Lauraann Wood also contributed to this story.

Update 7:25 p.m.

School of Journalism Director Bill Freivogel released this statement:

President Dunn and I met on Monday.  I was relieved that he thought he could take a student media fee proposal back to the executive committee of the Board of Trustees in June in time to get the fee on the students’ bills by fall semester.

He asked me to put together a working group of media people unaffiliated with the DE to take another look at the financials to make sure that a fee is warranted.  I told him that even though I believed we had thoroughly researched the fee proposal, I would form the group he requested.  I told him I would also want to run that group’s findings past the devoted DE alums whose support has been so heartening in recent days.

Just before Monday’s meeting, I had submitted to President Dunn the long list of industry leaders and DE alums who had vetted the fee proposal last fall.  Pointing to the list of their names, Dunn said had not known so many heavy hitters had looked at the fee proposal. Had he known, he said, that might have affected how he approached the fee last week.

I told President Dunn that we at the DE would be the first to ask for discontinuation of the media fee if we found additional revenue sources that made it unnecessary.  The more independent the DE, the better.

I also learned that one concern of board members was the claim by Jason Thomas, publisher of the Carbondale Times and Nightlife, that the DE was undercutting his advertising rates.  While the DE business office denies unfair pricing, I provided President Dunn with messages I had sent to Thomas before last week’s board meeting promising that the DE would not engage in predatory pricing.  The DE wants more competition in the Carbondale media market, not less.

I am moving right away to put together the working group requested by President Dunn.  We will have the group’s findings to the president by mid-June to enable him to take a fee proposal to the executive committee in June.

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Update 7:20 p.m.

The Illinois House Higher Education Appropriations Committee passed the budget by a 14-8 vote, including the $70,000 amended sum for the Daily Egyptian.

Dunn said he was satisfied with SIU’s appropriations, which would keep funding at its current level.

“The budget proposals coming out of the committee went forward as anticipated, (but) the real key to being the president is to keep telling the story (and) articulating what they’re doing here means for our students,” Dunn said. “If nothing else, we’re just gonna keep telling that every time we get the opportunity.

Republican Rep. Mike Bost said while he supports the Daily Egyptian and wants to see its continued publication, he did not support the $70,000 amended sum.

“The only concern I have with (the amendment) is  … I don’t know that the DE should have a special line item like that,” he said. “I’m glad that they’re trying to help, but I think it’s setting a poor precedence for the future.”

The budget now moves to the House for floor debate.

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Original Story

President Randy Dunn left what he called a progressive meeting with Senate President John Cullerton that discussed the future of the university and the Daily Egyptian.

Dunn said he thought the noontime meeting went well, and he is looking forward to solving the financial woes of the Daily Egyptian.

“I have shared with everyone in that meeting that I’ve stated publicly a number of times now that the Daily Egyptian is not going to go out of business,” he said. “It is not going to cease publishing on my watch as president of the university.”

He said his time with Cullerton gave him the opportunity to share some of the board’s concerns regarding the Daily Egyptian’s business model.

The Daily Egyptian is currently facing $260,000 in debt. The editorial board asked for a $9 student fee, which both the Undergraduate Student Government and Chancellor Rita Cheng approved. The Board of Trustees decided to postpone approving the fee until to take a closer look at it.

“The door is not closed, as I shared with them, to having the board relook at the fee issue,” Dunn said. “Before they do that, they want to make sure a couple of aspects of operations have been reviewed as well. That’s what they charged me to get into and take a look at.”

A group of outside industry professionals will form to examine the matter further and act as soon as possible, he said.

Dunn said he and School of Journalism Director Bill Freivogel want to have outsiders on the team instead of alumni to avoid any conflict of interest.

“We don’t want a group that looks like it’s owned by anyone, you know, that it’s loaded with Daily Egyptian alums or hand-picked by the president,” he said. “That’s not going to help anyone.”

There is no scheduled Board of Trustees meeting in June. However, Dunn said he could bring it to the executive board during its meeting.

“There’s a timeliness aspect to it,” he said. “We want to be able to get this kind of ‘swat team’ in and look at the operational model, the business model, get some recommendations to me and then have all that accomplished by the end of June so we can get the executive committee together and if there is a fee piece to this, get that in place before the first round of bills would go out to students in the fall.”

Steve Brown, press secretary for Michael Madigan and 1971 alum, said he was optimistic about the meeting.

“President Dunn reaffirmed his support, his interest in keeping the Daily Egyptian alive,” Brown said. “Of course some legislation has been introduced over in the house as part of a package that would earmark money for the operation of the Daily Egyptian.”

Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Ken Dunkin of the Illinois Higher Education Appropriations Committee added an amendment to the appropriations bill for SIU including $70,000 marked specifically for the Daily Egyptian. Dunn said the money does not subtract from any other funds going to the school to his knowledge.

“It is not a carve-out from other funds. It is new money that has been directly appropriated to the school for the DE,” he said. “So again, I take that as a good thing. It doesn’t mean that couldn’t change. We still have a number of days of session left. But the fact that this is added funding to support the efforts of the DE is a good sign and again it speaks to the many people who are supportive of its operations.”

Brown said a memorandum of understanding might be signed as early as Wednesday afternoon between lawmakers, Dunn and Board of Trustee members. The memorandum would publicly state that Dunn was working towards a solution to the problem.

The appropriations bill goes before committee 2 p.m. Wednesday.

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UPDATE: 2:51 p.m.

Senate President John Cullerton added he was familiar with the Daily Egyptian and was looking forward to helping in its financial recovery.

“From my visits to Carbondale I’m well aware of the role the Daily Egyptian plays in informing the campus community and I think we are all optimistic that this can be resolved and the DE move forward for another century of excellence,” he said.

Seth Richardson can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter at @EgyptianRich or at 309-221-8227.