Thursday, February 25, 2016

Officials: Northern Illinois can endure - Rhonda Gillespie, Daily Chronicle

With news of some colleges and universities cutting staff and even being on the brink of bankruptcy as the state’s budget impasse nears nine months, Northern Illinois University officials tried to reassure some of its stakeholders Tuesday that the university is OK – for now. “We’re still locked into an epic battle right now. An epic battle between a governor that wants to reform the way Illinois is governed, and a Legislature that wants to do things differently than the governor,” NIU President Doug Baker said. “And so higher education and many of the human services are kind of caught in this crossfire.” But Baker and some members of his Cabinet told the attendees that NIU’s story is different from what’s going on at Chicago State University, which has declared a kind of fiscal state of emergency, or at Eastern Illinois University, which is preparing to lay off employees, or even at Kishwaukee Community College. http://www.daily-chronicle.com/2016/02/16/officials-northern-illinois-can-endure/adn6d8p/