Eastern’s Board of Trustees will be voting on approving the $157 million budget for the fiscal year 2023 at their June meeting Friday at 1 p.m. in the University Ballroom in the MLK Union.

The FY23 budget will be about $1 million less than FY22.

The proposed budget will include summaries of revenues, expenditures and fund balances, budgeted expenditures for all funds, budgeted expenditures for all state and tuition income funds and the budgeted expenditures for all non-appropriated funds. 

For FY23, there is a 5 percent increase for state-appropriated funds compared to FY22, with the total amount around $43 million.

Eastern’s Treasurer Paul McCann will talk about several capital projects during the Finance and Audit Committee Report. 

These include the on-campus construction of the new science building, the renovation of the Life Science Building, the McAfee Gym renovation and several others.

McCann said the new science building construction is on hold for at least a year, waiting for approval from the state to issue a contract for the engineer and architect.

The Board will also vote on approving an online Masters’s in Teaching program through the College of Education. 

This post-baccalaureate program will provide a route for candidates, with qualifying undergraduate or graduate degrees, to receive their teacher licensure to keep up with the K-12 workforce demand in Illinois.

The full-year residency enables participants to select unpaid, paid, or third-party funded placements in their local communities.

The BOT will vote on approving a change in its bylaws regarding the process for voting in officers.

Officers can currently be voted on either by secret ballet or by roll call vote. 

The amendment is to restrict the voting process to one type of vote.

The BOT will vote for approval of non-indentured and indentured reserves. The purpose is to “retain working capital allowances and adequate funds for repair/replacement of equipment and/or relevant facilities as well as repayment of debt, the bond resolutions allow for the transfers to reserve.”

The BOT will vote on extending the contract for women’s head basketball coach Matt Bollant for two years along with ratifying football coach Chris Wilkerson’s initial contract.

Plus, the BOT will vote on awarding tenure status to the new Chair of the School of Business, David Martin. He will serve as the chair of the School of Business starting during the 2022-23 academic year.

A few other items:

The BOT will vote on allowing Housing and Dining to purchase five-year service management software, billing over five years, with a total of $454,262.14. Eastern will use this service from July 1, 2022, to July 1, 2027.  

The Board approved the purchase during its meeting April 22, but due to a price adjustment, the purchase requires the Board to vote again.

The BOT will hear updates from several committees, including the Finance and Audit Committee, Executive/Planning Committee, the Academic Affairs and Student Affairs Committee and the University Advancement/Alumni Relations Committee.

Here are the BOT meeting dates for the 2022-23 academic year. 

• Friday, September 9, 2022, on campus
• Friday, November 11, 2022, on campus
• Friday, January 20, 2023, on campus
• Friday, April 21, 2023, on campus
• Friday, June 23, 2023, on campus
• Saturday, June 24, 2023, Board Retreat, location to-be-announced
• Friday, September 8, 2023, on campus
• Friday, November 10, 2023, on campus

Rob Le Cates is a sophomore journalism major. He can be reached at 217-581-2818 or at deneic@gmail.com