Eastern’s Faculty Senate heard a report Tuesday afternoon on the IBHE’s 2021 fiscal year budget report which highlighted the state’s increased funding for higher education. 

Senate Chair C.C. Wharram delivered the report via PowerPoint to the Senate, a report he originally heard from the IBHE’s interim Director Nyle Robinson. The report noted the 8.2 percent increase in funding higher education in Illinois received in 2020, the highest single increase in state history. 

Wharram said what struck him most about Robinson’s report was how complimentary he was of Eastern’s administration, specifically Paul McCann, vice president for business affairs, Heidi Hawkins, the assistant university budget officer and Student Body President Carson Gordon, who worked as an intern for the IBHE. 

But in the details of Robinson’s report were what Wharram said was like a two-sided coin in the sense there were some really positive takeaways, and some details that were still reminiscent of the state’s budget problems, such as state pensions.

“It is really great to see a renewed dedication towards making Illinois a very strong state, both in terms of its support for higher education, but also the recognizing that higher education is going to help Illinois become a stronger economic engine,” Wharram said. 

Key to the report was the disparity shown in higher education funding in low years like 2016 when the state was cemented in a budget impasse and fiscal year 2020 when funding was approaching normal levels once again. 

However, the 2020 funding still does not match where the state was as recently as 2002 or in previous eras where costs of attendance were lower and higher education funding was more prominent. 

“Look where we are relative to a couple of decades ago,” Wharram said. “It’s a really tough position that (current students) are in because of the fact that the state reneged on its commitment to higher education so much so that it’s on (current students) burden, that you have to deal with.”

Most of the state’s increase in funding, however, is being used to balance the state’s pension system, which was thrown into turmoil years ago. To pay pensions of state employees, Illinois borrowed money that was intended for future pensions and used it on the pensions that needed to be payed immediately. Now, the new funding is being used to refund the money that was borrowed. 

“At the end of the day, the state borrowed against its future and everybody is paying for it now,” Wharram said. “That really does drive you a bit batty thinking that was a good to idea to sort of leave that pension fund so underfunded for so long.”

Eastern Provost Jay Gatrell delivered a report to the Senate in which he gave an update on the school’s search committees for deans in liberal arts and education. Gatrell said the searches have been narrowed down to semi-finalists and the plan is to have candidates on campus before Thanksgiving break. 

JJ Bullock can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]