CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The University of Illinois postponed the search for a new dean of its College of Media. Southern Illinois University in Carbondale isn’t paying its bills on time. And Northern Illinois University has frozen most hiring.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The University of Illinois postponed the search for a new dean of its College of Media. Southern Illinois University in Carbondale isn’t paying its bills on time. And Northern Illinois University has frozen most hiring. As Illinois’ public universities await hundreds of millions of dollars in overdue state money, most have managed to cut back in ways students and tuition-paying parents aren’t likely to notice. But that could change – with tuition increases, larger classes and fewer course choices – if the money doesn’t come through soon, officials said. "You will probably see some creeping up of class sizes" over the next few semesters, said Karen Carney, an associate dean in the U of I College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, where instructors have been told to expect less money for teaching. "You will probably see units having fewer sections of the same course, so it may make it a little more challenging for students to fit it into their schedules." Universities are awaiting more than $840 million in overdue payments from the state. And with a $13 billion state budget deficit, the money isn’t likely to come soon. Gov. Pat Quinn has proposed slashing $1.3 billion from public education funding unless lawmakers raise the personal income tax to 4 percent from 3 percent and the corporate rate to 5.8 percent from 4.8 percent. He said that would generate $2.8 billion a year to help prevent the cuts and to pay schools money already owed them. NIU has frozen most hiring as it waits on $60.3 million. SIU in Carbondale struggled to make its payroll last fall, and now is not paying its bills on time, said spokesman Rod Sievers, who says the university is owed $127 million for both its Carbondale and Edwardsville campuses. "Whether it’s the people we pay for soda machines or the people we buy furniture from, they’re feeling it if they’re not getting paid in a timely manner," Sievers said. University of Illinois interim President Stanley Ikenberry doesn’t anticipate receiving the $487 million the state owes the U of I before the end of the fiscal year June 30 and wouldn’t be surprised if the university is still waiting a year from now, when the figure would be close to a billion dollars. The university has a billion-dollar endowment, but drawing on that would eat into the income it generates through investments, he said. So besides suspending its search for a new dean for its College of Media last month, U of I also announced layoffs at its radio and TV stations. Thousands of employees have taken furlough days this spring – in effect a 4 percent pay cut. By next fall, the freshman class could see 20 percent tuition increases, Ikenberry has said. The funding crisis threatens to undermine the quality of the education offered by the state’s nine public university systems, administrators warn, and could cost them some talented faculty if other universities hire them away. "Faculty morale is low. Hiring of faculty and staff replacements have been virtually frozen," Ikenberry said. "I think we need to worry about both the university’s reputation and the reputation of the state," he added. "I think we can get to the point where we’re not looked at as reliable partners." Some public universities in states with relatively strong economies have made clear they would like to hire away other schools’ best teachers. The University of Texas, for example, has set aside $3 billion to, among other things, draw top faculty from other schools, spokesman Matt Flores said. But there are those who say they’ve seen this all before, that professors and administrators have complained for years about dwindling government support for higher education. And yet the schools manage to continue offering quality instruction, good enough to draw students from all over the world. "In some ways, the budgetary process in many states affecting higher education is total kabuki theater," said Sheldon Steinbach, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who specializes in higher education and worked for years for the American Council on Education, a group of college presidents and chancellors. "Everybody’s playing out their roles," he said, "and fortunately because of the strength of the American economy, in spite of the cuts, the quality of our higher education is still the best in the world, including the University of Illinois.” AP
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