Now that Sen. Paul Simon, D-Ill., has accepted SIUC’s offer to become chair of The Paul Simon Institute on Public Policy, University officials have to find ways to fund it.

Monday, Simon announced his decision to chair the institute and teach journalism and political science or history at SIUC. The institute will study non-partisan issues before the state and international community.

J. Robert Quatroche, vice president for Institutional Advancement , said endowing a chair normally costs between $1.5 to $2 million for any college or university, but the amount for Simon’s chair has yet to be determined.

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We will have a strategy session in the near future with the people involved, he said. We will meet and set the strategy to determine the time table for raising the money over a period of time.

Simon will teach classes out of the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Mass Communication and Media Arts. The deans of those colleges, as well as the SIU Foundation, SIU Chancellor Ted Sanders and SIUC President John Guyon will be the fund-raising staff for the institute.

Quatroche, who is directing the fund-raising, said he does not foresee any problems in raising the money for Simon’s chair.

This will be a very successful fund-raising campaign because we have Senator Simon as the drawing card, Quatroche said.

COLA Dean John Jackson said the chair will be funded by private donations and will not require COLA funds.

College of Mass Communication and Media Arts Dean Joe Foote said it would be a good investment to use state money, in addition to private donations, to fund Simon’s chair.

He (Simon) was editing a paper at the age of 18 and has written a column for 48 years, Foote said. He qualifies as one of the most experienced journalists in the country.

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We will try very hard to raise the money by taking advantage of the good will toward Paul Simon nationally and internationally, he said.