all SIU students to attend.
The pep rally took place to introduce new students to Saluki Athletics. The event took place in the afternoon and extended into the evening with activities for students to take part in.
“For the pep rally, it’s athletic focused. So really introducing our new students to what division one athletics has to offer,” Sean Cooney, Assistant Director of the Office of Student Engagement, said.
Departments across campus collaborated to have these events complement each other. The Office of Student Engagement, New Students Programs and Student Affairs, as well as many
other departments and colleges prepared for the first two weeks of events together.
“Always it’s really focusing to make sure we’re prepped for the year,” Cooney said. “It is calling vendors, sitting down and working on calendars. I think something that I’ve been really happy with and excited about is just the collaboration across campus. We’re all really working together this year to make sure that our schedules don’t overlap, that students really have a clear path of what they can do on a day to day basis, so that collaboration is a big part of summer, and making sure that all of our events are complementing each other and we’re not over programming on top of each other.”
All of the events were advertised to students with flyers, website ads and the app Saluki Superfan. Saluki Superfan is an app that students can download that shows them events that are taking place across campus.
“They check-in, they get points and they can turn those points into my office, The Office of Student Engagement for prizes for attending events,” Cooney said.
SIU staff encouraged new and returning students to attend as many events as they could. They want students to build community within SIU and know that they
Alannah Lockett helps move sister Ameriah Lockett into her dorm on West Campus Aug. 16, 2024 at SIU in Carbondale, Illinois. “I’m really excited for my upcoming barrier juries for the theater department this year,” Ameriah Lockett said. Alexis Lessman | @lex_lessman_photography
have someone to turn to.
“As humans, we are social creatures, and so helping students find community right from the beginning is going to help set the stage for success, which is what we’re wanting to do,” Phillips said.
Members of SIU’s staff understand the importance of having these events for students that are coming to campus. They want SIU students to be able to form relationships with the staff from the beginning.
“It is really making sure they
understand that we’re all here for them. That is, it is about them and providing those opportunities for them to get engaged to meet other students is really part of the college experience. So on top of great education is the opportunity to build those relationships, build those leadership experiences from day one and these events are critical to starting that process,” Cooney said.
Staff reporter Alli Goering can be reached at agoering@dailyegyptian.com
Chancellor Austin Lane stands next to freshman Heavenly Davis and her grandmother under the walkway between Neely and Trueblood. “I’m excited to further my education for sure, and well everything else,” Davis says.
Mariah Carlton and Jewelni’ya Byles stand together after picking up books from the bookstore. “We’re looking forward to getting to know people, branching out and making connections,” Carlton said.
Heavenly Davis gets help moving in from three sorority sisters of Sigma Gamma Pi on East Campus.
Chancellor’s Welcome Fest
Chancellor Austin Lane chats with S-3 ROTC member and USG Senator Jarrett Lobitz at the Welcome Fest August 18, 2024 at Shryock lawn in Carbondale, Illinois.
Freshman Blue Byers tight-rope walks at the Chancellor’s Welcome Fest.
Chancellor Austin Lane interacts with students.
Students dance along with the “Cha Cha Slide” song by DJ Casper.
Students play volleyball on the grass at the Chancellor’s Welcome Fest.
Saluki Dog Jofar looks on as students and faculty celebrate. Photos
RECORDS
Students making special tote bags, Aug. 18, 2024 at Student Center SIU in Carbondale, Illinois.
Rowan Taylor tackles a mechanical bull.
Monica Rodriguez and Debbie Padilla playing on life sized Hungry, Hungry Hippo inflateables.
Kathleen Boyd-Wilson, Naomi Pesbele, Mya Comer, Joi Warburton putting the finishing touches on their totes.
Band Camp
Photos taken by Simeon Hardley
@SimShardPhotography
Drum Major Bec Flath tosses their Mace while practicing for the pregame performance Aug. 17, 2024 at Grinnel Field in Carbondale, Illinois.
Color Guard Lex Hogate tosses a cross toss Aug. 14, 2024 at Faner Breezeway in Carbondale, Illinois.
Shalie Taylor (left) Peyton Cook (right) Kenzie David (back) sort pizzas for lunch Aug. 16, 2024 at Altgeld hall in Carbondale, Illinois.
A group of colorguard members line up to practice parading Aug. 14, 2024 at Faner Breezeway in Carbondale, Illinois.
Kate Faulkner analyzes a piccolo that was not working Aug. 14, 2024 at Altgeld Hall in Carbondale, Illinois.
Marrilyn Hood (right) and her grandson Wes Harris (left) play bingo.
Festival goers take peaches from Flamm Orchards’ float in the parade.
Festival goers walk to and from the rides at the Cobden Peach Festival Aug. 10, 2024 in Cobden, Illinois.
The Diamond Dog band perform at the Cobden Peach Festival.
A group of festival goers gather candy in the streets during the parade.
Tex Lehr grills brats for the concession stand of the Cobden Lion’s Cub.
Salukis in Paris: Celia Pulido’s Olympic Experience
Ryan GRieseR RGRieseR@dailyeGyptian com
Out of the 127.5 million people from Mexico, only one woman swam in the 2024 Olympics.
SIU student Celia Pulido, who hails from Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico, competed in the 100 meter backstroke after she punched her ticket to Paris at the Central American and Caribbean Championships.
To her, the chance to compete in the Olympics was a culmination of nearly a decade of training.
“I’ve been training for so long. It has been around 10 years since I started swimming in a competitive level. But it was whenever I got here to SIU when I started to train with the mindset of going to the Olympics,” Pulido said.
All of this work led her to Paris, where she swam on July 29 and was able to clock a 1:01.10, which was within half a second of her personal best and placed her 21st out of 40 swimmers.
Head coach Geoff Hanson, who was in Paris supporting Pulido, had high praise for her performance.
“It was super special. It’s the highest level of our sport outside of college swimming, and Celia’s accomplished being at the highest level of college swimming, and so this is the highest level of international swimming. She did a great job and attacked her race, and took a big shot at what she was there to do,” Hanson said.
Even though it’s been several weeks since she competed, the thought that she really is an Olympian still hasn’t quite set in.
“I’m still in shock, I think,” Pulido said. “Some people tell me, ‘Oh, you’re an Olympian,’ and it doesn’t sound like 100%, you know. It’s something that’s very big for me right now, but you know, it’s what I am.”
A crucial part of being an Olympian is the ability to deal with the pressure that comes with competing on the world’s largest stage, which according to Pulido was the most difficult thing about the competition.
Pulido said, “I feel like it was handling the pressure and personal pressure that I put on me, and also the ones you get from the outside, even in messages or phone calls or people that are always texting you like, ‘Oh, what’s your goal?’ ‘Do you feel ready?’ ‘Do you feel prepared?’”
For Pulido, handling the pressure was often done through watching fellow swimmers’ races or through being outside in Paris and enjoying the city.
“The architecture is amazing. I love all the buildings, the streets. They are just beautiful,” Pulido said. “It was just really nice to see something different than I’m used to.”
Another enjoyable aspect of Paris for Pulido was “being surrounded by Olympic people”, including the three other swimmers from Team Mexico. However, meeting new athletes or greeting friends proved to be somewhat challenging.
“The (Olympic) village also was huge, and you couldn’t match schedules. People I knew had different schedules than me, so it was very hard,” Pulido said.
Making sure they were ready to compete was also a big factor in how Pulido and her fellow Olympians were able to spend their time in Paris.
Yarauseth Zavala | yzavala@dailyegyptian.com
“We were very focused on resting and eating and being pretty chill at the village, so we couldn’t hang out or things like that because we need to prepare for races,” Pulido said.
While much of the preparation may have been up to Pulido, she wasn’t alone on race day. Saluki coaches Hanson and Johno Fergusson were present, and athletic trainer Kelsey Forbord, who was already on a European trip, was also able to watch Pulido compete.
Pulido was the first Olympic swimmer from SIU since Pamela Benitez in 2012, and was Hanson’s first Olympian from SIU, though he had previously coached several while at other schools. Pulido was SIU’s 25th Olympian from the swim and dive program over its history.
How big of an event the Olympics are isn’t lost on Hanson, who was experiencing his second games as a coach, his first being in 2004 in Athens.
“It’s just a next level thing. It’s the biggest thing in the world that goes on for those 16 days, literally the biggest thing in the world,” Hanson said. “And then, being around people from all over the world, whether to go out to dinner, at the venue, or just kind of the grocery store, it’s people from all over the world, which is a pretty unique thing that just happens every four years.”
Another unique thing is having a current athlete being an Olympian, especially from a mid-major school like SIU. According to Hanson, Pulido’s success is a “validation of the things that we do, that we can produce Olympians here.”
“It can be done here… you don’t have to be at Alabama or Georgia or Texas to be at the highest level of our sport. You’ve got to find the right program that fits you and that will help you develop,” Hanson said.
When an athlete has the success that Pulido has, their story makes the rounds in the swimming world. Hanson said that there are several athletes that he and his staff are recruiting who have been talking
about Pulido and her achievements.
Though it may be easy to, Pulido is not going to let her Olympic achievements change her mindset heading into her senior season.
“They’re two different things. Olympics is over, it’s in the past, and now I have something really big for me. I have new goals for this season, and it’s just to continue what I’m doing. I don’t think it changes anything. I’m gonna be the same person, I’m gonna be training the same, being the same person,” Pulido said.
Hanson is also excited about both Pulido’s post-Olympic future as well as the overall future of his program.
“We’ve got some big things we anticipate will happen this year with the program, both the men’s and women’s teams. Celia has goals too as an All-American, returning to move and see how high up she can get in the NCAA championships,” Hanson said. “We’re ready to go.”
Sports consultant Ryan Grieser can be reached at rgrieser@dailyegyptian.com.
Salukis fourth in MVC Preseason Poll
Ryan GRieseR RGRieseR@dailyeGyptian com
With just over a month remaining until the first head-to-head MVFC football games kick off, the Missouri Valley Football Conference has released its preseason poll and teams.
SIU piled up 293 poll points and was picked to finish a distant fourth, behind only South Dakota State (482), North Dakota State (437) and South Dakota (371).
SIU was closely followed by North Dakota and Illinois State, who were both within 30 points of fourth place.
South Dakota State earned all but two possible first place votes, while North Dakota State received one. Missouri State, who was picked to finish ninth, also captured a first place vote.
Southern Illinois will open the MVFC portion of their schedule with a three-game stretch of South Dakota, Illinois State, and North Dakota State.
A brief reprieve will see the Salukis face off against tenth place Indiana State, ninth place Missouri State, and seventh place Youngstown State before a showdown with defending Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) national champion South Dakota State.
A faceoff with last-place picked Murray State in Carbondale will finish off the Salukis schedule.
Based on strength of schedule, calculated by adding up the number of poll points earned by opponents, SIU will play the sixth-toughest MVFC conference slate this season.
The MVFC is considered the premiere conference for FCS football, as it has produced 11 of the last 13 national champions and had six schools make the FCS playoffs last season.
Last season, SIU went 4-4 and tied for seventh in the MVFC, but they were able to advance to the second round of FCS playoffs before falling to Idaho.
This year’s ranking of fourth is tied for the highest of the Nick Hill era, matching the 2021 and 2022 seasons. It is also the fifth consecutive season that SIU has been ranked in the top
half of the conference.
The Dawgs also had six players named to preseason all conference teams. Offensive lineman Chase Evans, linebacker Colin Bohanek, safety Ubayd Steed and Vinson Davis III all made the second team, and Davis III was named as both a wide receiver and all purpose player.
Additionally, tight end Aidan
Quinn and offensive lineman Jake Green were listed as honorable mentions. None of SIU’s four all conference selections from the 2023 season remain on the roster. The 2024 season will mark a year full of unknowns for the Salukis. Many key contributors from 2023, including longtime starting quarterback Nic Baker, standout safety P.J. Jules, linebacker Branson Combs, defensive back DJ Johnson and defensive tackles Dante Cleveland and Kam Bowdry all graduated.
Other notable departures include receiver Izaiah Hartrup, 2023 AllMVC Honorable Mention defensive back Mark Davis and team captain and linebacker Dune Smith, who will face off against SIU on September 14 when he suits up for Incarnate Word. All three players transferred. In addition to many depth pieces, four starters remain on the defensive side of the ball and six return on offense. Four of those are along the offensive line, all of whom have started at least 19 career games. SIU will open its season with a non conference game against Brigham Young University (BYU) on August 31 at 7 P.M.
Sports reporter Ryan Grieser can be reached at rgrieser@siu.edu.
Saluki Step Ahead program looks to help transfer student’s education journey
Jamilah lewis Jlewis@dailyeGyptian com
A Board meeting hosted by the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) was held at the SIU Student Center on August 14 to talk about the Saluki Step Ahead program and the importance of it to the school and many transfer students.
On the SIU website, Saluki Step Ahead is said to be an opportunity for transfer students to finish getting their bachelor’s degree at the school fully online through select programs.
To qualify for the program a student must have their associate’s degree, maintain full time enrollment while attending SIU and be transferring from a partner institution of SIU, which includes colleges such as College of Dupage, Dallas College, Illinois Central College and more that can be found on their website.
The meeting began with introductions and a discussion of goals for Saluki Step Ahead with the main one being direct admissions in the program to cut down the student’s application process.
Before the start of the presentation, SIU Chancellor Austin Lane opened up by speaking on the past few years of tightening relationships with partner schools and making transfers seamless and easy.
“Even though we may be the farthest south you can get in our state, students may not be able to come to Carbondale, but they can definitely take advantage of some of our programs that are fully
online,” Lane said. “Not have to leave their workplace, not have to leave their families and really still be able to continue their journey through higher education.”
Student statistics show that 72.64% of students are Illinois residents with 68% being White, 15% Black or African American, 8.3% Hispanic, 7.5% international, 2.5% Asian and 3.3% for others.
Enrollment at SIU went up 2.3% overall in Fall 2023 with 6.8% of students being first time college students, 10.8% transfer students, 11.8% New Graduate and Professional and 9.2% of students online.
The presentation showcased around 40 schools that SIU is already working with in this program to begin the transfer process early by following the student’s journey from the start.
“So if they’re over at [John A.] Logan [College] for example, we want to make sure that students, if they want to be a psychology major or an accounting major, whatever they’re doing when they start at Logan, they also start with us, right?” Lane said.
Another key goal the program tackles is keeping students in state instead of seeking their online education out of state.
“When we set up a partnership with a group called Academic Partnerships with our online entity, they gave us a pretty alarming stat,” Lane said. “They said that 45% of students in the state of Illinois are receiving their distance education
from outside of the state.”
After SIU’s enrollment increased last fall and new partnerships were formed with community colleges, Lane said the school is very optimistic about this semester but information on this semester’s enrollment is not public yet.
“We’re feeling really good about the numbers this fall,” Lane said. “And we won’t have that until [the] official tenth class day.”
An example of the benefits in the program shown were the price of education through the program.
The school used in the example was Kaskaskia College with 60 hours of tuition and fees, which would range around $9,600. Transferring through this program and completing the rest at SIU would cost around $24,000 with the Saluki Step Ahead Program scholarship being $8,000 splitting $4,000 for each year.
The total including the Full Pell Grant (around $7,000) and the Full MAP Grant (around $8,000) would be around $33,000 with no financial aid.
Immediate growth in the program shows they started with 53 students in the 2022 academic year and have 101 students 2 weeks before the Fall 2024 semester.
This semester 23% of students are underrepresented ethnicities (African American/Black and Hispanic), 74% are female, 55% are Pell eligible and 66% are first generation students.
The overall GPA of students in this program was 3.07 in the 2023 academic year with 76% of students not yet graduated but registered for the Fall 2024.
The seamless pathways talked about focus on students not losing credits during transfer. The pathway is currently for 12 majors including Accounting, Early Childhood Education, Health Care Management, History and Nursing.
Students apart from Saluki Step Ahead that came to speak include Crystal Ramirez, Leslie Leguizamo and Michelle Williams.
“I decided that I wanted to continue pursuing my undergraduate degree but there were obviously a lot of choices to make and a lot of them were quite expensive,” Ramirez said. “That was when I was recommended to go to the University Center and transfer with SIU.”
Ramirez attended College of Lake County and Northern Illinois and lives in Grayslake, Illinois which is closer to Wisconsin than SIU. She spoke of the disconnection she feels being online and wishing she could meet the teachers who have helped her along the way.
“The awards [and] the accreditations of the online program was the big push,” Ramirez said. “I could… go fully online and decide that the online undergraduate degree was for me.”
Leguizamo decided to pursue her bachelor’s degree 20 years after she went
to high school because her current job is now requiring the degree.
“It was a hard decision to make because as a single mom I wanted to choose a school that gave me the flexibility to be with my son and also work full time,” Leguizamo said. “ When I chose SIU, they offered me the scholarship which helped me not have to… choose school or my son.”
The program allowed Leguizamo to work full time, be a student and be a full time mom without coming out of school with a huge debt, she said.
Williams only lives 25 minutes away from SIU in Johnson County, but with three children and a full time job at Shawnee community college, commuting was not a commitment she could make.
“Without a Step Ahead scholarship I had used a lot of my Pell, so I didn’t even consider pursuing my bachelors degree,” Williams said. “But because of my advisor, you know, they presented this as an option so that got me looking at what programs were available.”
With a passion for criminal justice, Williams highlighted that the new generation of students doesn’t only include ages 18-24 but anyone who wants to change a career or get back into the workforce.
The agenda and minutes from the meeting can be found on the IBHE website.
Staff Reporter Jamilah Lewis can be reached at jlewis@dailyegyptian.com.
Saluki football crowds around Devin Cowan (2) and Justin Strong (6) who hold a sign reading “Absaluki!” as they celebrate their win after shutting out Nicholls to advance to round two of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs Nov. 25, 2023 at Saluki Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois.
Look for the sign.
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