IBHE Faculty Advisory Council Meeting at Illinois Tech

Illinois Institute of Technology is happy to welcome the Faculty Advisory Council to the Illinois Board of Higher Education to Illinois Tech on Friday 16 January 2015. This summarizes our plans for the meeting:

Location:

Ballroom of the McCormick-Tribune Campus Center (MTCC), 33rd and State Streets, Chicago IL 60616. The MTCC is a low-slung, modern building located under the Green Line CTA rail line; the ballroom is near the southwest corner of the building. A campus map is here.

Meeting Room reservations:

The room is reserved from 8am to 5pm.

Electronic communication:

The Office of Technology Services will have a staff member onsite to assist FAC members in obtaining wireless access to the Web. Details will be provided later.

Dining:

Breakfast and lunch will be provided in the MTCC. Dinner on Thursday 15 January will be at 6:30 at Bread and Wine, 3732 West Irving Park Road, Chicago IL 60618, 773-866-5266. I have already made reservations, and I gave the restaurant a detailed head-count on Tuesday; I told them there were eight coming, and there are actually seven committed diners, so if you want to join us at the last minute, that should be feasible. Bread and Wine describes itself as a "New American Restaurant, Bar, and Market", and it has both full-dinner items and small plates on its menu. My wife and I ate there recently (selfless of us!) and were very impressed. Bread and Wine has onsite and street parking, and it's four blocks east of the Irving Park stop on the Metra Union Pacific / Northwest (Harvard / Crystal Lake) line and three blocks east of the Pulaski / Irving Park stop on the CTA Blue Line. Note that this is not the restaurant I mentioned at the December meeting; Bread and Wine can handle separate checks, whereas other other restaurant chooses not to.

My wife Sandra and I will host dessert afterward at our house, "Theobalds", 4154A West Berteau Ave, Chicago IL 60641. Theobalds is five blocks west and two blocks north of Bread and Wine, and there is street parking near our house. As usual, Marie Donovan sent out a Doodle poll in late December to see how many of you will be participating in dinner, dessert, breakfast, and lunch. Trivia question: figure out how to pronounce "Theobalds", and figure out why we've called it that.

Parking

For the meeting, you may park in the following lots, all of which are labeled:

  1. Lot A4, just north of MTCC; 32nd & State Streets
  2. Lot B5, west of academic buildings; Entrance at 33rd & Federal or at 31st & Federal.
  3. Lot A6, just east of MTCC; entrance at 32nd & Wabash
  4. Lot D5V, south of MTCC; entrance at 34th and State.
You may park, visit the paybox for a receipt/permit, and return the receipt to your vehicle for display on the dashboard. The paybox instructions are as follows:
  1. Press any key to view rate selections.
  2. Enter the code 380015

Public transportation

IIT is served by the CTA Green Line at the 35th / Bronzeville / IIT stop; by the CTA Red Line at 35th / Sox Park; and by the Metra Rock Island line at its 35th St / Bronzeville / Lou Jones stop. From the Green Line stop, walk north to the 34th Street exit and continue north across 33rd St to the MTCC. From the Red Line stop, walk north to the 33rd St exit, turn right after the turnstile, and walk east three blocks to State St. The MTCC will be in front of you on the north side as you cross State St. From the Metra stop, walk east three blocks to State St and north two blocks to 33rd St; the MTCC will be on your right as you cross 33rd.

Hotel arrangements

IIT has a group arrangement at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza, 350 West Mart Center Drive, Chicago IL, 312-836-5000. We closed our booking on Friday 9 January, so if you wish to stay there, you probably won't be able to get the $99 group rate. The rack rate was $109 the last time I looked, so it's still pretty reasonable for a downtown Chicago hotel.

Agenda

Abbas is assembling the agenda for the meeting now. The highlights will be a visit by Eric Zarnikow, Executive Director of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, and a visit by Kenneth Dunkin, chair of the Higher Education Appropriations Committee of the Illinois House of Representatives. Professor Russell Betts, Dean of the Illinois Tech College of Science, will welcome you to IIT.

Questions?

Email Andy Howard at howard@iit.edu or call him at 312-567-5881 (office) or 773-368-5067 (cell)