On April 21 NEIU will take a bus of students, faculty, staff, alumni and trustees to Springfield for Higher Education Lobby Day. We will divide into teams and carry our message to key legislators for support of higher education and for Northeastern’s appropriation.
You may recall that the operating budget for the University consists primarily of two parts-student tuition and state appropriations. The process for state appropriations begins nearly two years before the funds are appropriated. The vice presidents and I develop budget requests based on the University’s Strategic Plan. These are brought to the University Planning and Budget Council (UPBC) for consideration. This is a newly formed Council with representation from the four shared governance groups-the Student Government Association, the Faculty Senate, the Civil Service Council, and the Administrative and Professional Council. The UPBC reviews these requests, seeking input from their constituencies, and makes recommendations for the development of the budget request.
When it is finalized, it is brought to our Board of Trustees for discussion. This occurs in June of each year. Over the summer any refinements are made based on Trustee questions or new information. The Request Budget, as it is formally called, is approved by the Trustees at the September meeting. It is then forwarded to the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) and considered by that group along with the requests from all of the public universities in Illinois (as well as the community colleges and other relevant groups). The IBHE then recommends an overall budget for higher education to the Governor. This part is usually completed by late fall.
The Governor then provides his budget recommendations via a budget address to the Legislature. I attended that address in Springfield on March 10. From there the Legislature proceeds to debate, amend, disaggregate, and combine various budget bills in a series of formal steps. Part of that process provides an opportunity for affected entities to give testimony to committees charged with analysis, recommendation, and action on a particular bill. For example, I testified before the House Higher Education Appropriations Committee on February 24th, and the Senate Appropriations II Committee on March 24th in support of Northeastern’s funding. These committees will vote these appropriation bills out of committee; the bills will be combined with other budgetary pieces for an overall bill (again in a series of formal steps which one can review on the State of Illinois web site). The budget is forwarded to the Governor for approval, after which our appropriation is received. The typical calendar for final action is May-sometimes it is earlier or later. The budget year begins on July 1.
All during the legislative session, Senators and Representatives are listening to their many constituents to hear their concerns and hopes. Lobby Day is an effective way for them to hear from Northeastern Illinois University. It is an important part of the process. While my description of the appropriation steps is not meant to be technically complete, it is meant to reflect the overall flow and Northeastern’s role in that flow. We work to be proactive on behalf of the University. If you have questions or comments, please write to me at PresColumn@neiu.edu .
Until next time. . . .