Keep your fingers crossed the lights don’t go out.

The money that would pay for repairs following unexpected power outages could be put in reserve.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich asked public universities to set aside 8 percent of this year’s operating budget to be possibly requested by the state later on.

The budget requests came early this month so the governor has time to prepare for his budget address which will take place around the first week of April.

Each university was given until midnight Thursday to report to the Bureau of the Budget area’s funds can be squeezed from in the three months left in this year’s fiscal budget.

The midnight deadline was given following a meeting with the bureau Wednesday in Springfield.

Interim President Lou Hencken called a meeting Thursday afternoon with executives of university committees to discuss the situation.

The university divided cuts that will total about $3 million from 15 areas, with 2 percent already in reserve. The reserve amount and cuts combined will equal $4.1 million.

That number is what Blagojevich is asking for, but overall, Blagojevich’s request would total about $113 million across higher education schools and agencies.

Eastern’s cuts are named with what is least crucial first, and what will hopefully not lose funds last.

Equipment costs not committed in the amount of $475,000 is first on the list. Last to go will be up to $800,000 in summer school cuts, which could cut the number of classes offered.

The breakdown

“Let’s just see how far they go down on this list,” Hencken said.

“It is my belief that the governor and the Bureau of the Budget want to cut what they believe is waste,” he said. “They don’t want to harm students.”

Other cuts on the reserve come from positions not filled, deferred maintenance, shutting down buildings during the summer months and even $150,000 from laying off non-teaching personnel, among other areas.

The personnel cut is low on the list.

Closing the buildings between May 15 and June 30 will cut about $50,000 in costs for turning the air off around noon each Friday, Hencken said.

He said shutting off the air, which could continue through August, will raise the building temperatures about 10 degrees.

Not a lot of summer courses or university activities will be affected, but buildings housing such items as computers and science equipment will not be shut down, Hencken said.

“To my knowledge, I don’t think we offered more than one or two courses on Friday afternoon,” he said.

Part of $300,000 of deferred maintenance for reserve could cut projects such as sidewalk improvement needed in the South Quad.

“By the way, we cannot do these things without harm,” he said. “Anything above 2 percent (cuts) will result in harm.”

One other cut could come from summer school classes with low enrollment, which seems like a logical business move, but not for university administrators or for students who need the class to graduate, he said.

In the future, the cuts could become permanent losses, Hencken said.

Universities also were asked to present the state with fiscal year 2004 budget cuts by Thursday night.

Eastern’s proposal will include cuts in many of the areas recommended for 2003, and the losses could start as “base adjustments,” before the fiscal year begins, said Jill Nilsen, vice president for external relations.

This year’s cuts are in the right order, said Bob Augustine, chair of the Council on University Planning and Budget.

“I really feel like this is all in a really logical order,” he said. “It’s painful to do these things, but we’re really protecting our students.”

“I think the order was really well done. Of course, having summer school on there is upsetting,” said Marty Ruhaak, student vice president for public affairs.