The Annual Report of the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee, presented at the first Campus Senate meeting of the 2012-13 academic year, states that examining the possibility of changing UIS’ mascot will be a priority for the IAC. Marcel Yoder, the Faculty Athletic Representative, said that the examination is in the “very initial stages … of feasibility and interest” but that “feedback from students and from student athletes about the mascot has come to athletics and the IAC.” The Annual Report states that the initiative began with the Student Government Association and the Student Athletic Advisory Committee.

In an effort to support athletics at UIS, an all-sports booster club, the STARS Club, is being rolled out and all faculty and staff will now receive free general admission to sporting events. “We have a lot of empty seats and we need to create … a more exciting and invigorating environment for our student athletes to play in [and] for our fans, for our families,” Athletic Director Kim Pate stated.

Provost Lynn Pardie stated that one of UIS’ continuing priorities includes retaining students through degree completion. Working with Karen Moranski, Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education, she is raising awareness among faculty and staff on how academic advising impacts students. “Prospective and admitted students come to us trusting that we will give them sound advice to help them complete their degrees as efficiently as possible,” she stated. “They have every reason and every right to expect no less from us.”

Collaboration among faculty, staff, the departments and units on campus was a dominant theme of the meeting. As Pardie stated, “it will take all of us working closely and strategically together to maintain excellence at UIS. The expertise, creativity and innovation of our talented faculty, as well as the dedicated and skillful efforts of our staff, are essential to our success.”

Lynn Fisher, who is serving her first tenure as Chair of Campus Senate, also emphasized the importance of collaboration on campus and stated she’s excited “by a sense of real openness to Senate engagement [this year], with questions from the Chancellor, from the President, from the Board [of Trustees], and a real inviting of faculty participation.”

Full IAC Report Here: http://www.uis.edu/campussenate/docs/documents/IAC_Final_Report_.pdf