The estimated amount of $2 million that NIU was expected to receive in additional funding from the 1989 spring semester tuition surcharge must be reduced by a total of $550,000 to offset the cost of previous commitments.

Payment of the $125 surcharge tuition increase for the spring semester will be waived for those students who receive financial aid through the Illinois State Scholarship Commission Monetary Award Program (MAP).

NIU President John LaTourette said the $2 million which would be raised through the surcharge needs to be reduced by about $300,000 to offset the cost for students receiving scholarships through the MAP.

Another $280,000 to $300,000 needs to be subtracted from the $2 million estimated total to counter the costs of opening 39 extra 1988 fall course sections across the undergraduate curriculum, he said.

“For 39 course sections, you are looking at approximately 10 to 12 equivalent full-time professors that we hired for last semester,” LaTourette said.

NIU Provost Kendall Baker said most of the funding for the extra fall course sections went primarily to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“Some of the funding went to other colleges, but for the most part, it was spent on general education, lower division classes,” he said.

The Sept. 15 Board of Regents Chancellor’s report stated the proposed tuition increase revenues would either completely or substantially finance 54 additional course sections for the spring 1989 semester.

“For 54 course sections we are dealing with 14 to 17 equivalent full-time professors, but we haven’t made any commitment to that yet,” LaTourette said.

Baker said he has requested reports from the different colleges at NIU stating needs and demands of the departments for the 1989 spring semester and has received some reports already.

Baker said that before he can determine how much of the additional spring semester funding each college will receive, he will have to review the submitted reports and decide which colleges are faced with the most demand in class scheduling.

“My expectations are that the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will be receiving the most part of the funding again this spring semester,” he said. “It is my understanding that the College of Education has extensive needs for this spring, also.”

LaTourette said, “One has to be careful spending money that hasn’t been appropriated by legislature yet. It would be prudent to not make any more financial commitments until around October or November when we will be getting some indications from legislature on where the money will go.

“We won’t be making any further commitments on the spending of what is left of the estimated $2 million, though we will have to commit ourselves soon because schedules need to come out for the 1989 spring semester,” he said.