William Weber, the vice president for business affairs, updated the Council of University and Planning on the progress of the ongoing Strategic Planning Effort at Friday’s meeting.

As of Jan. 18, 70 volunteers have come forth, Weber said. However, there are some groups in the committee that are not yet represented, he added.

“We predicted that certain gaps would arise,” Weber said. “We have proceeded with brainstorming on some names and checking to see if some people would be on the committee even if they didn’t volunteers. We’re waiting to hear back.”

In early December, Weber sent a direct email to the campus community seeking volunteers, students, faculty and staff alike, for the steering committee.

“We want majority faculty and balanced across college disciplines, level of career, faculty rep to include people who serve on major governance groups, civil service and students,” Weber said.

Weber will be running the final draft of the committee roster by the president’s council today and hopes to have the first meeting for the committee on Tuesday.

“I think we’re really close to getting our committee finalized- all the major governance groups are represented in the current draft,” Weber said. “I’m very pleased as to how to this is progressing. I’m thrilled with the numbers of volunteers.”

The committee is using the book, Collaborative Strategic Planning in Higher Education by Pat Sanaghan as the guide for this process. The process is currently in Sanaghan’s first phase, “getting organized.”

Psychology professor Assege Haile Mariam and Ken Baker, the director of Campus Recreation, are serving as co-chairs of the planning committee.

Mariam, Baker and Weber have been meeting with Michael Maurer, the director of planning, budget and institutional research, and Amy Edwards, the director of planning and institutional studies, have been meeting once every two weeks for about a month and a half to get organized.

On the matter of outcome based funding for higher education, President Bill Perry said he is unsure if this measure will result in any action from the general assembly.

“We ask what is done is done so collaboratively with higher education,” he said. “It’s still early on in the legislation- we’ve been (to Springfield) and believe performance-based funding is important and it’d be to our advantage.”

Perry has been pushing for the Finance Study Commission, a section of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, to highly recommend this standard.

Perry wrote a letter to the commission to carefully consider this proposal and spoke to the commission at its Oct. 5 meeting.

“I ask that the Higher Education Finance Study Commission further investigate existing funding disparities and how outcome based funding would improve efforts to fund institutions that are operating effectively and efficiently.” Perry said.

Shelley Holmgren can be reached at 581-7942 or meholmgren@eiu.edu.