The Honorable Pat Quinn, Governor
207 State House
Springfield, Illinois 62706
The Honorable Dan Hynes, Comptroller
201 State House
Springfield, Illinois 62706
Dear Governor Quinn and Comptroller Hynes,
The presidents and chancellors of Illinois’ public universities write today to urge your commitment to a reliable schedule for the payment of the state appropriation and swift action to resolve the state’s financial crisis that now threatens our long term viability. In the first weeks of a new decade we face an unprecedented crisis: our public universities have received only a fraction of the state payments needed and promised to keep our operations going this fiscal year. Across Illinois, our institutions remain more than three quarters of a billion dollars behind in state payments.
We have done what we can to forestall this crisis by enacting countless measures to save resources and postpone payments until the last possible minute. We have drawn down our available resources, and we are now counting on tuition dollars to keep our doors open for students beginning the new spring semester. Still, no amount of cutting and sacrifice can make up for the absence of hundreds of millions of dollars in State Appropriation payments.
Without full funding of our appropriations in a timely manner, we will be forced to take even more drastic actions that will diminish the educational opportunities of our students and our service to the people of Illinois. We are currently past the halfway point in our fiscal year, but have received only a fraction of our state funding. Ongoing financial commitments on all our campuses must be met. Faculty and staff must be paid, buildings must be heated, classes must be taught, and students must be supported. Especially in these difficult times we must be able to rely on the State of Illinois as our partner.
For more than a century our public universities have been engines of economic growth, raising the standard of living for countless Illinois citizens and at no time has that capacity been more crucial. Students, parents, communities, the economy and the very future of our State depend on quality education at every level, but especially in our universities. Every dollar spent on higher education is repaid many times over in job-creating activity at all levels. During periods of economic recession universities help set the stage for recovery through investment in human capital and discoveries that create new industries and transform existing ones. In short, Illinois’ public universities are keys to sustained job growth and economic recovery. Historically, the state of Illinois has recognized the importance of its public universities by investing scarce resources in higher education even when dollars were tight. The people of Illinois and the state as a whole need the Illinois public universities to help shape our state’s future, including our economic recovery, and drive the next generation of technology and opportunity.
We understand any solution to the fiscal crisis faced by our state will be difficult and painful but the more quickly the state embarks on the difficult path to recovery the less the damage. We are eager to help craft such a solution and develop support. In the meantime we urge the state to honor its commitments by fully funding public university appropriations for FY 2010. To that end, we request a reliable appropriation payment schedule be set and agreed to that will allow us to manage our respective cash flows for FY2010 and thereafter and sustain orderly operations.
Respectfully,
Dr. Paula Allen-Meares, Chancellor
University of Illinois at Chicago
Dr. Elaine Maimon, President
Governors State University
Dr. C. Alvin Bowman, President
Illinois State University
Dr. William L. Perry, President
Eastern Illinois University
Dr. Robert Easter, Interim Provost/Chancellor
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Dr. John G. Peters, President
Northern Illinois University
Dr. Alvin Goldfarb, President
Western Illinois University
Dr. Glen Poshard, President
Southern Illinois University
Dr. Samuel Goldman, Chancellor
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Dr. Richard Ringeisen, Chancellor
University of Illinois at Springfield
Dr. Sharon K. Hahs, President
Northeastern Illinois University
Dr. Vaughn Vandegrift, Chancellor
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Dr. Stan Ikenberry, President
University of Illinois
Dr. Wayne D. Watson, President
Chicago State University
cc: The Honorable Michael J. Madigan, Speaker of the House
The Honorable John Cullerton, President
The Honorable Christine Radogno, Senate Minority Leader
The Honorable Tom Cross, House Minority Leader
TO: SIUE Faculty and Staff
The recent $28.9M distribution from the State of Illinois moves SIU to within $8.2M of meeting the March payroll. With federal stimulus money scheduled to arrive soon and the state’s income tax revenue predicted to peak in April and May, we are much closer to achieving our goal of meeting payroll through the end of the fiscal year. While the state has repeated its intentions to distribute all of the SIU FY10 allocation, it has not been said that this would occur by June 30. Therefore, the SIU system has requested legislative authority to borrow in the event it is needed. We hope it is not!
To cover the payroll last fall, President Poshard asked SIUE to slow down its hiring, purchases, and renovation projects and to double the normal contingency reserve from 2% to 4%. As a result of the slowdown, we project fiscal year-end savings in hiring ($1.5M), purchasing ($2.0M) and more through other actions. These savings, when added to funds from our enrollment increase, should enable us to meet the president’s 4% contingency request of $5.6M. Having made progress on the revenue slowdown problem, it now seems appropriate to take judicious actions to prepare for the more than 14,000 students we expect this fall. We will soon authorize projects and purchases that are necessary for the next academic year. We have allowed faculty searches to continue uninterrupted since they normally require a significant portion of the academic year to complete. While our terrific staff have always performed admirably for SIUE, we certainly acknowledge that many have been stretched during the hiring freeze due to the temporary reduction in the workforce. We have now begun to authorize certain staff position hiring as recommended by the Vice Chancellors. While caution dictates that not all frozen staff positions will be released, some will be authorized as we prepare for the fall semester. Your supervisor, through the appropriate Vice Chancellor, will be able to update you on these actions as we proceed.
We will move ahead, cautiously and carefully, to both meet our payroll and prepare for the 2010-11 school year. As I’ve said in the past, conservative budgeting by the UPBC, our enrollment increases, and our sense of community continue to be important factors as we work through difficult times. I appreciate what each of you does to make this campus a great place to live, learn and work.
Vaughn Vandegrift, Chancellor
Dear SIU Employee,
By now I am sure you have been made aware of the University of Illinois’ intention to cut $82.0 million out of its current operating budget. I would like to stress that each public university in Illinois is now dealing with their own unique financial situation. For the fiscal year we are currently in SIU has a balanced budget. We were provided a funding level by the state legislature last July that represented a remarkable commitment to public higher education considering the dire financial position of the state. This was made possible in large part by the federal stabilization funds that were allocated to Illinois to avoid reductions in force at public educational institutions. The funding level also allowed us to enact the lowest tuition increase of the decade, and when combined with the many budget efficiencies we have undertaken in the last two years, enabled us to produce a balanced budget without layoffs or furloughs.
Tough budget times are nothing new for Southern Illinois University. For the last seven years SIU has undergone transformational change in dealing with the constant reductions in state appropriations for public higher education. The predicament we now find ourselves in at SIU is not a budget crisis, but rather a cash flow emergency created as an outgrowth of the state’s drastic drop in sales and income tax revenues as a result of the Great Recession. And, while this situation may very well develop into a full blown budget crisis next year for the university, the last thing in this economy is to furlough or layoff the very people who make this university great. It would send a devastating message to the Academy and staff while eroding confidence in this institution’s ability to deliver the educational benefits that our students and their families demand from us.
For our university we have thoroughly examined the use of furloughs and layoffs for the cash flow situation that we currently find ourselves in and we have determined that involuntary separation is not the answer. The savings yielded from any furlough or layoff plan simply cannot make up for the $100.0 million owed the University by the state of Illinois. Are furloughs and layoffs a real possibility for the next budget year? They may be, but we will not be rushed into that decision as a result of delays in state reimbursements. Our plan is to continue the steps that we have taken to improve our own cash flow position and to seek legislative authority to short-term borrow for operating expenses, as do many businesses and units of local government. I will also continue my efforts to encourage the legislature and Governor to move forward to address the state’s drastic drop in revenues. This Thursday I will be participating in a conference with the Governor’s Budget Director. If there are directions to proceed with FY10 budget reductions based on the inability of the state to provide the university its entire appropriation for the fiscal year, then the Chancellors’ budget teams will be asked to consider all options; however, until such direction is provided we will continue implementing the plan now in place.
As further information is available I will continue to share it with you.
Glenn Poshard
President
I am very pleased to learn from President Poshard that the SIU System has received $17.1 million from the State of Illinois to cover the December payroll. As mentioned in Dr. Poshard’s email dated December 14, 2009, the January and February 2010 payrolls will be sufficiently addressed by revenues, such as from tuition, that will be received at the beginning of the semester. We anticipate and remain hopeful that the State will provide our expected funding needs by mid-Spring 2010.
The University community, under the direction of the Vice Chancellors and unit heads, has done an excellent job of reducing expenditures and increasing efficiencies since my November 9, 2009, email requesting budgetary restraint. We will continue to practice these measures, as well as work with faculty, staff, student constituency groups and the University Planning and Budget Council (UPBC) to develop approaches to budget management. This will assist us in protecting the salaries of our employees and the quality of our operations. The SIU administration has every intention of retaining personnel throughout this current economic challenge.
Faculty and staff may have occasions in their interactions with concerned students and parents to offer transparent, yet optimistic, words of reassurance that the University community is doing everything possible through appropriate fiscal, administrative, and political strategies to maintain our commitment to ensuring the academic progress and success of our students. The University will continue its complete schedule of course offerings for the Spring semester.
Thank you for all you do for SIUE. Please be assured that I will regularly keep you updated by email about issues and developments related to our financial challenges. These updates will also be posted to the Chancellor’s homepage at www.siue.edu/chancellor.
I am confident that we will get through this period of economic uncertainty and will be stronger for it as a result of our collective efforts. Best wishes to you and your families for a safe and happy holiday season.
Vaughn Vandegrift, Chancellor
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:
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.
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
