Although additional state revenue will enable NIU to raise faculty salaries, university officials predict a 20-percent tuition increase and enrollment cutbacks will be necessary to maintain current projects and programs.

The Illinois General Assembly last week allocated $65 million in additional revenue for higher education. The allocation is now awaiting approval by Gov. James Thompson.

Ross Hodel, Illinois Board of Higher Education deputy director, said that while the increase is substantial it still leaves universities at about the same funding level as in 1986.

Most of the money is earmarked for salary hikes; however, that does not leave much money for other things, Hodel said.

Hodel said the pay increase is expected to be about 5.7 percent. The General Assembly wanted to raise salaries (for university professionals) equivalent to that of other state employees,” he said.

Even with the additional revenue, NIU administrators say more money is needed to maintain classes and programs.

NIU President John LaTourette said the failure of the state legislature to adopt Thompson’s tax increase proposal has made it necessary for NIU to consider raising tuition and reducing enrollment.

“We must do the best we can in terms of providing classes and programming to enable our current students to complete their degrees, ” LaTourette said. “That means we will have to reduce admissions drastically and in the long run deny access to thousands of students,” he added.

LaTourette said enrollment might have to be reduced beyond the 1,000-student cutback planned for the next two years. The reduction also could be combined with a tuition increase of “at least 20 percent, in order to provide the (financial) support which is urgently needed and which we have been requesting from the legislature for the last three years,” LaTourette said.

LaTourette noted that, as of now, no new students will be admitted during the spring 1989 semester. However, he said the Board of Regents will reconsider this policy in September.

Kenneth Beasley, assistant to LaTourette, said the new allocation brings NIU’s budget back up to 1986 levels. The money basically replaces a $60 million cut the governor imposed last year, Beasley said.

The money is “primarily for salary increases,” Beasley said. He said he is not sure of the exact amount but estimated it at between 5 and 6 percent. “It’s unsure how the money will be divided,” he said.

Reaction to the pay hike is generally favorable, but most agree that it is insufficient.

Lois Self, vice president of the NIU chapter of University Professionals of Illinois, said that “what the legislature has done is woefully inadequate.” The UPI’s position is that more state support is needed, not a raise at the expense of the university or the students. Although the raise will not directly cost NIU or its students more money, Self said, “What we basically have is a demoralized faculty.”

Biology Professor Jack Bennet said that while the pay increase is welcome it is still “very, very low.” Due to inflation, buying power of university employees changes very little even with the increase, he said.

Bennet and Self said it was too early to tell whether the pay situation would affect university professionals leaving Illinois for out-of-state job opportunities.

Self and Bennet, both active in the UPI union, also said it was not clear how the pay increase would affect the faculty’s view of unionization and that the union would continue to organize faculty members.

State Rep. John Countryman, R-DeKalb, said the amount of funding was inadequate. “It won’t allow for (hiring) new faculty. And buildings with (maintenance) problems will still have problems,” he said.