State budget picture worsens; Peters tells campus layoffs now possible

by Melanie Magara

NIU President John Peters last week used an all-campus e-mail to inform faculty, staff and students about what he termed "a worsening state budget picture" that could result in layoffs and program eliminations.

Faced with steadily declining revenue projections, lawmakers in Springfield put forth a variety of new FY03 budget scenarios in recent weeks—all of which included additional cuts to higher education.

"It is clear that our plan to manage budget cuts through reallocation and a tuition increase may not be enough in this new environment," Peters wrote. "Our best efforts to avoid layoffs and other dire measures may not be entirely successful."

NIU's share of budget cuts amounted to a $4.8 million mid-year rescission in FY02 and a $9_10 million shortfall predicted for FY03, the fiscal year that begins on July 1. New cuts under discussion in Springfield are aimed at erasing a state budget deficit now estimated at between $1.2 and $1.8 billion. One "doomsday" budget put forth last week by House and Senate budget staff would have more than doubled NIU's FY03 hit.

"Public universities throughout Illinois are united in our message to state officials," Peters said. "The message is simple: We have taken enough cuts. We cannot sustain more without seriously impacting access and quality."

Several campus groups responded quickly to Peters' message. Student leaders drafted and sent letters to more than 25 Illinois newspapers, as well as to legislators and other students around the state.

Members of the University Advisory Committee (UAC) followed Peters' email with one of their own last week. The UAC message urged members of the campus community to inform themselves about the state budget crisis and to contact legislators.

Peters also commissioned a special state budget crisis Web site (www.niu.edu/statebudget), accessible from the main university homepage as well as the faculty/staff and student Web pages. The site contains news articles, statements, budget analysis and links to other sites with budget information and legislators' names and addresses.

"Much of our work in coming weeks will be behind the scenes in Springfield," Peters said. "At the same time, it's important for our lawmakers to hear from members of our campus community so they'll know the extent of the crisis our students will face if these additional cuts are adopted."