Planning & Budget

Message from SIU President Glenn Poshard

12-14-09

Dear SIU Employee,

Last week, at the request of the SIU Board of Trustees, I presented the actions we have taken thus far in meeting the cash flow problems we are currently experiencing as a result of a delay in state funding.  I emphasized the following points:

1. That the question of our ability to meet November and December payroll had been largely resolved since the measures we have employed have been successful and the comptroller’s office has fulfilled our request for $15.5 million in November and has given us assurances of another similar payment by mid-December.

2. That January and February payroll would be fine since we will be receiving new tuition and federal Pell grant monies in January.
    
3. That in the interest of complete transparency our projections of cash flow indicate that without any state funding whatsoever from December through February, we would be facing an even greater problem in March.  I described this as “an absolute worst case scenario” and as “unimaginable”.   The odds of such a scenario evolving are almost nil but it would be irresponsible not to prepare for even the very worst case possible.  Other universities in Illinois have also articulated the same predicament in the last several weeks.  While we have taken many extraordinary steps to manage our cash flow over the past few months, this remote possibility would require even deeper cuts, however in order to maintain our high quality of education it is our goal to avoid layoffs altogether.  To enact substantial cuts in personnel at this time when the likelihood of state reimbursement is great would not be a prudent step to take and would cause unnecessary pain to hundreds of our employees.

The possibility of SIU being forced to close its doors from lack of state support was only discussed in the context of this most extreme possibility.  I am absolutely confident that the state of Illinois would never allow its public universities to fail and even though the discussion of this remote possibility has caused concern among the public, I am equally confident that the outstanding work SIU performs in educating our students will continue unabated through the spring and into future years.

While it is in our best interest to be completely open and transparent about this issue before our university community, to allow such a remote possibility as school closure to inordinately influence future decision making would be totally unacceptable. 

To be sure, in the foreseeable future, additional sacrifices will be asked of every individual associated with SIU but we will meet our challenges and be a stronger and more excellent university because of it.

Sincerely,

Glenn Poshard

President

Southern Illinois University