Full Text of HR0356 98th General Assembly
HR0356 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives wish to congratulate Al Bowman on the occasion | 4 | | of his retirement as President of Illinois State University; | 5 | | and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Al Bowman earned his bachelor's degree in speech | 7 | | pathology from Augustana College and his master's degree in | 8 | | speech-language pathology from Eastern Illinois University; he | 9 | | later chose the University of Illinois-Urbana for his graduate | 10 | | work, where he earned his Ph.D. in speech and hearing science; | 11 | | and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Al Bowman served as a staff speech pathologist at | 13 | | the Veterans Administration Hospital in Danville prior to | 14 | | joining Illinois State University in 1978 as a faculty member | 15 | | in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology; in 1994, | 16 | | he was appointed to serve as chairperson of the department; he | 17 | | held the position for 8 years, while also serving as director | 18 | | of the Down Syndrome Speech-Language Clinic and continuing to | 19 | | teach a course each semester; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Under Al Bowman's leadership, the Department of | 21 | | Speech Pathology and Audiology (now the Department of | 22 | | Communication Sciences and Disorders) was awarded |
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| 1 | | accreditation by the Council on Academic Accreditation of the | 2 | | American Speech-Language Hearing Association, faculty and | 3 | | staff scholarly productivity doubled, and the master's program | 4 | | rose in prestige to its current ranking as number 1 in | 5 | | Illinois; a doctoral program in audiology was added to the | 6 | | program during Bowman's presidency, one of only 5 in the State | 7 | | of Illinois; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, In the 2002-2003 academic year, Al Bowman left the | 9 | | chair position to serve as ISU's interim provost; he served as | 10 | | interim president of ISU from June 2003 until he became | 11 | | Illinois State University's 17th president on March 1, 2004; | 12 | | and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Under Al Bowman's leadership, ISU has been | 14 | | transformed into a first-choice Illinois public university, | 15 | | ranking in the top 100 public universities nationally according | 16 | | to U.S. News & World Report; during his tenure as president, | 17 | | ISU achieved historic highs in freshman ACT average (24.3), | 18 | | freshman-to-sophomore retention rate (85%), and standard | 19 | | measure graduation rate (70.4%); ISU also constructed a $50 | 20 | | million Student Fitness Center/McCormick Hall, opened a new | 21 | | Alumni Center, renovated many classroom buildings, and | 22 | | completely remodeled 6 residence halls; he initiated the | 23 | | University's first-ever public/private student housing | 24 | | partnership, leading to a 900-bed, privately-owned, student |
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| 1 | | apartment complex constructed on University-owned land; he | 2 | | instituted a salary enhancement plan in September of 2005 to | 3 | | close the gap with peer institution salaries in order to | 4 | | recruit and retain high quality faculty and staff at Illinois | 5 | | State University; since 2005, more than $3.7 million has gone | 6 | | into the initiative, on top of annual merit-based salary | 7 | | increases; privately raised funds and grant funding have also | 8 | | increased dramatically during Bowman's tenure; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Al Bowman was honored with the Distinguished | 10 | | Alumni Award from the College of Applied Health Sciences at the | 11 | | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2007; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Al Bowman is an avid outdoorsman; he enjoys | 13 | | mountain climbing, hiking, skiing, golf, and running 5 miles | 14 | | every day; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Al Bowman and his loving wife, Linda, have 2 | 16 | | daughters, Natalie and Laura; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Al Bowman serves as a model of hard work, | 18 | | integrity, and dedication for the people of the State of | 19 | | Illinois; therefore, be it
| 20 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 21 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that |
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| 1 | | we congratulate Al Bowman on the occasion of his retirement and | 2 | | wish him continued success and happiness in the future; and be | 3 | | it further
| 4 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 5 | | presented to Al Bowman as a symbol of our esteem and respect.
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