PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 22, No. 6, Sept. 18, 2003

Trustees approve 7.3 percent budget increase request

By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor
(217) 244-1072; slforres@uiuc.edu

If the UI gets what it wants from the state of Illinois for next fiscal year, the result would be more teachers, smaller classes, additional courses and raises for employees.

And what the UI wants is a $79 million increase for fiscal year 2005, the UI Board of Trustees was told at its Sept. 11 meeting in Springfield.

The board approved the budget request, which amounts to a 7.3 percent increase over the current fiscal year’s budget.

The budget request includes $12.5 million for academic programs, particularly in areas that are in high demand, such as general education courses, as well as critical areas now considered understaffed.

Another $18 million would go toward faculty recruitment and retention, as well as building renovations. The budget also earmarks $16 million for anticipated higher costs for such items as utilities and maintenance, and $32 million for employee raises.

The budget request, to be submitted to the Illinois Board of Higher Education this month, is necessary because of cuts in state funding the preceding two fiscal years, said Chester Gardner, the university vice president for academic affairs.

Despite the $59 million reduction in state funding last year, university revenue has increased, mainly as a result of an anticipated 15.4 percent increase in research project funding, Stephen Rugg, university vice president for administration, told the board. Increased enrollment coupled with higher tuition and increased revenue from programs such as student housing and the hospital in Chicago also helped to augment revenue, he said.

Tackling deferred maintenance and renovation and repair of facilities on all three UI campuses are the highest priorities in the FY 05 budget. The budget request contains a list of 30 capital projects totaling $304.5 million, which Rugg said represents about half of the identified needs.

Projects budgeted for Urbana include $51.5 million for remodeling Lincoln Hall, building a new electrical and computer engineering building ($83 million) and a new College of Business building ($27 million). Administrators anticipate a 50-50 match of funds with other sources for the business building and for the electrical and computer engineering building.

In addition to a $20 million infrastructure renovation program, key projects at Chicago include a $57 million addition to the Pharmacy Building, a $61.8 million renovation of the dentistry college and a $10.4 million restoration project at the College of Medicine/Research Resources Center.

Trustee Kenneth Schmidt said that the dentistry college renovations, which were eighth on a universitywide list of capital projects, should receive greater priority. A statewide shortage of dentists is projected within the next decade years and refurbishing the facilities and equipment would correspond with the university’s public service mission, Schmidt said.

In a report on technology commercialization activities, James Weyhenmeyer, associate vice president for economic development and corporate relations, said that 229 disclosures were received, 40 patents issued and a total of six start-up companies established during FY03. License revenue increased 41 percent from $2.4 million to $3.4 million at Chicago but decreased from $6.5 million to $5.09 million at Urbana, mostly as a result of expired licenses for software and a vaccine.

IllinoisVentures served a total of 57 companies during FY03 and approved $808,000 in funding.

Since opening its Urbana office in June, Illini-ITEC, a joint technology development initiative with the state of Illinois, has made two awards totaling $100,000.

In other business, the board amended the operating agreement for University of Illinois Research Park, LLC, reducing its board of managers from 11 members to five members.

The board of trustees also approved an amendment that authorized the board to review and approve licenses and/or conflict of interest management plans for startup companies involving the university president and his or her immediate family.

The trustees passed a proposal to reallocate funds within the UI Integrate budget and increase the compensation to TEK Systems, the software developer, from $1.25 million to $2.75 million. Staff said the initial compensation was developed using generic estimates for software development and that recent evaluations of the expertise and the scope of work required have refined those figures.

In response to a question from Schmidt, Rugg said that the domestic partner benefit program was implemented Sept. 1 and that two applications have been processed so far with 25 to 30 other employees expressing interest in the program.

Members of the University Professionals of Illinois Local 4100, the collective bargaining agent for clerical, service and technical workers on the Springfield campus, staged a silent protest during the meeting. The union has filed three charges of unfair labor practices against the university in connection with its contract renewal.

During the public comment segment, Bill Silver, director of higher education for Local 73 of the Service Employees’ Union, spoke against a proposal to contract out custodial services on the Chicago campus, saying that contractors cannot provide the level of security and cost effectiveness the university needs.

Charles Rice, vice chancellor for health affairs, Chicago, presented the FY03 financial performance report and the FY04 budget proposal for University of Illinois Medical Center. Outpatient visits, patient days and clinic visits were all up in FY03, and the medical center’s net revenue surpassed expenses by $8.5 million, an increase of $3.0 million over FY02.

Rice said the medical center has “very large unmet capital needs” and presented a $35 million capital budget request that includes $21 million for new equipment and $10 million for renovations and infrastructure improvements.

Regarding the Urbana campus, the board also:

• Approved contracts totaling $16.8 million for the first phase of renovation and expansion at Campus Recreation Center East (CRCE) and $4.6 million for the initial phase of remodeling at the Intramural Physical Education (IMPE) building.
  
• Amended the employment contract with Theresa Grentz, head women’s basketball coach, extending it through April 15, 2008, and increasing her total compensation for coaching and broadcasting services from $252,860 to $260,000 during 2003-04.

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