A change in leadership for Moline could lead to a new approach for Western Illinois University’s Quad Cities campus.

Moline mayor-elect Sangeetha Rayapati said she wants to work with the university to keep it there.

“Well it brings all kinds of people in to the community, right, who end up supporting it in a variety of ways and we need that for our local businesses,” Rayapati said. “They provide, the students that come provide workforce, provide new ideas, they provide residents who have their children in our schools and grow our population.”

Krisi Mindrup, WIU’s QC interim administrator, said, the school is working to prioritize increasing enrollment numbers.

“We’re going to develop programs that are based on the cultural and economic needs of the Quad Cities area and especially we want to emphasize and promote high demand programs that are accessible to students in a variety of ways,” Mindrup said.

Rayapati will be swon in as Moline mayor April 27. She said she plans to learn more about the status between the city and the college and after that, she will have a better idea on what she wants to do moving forward.