Five days remaining to come up with a state budget.
The panelists on Sunday night's "Capitol View" on Illinois PBS were not optimistic.
More pressure is on the Governor and General Assembly this year as there is now a federal judge and the Accreditation Council involved.
The federal judge is expecting to hear on Tuesday how the State will speed-up payment to Medicaid providers
And the warning letter from the Accreditation Council must be taken seriously. Loss of accreditation at any state university will not only be disastrous for those current students and staff, but also for graduates of those universities.
The Alumni Associations at the three UI's were rallying their troops last Thursday.
Updates to faculty layoff plan and other stuff
Court-ordered talks have stalled over unpaid Illinois Medicaid bills.
The federal judge could rule on Wednesday on a request that the State pay $500 million a month for 4 months. Illinois has accumulated a more than $2 billion backlog in unpaid Medicaid bills.
The federal judge could rule on Wednesday on a request that the State pay $500 million a month for 4 months. Illinois has accumulated a more than $2 billion backlog in unpaid Medicaid bills.
Illinois' state universities in jeopardy of losing accreditation.
From the Associated Press:
Illinois’ state budget impasse could affect the accreditation of universities in the state that have seen deep cuts in state funding in the nearly three years lawmakers have failed to agree on a spending plan.
The Higher Learning Commission, which accredits schools in the Midwest, recently issued a letter cautioning lawmakers that a lack of funding places Illinois universities at risk of losing their accreditation. The commission is obligated to sanction schools that are unable to provide necessary academic programs and financial aid.
The commission’s president, Barbara Gellman-Danley, wrote that the budget crisis has led to increased tuition, delays in grants for financially needy students, staff reductions and canceled capital projects. She said diminished cash reserves will hurt students.
“Institutions exhibiting these problems, regardless of cause, are still subject to HLC standards that require the availability of appropriate financial, physical, and human resources,” Gelman-Danley wrote. “Some institutions may ultimately face withdrawal of accreditation. Students attending institutions that do not have status with an accrediting agency recognized by the federal government cannot access federal financial aid.”
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale President Randy Dunn said losing accreditation could make it difficult to hire more staff.
The budgets recently proposed by Democrats and Republicans would cut higher education funding by 5 to 10 percent.
The state’s universities haven’t received funding since 2016. Stopgap funds haven’t been sufficient to delay faculty and staff cuts, along with other reductions at several Illinois campuses.
From the Associated Press:
Illinois’ state budget impasse could affect the accreditation of universities in the state that have seen deep cuts in state funding in the nearly three years lawmakers have failed to agree on a spending plan.
The Higher Learning Commission, which accredits schools in the Midwest, recently issued a letter cautioning lawmakers that a lack of funding places Illinois universities at risk of losing their accreditation. The commission is obligated to sanction schools that are unable to provide necessary academic programs and financial aid.
The commission’s president, Barbara Gellman-Danley, wrote that the budget crisis has led to increased tuition, delays in grants for financially needy students, staff reductions and canceled capital projects. She said diminished cash reserves will hurt students.
“Institutions exhibiting these problems, regardless of cause, are still subject to HLC standards that require the availability of appropriate financial, physical, and human resources,” Gelman-Danley wrote. “Some institutions may ultimately face withdrawal of accreditation. Students attending institutions that do not have status with an accrediting agency recognized by the federal government cannot access federal financial aid.”
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale President Randy Dunn said losing accreditation could make it difficult to hire more staff.
The budgets recently proposed by Democrats and Republicans would cut higher education funding by 5 to 10 percent.
The state’s universities haven’t received funding since 2016. Stopgap funds haven’t been sufficient to delay faculty and staff cuts, along with other reductions at several Illinois campuses.
The AP story about possible accreditation loss is getting state-wide play in newspapers and as well as radio and television. It was a front page article in today's Macomb newspaper. And it was a story on last night's KHQA-TV News.
You can imagine that the phones are ringing at the Admissions offices at the 12 state universities.
Parents of current high school students will have to decide if they want to spend thousands of dollars on their child's education knowing that there is a risk that the college may no longer be accredited by the time their child graduates.
More fallout from the state budget impasse.
You can imagine that the phones are ringing at the Admissions offices at the 12 state universities.
Parents of current high school students will have to decide if they want to spend thousands of dollars on their child's education knowing that there is a risk that the college may no longer be accredited by the time their child graduates.
More fallout from the state budget impasse.
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Tere North
- Posts: 1146
- Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2014 10:59 pm
There is always a future risk that accreditation can be revoked, minimizing the value of a degree, but the more pressing problem for students is that if not currently accredited, students cannot use federal financial aid to attend the school, something that could definitely impact for enrollment this fall.
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leatherneckcountry
- Posts: 2331
- Joined: Mon May 09, 2016 4:55 pm
With Radogno announcing she is resigning today i wonder what this will mean for the budget talks as she was one of a very few who seemed like she was willing to work to get a budget passed.
Eastern imposes temporary spending freeze.
From The Daily Eastern News:
Eastern President David Glassman issued a temporary hard spending freeze on all purchases effective immediately Thursday morning.
In an email sent to all account managers, Purchase Card holders and OfficeMax users, Glassman said the reason for the freeze is a result of the uncertainty that the state will pass a budget.
This freeze includes P-Card charges and Office Max spending.
Paul McCann, vice president for business affairs, said at this point the university is trying to stop people from purchasing anything.
The email, he said, was sent to everyone who has the authority to buy anything.
“Right now we’ll have to wait and see exactly how this works out,” McCann said. “Certainly, we don’t want to bring the university to a standstill ; we need to stop accumulating supplies and materials for the future.”
McCann said he does not know yet how much this will save the university. The spending freeze, he said, is more about controlling when the university spends money.
Because the university does not have a budget, it has to be more strategic about this, McCann said.
McCann said departments have been trying to spend the rest of the money in their budgets before the fiscal years ends. This means supplies such as paper, or computers.
In the past, the university has implemented “soft freezes” where it has told people to spend as little as possible.
“Here, we’re telling them not to spend at all,” McCann said.
Any exceptions will need approval from the Office of Procurement, Disbursements and Contract Services or McCann, the interim vice president for Business Affairs.
McCann said he does not know what could be exceptions at this point.
“I will take these on a case by case basis and try to be as consistent as I can,” he said.
From The Daily Eastern News:
Eastern President David Glassman issued a temporary hard spending freeze on all purchases effective immediately Thursday morning.
In an email sent to all account managers, Purchase Card holders and OfficeMax users, Glassman said the reason for the freeze is a result of the uncertainty that the state will pass a budget.
This freeze includes P-Card charges and Office Max spending.
Paul McCann, vice president for business affairs, said at this point the university is trying to stop people from purchasing anything.
The email, he said, was sent to everyone who has the authority to buy anything.
“Right now we’ll have to wait and see exactly how this works out,” McCann said. “Certainly, we don’t want to bring the university to a standstill ; we need to stop accumulating supplies and materials for the future.”
McCann said he does not know yet how much this will save the university. The spending freeze, he said, is more about controlling when the university spends money.
Because the university does not have a budget, it has to be more strategic about this, McCann said.
McCann said departments have been trying to spend the rest of the money in their budgets before the fiscal years ends. This means supplies such as paper, or computers.
In the past, the university has implemented “soft freezes” where it has told people to spend as little as possible.
“Here, we’re telling them not to spend at all,” McCann said.
Any exceptions will need approval from the Office of Procurement, Disbursements and Contract Services or McCann, the interim vice president for Business Affairs.
McCann said he does not know what could be exceptions at this point.
“I will take these on a case by case basis and try to be as consistent as I can,” he said.
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Neckerchief
- Posts: 67
- Joined: Thu Mar 30, 2017 10:07 pm
Two interesting articles from CNN. Note the bottom article in particular:
http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/29/pf/coll ... tml?iid=EL
http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/29/investi ... index.html
Illinois is starving state colleges and universities
http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/29/pf/coll ... tml?iid=EL
How Illinois became America's most messed-up state
http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/29/investi ... index.html
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leatherneckcountry
- Posts: 2331
- Joined: Mon May 09, 2016 4:55 pm
House has passed a initial budget let's see if they can finally get this figured out.