Minutes of the
NIU Board of Trustees

Agenda Item 6.b. – Work Order System Replacement 
The need for a new work order system was discussed in the Committee's May 27 meeting. Dr. Williams stated that the system in the Physical Plant is antiquated and a new one is needed to help track and process the requests for repairs, remodeling, renovations, and so forth that can add up to over $8 million in transactions and internal billings. We have to be ready for the year 2000, he said, and we need to have a system that will be compatible with our new financial system software. We made provision in our new financial system for a module that would accommodate the work orders and provide that accounting to move directly into the financial accounting system, so this is a compatible software package. The university asked Committee concurrence on the recommendation for a budget not to exceed $600,000 for the work order system replacement to be provided through the internal funding of the Physical Plant. Trustee Sanchez asked for a motion to approve the request. Trustee Moser so moved, seconded by Trustee Skoien. The motion was approved.

In response to a question from Trustee Skoien, President La Tourette noted that the cost of the Year 2000 Compliance thus far has been estimated at a little over $1.5 million. The cost of the financial system that Dr. Williams referred to will be approximately $3 million over a period of time. Internally, we have had to deal with funding the Year 2000 Compliance, President La Tourette said, and the development of the financial system through university reallocations to amount to around $4.5 million. We have not been able to go into the work order system or the Human Resource component of this overall computer system package because we are asking for additional funds from the legislature. I was just sharing with Mr. Boey a draft of the letter that I am sending as a follow-up to our discussion on Friday with the Executive Director of the Board of Higher Education, the President said, in which I reemphasize the fact that these systems are very expensive, that we have made a major effort to fund the cost of these new systems through our own budget, and that we would like to have the State begin to help us, especially with the Human Resource component, because that will be another very significant expenditure.

Agenda Item 6.c. – Fiscal Year 2000 Tuition Recommendations 
The Board of Trustees is responsible for setting tuition and fee rates at the institution. The university recommended an overall 3 percent increase in the undergraduate tuition rate, a $10 per credit hour increase in the graduate rate, and an 8 percent increase in the College of Law. Summer rates would be on a per-credit-hour basis at the 12-hour base rate. These recommendations are dependent on several factors, Dr. Williams said. One, the Board of Higher Education has, again this year, included a 3 percent tuition increase as part of the assumptions that determine their recommendation to the General Assembly and the Governor. In order to meet the IBHE recommended budget, the university will have to have a minimum 3 percent tuition rate. We are entering the second year of an undergraduate tuition plan that was instituted by the President so that students who take more credit hours would experience less impact with the new tuition increases, Dr. Williams said. The per-hour cost decreases as the number of hours taken increases, thus encouraging students to take more hours at a cheaper per credit hour rate. Initial findings after the first year of this plan indicate that it seems to be working; the average number of hours taken by NIU students is increasing.

The university is extending a plan that started two years ago to bring graduate costs in line with other institutions in the state, Dr. Williams said, and the $10 increase is consistent with that goal. The College of Law has to have a minimum 3 percent tuition increase in order to meet the IBHE budget. The additional 5 percent request for the College of Law is in support of programs and services involved with their accreditation. The dean of the College of Law has evaluated the needs of the college library, computing and other services, and the revenues over and above three percent would go directly to the college in support of those needs. Board Chair Boey said that Trustee Susan Grans sent her regrets for not being able to attend the meeting but asked that he pass on the fact that she would have voted for this 3 percent increase if she been at the meeting. At the same time, he said, she reminds all of us that while there is an increase in inflation that is always important, we are always to remember to keep our expenses down in order to balance out the equation. I am very comfortable with the 3 percent increase, Student Trustee Sosnowski said, and I am very comfortable talking to my fellow students about it. Considering the cost of higher education and the costs of paying teachers, he said, I think a 3 percent increase overall is very reasonable and worthwhile. I just want to mention that there has been a lot of thought and hard work put into this whole program, Trustee Moser said, and I think that the recommendation is a very good one. From my perspective, Chair Sanchez said, I think one of the most difficult things that we address as Trustees is tuition — increasing the cost of higher education. So, it is not something we do lightly. The sliding scale in place now as an economic incentive was not there previously. Dr. Williams has already told us that it is working out and people are now taking additional hours to take advantage of that economic break. Board Chair Boey stated that he also felt that 3 percent was a very reasonable rate. In answer to a question from Student Trustee Sosnowski, President La Tourette said that there were now over 500 students taking more than 12 hours compared to two years ago. So we did have an impact, the President said. Also, we have launched a very significant public relations campaign to orient students and their parents, pointing out that it is very expensive for students to go beyond four years. Not only do they have the extra cost of tuition and fees and room and board, the President said, but there are also foregone earnings. So, the two sides of this — the incentive to take more hours at the reduced cost per credit hour and the realization that going beyond four hours is a rather expensive proposition — have helped us see a very positive response to this. Trustee Sanchez asked for a motion to approve the FY00 tuition recommendations. Trustee Moser made a motion to approve the recommended tuition increases, seconded by Trustee Skoien. The motion was approved.

Agenda Item 6.d. – High-Speed Network Access for On-Campus Student Housing 
High-speed network access for students in the residence halls was explained by Dr. Williams as a new and faster modem that can be utilized so that greater speeds and access can be made available to students in the residence halls. This program was begun on an experimental basis and students responded very positively. Mr. Tuecke and the housing resident hall director are now recommending that the program be expanded to allow more students to have access to these high-speed modems. This request was not to exceed $690,000, Dr. Williams said, and the funds will be reimbursed through the sales and service operation of the computer area. Chair Sanchez stated that the recommendation is "Assuming the sole source status will not be challenged, the university requests Board of Trustees approval to issue a purchase order as follows: … Not to exceed $690,000." He then asked for a motion to concur with the recommendation. Trustee Moser so moved, seconded by Trustee Skoien. The motion was approved. Chair Sanchez asked the Student Trustee if he had had any exposure to that modem or system. Student Trustee Sosnowski said that he had never lived in Stevenson, so was unsure about how that worked in the residence halls. The only trouble I see in all this, he said, is that management companies in DeKalb might become upset because we may not be able to get students out of the residence halls, considering all these types of improvements. Student Trustee Sosnowski said he would talk with some of the students who lived in Stevenson and report back to the Committee. 
  

I just want to express my appreciation to Trustee Moser, who is a very avid supporter of our two FM stations, President La Tourette said. Also, NIU is already on the air in the Sterling-Rockford area, and that call sign is being announced along with the call signs for DeKalb and Rockford. This will extend Northern Illinois University signal reception to the south and to the west. Trustee Moser was pleased to hear of the tremendous increase in listeners, saying it was a dramatic improvement. Chair Sanchez remarked that Northern Illinois University's exposure through that medium could not be denied.

Agenda Item 7.b. – Semiannual Progress Report of Active Capital Projects with a Budget Over  $100,000 
In accordance with Board Regulations, the university provides semiannual progress reports on capital projects over $100,000. There is a lot of capital action at this university, Dr. Williams stated, in our efforts to improve the campus environment, address programmatic and service needs, and provide a campus environment that is most conducive to students' needs. He then updated the Board on two projects and one other issue that remain of concern. The Engineering Building has presented quite a problem in realizing the building originally designed and contracted, he said. Of particular concern has been the clean room. We are pleased that the CDB has taken the initiative in trying to resolve the issues of bringing the clean room and the building itself up to the standards and specifications that were originally established, Dr. Williams said. The director, Sam McGaw, has spent countless hours working on this and conducted at least 14 meetings on and off NIU's campus with contractors, subcontractors, architects and engineers. At this point, some progress has been made in identifying what the needs are and what can be done to resolve them. Dr. Williams thought there would be some form of report or action taken by the CDB in the near future to come up with the appropriate dollars necessary to correct the problems.

Another troublesome area has been Faraday West. After the original general contractor declared bankruptcy, the university was able to keep the project moving by bringing in Pepper Construction to finish the work. Though the list has dwindled over the last year and a half, there are a number of issues that still remain unresolved that they are working on. There is a problem with the clean room in Faraday. There are issues on the exterior, foundation leaks and air balancing. The issue has been taken up by general counsel for the CDB, Dr. Williams said, and they are again trying to work out an agreement between all the parties so this work can be resolved.

The CDB is working with the university to get all of the ADA projects underway. Dr. Williams stated that a general suit suing those companies that make asbestos and asbestos products for construction has been undertaken by the Attorney General of the State of Illinois. This suit is on behalf of the entire state, all state agencies and all state buildings, where these materials have been used. The Attorney General's Office has requested that the university provide a substantial amount of information which Mr. Jim Bryant, director of NIU's Architectural and Engineering area, and his staff are working on in order to provide the necessary background for that litigation.

Trustee Moser inquired whether the funding received last year was for storm water detention and asked about the status of that project. Dr. Williams replied that funding was received for Phase I of the project, which included the full engineering of the whole plan: dredging the East Lagoon, further culvert work in the Watson Creek area and work along Lucinda Avenue. The university is reviewing the original engineering designs and specifications with CDB to be sure that they are valid and resolve the problem. The City of DeKalb has been very sensitive to this situation and has also worked on it with the university. Phase II, which was just funded this past year, Dr. Williams said, will include extensive work with the East Lagoon and other parts of the creek such as bringing in new bridges and clearing the banks, allowing a cleaner, fresher, flow-through. In answering Trustee Moser's question on projections for Phase II, Dr. Williams said construction would commence in about a year. Trustee Moser said this project should be reviewed further to see if anything can be done to speed it up because the threat of flooding in those areas is still there. Dr. Williams said the university had been pushing CDB and the engineers to expedite this review in order to get the project moving. Some preliminary engineering drawings were done as part of Phase I. A second opinion was provided in conjunction with the CDB review relative to what was recommended and specced for the job, Dr. Williams said, and there was a discrepancy. We are now trying to resolve the discrepancy and come up with a set of plans and specs that will do the job. Trustee Skoien said it sounded like the university was making some progress, and things are going the right way. But these construction defects just go forever and ever and ever, he said, and we really should make sure that they are not missing any statute of limitations. The second thing is, if they have not done it, one of the things that really seems to move both contractors and architects along – short of suing – is putting their E&O carriers and their sureties on notice. I do not know if they have done that yet, because sometimes the CDB is reluctant to do that, but it does get people moving.

I appreciate that, Dr. Williams said. The point here is that I do not think they know who is at fault, and I dare say I do not either. It is a combination, and it is really a comedy of errors. But I appreciate your comment. I see Mr. Bryant is taking down that note, and we will certainly pursue it to make sure that the sureties and insurance companies have been notified or put on notice that there is a major problem here.

Chair Sanchez noted that Stevenson Towers, Phase II, was one of the larger remodeling and rehabilitation projects and added that he recently had occasion to go through the Phase I renovation. It is a terrific facility, the Chair said, and I think it takes us into the third millenium, setting a paradigm for residential housing that will be replicated throughout the country. Also, in conversations with several of the students who were living in the quarters, he learned that they are quite pleased.

Agenda Item 7.c. – Annual Report of Cash and Investments 
In accordance with Board Regulations, the university is required to periodically report a statement summarizing all investment activity to the Board. The university has an investment committee that works on monitoring and compliance with state regulations regarding fund investment. They review the investment strategy being pursued by the university and provide recommendations and other directives to NIU's cash manager. This report summarized bank depositories and the results of investments over the last year. Dr. Williams said he believed that the return on these investments has been good and exceptional in most cases. Ms. Tamara Farley, Director of Cash Management in the Controller's Office, was recognized by Dr. Williams.

Agenda Item 7.d. – Update of Fiscal Year 2000 Operating Budget Request The university developed its budget request and brought it to the Board in May. The Board approved that request of $166 million. After the Board approved that budget, it was submitted to the Board of Higher Education. Two follow-up meetings have been held. The Big Picture Meeting, gives an overview of institution needs, Dr. Williams said, and the IBHE staff gives some indication of where they think state support will be for the coming fiscal year. A subsequent meeting was held which identified in more specific terms what the Board of Higher Education staff was thinking. While those discussions were very preliminary, Dr. Williams went on, I can say from my perspective that it was refreshing to work with the new director of the IBHE. I felt personally that he has taken a very broad yet very positive stance in support of the universities and the university missions and has tried to come up with a strategy by which the needs of the institution might be met. Additional information was to be provided to the IBHE staff and their staff recommendation made public in December.

President La Tourette agreed with Dr. Williams' comments that this was a refreshing experience. I think there was a genuine attempt on the part of the executive director and his staff to understand the issues we are dealing with on a daily basis at the campus level, a willingness to be flexible about the use of the Income Fund, and to encourage us to identify areas of critical need, which went beyond what they were identifying up to this point. The President said he had drafted a letter to the executive director, Keith Sanders, which laid out Northern Illinois University's requests for some additional items to be considered in this budget process. 

The President said he thought the executive director was trying to develop a base of support not only to have a document that articulates higher education needs, but also to develop a base of support through his Citizen's Agenda to convey to the legislature and the new governor how important higher education is to the state and the state economy — the impact higher education has on the quality and the skill level of the work force, how that contributes to a higher standard of living and higher quality of life, and how indirectly that higher gross domestic product associated with a more skilled work force will result in higher tax revenues for the state so that we can argue it is not only an investment in higher education that returns the investment to the individual at a high rate of return, but also returns that investment to the state at the same time. I think this effort was long overdue, President La Tourette said, and allows us to move beyond the P•Q•P stage that the IBHE was in for a period of time. Basically, we are finding that the people in the state, employers in general and the media have a pretty high regard for higher education. They think we have done a good job and have been prudent in the use of state resources. We have tried to hold down tuition increases over the last several years, at the same time we are offering a quality product to our students. So Dr. Sanders thinks this is the right time to be a little more aggressive with the Governor and the legislature in the size of the package the IBHE will present. He has involved several Board members from the IBHE in this entire budget process. President La Tourette said that the chair of the committee, Lucy Sloan, was at NIU's meeting, and he thought she was attending all of the meetings with the universities that were scheduled those two weeks. I am optimistic that finally we have someone at a critical point in higher education in a position that can be influential in articulating our needs, the President said, and showing to the state, the media and the public how important higher education is to the future of the state in its global competitiveness in the 21st Century. That is an optimistic overview at this stage, he said, which is just the first step in the long legislative process we will go through in the spring to see what is supported by the state when the session closes in May or June of 1999.

Chair Boey said he shared the same optimism that President La Tourette and Dr. Williams had previously expressed. I think that working with Dr. Keith Sanders is a very refreshing situation, Chair Boey said, especially when I ask staff to brief me on prior meetings with the IBHE and they tell me that it is like night and day. I also do not doubt that Dr. Sanders has a mountain to climb in showing support for the universities and that it is important for the individual state universities to give him all the support we can. I find it very refreshing, for example, to see that under the budget format, the Income Fund was identified separately from the overall appropriations so that once and for all we know what the state is supplying versus what we already have in the local Income Fund. It is also nice to see that when an item comes up, such as when a market demand is identified, there is no hesitation on the executive director's part to say the budget should be adjusted to meet that market demand.

Agenda Item 7.e. – Illinois Board of Higher Education Deferred Maintenance Initiative 
Dr. Williams stated that this was again one of those new initiatives and a tangible reflection of the executive director's support for the institutions. The Board of Higher Education began to look at ways to respond to deferred maintenance needs on the campus. Noting that this is such a difficult problem faced by all of the universities, Dr. Sanders decided to try to put together a special request for deferred maintenance funds for all of the public universities. The request totaled $15 million, with $900,000 allocated for NIU, and was to be considered during the Veto Session. Dr. Williams said he agreed with Board Chair Boey that Dr. Sanders had a major uphill battle in his efforts to support the universities and all of public higher education in meeting various budgetary needs.

Agenda Item 7.f. – DuSable Hall Renovation - Phase II 
After previous Board approval, improvements and renovations were undertaken at DuSable Hall. While a total of $5 million is needed for the specific projects and improvements that need to be made, Dr. Williams said, we are trying to do as much as we can with existing resources. Phase I of the improvements was a $500,000 allocation, and results of those improvements have been received very favorably by both students, faculty and staff. Phase II continues the efforts to renovate DuSable and to provide as many improvements as possible with the limited resources available.

Agenda Item 8 - Legislative Report 
Ms. Kathy Swanson, Executive Director for State and Federal Relations, said the veto session would probably be a very quiet one. Legislative leaders and the Governor met and decided not to plan for a supplemental budget. Most of the universities are facing the issue of trustee reappointment legislation with four Trustees whose terms are about to expire. We need to make sure that there is a carryover piece of legislation that allows those Trustees to continue to serve until not only reappointed by the Governor, Ms. Swanson said, but confirmed by the Senate. That will probably not occur by January 18, when the Trustee terms lapse. Chair Sanchez informed those in attendance at the meeting that four of the Trustees were appointed to three-year terms. The three Trustees whose terms will not expire in January are Board Chair Robert Boey, Trustee George Moser and Trustee Manuel Sanchez.

The other issue was the procurement legislation. A bill was agreed upon by the Higher Education Chief Procurement Officer and all the other Procurement Officers, the Governor's Office, Steve Schnorf from the Bureau of the Budget, Senator Rauschenberger and Representative Shoenberg, who are the point people in their respective chambers on this legislation. It was hoped that the bill would continue to move through Veto Session. It is not the final bill, but it is a major step toward cleaning up some of those outstanding issues that are presenting operation problems for the universities. The issue of specific concern to Northern involving noncredit instructional exemption was included in that package. The final procurement rules were adopted effective November 20, 1998. University of Illinois President James Stukel, as president of the Council of University Presidents, sent all the members of the Council a list of procurement issues to be pursued in the Veto Session and has asked the universities to continue their support.

Concerning retirement issues, Ms. Swanson said it was possible that there might be a "5+5" for the State Employees Retirement System. It was doubtful that the opportunity for a "5+5" would be presented for the State Universities Retirement System. However, there was some discussion about other options to present to employees in SURS. The financial burden to SURS of a "5+5" plan would exceed $600 million and would set back the unfunded liability ratio far too much. 

There has been continued pressure for more recreation space. The Recreation Center, which was originally a 100,000 square foot building, has been very successful. With a great deal of pressure and support from students, a 40,000 sq. ft. section was added. We are on the verge of having to expand recreation space even further, the President said, so I began to look at whether including Evans Field House in the Recreation Center complex would help solve that problem at perhaps a much lower cost than putting yet another addition on the existing Recreation Center. Evans Field House is a very large building and has multipurpose facilities that could be made even more multipurpose with some modest renovation.

Another issue that surfaced in all of my thinking, President La Tourette said, is the recent discussion we had with the Office of Civil Rights regarding compliance with Title IX. There are three different tests used by OCR to determine if an institution is in compliance with Title IX. The first is proportionality: Are the same number of opportunities offered to women athletes as to men athletes based on the proportion of men and women in the student population? NIU's undergraduate level is about 53 percent women and about 47 percent men. Opportunities are offered at about 40 percent women and 60 percent men. It would take adding around five additional programs in sports to reach the proportion of approximately 53 to 47 percent women versus men. As I have looked at it, the President said, it would be a very high cost solution to gain compliance with Title IX through proportionality. The second test is to demonstrate that the university has made significant progress in the representation of women in intercollegiate athletics. Because of some early changes in our intercollegiate athletic program that go back to the 1970s, at this time we could not comply with that test for Title IX. The third test requires that the university demonstrate it has met all of the student interests. It appears that through the various discussions the university has held with OCR, surveys and follow-up interviews they have conducted relative to these surveys, OCR feels that Track should be made available because that is where women showed the most interest. So, the President said, we could comply with Title IX by introducing track. We have looked at the cost of refurbishing and reconstituting the outdoor track north of the stadium. But, to be really serious about track, we would need an indoor facility. That approach would result in a substantial Butler-type building, a reinforced steel roof structure, at a cost of $4+ million.

Looking at the prospect of building a rather enormous reinforced Butler building to provide not only track but field event opportunities, lockers, some heat, and perhaps use by some other sports, President La Tourette said, I came up with an estimated cost in student fees in the range of $30 to $35 a year. That is when I began to say to myself, if we go the parking deck route and build a track/sporting events facility, we are going to be up to $90 to $100 per student per year to solve these two issues. It became much more appealing then to think about how we could put all of these things together in one solution. Looking at these things, the President said, I also thought about what we are trying to do on the West Campus in an effort to make it as attractive as possible to students in residential living. The possible solution that came to mind was a convocation center. If we were to build a convocation center, it could hold 3,000 parking spaces with some shuttle service included, a track could be included in the structure, Evans Field House would be released in substantial part for more recreation, and all of this could probably be done at about the same price as a new parking deck and a Butler building for track would have cost. Working with staff, we said, "Here is the problem? Is this the problem? Have I identified it? Here's the solution." As we worked through each of these different scenarios, we kept coming back to the idea that perhaps there is one solution that might be viable for all of these issues and problems that we have to deal with, particularly the Office of Civil Rights problem. President La Tourette said he would brief the Board about the Title IX issue in more detail at its December 10 meeting. 

Chair Sanchez asked the President if, when speaking of a Convocation Center, he meant a multi-use facility that would replace, for instance, Evans Field House. President La Tourette answered that the new center would replace it, leaving Evans field House available to be taken over by Recreation and by the Athletic Department for some practices. Chair Sanchez said he agreed that this is something the Board should look into.

Listening to the President, Board Chair Boey said, a couple of additional needs come to mind. The last successful Job Fair held at NIU less than a month ago utilized all the available space in the Recreation Center, which is the biggest facility we have. The probability is that we will be looking for additional space for the next Job Fair. I can report to you that I use the recreation facility at least five nights a week, the Board Chair said, and there are many times on a cold January night that I ask myself, where would all these people be if we did not have the recreation facility? I am a witness that the need to expand is there. The other thought was regarding commencement activities held in Evans Field House. There is nothing wrong with Evans Field House as a facility, Board Chair Boey said, but I think we can do much better for those who attend the one single event they look forward in their whole lives. It makes more sense to look at a single project that can answer the needs of all those individual projects. We certainly need something like a convocation center as an anchor on the West Campus because while we are concerned about the quality of life for the students, there is just as important a need to have an anchor there for the development of the 200 acres that will go beyond that area for the future growth of the university and bring focus to it. Board Chair Boey suggested that perhaps the thing to do is convene a committee consisting of students, faculty and staff and allow them to take a look at the situation to see what recommendation they come up with as a single solution to all these items.

President La Tourette said he would first have to ask Dr. Williams to help him put these ideas in a more concrete set of alternatives by more precisely costing out each of the projects to see what kinds of solutions there might be if they are all pulled together. After staff comes up with alternatives for these four issues and the data is formalized, they will be brought back to the Committee for review. 

The Chair then asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Trustee Skoien so moved, seconded by Board Chair Boey. The meeting was adjourned at 11:40 a.m. 

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon M. Mimms 
Recording Secretary