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:
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.
The room is reserved from 8am to 5pm.
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.
For the meeting, you may park in the following lots, all of which are labeled:
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.
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.
Email Andy Howard at howard@iit.edu or call him at 312-567-5881 (office) or 773-368-5067 (cell)