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Caption: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1972
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118 BOARD OF TRUSTEES [November 13 MEETING RECESSED On motion of Mr. Swain, the Board recessed for a meeting of the Committee on Buildings and Grounds to consider a recommendation concerning a married student housing project in Urbana and to hear from student, community, and other groups whom the Chancellor had invited to speak to the recommendation (copies of the statements of the presentations are filed with the Secretary of the Board and are a part of the minutes of the meeting of the Committee). When the Board reconvened at 9:45 a.m., the same members and officers of the Board and officers of the University were present as recorded at the beginning of these minutes. BUSINESS PRESENTED BY T H E PRESIDENT OF T H E UNIVERSITY T h e Board considered the following reports and recommendations from the President of the University. PRESIDENT'S REPORT President Henry presented a report on selected topics of current interest, copies of which were distributed at the meeting, and a copy was filed with the Secretary of the Board. REPORT O F DELIBERATIONS W I T H BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION COMMITTEE N O N GOVERNANCE President Henry also reviewed the work of Committee N of the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the several documents between the Committee and the University indicating that the documents had been printed in the most recent issue of the Faculty Letter, a copy of which has been filed with the Secretary of the Board. STATEMENT O N T H E TUITION STUDY PRESENTLY BEFORE T H E STATE O F ILLINOIS BOARD O F HIGHER EDUCATION As a matter of information President Henry presented the following statement: I wish to report to you my general observations related to the Illinois Board of Higher Education's discussion of tuition and fees. The historical objective of the University of Illinois has been to keep the cost of education at the lowest level possible, in order to assure that qualified students not be deprived of educational opportunity for economic reasons. While the University recognizes the need to meet increased costs and new requirements for resources, it continues to maintain its traditional position that students should be directly assessed the lowest possible percentage of the instructional cost — consistent with the general public welfare and the equitable distribution of taxation for that purpose. Therefore I deplore the necessity for any tuition increase; but if an increase is unavoidable, I would urge that it be gradually instituted in a series of steps, thus providing time for those coming under heightened economic pressure to marshall the additional support necessary. In addition, it is particularly disconcerting to have the level of tuition in the state of uncertainty that has existed during these last few years. If the percentage of educational costs to be charged directly to the student is changed, again, such a change should be accomplished within a stable long-range policy. It is impossible to forecast economic developments, or foreclose future options, but some effort must be made to replace arbitrary estimates and alterations with relatively stable planning and policy. At this time, further discussion is needed concerning the impact of higher tuition upon the institution, the students, and the state. It is certainly not in the interest of the State of Illinois to reduce unnecessarily its investment in higher education. Nor is it in the interest of needy students, for whom educational opportunities have developed only recently, to increase the cost of education without a guaranteed concomitant expansion of available scholarships and grants. Careful
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