SIU funding should be proportional based on students, building needs, Pritzker says
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said allocation of state funds to the Southern Illinois University campuses in Edwardsville and Carbondale should be done on a proportional basis, both on student population and building needs.
Pritzker, during a stop on campus Tuesday afternoon, briefly spoke about the funding issue that has been a source of controversy as he signed legislation giving the two student trustees on the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees voting power.
“There are decisions made about the allocations both in Springfield, and requests made by the board of trustees. We want to make sure looking at enrollment, looking at the needs for building improvements and so on that they’re made on a proportionate basis,” Pritzker said.
He said it could be both on student population and on plant equipment needs.
“You need to feed both of those things in each place,” Pritzker said.
The bill signing in Edwardsville was one of three stops in the metro-east for Pritzker on Tuesday. He also visited Fairmount Park in Collinsville to tout the gambling expansion in the state and how it is expected to help the racetrack, as well as a stop in Alton for a ribbon-cutting event.
“Every decision the Board of Trustees makes impacts the experiences of the students, and I believe it is only fair to have input from both Carbondale and Edwardsville as those decisions are made,” said state Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, one of the sponsors of the bill passed in the Legislature. “The Edwardsville campus has changed dramatically, and it is important to make sure we continue to support that growth.”
Previously, each year, one student from each SIU campus is elected through a campuswide election to serve on the SIU Board of Trustees, but, only one student is given the status of a voting member on the board.
Usually, the vote alternated between the two universities, but state law allows the governor to assign the vote to either student. The legislation removes the power from the governor to assign the vote by giving each student the opportunity to become a voting member of the board.
The bill was co-sponsored by state Rep. LaToya Greenwood, D-East St. Louis, state Rep. Monica Bristow, D-Godfrey, state Rep. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, and former state Rep. Jerry Costello, II, D-Smithton,
Pritzker signed legislation as the SIU Board wrestles with how to best fund the two campuses, specifically how the campuses should split the state funding the university system receives.
Since about 1975, state funds have been allotted on a roughly 64% to 36% split between Carbondale and Edwardsville, respectively — about $91.4 million and $53.8 million in Fiscal Year 2018.
However, there has been a push from metro-east legislators for the SIUE campus to receive a greater share as the university equaled and then surpassed SIUC in enrollment during the last two school years.
A recent study by the firm AGB Consulting did not return an updated formula on how funding could be determined, but rather a set of policy recommendations to help the board create its own formula.
University officials essentially called it “a punt.”
In the last session of the General Assembly, metro-east legislators pushed bills that called for equitable funding and even possibly splitting the SIU system. Those bills did not advance.
“There’s a strength in having a (unified) system,” Stuart said. “That system has to treat the parts of that system fairly and equitably.
“I think by making sure that both campuses always have a voice at the table on an actual vote, we’re more likely to have that result with board action, and that could stem the need to make any radical changes to the system.”
This story was originally published July 30, 2019 at 4:15 PM.
