Board to endorse Southern at 150

The SIU Board of Trustees may have to wait until March to vote on a faculty contract.

Steve Binder, spokesman for SIU President James Walker, said the University is still completing the wording of the contract, which may or may not be done in time for the board meeting Thursday in Edwardsville.

Advertisement

The tentative agreement was not placed on the meeting’s agenda because it is easier to add something during a meeting than to take something off, Binder said. However, he said that if the contract is ready, the board is expected to approve it.

“We just aren’t sure whether it will be in a form ready for President Walker to take to the board as quickly as Thursday,” Binder said. “We’re in a dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s situation, rather than a substance and content situation.”

Molly D’Esposito, chairwoman of the board, said that if the agreement is not ready for approval in time for the meeting, the board can take measures to approve the contract.

D’Esposito said the board may be able to ratify the agreement based on its understanding of what Chancellor Walter Wendler and the bargaining team agreed to, but either way expects the contract to be accepted.

Vice chairman Gene Callahan also expressed confidence that the board would be able to accept some form of a contract during executive discussions.

“I never put anything in cement until I hear everything,” he said. “But from what I know, I am confident we will have a contract.”

Binder, however, said that given that status of the agenda, it is likely a contract will not be ready, but they may not know for sure until tonight or Thursday morning.

Advertisement*

The board is also expected to endorse Wendler’s Southern at 150 plan, an outline on the University’s status and its prospects.

D’Esposito said from what she has seen, the plan represents excellent and realistic goals for the faculty, students and administration of the University compared to its current standing

“It’s outstanding,” she said. “It covers both our aspirations and hopes for the future, and what they are suggesting is doable.”

By endorsing Southern at 150, D’Esposito said the board expresses support for the plan, thanks participants and acknowledges community support and binds current and future members to its commitment.

The board will also name the new softball stadium and blacksmithing facility at SIUC. They will discuss Illinois Board of Higher Education operating and capital budget recommendations for the 2004 Fiscal Year.

In December, IBHE requested a 4.7 percent increase in funds for SIUC to the Illinois legislature. This would give the University nearly $240,000 for operating costs for next year. These numbers are, however, only recommendations and Gov. Rod Blagojevich is not bound to them when he announces the budget in April.

“These are respectable numbers, and it’s a very conservative reflection of what the needs are of the various universities,” D’Esposito said. “But I am afraid that the economic reality of the state will mean that instead of an increase, we will get a decrease.”

Reporter Katie Davis can be reached at [email protected]