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University presidents request leaders meeting: “We are on the brink of serious operational damage”

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Illinois

October 1 , 2015

The Honorable Governor Rauner, Senate President Cullerton, Senate Minority Leader Radogno, House Speaker Madigan, and House Minority Leader Durkin:

We write as leaders of the nine public universities in Illinois that annually educate 200,000 students and function as regional economic engines to urge you to end the fiscal 2016 budget standoff. Currently, without a state budget, the state is committed through the K - 12 budget, court ordered expenditures, continuing appropriations and statutory transfers to spend a little more than $34 billion in general funds. The public higher education community has not received a single dollar in state funding.

Requiring the public universities to operate without a budget appropriation is unsustainable. The uncertainty of not knowing when, or at what level, appropriations will be forthcoming is resulting in some students and faculty questioning whether Illinois is the best place to learn or to teach. Students and families are alarmed about the possibility that financial aid and services will not be available. In addition, we are deeply concerned about losing the reputational excellence and the important grant funds that support both students and the Illinois economy.

The impasse casts a shadow of uncertainty over the campuses. We are on the brink of serious operational damage. Mid-term exams are not far off, and so too are decisions that must be made about staffing, academic offerings and student services for the spring semester.

Although the universities we lead have different mixes of resources depending on our respective missions, we all have a crucial reliance on state appropriations to deliver affordable, high-quality education to hundreds of thousands of Illinois students. The appropriation is a fundamental tenet of the partnership between the state and public universities.

Our universities represent over 150 years of investment by the state and its people. Our missions include teaching, discovery, health care, innovation and the transformation of young lives. We achieve these goals, and more, not as cost centers, but as a multitude of regional and statewide economic engines, employing a total of 61,000 Illinois residents and taxpayers, with annual spending of $6.9 billion. This spending generates an estimated $28 billion in economic impact.

As leaders of Illinois public universities, we strongly reiterate a commitment we made last spring to accept our responsible share of providing solutions to Illinois’ fiscal problems. We again urge you to act on a fiscal 2016 budget that provides public universities with a responsible, sustained and predictable level of support that would ensure all of our students can continue to progress academically . We look forward to meeting with you at your earliest convenience.

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration given to our request.

Discuss.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 1:40 pm

Comments

Watching the state crumble while both sides look for a political win. I don’t how this can be resolved next year when a big election is taking place in 2016.

Comment by Almost the Weekend Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 1:43 pm
This will not be a “crisis” to some until kids are packing their dorm rooms, not earning credits, heading home while their friends at Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Mizzou, are putting on “The Facebook” the great time they are all having at college.

I wish the Presidents well, but, until those students start heading home, you’re all on your own.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 1:44 pm
Rauner: Your request has been considered and put in the shredder.

Comment by DuPage Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 1:44 pm
It is unreasonable for a governor, any governor, to willfully create a fiscal crisis and sabotage core state functions in order to advance a personal political agenda that he cannot even articulate the benefits of beyond weasel-word talking points.

It is unreasonable for a governor, any governor, to set preconditions on addressing the most pressing crisis on his watch, especially when the crisis is of his creation.

Comment by Wordslinger Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 1:48 pm
Feeling pretty good my freshman is going to college in Missouri. Don’t know where my younger two will go, but I can tell you where they won’t. Eastern will be closed in five years and others will not be far behind. When doing research it’s readily evident that non Illinois schools are a better value at a much safer bet. This uncertainty is driving away students, business, and residents.

Comment by George Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 1:51 pm
Can’t you just hear ck’s standard reply…

Comment by Anon221 Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 1:51 pm
Where does “The Owl” stand?

@RonSandack: I’m frustrated 2, but taking steps towards reforming IL more important than short term budget stalemate.

Just remember;

Ron Sandack thinks a short term budget stalemate is worth it.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 1:54 pm
== but, until those students start heading home, you’re all on your own.==

It could happen early nest year. Without state funding, a number of the Illinois state universities will run out of money by March (or sooner) - and will not be able to make payroll. The schools have not gotten any state appropriations for this fiscal year. Some are still owed State money from last fiscal year. They have not even gotten the full influx of tuition dollars because many students rely on MAP grants to pay a portion of their tuition. And schools like EIU, CSU, NEIU, WIU, SIUE that are not research institutions - rely on the State for approximately half of their money necessary to operate, since they don’t have big research grant money coming in.

And the other bad thing is that all of the court-ordered state payments take up the expected state revenues. The nearly $2 billion for higher ed is over in the column of expenditures that exceeds expected state revenues. So new revenue will probably be needed to give any appropriations to the state universities. Thus, the Governor’s 31% cut to higher ed could become a reality.

Comment by Joe M Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 1:59 pm
OW- It’s daylight. He has trouble seeing that.

Comment by Anon221 Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 1:59 pm
The tidal surge has breached the dike.

Comment by walker Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:00 pm
Don’t you mean, Rauner is holding 200,000 Illinois student, hostage?

Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:06 pm
@George. How do you get such inside information? Eastern closing in 5 years? That’s news to the new class of Freshmen (up from last year) and the new group of transfers students (also up from last year). The new president seems to actually know how to run an institution.

Comment by ash Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:07 pm
Another example of the problem. In 2002, WIU received $64,300,000 in state appropriations. In 2014 WIU received $52,629,300 in state appropriations. And for 2015, the Governor wants to cut the 2014 appropriation by 31%. The General Assembly passed budget cut the 2014 appropriation by 6.8%. So, when a budget comes there will be further cuts from the 2014 amounts. But with no budget, even the cut amounts have not come. Most of the other Illinois state universities have similar situations.

Comment by Joe M Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:12 pm
Can’t spend money we don’t have.

The Universities have been the leaders of this path down the rabbit hole (bumped pensions, overcompensated Presidents etc.) See U of I as a good example.

Time for change. They should be offering solutions. They are the smartest people in the room. Just ask them.

Comment by Big R. Ph Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:19 pm
OW, those kids at the state university are doing just fine, studying, partying and going to football games. The vast majority of students are vaguely aware of the problems.

Your party, I mean your real true party, should have recognized the issues years ago. They didn’t or chose to ignore it. They own it!!

Comment by anon Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:21 pm
If MJM wants a revenue increase to fend off cuts to social and educational programs, and Rauner wants movement on prevailing wage, union protections and rights, workers comp reform, etc.

Can’t both sides give a little and live to fight another day? Rauner has said he’d negotiate a tax increase, has the Speaker given an inch on anything?

Comment by Frustrated citizen Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:21 pm
@ash,

I don’t think it will take 5 years for Eastern to fold, without a budget I doubt they will be able to make payroll through the spring semester. The schools that are covering the MAP grants this semester won’t be able to do it for the spring semester. My source at SIU says if there’s no budget by the 1st of the year they will lose 35% of their students to the MAP crisis. My sources at EIU are actively seeking employment elsewhere.

Comment by Gruntled University Employee Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:23 pm
Um, - anon -,

The parents, not the kids, are the ones who will angry.

I’m a Republican not a Raunerite.

Maybe your own Dorm Room mentality can’t wrap your head around that, but I’m sure when the students are sent home it’ll be the parents that will be the loud angry force blaming a governor who needs his hostages.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:25 pm
@Frustrated, they’ve attempted property tax freezes, some worker’s comp reform, etc. The governor rejects them every time because they don’t include provisions kneecap the unions. Compromises could be reached on some of the Turnaround Agenda, but not the anti-union stuff.

Also, Rauner needs that tax increase to close the hole in his own unbalanced budget as badly as the Democrats do.

Comment by Tournaround Agenda Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:25 pm
The Frat boys have spoken.

Comment by Gruntled University Employee Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:26 pm
anon. 2:21 the students may not be aware, but as the tuition paying parent of one, I can tell you we are. The partying stops when then come home.

Frustrated citizen 2:21, Madigan wants a revenue increase? Um, no, Madigan and Rauner know they need a revenue increase regardless. A revenue increase is not a concession to Madigan. In fact, it was Rauner who requested they allow the increase to lapse and they obliged.

Comment by burbanite Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:28 pm
they oops

Comment by burbanite Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:28 pm
Compromises on the union related issues are the real issue then, neither side will move an inch?

Comment by Frustrated citizen Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:31 pm
Step 1: Get elected
Step 2: Create budget crisis
Step 3: Starve the Beast

Comment by Dale Cooper Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:33 pm
@Big R. Ph. “Can’t spend money we don’t have.”

Yet the governor and his people had no problem giving millions to ConAgra (moving from Chicago suburbs to…Chicago proper) and even on a new scoreboard at Sox park (soon to be one of the top 10 biggest scoreboards in the Major Leagues).

We have millions to spend on big business yet somehow those millions vanish when it comes to us little people.

Please explain.

Comment by Ghostbusters Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:36 pm
@Frustrated: I’d say that’s the crux of the problem. The governor has indicated he wants to allow local units of government the ability of employees to bargain wages, benefits, and working conditions. Since those are the bedrock reasons to form a union in the first place, I doubt there’s going to be much traction from Democrats to compromise on that.

Comment by Tournaround Agenda Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:37 pm
My daughter is a junior in high school and we are starting to look at colleges. We will not be looking in Illinois and, private college counselors are raising some red flags to parents who had considered IL schools.

Comment by Former Hoosier Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:37 pm
Rauner is creating a brain drain out of Illinois. Where is the outrage from the Illinois Policy Institute? oh that’s right, poor kids don’t need an education…or collective bargaining rights…or workers comp…or unemployment insurance…or day care.

Comment by 360 Degree TurnAround Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:42 pm
Rauner’s idea of compromise is to do things that he wants. He misunderstands the meaning of the word.

Comment by historic66 Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:42 pm
The Speaker pushed reforms on pension for unionized state employees through saying at the time it had to be done. He already hurt state employees although that was deemed unconstitutional. Why can’t he move an inch or two to address all the problems in funding we are all reading here today? Doesn’t something have to be done? Then Rauner gives some on a tax increase, less than the other side wants and we have a deal. The fight continues in 2016.

Comment by Frustrated citizen Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:44 pm
Has anyone asked these presidents how they have reduced staff, cut budget, reduced costs this year? The last 2 years? Last 5 years? Let me tell you they haven’t! The continue to expand and spend, and raise tuition to cover it. Forcing them to trim fat and expenses is not a bad thing.

Comment by Really?? Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:50 pm
I think starving out the public universities has been Rauners game plan all along. Look at his track record of consolidation. I also think Rauner only cares about the wealthy who can afford to send their kids to college. The rest…let em eat cake.

Comment by Because I said so... Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:53 pm
===OW, those kids at the state university are doing just fine, studying, partying and going to football games. The vast majority of students are vaguely aware of the problems.===

Well, that may have been Rauner’s experience at Dartmouth, but many of the students have to work now and don’t have time to attend sports events. At least that’s how it works at the schools that are being jeopardized by Rauner.

Comment by GraduatedCollegeStudent Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:54 pm
Really?? at 2:50

I can’t speak to all of them but I can tell you that WIU, EIU, SIUC, and SIUE have all cut positions this year.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:55 pm
===Has anyone asked these presidents how they have reduced staff, cut budget, reduced costs this year? The last 2 years? Last 5 years? Let me tell you they haven’t! The continue to expand and spend, and raise tuition to cover it. Forcing them to trim fat and expenses is not a bad thing.===

Hi, I was at an Illinois directional for grad school from 2013-2014. I assure you there is not nearly the kind of fat in those schools as you seem to think.

Comment by GraduatedCollegeStudent Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 2:57 pm
Um, - Really?? -

The Presidents are talking about a state budget, not their own budgets.

You may be in over your head here, so please pay attention.

Thanks.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:02 pm
===As leaders of Illinois public universities, we strongly reiterate a commitment we made last spring to accept our responsible share of providing solutions to Illinois’ fiscal problems.===

The universities seem to be saying they will manage with whatever they get–but they want to actually get what they’re gonna get. I don’t think it’s unreasonable.

My feeling lately is that both Rauner and Madigan have packed it in for the year. Madigan will now sit back and watch while Rauner’s self-destruction manifests across the state.

Comment by Politix Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:03 pm
However, rest assured that all Univ. of Illinois football and basketball games, and the sale of Chief Illiniwek t-shirts will continue unabated regardless of the university’s status.

Comment by Filmmaker Professor Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:07 pm
Um, film professor? Chief Illiniwek was eliminated about a decade ago.

Comment by Roadiepig Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:10 pm
So why haven’t any of these university brains proposed a serious solution? Every tool necessary is at their disposal as well as a work bank of free labor looking for thesis subject matter. This could be a yearly project for the political science department in every university. How to navigate the political and funding climate of Illinois. You get an A in that you can get a job anywhere.

Comment by DuPage Bard Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:11 pm
Okay. That may have been over the top. My degree cost me a boatload in terms of effort and money. It was worth it to have a diploma from U of I. Tuition and class sizes are already out of hand. I’m not sure how much more they can cut without seriously harming the education they provide.

Comment by Me too Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:12 pm
@ GraduatedCollegeStudent — We analyzed the data from a student engagement survey at our private not-for-profit w/ similar demographics to the state schools, and a majority of our freshmen and sophomores worked more than 20 hours a week. The kids I got to know in my classes were commuters who worked about 30 hours a week off-campus on average. It’s not the rich kids on residential campuses who will be hurt by Rauner’s ideological crusade.

Comment by olddog Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:13 pm
Madigan: Tax increase?
Rauner: Sure, but choose wisely…eliminate the prevailing wage system, remove core bargaining rights from union contract negotiations, or raise the workers’ comp burden of proof.
Madigan: You know this crisis is on you, right?
Rauner: Nope it’s on you
[rinse and repeat]

Comment by COPN Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:14 pm
Southeast Missouri State is a huge bargain over anything the directional schools in Illinois could off us. My daughter did very well there and is now in her first year at SLU Law School. That brain will stay in Missouri.

Comment by The unknown poster Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:17 pm
@ Filmmaker Professor and Roadiepig — fot what it’s worth, I just Googled “Chief Illiniwek T-shirts” and got 57,800 hits in 0.61 seconds.

https://www.google.com/webhp?source=search_app&gws_rd=ssl#q=chief+illiniwek+t+shirts

Comment by olddog Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:18 pm
*offer us* My apologies.

Comment by The unknown poster Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:18 pm
Good point EIU has seen a 2 percent increase in freshman enrollment from 2014. That’s killer oh wait. total enrollment went from 8,913 to 8,520 from 2014 to 2015 that statistic doesn’t sound as good does it?

Even worse, wasn’t enrollment 12,349 in 2006. it was… Yeah everything is just fine at EIU

http://castle.eiu.edu/media/viewstory.php?action=1076

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20150815/ISSUE01/308159989/are-illinois-public-universities-doomed

Comment by Goldwater Republican Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:20 pm
Letters to the leaders is a pro forma but useless action. If they haven’t done so already, they need to send letters to parents.

Comment by Norseman Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:23 pm
==they need to send letters to parents. ===

Agreed.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:25 pm
Roadie - define “eliminated” please.

Comment by Filmmaker Professor Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:25 pm
U of I isn’t the challenge… They self fund at 90% or more. Chicago State has no chance, NEIU has no chance, the NIUs, SIUs, WIUs are somewhere in between.

Comment by Lincoln Lad Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:25 pm
===Chicago State has no chance===

CSU gets a ton of federal money. They’ll hold out longer than the directionals. EIU could be the one to watch.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:27 pm
You know what I bet the Gov takes away from this? “Glad Madigan and Cullerton are finally getting heat for this situation they caused.”

Comment by Union Man Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:31 pm
Union Man is correct.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:31 pm
@-Really?-

You are absolutely, flat-out wrong. As both a professor at the University of Illinois College of Law and its Interim Dean during the past year, I can tell you with 100% accuracy that the College cut its tenured faculty ranks from 42 to 35 over the past three years (the number of positions eliminated is even larger if you go back 5 years). We’ve cut at least 10% out of our operating budget during that period. The statement that Illinois’ universities haven’t made cuts over the recent past is a flat-out lie. Those cuts may not show up in overall year-to-year expenditures simply because Universities have little control over some items, such as utility costs, that increase every year and eat up the operational savings from other cuts. And at least at UIUC, we have been expanding student financial aid every year for the past several years, often by multiple millions of dollars.

There is simply no nice way to characterize what you said. It is plainly and simply false. I’m very tired of folks debating policy issues without knowing or caring about the facts and regurgitating talking points as though they were facts. In the immortal words of Daniel Moynihan, you are entitled to your own opinion; you are not entitled to your own facts.

Comment by jdcolombo Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:33 pm
===cut its tenured faculty ranks from 42 to 35 over the past three years (the number of positions eliminated is even larger if you go back 5 years). We’ve cut at least 10% out of our operating budget==

So, almost 20 percent of tenured faculty but just 10 percent of bureaucracy.

Typical.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:36 pm
Give the students some credit. Most of them do understand what’s going on. Many depend on grants, scholarships or loans. They are more informed about the cost of college than you think.

Comment by Thoughts Matter Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:37 pm
===- Union Man - Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:31 pm

You know what I bet the Gov takes away from this? “Glad Madigan and Cullerton are finally getting heat for this situation they caused.”

- Rich Miller - Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:31 pm

Union Man is correct===

Thus why having a “Paul Lis” in-house would be critical at this point, wouldn’t it?

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:38 pm
===wouldn’t it? ===

He’d be fired in a day.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:39 pm
Sorry, not until the unions (middle class workers) have their standards of living reduced. I won’t deal with the budget until I get some non budget items that I want. This is the Rauner response.

Comment by Facts are Stubborn Things Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:40 pm
=== ==wouldn’t it? ===

He’d be fired in a day.===

You are being generous giving him “a day”, lol

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:43 pm
Rich, our operating budget includes multiple millions of dollars in student financial aid. No, we didn’t cut that, and in fact expanded it, which is why a 20% staffing cut does not end up being a 20% operational budget cut. And yes, that is “typical” of what is going on. With the state massively dis-investing in public universities, we at least try to pick up some of the slack by shifting operational savings to student financial aid. It doesn’t go to administration (or at least, it has not gone to administration at the College of Law).

Comment by jdcolombo Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:43 pm
Eliminated- as in, the school no long allows a white student to dress up and dance at halftime in the chief costume.

As in No OFFICIALLY LICENSED products can have the old chief logo or any other likeness. Sure ,you can buy stuff with the chief, but they are either old items or bootleg merch.

And no, I was not one who was happy to see him go. The dance, yeah. Logo no.

Maybe you could use that there Google to see just what the university’s official policy is on the chief. But I guess nowadays it’s more fun to be snarky about just about anything…

Comment by Roadiepig Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:44 pm
Rich - read the CSU FY16 ISL. They are heavily dependent on state $ to operate. I think they got some ARRA money in the past, but that was long ago

Comment by Lincoln Lad Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:45 pm
It’s hard to be sympathetic to budget complaints from the U of I given the publicity given to their recent batch of poor decisions. But, other universities such as WIU, SIU, EIU, have made significant cuts and cash flow will become a real problem for them soon with no state appropriations or MAP funding.

Comment by Just askin' Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:47 pm
Madigan will never compromise. this letter will have no effect upon him.

Comment by jim Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:49 pm
If the public colleges/universities fold, the private sector can come in & take over their buildings, etc. for hardly nothing to start
‘for-profit’ colleges/universities. Rauner is all about helping businesses.

Comment by Mama Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 3:57 pm
“wants to allow local units of government the ability of employees to bargain wages, benefits, and working conditions.” Um, no, he wants to prohibit unions from bargaining over those very things, in addition to pensions.

Comment by Skeptic Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 4:04 pm
== Madigan will never compromise. this letter will have no effect upon him. ==

Nor should it. He did not bring this down. Check The Governor’s position: Everything I want or schrew it.

Comment by sal-says Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 4:14 pm
===So, almost 20 percent of tenured faculty but just 10 percent of bureaucracy. Typical.===

More of Grimm’s “malevolent anti-intellectualism” /snark

Comment by COPN Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 4:17 pm
If these universities are forced to close, the blame is not going to fall on Mike Madigan or John Cullerton. Those individuals have been around a long time, and the universities continued to operate.

Bruce Rauner is the new guy here, and these universities could be closed on his watch. It won’t take people too long to connect the dots.

Comment by Snucka Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 4:20 pm
The Universities know that higher ed is about the only discretionary item left on the table, and the longer we go spending at last year’s levels on everything else, the bigger the cut to higher ed. is going to be.

The other point is that it is incredibly hard to change staffing levels at the universities. Tenured faculty at one end and civil service employees at the other are difficult to change. In the middle are a bunch of people who are entitled to a year’s notice if they are not going to be reappointed. Decisions about next year need to be made now, and given the amount of uncertainty I wouldn’t be surprised if a bunch of notices of non-reappointment are sent out just in case.

Comment by Mostly Harmless Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 4:20 pm
What does the chair of the House Higher ed Approp committee have to say?

Or is he too busy literally running errands for Governor Rauner?

Comment by Juvenal Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 4:21 pm
Pay no attention to their bloated ranks of administrators and ever-expanding payroll despite declining attendance, which was reported earlier this year. Or the golden parachutes some U of I leaders felt were appropriate rewards for bad behavior just weeks ago. Or the multi-billion dollar endowment one of these schools refuses to touch.

They will soon be forced to serve only pbj sandwiches in the student cafeterias, as these highly educated executives play the role of helpless bystanders,

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 4:23 pm
Gee, this is so frustrating! Regardless of where one stands politically, the citizenry of Illinois seems suffer continual proof that we really CAN elect a governor worse than our last one.

Comment by Morningstar Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 4:31 pm
Um, is this the shakin’ up Springfield we were told about? Seems like the shakin’ up is to working people, students, needy children…..just about everyone who is just trying to go about life in this wonderful state who isn’t associated with the politics of those in Springfield.

And, by the way, we steered clear of U of I even though we’re alums. Our kids had a flawless, excellent and lower cost of attendance at another Big Ten University. Yes, another Big Ten. Not ashamed to say that U of I is not the same school that I went to.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 4:42 pm
Morningstar: I think what you’re saying is “Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.”

Comment by Skeptic Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 4:49 pm
Agreed, my Alma Mater has screwed up recently, and I will never come close to condoning the actions of the Trustees or the Administration, but the UofI is an institution that is being ravished by the whims of the legislature and not being supported by our Governor.

OK, so what happened. When I got my degrees ( ‘71 and ‘72 ) the University was considered among the Top 10 among public Universities in the Country. This state has thrown one of its best known and renowned institutions to the trash bin - yet they are still succeeding in their excellence ( in certain areas ) in spite of the devastating cuts in funding they have had to deal with.

This sad situation has no political culprit - both parties are to blame and need to take responsibility.

The only ones suffering are the students, and their parents ( including my brother ) who are paying for the privilege of attending the UofI.

As a point of reference - out of the 7565 members of the incoming Freshman class there are 1100 International students and more than 70% of those are from China, You do the math.

Comment by illini Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 5:01 pm
EIU lost 23% of its students from 2010-2014. The approximate amount in tuition lost, per year, is in the vicinity of $18-$19 million.

Rauner’s fault? Hardly. Is the current university president the one in charge from 2010-14? Where was Quinn? MJM?

So, blame Bruce all you want. A $18+ million dollar hit, per year, will cause a lot of problems and layoffs.

Comment by anon Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 5:09 pm
“However, rest assured that all Univ. of Illinois football and basketball games, and the sale of Chief Illiniwek t-shirts will continue unabated regardless of the university’s status.”

Online only sales of Chief merchandise is allowed in small quantities. These items are sold as part of a vintage logo program. Such sales are apparently needed to protect the copyright. Failure to use the logo could mean losing the copyright.

And it doesn’t seem likely that the UI is going to close.

Last spring the governor approved a 2.1 percent reduction of FY 2015 fiscal funds which amounted to about $14 million for the UI. The chancellor said these reductions would likely be absorbed by the University administration and the campus administration, to protect colleges and students. (These offices must have some big petty cash drawers.) The original FY 2015 state appropriation for the UI was $667 million leaving $653 million for FY 2015 operations. Last June the State Comptroller said that the UI will only have received 75 percent of its state appropriation by the end of the fiscal year on June 30. It would continue to receive fiscal year 2015 payments into early October. The UI apparently managed to operate last year on about $490 million ( 75% of $653 million ) of state appropriations. They did not shut down the place nor furlough anyone. This money amounts to less than 11% of the operating budget. Surely the UI is not going to shut down and send students home because of a worst case 11% budget cut.

Comment by CapnCrunch Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 5:09 pm
lets keep athletics and merchandising out of this discussion - that is not what we are talking about here.

Comment by illini Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 5:29 pm
And on a follow up thread - I agree there are far, far too many Assistant- Associate Deans, Provosts Chancellors etc at $100,000 plus per year.

I agree, the administrative overhead seems to have gotten out of control - maybe there is a logical and reasonable explanation, but if not many of them should be let go and their salaries be used to reimburse some of the more needy students ( who are probably on grants or expensive loans ).

Comment by illini Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 5:54 pm
Athletics cost money. Revenue is being cut. Totally relevant.

Comment by Filmmaker Professor Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 6:25 pm
Roadie - as someone else mentioned, Chief shirts are available for purchase on-line. That is why I asked about your definition of “eliminated.” If on-line only sales = eliminated, then Amazon has eliminated all product sales.
Want to call me snarky again?

Comment by Filmmaker Professor Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 6:34 pm
In the case of EIU, this fall the university has experienced layoffs, furloughs, reduced contracts and various expenditure cuts in an effort to reduce costs. The president (who was not president when enrollment was falling off a cliff) said this week the budget situation has been stabilized. But next year, when this year’s senior class (the largest of the four) graduates, it will be replaced by a smaller freshman class. So there will be less tuition money then. The problem is that the university is counting on just a 6.5 percent reduction in state appropriations. I think that’s being optimistic. If the governor’s 31 percent decrease becomes reality, look out below.

Comment by up2now Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 7:08 pm
Filmmaker professor - I did not know about the university’s small scale sales of chief products to keep their rights to the logo. So you are right and I was wrong. My apologies.

About the comment about snark? Not aimed directly at you , more about the tone in general here on Cap Fax. The level of snark has escalated here at about the same rate as the level of discord in the Capitol . It’s to be expected, bput why I haven’t commented here at all for a while. I’ll go back to hauling my corn and keep quiet now …

Comment by Roadiepig Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 7:25 pm
As Oswego says, it is not about balancing the budget, it is about 30 and 60.

It is hard to imagine how the governor thinks he is going to get Rep. Brady to vote for a tax increase that accompanies a budget slashing ISU funding by 31 percent. And if Rauner can’t get a fairly moderate Republican like Brady, it is hard to imagine he is gonna get 20 GOP votes in the House let alone to 40 House Republicans he is going to need.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 7:58 pm
Regarding EIU, clearly people were not doing their job. I heard the biggest dorm on campus, Carman, was mothballed. So, the school loses 18+ million a year in tuition, book fees, general fees, housing and food payments. Because in a 5 year stretch, they couldn’t attract or retain students.

That isn’t Bruce Rauner’s fault

Comment by anonano Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 8:00 pm
Word===It is unreasonable for a governor, any governor, to willfully create a fiscal crisis and sabotage core state functions in order to advance a personal political agenda that he cannot even articulate the benefits of beyond weasel-word talking points.

It is unreasonable for a governor, any governor, to set preconditions on addressing the most pressing crisis on his watch, especially when the crisis is of his creation.===

I would argue that the word governor could be replaced with the word legislature in your observation. I’m not sure why Rauner doesn’t propose a pension income tax increase that would only be for paying pension costs caused by years of (Dem) fiscal irresponsibility contingent upon some ‘turnaround’ concessions. That would at least be a proactive attempt to break the stalemate

Comment by Soccertease Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 8:05 pm
Thanks - YDD -.

That’s really it, isn’t it?

If Rauner can’t pass it, “now what?”

To those saying shutting down the state IS the next step, per Ron Sandack, per the Rauner Talking Points, if that’s what yiu believe, and Rauner can’t get his noses counted, then admitting you are shutting thibgs down is owning that you are the ones driving this catastrophe.

Gotta eat it, gotta own it. Good or bad.

Rauner said, and its on tape he would shut down the state. The Talking Points on TV indicate that too.

Ron Sandack owns it too with Tweets that tout it.

You want it? You own it.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 8:18 pm
Can universities go bankrupt? They should. They have created their own mess. $425,000 yearly pensions? Really? I don’t care who negotiated what. We need to use whatever means we( the taxpayers), can to end this kind of nonsense. Sorry, these kind of abuses have NO credibility with traditional Democrats.

Comment by Blue dog dem Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 8:25 pm
Blue dog, they can’t go BK. They are State agencies in the end.

YDD, fwiw, the “other Brady” is talking about a ten-year phase in to privatization, for-profit of the State Unis. He seems to see the future and realize that one of the strongest Unis is in his district.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 9:34 pm
Here Oswego, I’ll fix this for you—Rauner inherited the sh*tpile thanks to the democrats. That is as simple and accurate as you need. Succinct.

Comment by anonano Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 9:38 pm
- anonano -

… and Rauner is choosing to not find agencies, state universities, anything that needs the state to have a budget.

How do I know?

The Owl told me, so did Rauner.

Pretty simple, actualky.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 9:40 pm
Why haven’t these chicken sh**s called for a tax increase or asked Rauner to,put aside his demands for the sake of real economic growth ..college attainment , research and innovation.

That’s when I’ll consider this group of phonies real leaders of this state.

Comment by Anon Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 10:13 pm
And pull the travel vouchers for this set of goofballs..best most of them have spent weeks away from their campuses and students this semester.

Comment by Anon Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 10:16 pm
@ anonano 8:00 p.m.–

Carmen Hall has not been mothballed. However, given the decline in enrollment, EIU has closed a few of the floors there and is using this opportunity to do work on those rooms.

And before others start screaming about EIU spending money in this manner, keep in mind they are attempting to do the work in a measured fashion, not in a “rush job, we need to pay overtime to get this done” manner.

Also, for the benefit of those who haven’t had the pleasure of taking teen-aged children on a college tour lately, student expectations of what amenities they should have on their campus and in their dorm have gotten outrageously inflated. You should see the campus rec facilities built by the U of I in the last 10 years!! They could give the East Bank Club in Chicago a run for their money. And they expect gourmet food every day in their food service. Not like the cinder block dorms and mystery meat we experienced in college 3-4 decades ago. (Don’t get me started on the $$$$ spent in athletics.)

Perhaps the filmmaker professor would care to comment?

Comment by Lynn S, Thursday, Oct 1, 15 @ 10:56 pm
I can’t believe anyone can defend colleges and their blatant rip off of the Ameriican public for the last 25 years. Talk about corporate America or the 1% ers! No wonder we have such great political divide in our state and country. What ever candidate, whether it be on the local, state or national level, who campaigns on reforming our fleecing of America, gets my attention and usually my vote. Good luck fellow Illinoisans, if we can’t agree on something like this, we won’t come to terms on tougher issues!

Comment by Blue dog dem Friday, Oct 2, 15 @ 6:05 am
Lynn S.—–Students(you) pay for the campus rec set-up and all those amenities. The woman showed me the UIUC invoice and there are fees, per semester, to the tune of about $1800

Regarding EIU and Carman, if they are upgrading the rooms, the question would be why? Enrollment is way down, the trend is for kids to live in apartments or go greek and EIU basically has no money. I’m sure those folks being laid off scratch their heads regarding work being done at a dorm.

Comment by anon Friday, Oct 2, 15 @ 7:30 am
Unfortunately, bringing the state to the brink is the only way to get Madigan to negotiate. Rauner has held office for less than a year, he is not the problem. However, he can and is standing up to Madigan and it is time someone brought Madigan down.

Comment by the_avery Friday, Oct 2, 15 @ 9:07 am
===However, he can and is standing up to Madigan and it is time someone brought Madigan down.===

… by candlelight and with bottled water?

Ugh.

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Oct 2, 15 @ 9:09 am