Editor’s Note: This is the first installment in a series of pension articles.

The Council on University Planning and Budget moved to implement pension discussion forums to address encroaching issues like Senate Bill 512, which proposes to require state workers to pay more toward retirement.

Illinois ranks worst in the nation in regards to adequately financing public pensions, and the state faces an estimated $85 billion in unfunded pension supply.

According to state law, Illinois must fund at least 90 percent of pension systems by 2045.

President Bill Perry presented the Council on University Planning and Budget with the topic of developing a hybrid system for pension reform where both employees and employers would make contributions toward retirement.

“We need to let people know that this is serious business, and we need to talk about it,” Perry said.

Perry distributed the document “Fiscal Sustainability and Retirement Security: A Reform Proposal for the Illinois State Universities Retirement System” to the council members as a tool to prompt discussion with faculty and staff in the university.

The document was written by University of Illinois’s Jeffrey Brown, director of the Center for Business and Public Policy, and Robert Rich, director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs.

“(The document) provides a rational look at our situation referring to certain kinds of solutions that are being developed nationwide about hybrid-type systems,” Perry said.

Blair Lord, the provost and the vice president for academic affairs, said he met with legislative leaders who provided a history of the pension situation and suggested that universities should become a partner in the reform.

“The situation has reached a point where it is not sustainable, and something must be done to change the game for the future,” Lord said. “There are a lot of moving parts right now, and this document serves as a centerpiece for the conversation.”

If passed, Senate Bill 512 would go into effect in Fiscal Year 2013, which begins July 1.

Roger Beck, the council chairman and a history professor, said if 50 or so faculty members decide to resign on or before June 30 because of the extra pension costs, then faculty moral would be damaged, and the time and money put into job searches would be an enormous expense.

Angela Campbell, a council member and the president of the Staff Senate, said staff members show rising concern regarding the pension situation.

“The staff are screaming for information,” Campbell said. “There is so much panic going on that I am wondering how many staff are going to walk out between now and June 30 and where that is going to leave all of the departments.”

Kathlene Shank, a council member and the department chair of special education, said the members need to educate themselves before they make a recommendation relative to how the university should respond, and the council cannot afford to wait six weeks before continuing discussion.

Shank moved to request the president to send a memo to the campus regarding possible pension changes and for the council to create a minimum of three forums where the document would serve as the basis for discussion.

The motion was unanimously approved.

The council also approved moving up its next meeting time to 3 p.m. on March 2.

Rachel Rodgers can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]