The Board of Trustees of Illinois State University approved several resolutions at its regular meeting on May 10, 2024. Trustees also tabled the Mandatory Student Fees and Room and Board Rates for Academic Year 2024-2025 to a later meeting. Full text of the resolutions can be found on the Board of Trustees website.    

Consent Agenda: All items listed on the Consent Agenda are considered routine and enacted in one motion. Details regarding Consent Agenda items may be found on the website.

Approval of the Illinois State University Strategic Plan, Excellence by Design: 2024-2029
The Board of Trustees approved Illinois State’s new strategic plan, Excellence by Design: 2024-2029, which will guide the University’s plans, actions, and investments over the next five years. In alignment with the University’s shared governance process, a 22-member task force comprised of a diverse group of students, faculty, and staff had been formed. The task force began to develop the draft in fall of 2022, including input from internal and external constituents. Each of the shared governance groups – Academic Senate, Administrative/Professional Council, Civil Service Council, and Student Government Association – endorsed the final draft of the plan. An implementation team now will actionize metrics that both promote and support the plan’s goals and objectives. Through these coordinated efforts, accountability and success will be monitored and shared with Illinois State University leadership.

FY25 Spending Authorization
Trustees voted to authorize the University to expend funds accordingly to honor its financial obligations and spend budgeted funds beginning July 1, 2024. This is prior to the Board taking further action in October 2024 on the FY2025 Operating Budget, details of which are reliant upon the legislative approval of the final appropriations from the Governor’s Office and State of Illinois General Assembly.

Authorization to Purchase Procurement System
The Board of Trustees authorized the purchase of a procurement system and related services from a third-party vendor to support university departments, faculty, staff, and students for an amount not to exceed $1,300,000. The initial agreement is for five years, with an annual cost of $180,000 and a one-time implementation cost of $400,000. The University annually purchases approximately $200 million in goods and services, and issues approximately 2,000 Purchase Orders for all university departments.

Authorization to Designate Surplus Real Estate and Delegation of Authority to See Surplus Real Estate
Trustees voted to authorize the designation of the Parking Lot G86 North (G86N), located at 404 Normal Avenue, as surplus real estate and permit university leadership to seek third party bids to sell it. It was designated a commuter student parking lot more than 20 years ago. The lot has less than five stalls in use at any one time and currently requires maintenance for large potholes and depression. The State Property Control Act (30 ILCS 605/1 et seq.) allows the Board of Trustees of any Illinois public institution of higher education to sell, lease, or otherwise transfer or convey to a bona fide purchaser for value all or a part of real estate deemed as surplus. The Act allows Illinois State to retain the proceeds in a separate account in the Treasury of the University for deferred maintenance and emergency repair of university property.

Authorization to Acquire Information Technology Service Management Software and Services
The Board authorized expenditures not to exceed $1,065,000, to contract with ServiceNow for software solutions and implementation services. The contract is available to Illinois State through the Illinois Public Higher Education Cooperative Award and will replace the current software solution, Information Technology Service Management (ITSM), which has announced a service end-of-life date of December 31, 2026.

Recognition of Student Trustee Aselimhe Ebikhumi
The Board recognized and expressed its appreciation for outgoing Student Trustee Aselimhe Ebikhumi, who was elected to serve during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 academic years. A new student trustee will be seated at the Board’s regular meeting in July.