When I first enrolled at the Illinois Institute of Technology, I was excited to begin my journey at the prestigious school I’ve called home for the past four years. Since then, it seems the school has gone off the deep end.
This school has disappointed me in so many ways in my time here. I’ve previously seen the failures of the leadership in the Student Affairs office by Dean of Students Katie Stetz, but in the past month, we’ve all seen the result of the failures in leadership of President Raj Echambadi, Provost Elizabeth Hudson, and Vice President (VP) of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, Mallik Sundharam.
Students seem to never be told what is going on in the school until things have already happened. And the latest of these issues has kept even the faculty out of the loop. These senior administration officials have locked up their offices since they laid off many of our professors. They don’t want to be held accountable for their failings and face the music. They’re hoping we all forget about it. We can’t let that happen.
In recent days, I’ve seen reports on the internet regarding various contributing factors to the current financial crisis. One such post, found on Reddit, reports that the university possibly took out tens of millions of dollars in loans to build out the Coursera degree programs. It’s unclear if this is true, as those records are not publicly available, but if it is, it’s an incredible blunder by the senior administration of our school. Editor’s note: This claim is currently being disputed by the Department of Marketing and Communications. TechNews is awaiting further information regarding this statement from the Reddit source. Please email technewseditor@illinoistech.edu for more information or questions.
When I was an SGA senator, this program was pitched to us by then-provost Kenneth T. Christensen, as a program intended to create additional revenue streams for the university. I’ve seen the struggles of the students in these programs to get involved. The university departments don’t respect them. Their advisors and support staff don’t respond to them. As a student worker, I’ve heard several of them ask me, “How do I get a refund for this?” How am I meant to respond when this is just how the university operates? Why should students want to attend this university when they don’t get the most basic of support from the administration? Is it any surprise that the student retention in this program seems so low?
I’ve been a Student Worker in the Office of Technology Services since 2023, and the number of times I’ve heard students tell me that the administrative departments that they desperately need help from refuse to reply to their emails and calls is frankly ridiculous. These departments are here to provide services to students, and when they don’t, students are directly affected. A lot of the time it’s due to staffing shortages, but we can’t act like this is acceptable. This is our future that’s at stake if these departments fail us.
I’m at the point where I just want to get away from this university. I don’t want to be a victim of the school’s inevitable collapse that we’re all watching in slow motion right now. It feels as though my degree, if I get it before everything goes under, will be worthless, as even the accreditation of the school seems to be at risk now.
President Echambadi, Provost Hudson, VP Sundharam, Dean Stetz, it’s time to face the people you represent. Tell us what’s going on. And most importantly, it’s time for you to resign and let true leaders take charge instead of hiding from us.