Approximately five million dollars in state funding will be shifted to the university’s sister campus in Edwardsville, if approved by the Board of Trustees on April 12.

If approved, the reallocation of state appropriations would shift approximately $5.125 million in funding to the SIUE campus from the Carbondale campus. The SIUE Faculty Senate passed a resolution of support for the shift of state funding on March 1.

As of now, Illinois funding to the Southern Illinois University system is split up between the campuses with approximately 64 percent going to the Carbondale campus and 36 percent to the Edwardsville campus, according to the reallocation of appropriation budget.

This funding allocation reflects the student enrollment of fiscal year 2002, according to the budget.

If the FY 2018 state appropriation distribution reflected the Fall 2017 enrollment numbers, the result would have been a redistribution of $17.7 million from the Carbondale Campus to the Edwardsville campus, according to the budget.

A “foundational element” of being a part of the SIU system is equal treatment for all, and the reallocation of appropriation seeks to do that, according to the budget.

Historically, state funding was a 60 to 40 percent split between the universities, matching SIUE’s and SIUC’s enrollment at the time.

However, in recent years as enrollment has grown at the Edwardsville campus and decreased at the Carbondale campus, the enrollment distribution is nearly equal with 50.7 percent of the students at SIUC and 49.3 percent of the students at SIUE, according to the budget.

Current trends show SIUE’s enrollment will exceed SIUC’s in the near future, according to the budget. The shifted funding would more closely reflect the change in enrollment levels at the SIUE and SIUC.

To begin the reallocation, the budget said an external third party would complete a comprehensive study to create a formula-based approach to achieve greater state funding equity for the two campuses. The study would consider factors such as facility needs and costs, funding for research, research productivity, education and public service needs of the southern Illinois community and the metro east area and the universities’ economic impact, the budget said.

Considering SIUC’s financial situation and the developing reorganization plan, the budget recommends phasing in the shifting of state funds over a series of years, beginning in the 2019 fiscal year. The state funding would then be re-calculated annually.

Chancellor Carlo Montemango and the chief budget officer have been briefed on the elements of the budget proposal to prepare for changes in the campus’ budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

The reallocation of appropriation budget will be voted on April 12 at the Board of Trustees meeting, which begins at 10 a.m. in the Student Center ballroom B.

Campus editor Amelia Blakely can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @AmeilaBlakely.

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Editors note: A previous headline erroneously reported that the SIU Board of Trustees is expected to approve the five million dollar shift in state funding to the Edwardsville campus. The headline has been amended by replacing “expected” to “to consider.” 

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