CARBONDALE - Rita Cheng, one of two finalists for the Southern Illinois University Carbondale Chancellor position, spoke at a public forum for the campus community forum this morning.

Cheng highlighted similarities with SIUC with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) where she is the provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. She said both schools are research universities and both work to get state funding. Cheng said the university has enjoyed a 90 percent increase in research funding. She recognizes that SIUC faces a tremendous uphill battle in funding.

"In my lifetime I have not seen as much stress put on higher education," Cheng said.

She said now is the time for forward thinking and through philanthropy, federal and state support, the university will be able to meet the challenges ahead.

She said UWM has been able to increase enrollment recently and she hopes to take her experience with campus-wide recruiting efforts and bring them to SIUC. Cheng was also involved in increasing student diversity and retention.

She said she has enjoyed her time at SIUC and is ready to serve as chancellor.

"One of the things you have shown me is that you are ready for a chancellor and I just want you to know that I'm ready for you," Cheng said.