The university is preparing for another round of cuts if a state budget is not passed for the fiscal year.

An email sent last week to faculty members from the Faculty Association obtained by the Daily Egyptian referenced a proposal to cut an additional $34 million from SIU’s budget, which would cause another 10 percent cut to academic affairs.

University spokeswoman Rae Goldsmith said those numbers make up one of multiple scenarios being considered depending on when the university receives funding from the state and how much is allocated.

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Last fiscal year, SIU received about 80 percent of the funding it was supposed to get from the state, thanks to a couple partial stop-gap budgets.

At the SIU Board of Trustees meeting Sept. 8 in Edwardsville, SIU President Randy Dunn said while the university system received $106 million for fiscal year 2016 through June’s stopgap budget, SIU will struggle to get through FY17 if it doesn’t see any more state appropriations.

If a $34 million cut is implemented, there will likely be another round of job cuts, said Dave Johnson, president of the Faculty Association, which represents tenured and tenure-track faculty.

MORE: Layoffs, resignations, retirements at SIU cause drop in faculty

Johnson said people need to start speaking up to state legislators and vote for those who support higher education.

“What’s a state university if the state doesn’t fund it?” he said.

Johnson said morale among faculty and staff at SIU, like that at many public universities in Illinois, is low.

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“The administration needs to reassure faculty and students that they’re doing everything they can to protect the most important thing we do at this university, which is teaching,” he said.

Campus editor Anna Spoerre can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @annaspoerre.

To stay up to date with all your SIU news, follow the Daily Egyptian on Facebook and Twitter.

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