The absolute arrogance NIU officials have is once again shining through.

Before the ink runs dry on Gov. Jim Edgar’s request to slash NIU’s budget, about 12 of NIU’s higher-ups will trounce off to Rockford and needlessly waste money talking about pressing issues including—of all things—the budget.

And then the administration has the audacity to refuse to say how much the little road-trip is going to cost.

This is absolutely unbelievable.

These are lean times and will only get tougher. So the school’s big-wigs have to go somewhere else to talk about the problems because “it’s easier to respond (to problems) when there’s not other things going around.” That’s how Provost Kendall Baker explained the little jaunt.

Maybe the administration is going to use its pull to clear out Rockford for the day so as not to be disturbed.

It’s one thing to have a meeting to discuss how to head off damaging budget cuts. Nobody can argue these planning sessions are vital to stability.

It’s an absolute other to pass it off as any other activity.

To make it worse, NIU has two places to get away from it all. The Lorado Taft campus in Oregon, Ill., and the Woodstock Center in Woodstock are designed for this. Officials snubbed the white elephant center because they’ve been there a couple f times already.

However, it is assuring to see that as tuition continues to rise, students continue to get closed out of classes, employees continue to get laid off and morale continues to sink. NIU officials have their priorities in the right place.