Every item on the Illinois Board of Higher Education’s budget recommendations for next year passed Tuesday at the the board’s meeting in Chicago, including an almost 5 percent increase in spending funds for fiscal year 2004.

However, representatives from Eastern said the generous recommendations were not cause to celebrate just yet.

Interim President Lou Hencken said, after returning from the IBHE’s meeting, that passing the recommendations is important to the governor and the General Assembly to let them know where funds should go if any new dollars do come in.

The IBHE approved a proposed budget of $2.7 billion for institutions of higher education which, if approved by Governor-elect Rod Blagojevich and a newly-elected general assembly, would go into effect July 1, 2003, Hencken said.

If the budget is passed by the legislative bodies, Eastern would be better off than it has been in two years, but a “looming threat” of a mid-year recision still remains.

The recommended budget is always subject to change.

“Daniel LaVista, executive director of the IBHE, referred to it as ‘the budget of the moment,'” Hencken said. “It’s what we need to keep our heads above water.”

All of the recommendations are a “wish list,” said Les Hyder, chair of the journalism department and Eastern’s representative to the IBHE Faculty Advisory Council.

The budget recommendations include a 2 percent salary increase for faculty and staff who were denied a raise this year, as well as $37.7 million for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to restore last year’s financial aid cuts because of increased tuition around the state, an IBHE news release stated.

The amount recommended for the capital budget fund is $341.8 million, which will facilitate borrowed money for 31 projects at public universities and community colleges, also was approved. This fund will project $30 million for repair and renovation projects at each of these institutions, the news release stated.

Three of the 31 recommended projects are improvements at Eastern, Hencken said.

The third project on IBHE’s list recommends $4.2 million to redo the campus electrical system in an effort to reduce power losses, followed by number four, which would allow $1.5 million for equipment in the Doudna Fine Arts Center.

A recommendation of another $1.5 million to continue Eastern’s chilled water loop expansion a 22 on the IBHE’s list, Hencken said.

Eastern’s newly-implemented EIU4 program to guarantee students graduate in four years was recognized, and the university received $10,000 for the project.

Hyder said many in Springfield won’t disagree that these are valid needs for higher education, but said it’s unlikely legislators will approve the recommendations.

Despite a substantial budget deficit and a new regime in the capitol, both Hyder and Hencken are confident in the IBHE’s recommendations.

“I heard good comments made about higher education being important to people in Illinois,” Hencken said. “I think the state and the governor’s office need to step up to the plate.”