Institute of Aviation programs and curriculum may be discontinued or transferred to other units.

A new report released Tuesday under the Stewarding Excellence @ Illinois initiative recommends that closing the institution—the smallest school at the University—could save the University between $500,000 and $750,000 a year.

“We have some of the best instructors in the nation here;` I came here all the way from Denver because I liked the aviation school,” said Mark Tronrud, junior in Aviation. “It may be small, but it’s a strong, solid program.”

Despite the report results, a final decision may not be reached until next year. Senate Executive Committee Chair Joyce Tolliver said the recommendation first has to pass through several hoops before it can be confirmed.

Tolliver said the recommendation first needs to be approved by the Institute of Aviation itself, followed by the Vice Provost of Academic Affairs. From there it goes through the Committee on Educational Policy, a subset of the Urbana-Champaign Senate—the governing body of faculty, staff and student members that Tolliver is a part of.

“Those guys have it for a month at the most,” Tolliver said. “Theoretically, it could be on the (U-C Senate) agenda by Nov. 8.”

Tolliver said if the measure is not discussed Nov. 8, it could be brought up at the senate’s Dec. 6 meeting—but just because it is presented on the agenda does not mean it will be approved right away.

“It could take some more time from there on the senate floor,” she said. “If one of the senators thinks there is some problem … or it’s just voted down.”

If the recommendation passes the senate, it then leaves the senate and goes to the University Senate Conference before finally being added to the Board of Trustees agenda. Tolliver said by this point, most measures involving curricula changes are passed by the board with little open debate or discussion.

University Spokeswoman Robin Kaler said the project team reached its decision in part because the savings the institute was making did not account for its expenses. She said should the institute close, students in any programs under the college would be given a reasonable amount of time to complete their degrees.

The report also clarified the future of several of the degrees, listed as degrees in Human Factors, within the institute. It stated that “concerted effort” was made to transfer existing degrees to a “multi-disciplinary program” in an existing college— the Colleges of Engineering, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Education and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science were mentioned as potential candidates. However, both Engineering and LAS have indicated that they “do not intend” to support the transfer of the undergraduate degrees from Aviation into their colleges. Engineering, however, has noted that transferring the graduate degree is a possibility. Barring support from either Engineering or LAS, the report recommends the discontinuation of both degrees.

Kaler said that although the institute may close, the University is “still going to support the (Willard) Airport.”

But some students said the airport may not survive without it.

“I think that this is a slap in the face to us,” Tronrud said. “I heard in reality that it’s not going to actually happen, and that’s what I hope for. The institute is what makes the airport and if it closes they (the University) will lose a large source of revenue and I think the airport will get shut down.”

Others said while the institute is a valuable program, it may not be needed.

“I guess it’s not necessary but I think it could be nice to have the option of the program here,” said Noah George, senior in Aviation. “It’s kind of a prestigious school in our state so if people want to go to U of I they should want to come here for aviation.”