Daily Egyptian WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017
DAILYEGYPTIAN.COM
More university programs at risk as stopgap ends MARNIE LEONARD | @marsuzleo
Unless the state budget impasse ends and significant funding begins to flow to the university by the end of the fiscal year in June, some university programs may see dramatic funding cuts. The university broadcasting service, counseling and psychological services, the University Museum and university farms are among the groups at risk. “If we just start doing away with those things I’m afraid we’ll never get them back," SIU President Randy Dunn said Friday. "They’re a part of our history and what makes SIU Carbondale a special campus." Stopgap funding ended Jan. 1, and with a new session of the Illinois General Assembly in its second week and no end to the ongoing budget impasse in sight, SIU officials are singing a familiar tune. “We’re right back in the same boat we were in this time last year when this budget situation started,” Dunn said. In 2016, two stopgap measures passed through the state Legislature that totaled $83 million in support for the university.
For the most part, the stopgap funding was used to pay the bills from the 2016 fiscal year. The university started the 2017 fiscal year “basically back at zero” and is dipping into the reserves once again, Dunn said. Though the university is not in a position where closure is being considered, Dunn said it would be difficult for SIU to continue functioning for another 18 months without having to “dismantle big parts of the university operation.” Should no appropriations be made by the end of the fiscal year on June 30, he said SIU would be “running on fumes.” Dunn said initial cuts would come from the findings of the non-academic prioritization committee appointed by interim Chancellor Brad Colwell. The report, released Thursday, focused on long term cash saving measures. Though long term efficiencies were the top priority, immediate savings were also part of the findings, SIU spokesperson and committee cochairwoman Rae Goldsmith said. Please see STOPGAP | 2
SINCE 1916
VOL. 101 ISSUE 1
‘A community of philanthropyʼ
Morgan Timms | @morgan_timms Counterclockwise from left: Good Samaritan Ministries Executive Director Mike Heath supervises Aniyah Miller, 10; Carissa Bennett, 10; Jaden Garnette-Love, 10; Darren Johnson, 10, all of Carbondale; and Zachary Myers, of Memphis, Tenn., as they fill Heath's trunk with blankets, hats and gloves donated by the public Monday during the Boys and Girls Club of Carbondale's Lend a Hand donation drive. The children held the drive for their annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service project. The Carbondale community was invited to drop off fresh fruits and vegetables, spare change, warm blankets, hats and gloves at the Boys and Girls Club, where they were later presented to Heath and Good Samaritan vice president Maurine Pyle. "We have tremendously generous donors here in town," Pyle said. "All of these local donors and fundraisers keep us going. It's a community of philanthropy."