 The move closes the Institute of Aviation and discontinues the
degrees it offers at the university's flagship campus, despite
outcry from students and faculty who claim the university targeted
the program years ago by not filling positions and that the demand
for pilots is rising.Interim Chancellor Robert Easter, who
oversees the Urbana-Champaign campus, praised the program's "long
and prestigious history as a leader in aviation education" but said
that ending it will save up to $750,000 a year. He said enrollment
has dropped more than 50 percent from 2002 to 2010.
"We have concluded that it is in the best interests of the campus
to discontinue the degree programs and to close the institute,"
Easter told the board, which met in Chicago.
The board voted 6-2 in favor of closing, according to university
spokesman Tom Hardy. University officials said the program
officially ends in 2014, giving current students a change to finish
their degrees.
The campus has provided some form of flight training since the
mid-1940s and operates Willard Airport in central Illinois. The
university's Institute of Aviation began its bachelor of science in
1999 and a master's degree was added in 2003.
But university officials had considered closing the program for
years, even as early as the 1970s. University officials said the
institute had 176 applicants in 2002, but only 30 were enrolled by
2009. In the following year, 34 freshmen enrolled in the program.
Dozens of opponents to the proposal picketed the trustees'
meeting Thursday morning. They had started a website,
www.savetheinstituteofaviation.com, which said closure rumors
have hurt the institute's recruitment efforts, and the program was
denied transfer students. They said closure of the program will
leave a big gap in aviation education.
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"It definitely is a blow," said Laura Gerhold, the academic
adviser at the institute. "The industry is forecasting a huge demand
for pilots. We're no longer going to be producing pilots for that
pilot pool."
The university has said it is talking to other schools to look
for a way to keep parts of the program alive in some form.
"The campus is engaged in ongoing conversations with other
institutions of higher education regarding how to support their
possible interest in creating local flight training programs,"
Easter said.
[Associated Press;
By SOPHIA TAREEN]
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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