Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1976 [PAGE 502]

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1976]

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

491

most vigorously. In a period, for example, when continuing education is viewed as a major need of society, we find it impossible to understand the basis for the total rejection by the BHE of our program requests in this field. Widi regard to salaries, our request for funds to support increases averaging 7.5 percent was cut to funds to support increases averaging 7 percent using a formula which provides 7 percent of 90 percent of our personal services base, a formula which creates considerable difficulty in achieving increases averaging 7 percent. Other systems which recommended increases as high as 20 percent were also reduced to increases at this 7 percent level. I find much more merit in arguing on behalf of the realistic and of the possible than in playing games which lead people to believe that the impossible is possible. I know how our salaries have lagged, and I intend to work as hard as possible to preserve our ability to grant salary increases which will average about 7 percent. Even if all of us involved can get together and work together to achieve that level of increase, it is entirely possible diat we will achieve less. Today's climate, both political and economic, is not one in which we should make great claims to overcome losses; we must work hard to avoid new losses and the more united our voice can be, the better our slim chances of success. All in all, it seems to me that the crucial factor is to recognize diat the "bottom-line" increase recommended by the BHE for the University of Illinois is a serious attempt by die BHE, based upon a similar attempt by our Board of Trustees, to recognize legitimate and essential needs during a time of constrained resources. We must not permit debate about tuition policy, about access, about aid to other components of higher education in Illinois to divert our attention and die attention of the General Assembly, of die Governor, and of die people of Illinois from the fact that we and die BHE are in reasonable agreement concerning the minimum funding necessary to maintain the quality and die service of die University of Illinois. Capital Budgets The University of Illinois submitted capital budget requests for FY 1977 in die amount of $38,172,400, and die BHE documents support an amount of $22,131,950. Within a framework of funds available for capital development, die BHE had to reduce requests from die systems totalling $247,857,117 to recommendations totaling $97,929,769 or a reduction to about 40 percent of requests. In diis process, several projects of major importance to die University of Illinois have been deferred, including particularly a $4,000,000 addition to die Library stacks at Urbana-Champaign, over $2,000,000 for phase two of the nuclear reactor laboratory at Urbana-Champaign, and about $1,700,000 for botany greenhouses at