Les Hyder said he thinks there is not enough support from the state for higher education.

Hyder, Eastern’s representative on the Illinois Board of Higher Education‘s Faculty Advisory Council (FAC), will be speaking at today’s Faculty Senate meeting about the council’s activities from the past year.

FAC meets once a month and Hyder said there is usually at least one legislator present at each meeting.

He said the purpose of the council is to give legislators and education officials a faculty perspective on issues affecting education.

“Our perspective is absolutely crucial for policymakers to have,” Hyder said. “We’re concerned about what is happening in the classroom and how we can make that experience the best possible one for students. We talk about how issues affect us and the university experience.”

Hyder said he will touch on the popular topic of higher education funding. He said the amount of funding for public schools has continually decreased for the past eight years that he has served on FAC.

Hyder said this decrease has lead to an increase in tuition costs and an increase in the amount of student debt.

“If (students are) paying debts, they can’t afford to buy cars,” Hyder said. “They will have trouble getting to work and they will have to put off starting families, and that has its own social and economic ramifications.”

Faculty Senate Chair Lynne Curry said the senate is always curious to learn what FAC has heard from policymakers about higher education funding.

“Of course it’s no secret in the climate that we have today in Illinois with our political situation and budgetary situation that I think we all are very anxious to know about what has been happening with this committee,” Curry said.

Robert Augustine, dean of the graduate school, will also be speaking at the senate meeting.

Curry said Augustine will present information on interdisciplinary programs. She said he will offer ideas on how to further interdisciplinary programs in graduate education.

Jeanne Snyder, faculty senate recorder, will also act as a guest at the meeting. Curry said Snyder is the coordinator of the only interdisciplinary graduate program at Eastern, gerontology. Gerontology is a science dealing with the aging of people and the elderly.

The senate was scheduled to hold elections for its executive committee today, but Curry said the elections have been postponed until next week because the senate already has a full agenda.

The faculty senate meets at 2 p.m. in Booth room 4440.

Barbara Harrington can be reached at 581-7942 or at bjharrington@eiu.edu.