Issues were discussed and reports were heard, but no significant actions were taken at Tuesday’s Illinois Board of Higher Education meeting, said Don Sevener, the board’s press secretary.

“It wasn’t a particularly newsworthy meeting,” said Les Hyder, journalism department chair and Eastern’s representative on the IBHE’s Faculty Advisory Council.

A two-part report on salaries and fringe benefits at Illinois’ institutions of higher education was presented, including discussion of the absence of new funds for salary increases in fiscal year 2003.

Sevener said, however, the IBHE has not taken action on faculty salaries yet.

A presentation of Institutional Results Reports also occurred at the meeting. Four institutions, Kennedy-King College, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of St. Francis and Western Illinois University were the winners of the best reports, Sevener said.

In addition, the board discussed an item on student success and degree completion. Factors including student persistence, institutional practices and the breadth of diversity in Illinois colleges and universities were included in the item.

“They talked about the trend in students taking more than four years to complete degrees and evaluated the factors related to that,” Hyder said.

The ultimate goal related to this issue was to increase both the number and the various backgrounds of students completing degrees, but the IBHE did not act on it at Tuesday’s meeting.

“The board wanted more information on the degree completion item, and discussions will be completed later,” Sevener said.

Hyder said the IBHE’s Committee on Affordability will meet tomorrow in Chicago to assess the impact of the current budget crunch on students and tuitions.

The next official IBHE meeting to figure out the budget will be more involved than the October meetings, Sevener said.

The budget meeting is planned for Dec. 11 in Chicago.

Today’s meeting was held at the Kishwaukee College Conference Center in Malta.