DE Assistant Politics Editor

SIU President Ted Sanders said he believes his new budget planning process will advance the University financially and academically, speaking Thursday at the SIU Board of Trustees meeting.

Each campus will develop an action plan for each priority which addresses campus goals, measurement indices, assignment of responsibility, budget allocations and source of funds for SIU’s strategic priorities, Sanders said.

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Sanders’ five budget-process guidelines, which were adopted by the board, will be implemented for fiscal year 1997 on the SIUC and the SIUE campuses. The guidelines include setting aside money at both campuses for a strategic initiative, improving building maintenance and increasing faculty salaries.

The strategic initiative guideline call for each campus to set aside one to two percent of their budgets to address the a list of priorities Sanders released in December. The priorities include student recruitment and retention and examining the roles and workload of SIU faculty.

We need to engage in strategic partnerships for research and international opportunities between, and with, outside institutions to enhance our relationships, Sanders said.

The second category of the budgeting guidelines would address the contingency or representative groups of the campuses by having each campus contingency set aside three to five percent of their budgets to address unexpected expenses or emergency situations which occur during the year, Sanders said.

The third part of Sanders’ budget plan deals with asset maintenance, which includes setting aside money for deferred maintenance and keeping equipment up to date. The deferred maintenance includes repair work which is needed and has not been completed.

The fourth category in the budget plan addresses asset creation, which would create new assets for SIU, Sanders said. Developing a system to connect every student, faculty and staff member to audio data and video transmission is also included in asset creation.

The fifth part of the guidelines is base continuation budget, which will include a proposal to increase salaries of SIU staff based on work performances.

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Sanders said SIUC Chancellor John Guyon and SIUE Chancellor Nancy Belck will be responsible for the specific implementation of the budget for the two campuses by April 15.

Guyon said implementing the budget will take a lot of work because of the short time limit. The 1997 fiscal year begins July 1.

There is a lot of work to do. It will take about six weeks to solicit input between reactions, Guyon said. I think it will work. I think it will have a good outcome.

A.D. VanMeter, chairman of the board, said he is excited about the budget and believes it will provide an opportunity for input from the University community while answering needs of the trustees.

The budget, if approved by the board in June, would be implemented beginning July 1.

The board also adopted a policy which allows SIU employees who have been called to active duty in Bosnia-Herzegovina to continue receiving pay while serving the country.

Donald Wilson, vice-president for Financial Affairs and board treasurer, said the employees will not suffer economic loss for being called to duty.

Whatever the individual currently gets, they will be compensated from the University, Wilson said. It’s no different than the policy they used during Desert Storm.

The board also approved the appointment of Tom Guernsey as dean of the SIU School of Law. His appointment will begin July 1.

Guernsey formerly was the associate dean at the University of Richmond School of Law. His selection as law school dean comes after a nation-wide search to fill the position.