Meet Our Co-chairs
Dr. Carl C. Bell, M.D.
President/C.E.O.
Community Mental Health Council Acting Director
Institute for Juvenile Research Professor
UIC Department of Psychiatry
School of Public Health Co-Chair CCSB
ccbell@uic.edu
I am a member of the Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Blacks because being an undergraduate alumnus of UIC in the 1967 class, I am abundantly clear of the need for Black people not to get lost in the shuffle of a large, urban university like UIC. I recall the brothers and sisters playing ‘Bid Wisk’ in the Pier room on the second floor of the student union – they would be playing one quarter and punched out the next; I did the same but I did not punch out because I had enough sense to study.
I have been on the faculty of UIC since 1986. I have seen many support staff personnel work extraordinarily hard helping various Department Heads run their departments. However, when their tenure is done, the Head’s retire in cushy jobs elsewhere and the support person is unable to find something as lucrative because they did not take advantage of UIC to further their education and get something more than a Bachelor’s degree. I am also clear that too many Black faculty do not understand how to get tenure or promotions at UIC because no one has bothered to tell them how it is done, and they tend to get relegated to the field collecting data while others are in the office writing grants, publishing papers, and getting tenure.
This needs to change, and CCSB’s goal is to change it and I plan on being part of that change. What about you?
Stephanie J. Whitaker
UIC Department of Political Science
Coordinator of Undergraduate & Development
Programs
Co-Chair CCSB
swhitake@uic.edu
I am twice an alumna of UICC/UIC and have been an Academic Professional employee on this campus since 1993. I consider it an honor to serve in the capacity of Co-Chair of the Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Blacks (CCSB) at UIC. Serving along side my Co-chair Dr. Carl Bell, whom I deeply respect, I would hope that our legacy will be that we helped to increase a sense of empowerment and growth for our constituency, and improve climate issues on this campus. Further, I hope that our programs and advocacy efforts create outreach to our communities and our secondary school partners.
As an undergraduate at the UICC “commuter campus” I remember the scary daunting task of trying to navigate this campus. Even coming from ‘the’ premier high school in the city, I was not good at it and struggled because of it. I was finally able to find a Black faculty member, Professor Twiley W. Barker, Jr., who helped me define my purpose at this university and I was able to finish successfully. Freshmen students may be legal aged young adults, but they still require a lot of hands on guidance. I would expect the same for my sons.
To our Black students, faculty, staff, and alumni we encourage you to be “handson” involved with CCSB and share your successes, concerns, and talents with us as we advocate for you. Don’t walk away angry and upset, get the answers and results that lead to your professional development. To our University partners we invite your efforts and ideas to help us make progress in the areas of: student recruitment, enrollment, and retention, Diversifying Faculty Initiative, and promotion and career development for our staff. To that end, please browse our website, attend our meetings (come prepared to work) and our diverse partnered collaborations, and promote CCSB throughout the UIC community.
Subcommittees
Faculty Subcommittee
Promotes and supports Black faculty and post docs creating mentoring, networking, and creating a climate of scholarly camaraderie. Through workshops and roundtable discussions providing information regarding, promotion and tenure, research and publishing, and career opportunity.
Staff Concerns Subcommittee
Monitors conditions and services that affect the recruitment, employment, and retention trends of career academic professional and civil service staff. Reviews and makes recommendations regarding development and succession goals of staff personnel by under taking projects and workshops that are aimed at improving the quality of life on campus for employees. Helps establish mechanisms to foster mentee-mentor relationships, provide information and foster equitable treatment of Black staff on campus.
Strategic Planning Subcommittee
Compiles CCSB program plan, relevant data on the population of Blacks at UIC, and advises and makes recommendations regarding pratices, policies, and procedures affectung this constituency.
Student Subcommittee
Focuses on recruitment, admission, retention, and graduation trends, evaluates condition and services that affect the attainment of the educational and leadership development goals, undertakes projects, improving quality of student life on campus.