- [Narrator] Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, a proud supporter of WQPT, has been serving Quad City families since 1889.

Now providing live stream capabilities for viewing your loved one's funeral or memorial service at their chapel in Rock Island.

- Western Illinois University has a new President, and a full plate of challenges before him.

We talked to Dr. Guiyou Huang about his mission and his priorities, and facing a flood of problems.

As all this snow melts, are we ready to face the rising waters in The Cities?

(upbeat rock music) Dr. Guiyou Huang has been President of Western Illinois University for barely two months, and he's had to deal with an ongoing pandemic, a fiscally restrained state government budget, and an unusually strong letter from Quad City leaders questioning Western's commitment to its Moline campus.

We talked with President Huang from his offices on the McComb Campus.

First off, welcome to Illinois.

But you've got quite a beginning.

I mean, starting with the budget that the Governor just unveiled, you sent out a news release saying that you're thankful that at least the numbers are the same as last year, basically a freeze in your budget.

That's the best you thought you could do.

- Yes, correct.

Now, the budget be flat, however, that's the good news because I know of no other place that saw their budget go down, right?

Being flat in a difficult year like this is a great news.

I am thankful and we are thankful to the governor for his support of public education, higher education is a commitment to protecting the university public universities in Illinois.

- What does a flat budget mean though?

I mean, does it mean any cuts because like obviously inflation that some things are gonna cost you more.

- Yeah now, that's probably true right and again flat means not going down.

So that's really important, right?

Because it's also a message that we are sending to our faculty and students and staff, right?

Now, the opposite would be cutting.

Cutting would be a painful would be perceived as a lack of support.

But in this case, I think the governor has been very good about supporting all public so that the rest is on us.

We need to grow our enrollment continue our good work to grow our revenue.

- And how do you plan on doing that?

'Cause that's easier said than done.

- You are right.

Yeah, easier said, many things are a lot of other things about down to words, right?

But behind the words are action.

We are very aggressive in pursuing our enrollment goals.

So I can tell you that this spring, our enrollment is flat compared to spring 2020, it's flat.

It's also good news because of COVID-19 because of the challenges in recruitment and enrollment that all universities face today.

But we are developing a recruitment enrollment plan and that plan will be developed by the end of the semester.

And that applies, we will be consistent with the university strategic plan 2017 to 2027.

So the plan we are developing will provide a blueprints the pathways to bridge our enrollment and our enrollment includes the traditional age students face to face on campus.

And also online students.

We are doing work in that area as well as the students from other countries from international universities.

So we are trying to grow enrollment of both for the undergraduate and graduate division.

So we have some plans being developed and we'll follow those plans closely and aggressively to grow our enrollments.

Concurrently we also are doing a lot of work towards improving our student retention rate.

That always has been good but we want it to be greater and to be higher.

So the retention plan we are producing will identify the major barriers, obstacles to student success.

Once we know those problems then can identified strategies to help student do better especially those students who are academically challenged so that they will stay here to graduate in four to five years.

So that apply will also be important.

Of course, I have been telling my colleagues on campus like recruitment, which is the responsibility of the enrollment division but indeed is the responsibility of everybody else on this campus.

Every faculty member, staff member and the students themselves also have a responsibility towards their own retention effort.

So all of the things that we all doing I'm hopeful will produce better results in terms of the enrollment and the retention.

- Well, as you well know, I mean your predecessors have tried to do the same thing but enrollment has been dropping over the 10, 15 years.

You're competing against other schools in the university system you're competing against neighboring States as well and you know how difficult that's been for Illinois over the last few months if not the last few years, what are you looking at that's different than what perhaps has been done over the last five years?

- Oh, great question.

So I've already enumerated a few things that we are doing.

The recruitment and enrollment plan and the retention plan.

Those are important pieces we are going to use as the tools to help us grow enrollment.

Now, other things we are doing is also important.

I have been emphasizing the importance of new markets by a new market I mean, we went to areas that we have never been before whether those are within Illinois or your neighboring States or in other States, and also of course international.

To me, in my opinion, right now the international market is, potential there is huge, you cannot overestimate the potential of the international market.

The other market is online.

WIU has done a great job offering online courses and programs.

But I'm thinking that we can do more.

We can have a more online programs geared towards adult students, non-traditional students, so that international online visit to can help us grow our enrollment as well.

Another piece that we are pursuing, and I'm excited about is the idea that we want to make this university more distinctive both in its academic programs, service programs, curricular activities extra curricular activities, innovation.

So, make the university a good example of a distinctiveness so that we stand out more from our colleagues, our peers so that we become more attractive to our students their families and to students in other States and again, internationally.

So I know it's very competitive, we have to stay ahead of the curve.

We have to be innovative and aggressive at the same time in our efforts to recruit more students to come here and study at Western Illinois.

- As you well know, the mayor of Moline has sent relatively blunt letter questioning Western's commitment to the Quad City campus chamber of commerce pretty much saying that the promises made five 10 years ago, haven't been met right now and also questioning the commitment from McComb.

What do you say to that?

'Cause I know that you're meeting with some of these people in the Quad City area who really are questioning whether or not Western is the way to go forward when it comes to a public four year institution in the Illinois Quad cities.

- Yeah, now we are committed to the policies of the campus and now of course with the caveat that I'm a very new I do not have all the memory of this institution regarding what happened, what did not happen, right?

I have to take what I have heard with a grain of salt with the understanding of course education is about the quality for life and to change the lives of individuals also their communities.

And in this case, in all the cities surrounding the policy of the campus.

I need a larger context to understand the comments made by city officials local community leaders.

Then probably meanwhile, they probably had the ideas that they think the university is should adopt.

Now, since my arrival, 50 days ago we have been some conversations with different individuals scheduled to meet with many more in the forthcoming weeks to know exactly what their concerns are.

Now, of course, there is a difference between reality and perception though I understand sometimes perception is reality, right?

We wanted to work with the city, the mayor many other individuals who have an interest in seeing the future success of this university as Bradford county campus in Quad cities have been on other campus a number of times I'm traveling there again in a week I believe so learning a lot hearing a lot and thinking a lot.

We are establishing a strategic plan for that particular campus.

We have some very good ideas regarding program development, student services.

So I have no doubt we will all sit down.

We'll see a lot of improvement.

Again, I cannot revise history, history is what it is but nobody has a complete picture of history but we are learning from our successes as well as our failures if there are any failures at all.

I want to learn about other campus.

I want to hear the community's perspective on it and our strategic plan will reflect very clearly, the concerns that had been raised over the last you would say several years.

So again I'm pretty confident that working with all the stakeholders our own faculty and staff, city officials we will be able to make a firmer commitment to the of the campus.

We will have more programs that will meet the needs of the Quad cities area.

- In some ways you're serving two masters because McComb some people in McComb think that the Quad City campus is taking away from McComb students and perhaps a valuable money.

And then you have the Quad City campus that says you're not investing enough.

You're not giving enough attention.

I mean, that's an interesting position that you're in with two different locations, but technically one school.

- Yeah, technically it is one school.

It's one mission, one brand in two locations the way I see it, it's really like a one directional highway with the two lanes going the same direction, right, at the same speed.

I have not heard that one campus is to another, we are one university serving one ambition serving Western Illinois McComb and Molin two larger entities that we serve but there are many, many other counties we serve as well.

I think WIU in past a century and past 124 years has done a fantastic job in educating Western Illinois citizens, the communities.

Our branch campus is a little younger but it has done a lot of good things with all the programs there like engineering, counselling, museum studies education is a great contributor to economic development.

Never has been a detractor.

If want the economy to be strong.

Education plays a critical role and that's the role that our Quad City campus has been playing in that area for the past decades.

And I can only see things become stronger and playing even a larger role in the development of the economy in Western Illinois.

- Well, Western and all of the other secondary schools as well as public universities and private universities have now dealt with COVID-19 for a year.

And one would say pretty successfully because the pandemic didn't strike schools as badly as some had feared.

On the other hand, you do a lot of in class as well as a remote learning.

What do you say first off to the graduates of 2021?

What can they expect as far as any ceremony is concerned and secondary, what do you think the pandemics lasting impact will be at Western?

- Oh, great yeah.

So really great questions.

We are looking at a higher breed possibly a higher breed from it for the commencement for the class of 2021.

I know the students work hard, they deserve a well organized nicely presented commencement ceremony.

I'm with them 100%.

I know how important it is to walk across the stage, to shake hands with the Dean or Provost or the President and to see their parents, grandparents, siblings, relative, friends smile at them for their success.

That's very important.

If there was a way we can guarantee the safety.

I mean, personal safety of every attendee if we do a physical ceremony we will do it but until that moment until we know for a fact that everybody will be safe we are looking at a higher bridge format so that students have some personal experience with the commencement and also additional virtual experience where they we will be seeing on a screen smiling still.

So I know there are only a couple months of left three months left not even three months before the May graduation.

I received a number of emails from other students, a handful of them asking specifically can we do in-person commencement.

Again my answer has been if where we can we will but we will make sure that people feel safe attending the in-person ceremony.

And that's why we are looking at the higher bit from it.

- Western Illinois university, President Dr. Guiyou Huang in a moment preparing for rising waters.

Have we learned our lessons when it comes to spring flooding around the cities, but first let's end February on a high note, the weather getting warmer we're seeing more of the sun and Laura Adams has some great ideas for all of us.

If we venture Out and About.

- [Narrator] This is Out and About through March 2nd join part two of Junior Achievement triviaBowl March 9th at 5:30 PM or celebrate the opening of the highly anticipated exhibition for America February 18th at 6:30 PM via zoom at the Putnam Museum WQPT and the Moline public library hosts The Black Church.

This is my story this is my song, a PBS documentary screening and discussion February 19th at noon.

Also February 21st at 3:00 PM, hosted by Saint Ambrose the Mississippi Valley Fair Grounds host Friday Night Fright Fest featuring Shawn West vs Steven Edwards, February 19th at 6:30 PM.

Plus the Midwest Motorsports auction takes place there February 26th and 27th from four to 10 onstage Two Rooms by Lee Blessing.

The story of married American educators working in Lebanon during the mid 1980s, February 19th through 21st at St.Ambrose University or join Tomfoolery On Tremont with Rebecca Gibson.

Two shows at seven and 9:30 PM.

The 27th at Renwick Mansion in Davenport.

Checkout Circa 21 two virtual shows.

Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love through the 21st and Big Rock Candy Mountain where a Merry Band of Misfits sneak into a theater hoping to stay out of trouble available through March 1st for more information, visit wqpt.org.

- The flood forecast is out for Western Illinois and Eastern Iowa.

The good news has a lot more to do with the ground than the water, the freeze depth isn't deep.

So the soil won't take long to though before it can soak in all that water and areas of North aren't as packed with snow as some would fear because what melts up there of course flows down here.

The planning for the spring ritual of flooding is something that Bi-State Regional planning commission does and its executive director Denise Bulat joins us to talk about the best and worst scenarios that we now see.

What is usual flooding.

I mean, we've gotten so used to flooding each year.

Is that usual flooding or are we just rewriting the rules?

'Cause we used to hear 100 year floods and 500 year floods.

And now it's almost like annual or bi-annual floods.

- Yes, what we're seeing is a greater in an increase in more extreme weather.

So flooding has increased in its severity and we've seen some of our top 10 crests in the last 20 years rather than the last 40 or 50 years.

So that's what part of the problem is, is that we're seeing extreme weather for whatever reasons increases in extreme weather and we're having to address it.

- Well and the other thing is that, I mean as far as planning is concerned, I mean everyone says build a wall and stop the flooding.

Everyone has always talked about, wrapping the river in a certain way so that the water flows through but there's real criticism of the fact that urban areas are just pushing the problem further down the river.

I would assume that that's a major part of your planning particular when it comes to the Mississippi river - Actually it's both where we have levees.

It wouldn't be prudent to remove them.

If you look at all the assets behind those levees we'd certainly need to maintain and re-certified them.

And we also need to provide pumps to get the stormwater from behind them during a flood event.

So our communities still invest in the re-certification of those levees and also in pumps that help get stormwater from the other side.

However, there are lots of new mitigation measures like encouraging residential and business best practices on stormwater.

So it rolls more slowly if you will, off of our properties.

Also creating wetland areas also looking at ways to buy out but buyouts are typically done on a voluntary basis.

And once that property is bought out especially with federal emergency management dollars then that property stays in open space for forever.

And that helps with the impacts of water with flooding and the impacts on residences and businesses.

- And we have seen that very much in this area over the last 20 years in areas big and small you think of Cleveland Illinois, where basically much of the community had to move away from the Rock River.

You look at what the garden addition near the Mississippi river and the backwaters in Davenport you think of Green Valley area in Moline along the Rock River where a huge buyout was occurring.

And now we're actually seeing one in of all places the heart of Bettendorf along Duck Creek.

- Yes, those are the buyout programs and that under... Shows how important it is for us to all do hazard mitigation planning.

So each of the counties in the Bi-State region actually prepares hazard mitigation plans and those kinds of projects plus simply imposing our floodplain ordinances encouraging best practices and those specific projects that our buyouts are helping local residents actually raise themselves out of the water and maybe have a life of water to flow underneath that structure.

All of those kinds of projects require funding and those appear in hazard mitigation plans which are updated every five years.

- Well and as you well know, the latest reports from the national weather service, the hydrologists the ones that do the predicting are saying that we could see some problems along the Rock River in particular.

And you think of the Rock River, let's take a look at the Rock River in two different ways, I guess.

'Cause as you mentioned I mean having buildings that are built in a way so that the water flows through it you see that in house, after house, along North Shore drive in South Shore drive in Moline, the people who live along the river are prepared for that.

The other point of view that I wanted to ask also is that when you think of the Rock River and you're driving up by 88, you see those flooded farm lands.

So take me through both of those because we always think of the urban flooding as being the real issue.

But the rural flooding also has a major issue as well for farmers and others.

- Yes, it does.

I think the farmers are fairly resilient.

They're aware of which parts of their properties will likely flood.

And so they plan on planting at different times but when that flood water encroaches new areas that were a flood water is typically not expected then that can be very impactful on the amount of crops that they can plan.

And of course then how much they'll make from the sell of their products.

So it can be they do have to consider that and look at that.

So the Rock River actually is interesting because the Rock River is more of a local flooding issue.

When we talk about a flood on the Mississippi river that water is actually coming from the North it's coming from Minnesota and Wisconsin and it's coming down to us.

On the Rock River a lot of that flooding occurs locally right here.

It does come down the river, but it also curves right here.

And a lot of it occurs due to ice jam.

- Ice jams have been really particularly brutal in the lower part of the Rock River.

You're absolutely right.

- Yes and so what's happened unfortunately this past one month of below 32 degrees and sometimes below zero weather has meant that that ice pack has gotten thicker and thicker.

And now as we get warmer, it will crack up faster and that's perfect for ice jams to form.

So there will definitely be impacts locally on the Rock River.

- Well and we have seen, I've been along that river where you're hearing it crunching.

It is a dramatic picture, but as we say is people that live along that area are used to it and believe that's just a part of river living.

Is that something, 'cause you've you said a lot of these programs are voluntary but do you dissuade people from buying that?

- Well, what will, first of all that would have to be disclosed in a purchase.

So if someone new was buying a home on the Rock River and someone was selling their property it would have to be disclosed in a purchase.

And most lenders if you were going to need a mortgage would be, would need to be would probably not even give a mortgage in the flood plain.

They're very, very careful of that.

In fact, the buyout you mentioned earlier in along that Creek in Bettendorf is being done by the city of Bettendorf because of that there are homeowners who lived in residential properties in a nice middle-class neighborhood where their children could walk to elementary school.

And all of a sudden they're part of a flood plain because of increased flooding and they can't sell their home that they've lived in for 20-30 years and they're left without money to go retire.

So that can be very, very impactful.

So our flood plain ordinances do discourage development in the floodplain, especially in the floodway and also in the 100 year floodplain and the 500 year floodplain but the floodway where the water actually flows in and out that's where development is discouraged.

And if it does occur, it does have to allow for those raised structures where water can flow in and out the floodway can not have any new instructions or obstructions placed there.

- Denise, you alluded to the fact that we all have a role to play to mitigate flooding as far as how we run our personal homes and our personal lives.

Are we looking at a more natural approach because I know that people that operate in Nahant Marsh think that the Marsh should be expanded I believe and correct me if I'm wrong.

I think almost a trillion gallons of water was filtered through that area during the 2019 floods.

It was an amazing benefit, I guess if there is such a thing after that huge flooding.

- Yes Nahant Marsh was able to store some of the flood waters, which helps slow them down going downstream, say to Muscatine and further South.

So it is very important.

It also filters the water and helps it clean it up really.

And they Nahant Marsh is expanding so that we can see more of that process occur in the Nahant Marsh area.

- Denise Bulat, executive director of the Bi-State regional planning commission on the air on the radio, on the web on your mobile device and streaming on your computer.

Thanks for taking some time to join us.

As we talk about the issues on The Cities.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, a proud supporter of WQPT, has been serving Quad City families since 1889.

Now providing live stream capabilities for viewing your loved one's funeral or memorial service at their chapel in Rock Island.