Five years ago, University of Illinois President Timothy Killeen launched a statewide tour with campus chancellors. That tradition continued this year as the leaders talked with those involved in industry, education, health care and other sectors about what they need.
The leaders also visited with students, listening to their concerns about topics like higher education access and affordability.
"The rationale was let's get out and about and see what's happening in the state that we're serving," Killeen said. "We had students from pretty much every one of the 102 counties, so families were voting to send their sons and daughters to the University of Illinois system."
"I'd say each year we built trust across the whole state of Illinois."
At the end of the latest tour Killeen and Chancellors Charles Isbell of Urbana-Champaign, Marie Maranda of Chicago and Janet Gooch of Springfield took the stage at UIS to discuss what they heard and how the university can play a role in solving problems across Illinois.
NPR Illinois' Sean Crawford hosted the event.
