ABSTRACT
Governors State in Illinois was created in 1969 with an unusual design. It offered degree programs for upper-division undergraduate, master’s, and starting in 2007, doctoral students. Governors State had always been at the bottom of the funding hierarchy for 4-year public institutions in Illinois. Because the budgeting process was guided by the previous year’s budget rather than formulae for equitable funding across state institutions, the state budget allocation had been low for many years. In 2011, the Illinois Board of Higher Education approved Governors State’s proposal to create a lower division. Governors State also looks for evidence that candidates for faculty positions have demonstrated commitment to learning-centered practices in previous appointments or as doctoral students. Governors State periodically analyzes National Survey of Student Engagement reports that compare the percentage of its students engaging in high-impact practices with data from a pool of participating Illinois public universities.
