The Textbook Rental Service Building will now honor the legacy of a faculty member who recently died over the summer.

The Board of Trustees voted at its March 11 meeting to rename the building in honor of Louis M. Grado, an elementary education teacher for 35 years.

Grado, who died on July 16 of last year, spent two years in Nicaragua in the 1960s to help the government improve the country’s schools.

Before spring break, Eastern’s Naming Committee brought this proposal to the board because of Grado legacy of service and dedication to Eastern and its community, said Bob Martin, the vice president for university affairs.

Of Grado, President Bill Perry said he “exemplified service to humanity, exhibited excellence in university leadership and was critical to the development of teacher training.”

Perry told The Daily Eastern News on March 11 the renaming Textbook Rental Service building would be an appropriate way to honor the former educator because the students, many who may have benefited from Grado’s work at the university, funded it.

The board voted unanimously in favor of the proposal with board chairman Leo Welch absent.

William Weber, the vice president for business affairs, continued the ongoing discussion amongst administrators for state funding for universities to be based upon performance.

Weber said the university would benefit from outcome based funding based on its history of efficiency and retention. However, the funds previously received from the state legislature have not reflected this.

In 2008, Eastern received only $4,566 per full-time student, based on university figures. This is the lowest of state funding among the six four-year public master’s institutions in Illinois.

However, Eastern had the highest student retention rate and the second highest graduate rate among the six institutions that same year.

On March 9, Perry testified in front of the Senate Appropriations II Committee in favor of outcomes based funding method.

His testimony was in support of the Rep. Chapin Rose’s House Bill 1503 from Feb. 13. Rose’s outcomes based proposal recommends annual budget requests incorporate performance-based funding beginning in the fiscal year 2013.

Shelley Holmgren can be reached at 581-7942 or meholmgren@eiu.edu.

Blair Lord, provost and vice president for academic affairs, listens during a board of trustees vote Jan. 14 in the University Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union. (FILE PHOTO

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