Proposed changes in the tuition waiver program for university employees and the recent round of budget cuts in Springfield will be among the main topics of discussion at this week’s Board of Regents meeting.

The Regents will meet at Illinois State University in Normal Wednesday for committee meetings and Thursday for their regular meeting. The Regents govern NIU, ISU and Sangamon State University in Springfield.

Regents Chancellor’s Assistant Cheryl Peck said changes in the Regency system’s tuition waiver will be considered to bring the plan in line with the new state-mandated waiver program that went into effect Jan. 1.

Under the current program used by NIU, children of employees up to age 23 can waive 50 percent of their tuition.

Until the new law was enacted, the Regency schools were the only public university system in Illinois providing such a waiver. The recent law extends the waiver to children of employees at each of the state’s four public university systems.

However, the proposed plan would require employees to have seven years of service to be eligible. Peck said the requirement would apply to employees hired after Sept. 1, 1992, allowing those hired before that date to take advantage of their waivers.

The board also will discuss the impact of the 3 percent higher education budget cut approved last week. NIU will lose about $2.5 million from its current budget.

Peck said the three new Regents, Barbara Scheibling, James Myles and Niranjan Shah have not been confirmed. They can attend the meetings but cannot vote until confirmed by the legislature.