Fiscal Year 2009 Higher Education Budget Recommendations: Operations, Grants and Capital Improvements

              Item #10 February 5, 2008 STATE OF ILLINOIS BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION FISCAL YEAR 2009 HIGHER EDUCATION BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS OPERATIONS, GRANTS, AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS Staff budget recommendations for fiscal year 2009 higher education operations, grants, and capital improvements are presented in items 10a and 10b. Item 10a presents the fiscal year 2009 budget recommendations for higher education operations and grants. The recommendations are a departure from the past and reflect a new and innovative approach to informing the Governor and the General Assembly on the appropriate level of resources to invest in Illinois’ higher education system. Rather than provide a fixed investment level for fiscal year 2009, the recommendations set forth a range of investment options consisting of five investment levels, or “steps.” The investment options were developed by weighing Board priorities, including affordability, attainment, diversity, and efficiency; state priorities, including economic demands, P-20 goals, and access and affordability goals; and college and university goals, such as competitive salaries to attract and retain top-flight faculty and staff, assistance with rising energy costs, and funding to offset the increasing cost of mandatory tuition and fee waivers, all of which directly affect the tuition and fees that students and their families must pay to pursue their educational goals. Item 10b presents the fiscal year 2009 recommendations for higher education capital improvements. The recommendations total $805.8 million from requests totaling nearly $2.0 billion. The recommendations include nearly $583.0 million to fund Regular Capital projects and Capital Renewal allocations for projects that protect and enhance the state's current investment in higher education facilities at 12 public universities, 48 community college campuses, and the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. The recommendations include projects in the same priority order as recommended by the Board of Higher Education for fiscal year 2008. The amounts recommended, however, have been increased to reflect escalation costs, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System certification costs for building efficiency and green design, and full project costs instead of recommending partial project funding. The recommendations also include $222.9 million for Opportunity Returns projects identified in Governor Blagojevich’s regional plan for economic development and for which funds have been released. The staff recommends adoption of the following resolution:
The Illinois Board of Higher Education hereby approves the fiscal year 2009 budget recommendations for higher education operations, grants, and capital improvements in the amounts and for the purposes outlined in Items 10a and 10b.