Illinois State University President Aondover Tarhule admitted that ISU’s revenue has faced recent difficulties at a Resilience, Innovation, Sustainability and Excellence (RISE) open forum on Thursday, Nov. 14.
Members of the ISU community, including faculty, staff and students, learned more about ISU's recent budget cut. ISU's revenue and expense trends have increased at a rate of $10 million per year, falling short of its usual $20 million needed for annual expenses.
“It doesn’t take a degree in math to realize that you’re going to have a problem eventually,” Tarhule said. “We have reached a point where those two [expenses and revenue] are exactly the same.”
Tarhule focused on the $8.5 million deficit that the university is facing. He mentioned that this deficit will continue to increase if changes are not made.
ISU is not the only school facing budget concerns. National and international universities have reported necessary budget cuts and other academic program decisions being set in place to avoid financial crisis. A few of these universities can be viewed in Evan Craig’s article here.
Tarhule acknowledged that people had been asking him how the school was struggling financially as enrollment continues to grow.
“Increasing enrollment does not increase funds,” Tarhule said.
Tarhule showed a slide in his presentation that explained how the increased enrollment has impacted net revenue. According to the presentation, gross revenue has increased $35 million with little increase to net revenue since 2015.
In response to everything covered regarding finances, Tarhule discussed that ISU has a plan to prevent existential threats to the future of the university.
In the future, ISU aims to prioritize communication, awareness and transparency with all affiliated members of the university. ISU will attempt to diversify the revenue streams while continuing to invest strategically in areas that drive long-term growth and sustainability.
While discussing potential actions to implement later in the academic year, ISU is considering several plans, such as a hiring freeze, more rigorously scrutinizing out-of-cycle increases and a continuation of having no salary wage programs.
ISU members are encouraged to show their support by staying aware of ISU’s financial situation, decipher delayed projects and communicate with units and direct reporters.
“This hurts,” Tarhule said. “I fully understand the pain this causes for people.”
Tarhule stated that the current goal is to ensure the fiscal situation does not become a crisis.
“It’s going to be complicated…we’re entering an age we haven’t been in before,” Tarhule said.
Once the presentation ended, Tarhule took time for questions.
Rebekah Mangels, a recent ISU graduate student, addressed safety concerns for ISU's LGBTQIA+ community. This question regarded the hate crime incident that took place near the beginning of the year and was later determined a closed case with no further investigation.
Mangels asked Tarhule how safety of minority students would fit into his RISE plan of action. Mangels requested commentary about the incident, as Tarhule made none prior.
Tarhule responded by saying that, as a president, he could not afford to speak about something that does not entail every detail. He mentioned that, at certain times, not all details can be disclosed. Tarhule said he encouraged a safe environment on campus and does not accept hatred against anyone.
“There is no place for hate at Illinois State, and we will do everything we can to support all of our groups,” Tarhule said.
ISU junior Benjamin Rodriguez asked Tarhule if there were any plans to stop partnering with companies that participate in ecocide.
“Anybody can express their opinion…and it is up to the person who is expressing their opinion to decide how or when there is a response,” Tarhule said.
Tarhule continued to answer the question by stating that ISU encourages students to exercise their right to protest. He provided an example that he participated in the Apartheid Reigime protests in Nigeria in 1986.
Tarhule talked about how he marched with thousands of protestors and explained that military force was used against the protestors. Tarhule said that his choice in the moment was to jump off a bridge to avoid conflict. This resulted in a scar on his leg that he pointed out during the presentation.
Tarhule used this example to connect personal experience with the students. He continued to say that protesting is allowed and is a right of the students, but making demands is not okay.
“We don’t go and say ‘hey, president, you must do this or else,’ that is not fine,” Tarhule said.
Rodriguez added a comment after the forum had ended regarding Tarhule’s response to his question.
“It seems incredibly ironic that practically no students on campus knows about the investment with Caterpillar besides the reminders from SJP [Students for Justice in Palestine],” Rodriguez said.
“There was a lot of room to answer that question, and he specifically chose to talk about the validity of the right to protest,” Rodriguez continued. “I do believe that it was a very defensive maneuver…I think it’s very disappointing to not get a direct response on a humanitarian issue regardless if you have one particular opinion about the legitimacy of what’s going on.”
Another RISE open forum will take place on Monday, Nov. 18, at 10 a.m. in the Prairie Room at the Bone Student Center.
