SIUE Showcases Illinois Workforce Impact and Student Innovation During SIU System Day at Capitol

SIUE Showcases Illinois Workforce Impact and Student Innovation During SIU System Day at Capitol

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville students and administrators joined colleagues in Springfield, Ill. on Tuesday, March 25 for SIU System Day at the Capitol. The day on the rotunda highlighted SIUE programs and partnerships that strengthen Southern Illinois communities by supporting workforce development and innovation.

The annual event brought together representatives from SIU campuses, giving the opportunity to meet with state legislators. For SIUE, the day elevated growing programs including the Environmental Resources Training Center (ERTC), Community-Oriented Digital Engagement Scholars (CODES), the National Corn to Ethanol Research Center (NCERC) and the School of Engineering (SOE).

Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker spent time engaging with SIU System representatives, speaking directly with SIUE students, faculty and program leaders about their work and impact.

Gov. Pritzker's conversations with SIUE focused on workforce development, infrastructure needs and the role higher education plays in preparing the next generation of professionals across Illinois. ERTC Director Ricky Lallish and student representatives shared how the center prepares individuals for careers in water and wastewater management, emphasizing its unique role in job placement and municipal workforce pipelines. Within the SOE, John Cabage, PhD, chair of construction management, discussed the growing demand for land surveyors and the need to introduce a new generation into the field to support infrastructure development statewide.

"The highlight of the day for me is the ability to showcase the brilliance of our students, the work in which they are engaged, the connections to the workforce, and how our students, as a part of their curriculum, are improving communities across the state of Illinois," said Chancellor James T. Minor, PhD. "For the governor to spend time asking them about their work, is a unique and special opportunity. I am proud of the way that our students represented the University."

Minor also pointed to the ERTC as an example of how SIUE fundamentally improves the quality of life for communities within its reach.

"Water quality, for example, is an important conversation for residents in Venice, Brooklyn and Cahokia and the idea that there is a resource in the University community that can improve water quality is just a powerful testament to how universities can improve communities."

CODES also drew attention from legislators, including Assistant Minority Leader Rep. Amy Elik, who connected with students about their research experiences.

"I really love to hear the students, in their own words, talk about what this meant to them, the excitement level that they had for the program, and especially the interaction with the students in Alton Schools," said Elik.

First-year CODES student Tamaruis Toles shared insights from her research with the Artist Place Initiative (API), a St. Louis nonprofit focused on providing housing for low-income and unhoused artists.

"We look at systematic racism, like gentrification and things of that nature," said Toles. "API wanted us to do historical research because they didn't want to come in and renovate vacant houses and make them like new houses and mark up the price. The goal is to make the neighborhood back to what it used to be, to restore it as well as they can. And so by the time that we graduate, or sometime relatively soon, we'll have a historical archive."

Minor noted that the CODES program reflects a distinctive element of the SIUE undergraduate experience.

"The unique thing about CODES is that, in their first-year of college, students are partnering with community organizations and conducting research as a part of their curriculum, said Minor. It is a very unique strand of our curriculum, and something that is very special about the undergraduate experience at SIUE."

Additional legislators who engaged at length with SIUE included Rep. Katie Stuart (112), Sen. Erica Harriss (56) Sen. Christopher Belt (57), who visited ERTC and the new Health Sciences Building at SIUE earlier in March, Rep. Charles Meier (104) and Rep. Paul Jacobs (118), who expressed interest in visiting the ERTC.

"Everybody's interested in finding out a little bit more about what we're doing, but also finding ways to support it," said SIU System President Dan Mahony, PhD. "So many of these are initiatives either where we have existing state support or looking for more."

Photos by Tahzive Islam: 1- SIUE Group with Gov. Pritzker; 2- Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Chris Gordon, Ricky Lallish, 3- Chancellor Minor, CODES scholar Mihlali Kapatamoyo, 4- At the SIUE ERTC, Photos by Howard Ash: Senator Christopher Belt and Ricky Lallish, 5- Charles Fulford, Ricky Lallish, Sen. Christopher Belt, Cem Karacal, 6- Sen. Belt, Jalyn King, Charles Fulford.