Next year’s budgetary requests and NIU President John La Tourette’s salary were discussed at the Board of Regents meeting.

The Regents met Friday at Sangamon State University in Springfield and approved the request of a 17 percent increase in funding for fiscal year 1993.

The request includes a 12 percent faculty salary increase, a 5 percent increase to cover inflation and $700,000 for library materials.

Regency Chancellor Roderick Groves said he knew the requests would be cut, but they are definitely a starting point.

“It sets forth as reasonably as we can, the current need,” Groves said.

Groves said the reason the request is so high is because state funding did not keep up with inflation in the 1980s.

There is no funding for teacher salary increases this year and the 1990 academic year saw only a 2 percent pay hike which did not even keep up with inflation, Groves said.

“Even though inflation will be modest and state resources will be limited, we have to speak up,” he said.

The Regents also announced Groves and the presidents of the Regency schools, NIU, SSU and Illinois State University will not receive pay increases. NIU President John La Tourette makes about $100,000 a year.

Regents Chairman Brewster Parker said the presidents “did a superb job in a rough year.” Parker cited the high level of faculty and student morale at the campus level as a success.

“Groves has performed ably in advocating the system,” Parker said.

The Regents also approved the internal operating budgets for each school. The internal budgets state where money will be spent.

In other NIU developments, the Regents approved a lease of 25 parking spaces from DeKalb’s First Lutheran Church and leases of property in Hinsdale for the Center for Governmental Studies and office space in Cary for a federally-funded bilingual vocational training program.