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Caption: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1984
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252 BOARD OF TRUSTEES [June 16 Severe financial stringencies continue to confront the University. Further, it is my desire to streamline, so far as possible, the central administrative structure of the University. While such an approach will place greater burdens on other officers, including the president, it could also result in an even more tightly disciplined, better coordinated, more efficient structure. If, at some point in the future, it should prove wise to resume the search for a vice president for administration, I would not hesitate to recommend to the Board of Trustees that we do so. In the interim, and with the concurrence of the board, it would be my plan to defer such action. Yesterday, we participated in hearings before the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives in support of the University's appropriations bill. It was the decision of the committee to revise the General Revenue Fund appropriation downward to the Fiscal Year 1983 expenditure level, including the $7.1 million midyear cut. This may likely throw the final determination of the University's appropriations into conference committee involving House and Senate conferees since the House and Senate versions of our bill now differ. This is not an outcome we would have sought, but it should not obscure the fundamental issue. T h e fundamental issue is the prompt restoration of fiscal stability to Illinois State Government through a responsible tax increase commensurate with the proposal advanced by Governor Thompson, and the immediate restoration of more adequate funding for education at all levels in Illinois. These fundamental issues will finally come to a head during the next fourteen days. We are continuing to do everything we can to be supportive to public policymakers and to alert the public to the unprecedented implications of these decisions to the future of this State. As for the University, we are convinced we must maintain the integrity of our financial base and avoid further deterioration. If there were ultimately a significant reduction in State support below the level authorized in the senate and recommended by the governor, I would recommend to President Forsyth that he convene the Board of Trustees, in special session if necessary, to reconsider the entire FY 1984 budget, both income and expenditures, and including short-term tuition increases and longer-term plans aimed at program reductions. Further, the governor has stated in recent days that if no resolution of the State's fiscal crisis is reached by July 1, he will not sign appropriation bills. This would mean that we could not authorize expenditures from State funds until these matters were properly resolved. Time is running out; delay is pushing us toward a genuine crisis which if allowed to roll on unattended as a result of inaction will personally affect thousands of Illinois citizens. At this point, the Board of Trustees adjourned for lunch. The board reconvened in regular session at 1:25 p.m. OLD AND NEW BUSINESS Mr. Hahn called attention to the recent death of Mrs. David D. Henry, wife of the former president of the University, and asked that the secretary write a letter to Dr. Henry, expressing the board's respect and sympathy. REGULAR AGENDA The board considered the following reports and recommendations from the president of the University. Interim Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 1984 (2) In recent years the trustees have approved the continuation of the previous year's budget into the next fiscal year when legislative action on University appro-
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