Eastern is waiting with fingers crossed to hear the Illinois Board of Higher Education’s state budget request for the 2008 fiscal year.

The budget was not discussed at Tuesday’s IBHE meeting in Springfield, but postponed for a special meeting yet to be scheduled, said President Lou Hencken.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that this year’s budget might be better than last year’s,” Hencken said. “I don’t think they’d go through the trouble (of postponing the budget request figures) if the increase was zero. I’m using Hencken logic on this, I hope it’s the same.”

IBHE uses all budget requests from public higher education institutions to compile one budget request for the state office of management and budgets. The higher education request is then put into the state budget where the governor and legislature make the final call about appropriations for higher education.

Eastern’s top priorities in the school’s budget included more funding for the nursing program, an increase in general operation costs and funding for satellite programs in Decatur and Chicago.

For nursing, Eastern requested $285,000 in next year’s budget for the first year of the new program. With the increase, Eastern would expect to have 80 enrolled students and 30 graduates after the first four years of the program.

Also at the meeting, a report was given on textbook rental programs and the possibility of using them at all public higher education institutions. State Resolution 692 passed last year requires IBHE to explore the possibility in an attempt to help college students save money.

“I don’t think it will help eastern students because we already have it, but it could help other places,” Hencken said, adding that Eastern is an example for other schools that are exploring the option.

Another topic that wasn’t on the agenda at the meeting was the resignation of IBHE chair James Kaplan who announced that Tuesday’s would be his last regular meeting. He has been on the board for eight years and served as chair for four.

“Because of wanting to devote more time to his family and other reasons, he announced that this was his last meeting,” Hencken said.

At the meeting Kaplan said he had “tried his best” for higher education in Illinois, which has faced budget problems in the last few years.