The Illinois Board of Higher Education took a field trip yesterday to Eastern.

The trip was the first time the board had visited Eastern in more than three years, according to President Lou Hencken. Normally, Eastern’s administration visits the board in Springfield.

“You always get a better feel when visiting the campus, instead of staying in the office in Springfield,” said Judy Erwin, executive director of IBHE.

IBHE is a state board that recommends to the Illinois General Assembly how much state funding Illinois public colleges and universities should receive.

The board’s visit on campus was part of this process.

“It was an opportunity to talk to the administration at Eastern about some priorities our board is looking at and vice versa,” Erwin said.

As in previous years, one of the board’s major priorities is to ensure college in Illinois is affordable.

This year Illinois, along with 42 other states, received a “F” in college affordability from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, as reported in the Oct. 10 edition of The Daily Eastern News.

One way Erwin said the board plans to keep higher education affordable for students is to try to increase state support. The board would also like to increase funding for the state’s Monetary Award Program, a need-based financial aid.

“The more dollars we have in MAP, the more students qualify,” Erwin said.

The board also plans to start a more creative way to award state funding to public institutions called performance contracting.

Similar to incentive funding, it would focus more on the outcomes that help improve student achievement and affordability.

Erwin listed Eastern’s textbook rental and community colleges teaming with four-year universities to offer bachelor degrees as examples.

It’s programs like the textbook rental and Eastern’s high graduation rate that Hencken points to as proof that Eastern is already accomplishing what the board and the General Assembly considers important.

In this way, performance contracting could be beneficial for Eastern.

“Set goals for us,” Hencken requested of IBHE. “Don’t just give us the money.”