The University of Illinois Board of Trustees on Thursday approved a nearly $7 billion budget for fiscal year 2020, drawing on a 5.2 percent increase in operating revenue to focus on key priorities such as financial support for students, strengthening the faculty and fostering economic development.
The $6.97 billion budget for the fiscal year that runs through June 2020 is up 2.1 percent, or $141 million, from $6.8 billion last year. The budget funds operations and employee benefits for the U of I System and its universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield.
President Tim Killeen said the budget includes projected revenue increases from state appropriations, tuition and private donations, and will allow the system and its three universities to continue to build on their shared tradition of academic and research excellence.
“We will use this renewed investment from the state of Illinois and our own tuition-driven revenue for the greater good of the state, building on the momentum we have already generated,” Killeen said. “This will make a life-changing education accessible to more students, and develop both the kind of workforce the state needs for the future and the sort of discovery and innovation that benefit the state and its people.”
Total funds from state appropriations increased 4.7 percent to $628.7 million, the largest increase since fiscal 2001. State support has now increased for two consecutive years, thanks in large part to collaboration between Killeen and lawmakers to fund key priorities for the university system.
Tuition revenue increased 3.7 percent to $1.3 billion, even as tuition for in-state undergraduates was frozen for a fifth straight year this fall, and comprises 57 percent of the general operating fund. Enrollment across the university system grew to a seventh-straight record high this fall, increasing 3.8 percent to 88,861 students. That growth keeps the system on track to meet a five-year goal of topping 93,600 students by the fall of 2021. Enrollment has increased by 9 percent, or nearly 7,400 students, since the fall of 2016.
Elsewhere, private donations and endowment income supporting the general fund increased 1.5 percent to $179.7 million.
The budget will provide $334.3 million for scholarships and financial aid, part of the university system’s ongoing commitment to greater accessibility.
The university system also will use the budget to continue its focus on state and Midwestern economic development through the new Illinois Innovation Network, the Discovery Partners Institute and other initiatives.
The budget is built on funding projections in four categories:
It projects $2.4 billion in general operating funds, a 4 percent increase. General operating funds primarily include tuition revenue and state funding and cover most educational activities and day-to-day operations.
The budget also projects a 7.1 percent increase in the Hospital Fund Budget to $838.3 million. These funds are restricted and used to support hospital operations.
In addition, the budget projects a 1.1 percent increase in other restricted-fund revenue, to $2.1 billion. Restricted funds include research grants, private donations, hospital and medical service revenues, and auxiliary operations such as campus housing and food services. Those funds must be spent for a specified purpose or in accordance with donor and contractual restrictions.
Finally, the budget includes $1.7 billion in estimated payments from the state for employee healthcare and pension benefits, down 3 percent from fiscal 2019.
Appointments
Trustees also approved the appointment of Robert Dixon as interim director of intercollegiate athletics at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Dixon has served in a designate capacity since Aug. 1. He succeeds Garrett Klassy, who accepted a position at the University of Nebraska.
Dixon has been at UIC for more than 20 years and has served as the university registrar since 2002. He will continue to work in that capacity while also assisting the athletics department. Dixon earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from DePauw University and a law degree from Chicago-Kent Law School.
A national search for a permanent director has already begun.
Executive Compensation
Trustees approved a pay raise for UIC Chancellor Michael Amiridis to $600,000 a year, effective Sept. 16, 2019, up from $484,500 per year. Board Chairman Don Edwards praised the chancellor for deftly steering UIC since he took office in 2015 and building a strong team that is transforming the university.
“The significant upward trajectory of UIC in enrollment, research, patient care, public service and reputation under Chancellor Amiridis’ leadership follows from his deep commitment to excellence throughout the university,” Edwards said. “Chancellor Amiridis has proven himself an outstanding leader who has instilled a culture of quality, integrity and enthusiasm at UIC. For these reasons, he should be compensated commensurate with his performance and his peer group.”
Under Amiridis, undergraduate enrollment is up 18 percent since he took office, and the university has acquired the John Marshall School of Law, making it Chicago’s first public law school. He also has overseen a 10-year capital plan that so far has produced the new Academic and Residential Complex, which is home to more than 500 students.
Trustees also authorized pay-for-performance compensation for Killeen under a program that ties a portion of his total annual compensation to a set of goals focused on advancing the U of I System’s contributions to students, innovation and the public good.
Killeen will receive $100,000 for this work during the fiscal year that ended June 30, which is 100 percent of the total for which he was eligible. The payment follows a board review of progress as outlined in the system’s Strategic Framework, a roadmap approved three years ago to guide its future.
“President Killeen continues to provide the kind of excellence in leadership that drives the University of Illinois System forward, creating opportunity for students and the people of Illinois in service of the public good,” Edwards said.
System-wide enrollment has reached record highs every year since Killeen took office in 2015. That growth came during a five-year tuition freeze for in-state undergraduates, the longest in more than a half-century. Killeen also led the development of new international partnerships for the Discovery Partners Institute and the creation of the Illinois Innovation Network.
Combined with his base salary, the incentive-based award puts Killeen’s total compensation for fiscal year 2019 at $700,000, unchanged for the past three years.
The incentive-based program was developed in 2013 as a shift away from retention initiatives that are sometimes paid to senior administrators in higher education and tend to make longevity a premium rather than results.
