New U of I President Starts His Job, Takes on Challenge of Financial Crisis

On his first day on the job, new U of I President Michael Hogan admits he needs to be brought up to speed on some issues relating to Illinois' financial crisis.

But the 66-year old notes he's been through similar experiences while leading other universities, and thinks strategically about budgets. Hogan says it's a sad fact that the U of I, like other state schools, have to rely less on state funds - and will have look more at tuition, alumni donations, and research to generate revenue. He plans to spend a third of his time raising money.

But the former president of the University of Connecticut also hopes to avoid a second round of furlough days for university faculty and staff. "So my own disposition would be do try to deal with budget issues in different ways than relying on furloughs," said Hogan. "We can't rule them out right now, and I certainly wouldn't want to say anything definitive until I know more. But in principal, we had furlough days at U-Conn and others, and I know from experience they're very, very hard on faculty and staff morale."

Hogan also expects to get questions about his $620,000 dollar salary. He says it's in line with what other Big Ten Presidents receive... and plans to justify it over the next several months. "I think the question to be asked here is over the next year is 'what have I done to earn that salary," said Hogan. "And if I haven't done enough to earn that salary, I'm sure the board will want some adjustment made. And I intend to earn it. And I intend to bring in the university, one way or the other, a substantial amount more than I'm going to be taking out."

Hogan says he isn't sure yet about job cuts as part of a push to save money. But Former U of I President Stanley Ikenberry - who's leading what he calls a 'process redesign', says other cuts are likely.

Hogan also says he'll be do his best to be accessible. "I think it's a big university, even each part of the university, especially the Chicago campus and the Urbana campus are both by themselves, very large," said Hogan. "I think it helps if people know who the president is. I think by being engaged and being visible and being accessible - even one person, the president, maybe more than others, can help make a big university seem smaller. And that would be my goal." He comes to Illinois after being president of the University of Connecticut.