Faculty group endorse U of I medical school plan

URBANA - A committee of faculty members at the University of Illinois' Urbana-Champaign campus has endorsed a proposal to build a new medical school.

The faculty Senate Executive Committee signed off on the idea on Monday, according to The News-Gazette in Champaign.

The step was one of several still required for the university to build a new medical school at the Urbana-Champaign campus. It still must be approved by the full faculty Senate and ultimately the Board of Trustees that oversees the university's three campuses.

The hospital would be run by a partnership between the university and the local Carle hospital. It would start off small with 25 students per class.

The cost to open it is estimated at more than $200 million.

The university already has a medical school in Chicago.