Students entering Eastern will need to pay an additional $6 per credit hour, as stated in the 2019-2020 Tuition Recommendations (this includes Fall 2019, Spring 2020 and Summer 2020) that the Board of Trustees approved Friday afternoon.

Paul McCann, the interim vice president of business affairs, said the students that enter this year would have the same tuition for the standard length of their term.

If they are enrolled in four-year or five-year programs, the tuition rate will remain the same, he said.

If, however, they find themselves entering a sixth year, they will have the tuition rate the year after they entered, McCann said.

“This (increase) is only for new (students) coming in; transfers coming in, international (and) graduate students coming in,” he said.

The non-resident undergraduate tuition will increase by the same amount, but there is a 1.25 times increment compared to the in-state undergraduate, he said.

The rate for graduate students is going up $7.50 per credit hour, which is about a 2.25 percent increase. Graduate students that are non-residents will have a multiple of about 2.4 times when it comes to the tuition increase, McCann said.

President David Glassman said the tuition increase is in accordance to the inflation rates.

The Board of Trustees also voted to approve all purchase approvals, the 2019-2020 Tenure Recommendations and the New Program Requests.

Another purchase request concerned the license and maintenance agreement for the Banner software. The total contract would not exceed $2,935,000 per year.

McCann said the university has used the software on campus for about 15 years, and this purchase is for May 1, 2019 to June 30 of 2024.

“The agreement migrates us from where we are currently into a new licensing model that includes all portions of the Banner product under one umbrella,” he said.

Another purchase request concerned marketing and media buying services.

McCann said the proposal is a 10-year contract, and the cost would not exceed $500,000 a year or $5 million over the 10-year period for “oversight and management of traditional media planning,” which includes TV, radio, print, digital, outdoor and sponsorship opportunities.

McCann said the total cost for the library books, periodicals and electronic resources purchase request would not exceed $480,000. He said this is a purchase the university does every year, and it is used for research and teaching on campus.

Another request concerned $1.7 million to cover the cost of group insurance through the state of Illinois.

McCann said Gov. Ryan requested all state universities to participate in the cost of the health insurance plan, adding up to a total contribution of $45 million with Eastern paying $1.7 million.

The Board also approved $161,000 for elevator maintenance (July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2024), but additional costs and 4 percent increase per year means a total five-year contract price of $950,000, McCann said.

The last purchase request was a $400,000 cost per year for membership, data and databases through CARLI for research materials. McCann said the university renews this contract annually and receives many of the same research materials, databases and books through the program.

The Board also approved a new bachelor’s degree in fashion merchandising at the meeting.

Five professors are now tenured: James Barkley, Kristin Brown, Nicole Mulvey, Yordan Yordanov and Özlem Ersin.

Logan Raschke can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].