UI President: Financial outlook hopeful

April 22, 2009
By Greta Myers
Public Affairs Reporter

On what was a financially worrisome day for some, University of Illinois President Joseph White sent a “cautiously optimistic” update on the university’s financial status.  The heart of the hopefulness   in White’s April 15 email was Gov. Pat Quinn’s state budget for fiscal 2009 and 2010.  Members of the General Assembly will vote on Quinn’s budget in late spring or early summer.

Quinn’s proposed budget would restore the 2.5 percent rescission that UIS had reserved starting during the fall semester as a measure to combat a downturn in the economy.  Gov. Quinn also wants to enact a 1.1 percent increase in the general operating appropriation for the three campuses and supports capital projects that could result in new construction and the renovation of existing buildings on campus.

Ashley Rook, President of the Student Government Association, said that although the legislators she spoke with during the recent Lobbying Day at the Statehouse did not give any indication on how they would they would vote on the governor’s budget, they were supportive of the capital needs at UIS.  This included the continuing renovation of Brookens Library.
White also referenced the Federal Economic Stimulus Plan as evidence that the university’s financial situation isn’t as dire as it was in the fall.  Under this plan, White wrote, the government would invest in UIS by  giving more money  for  areas such as research and  increasing  student financial aid grants.  

For some students on campus, Rook said, this will be a welcome relief.
“A lot of students are facing financial trouble. Loans and scholarships would help,” she said.  The current stabilization of tuition rates is helpful as well, Rook said.

“I am pleased he (White) is trying to hold tuition at a reasonable level,” she said.