NIU officials have established a plan to account for the $35 million budgetary gap for Fiscal Year 2018 that may result from the Illinois budget impasse, according to an April 28 Baker Report.

State lawmakers are struggling to agree upon a budget for the third year in a row. As a result, university officials have been forced to explore budget reductions to fill the $35 million gap that would allow NIU to maintain “adequate reserves,” according to an April 4 Campus Update.

“Given this murky picture, we must continue to plan for adequate working capital without the likelihood of getting sufficient dollars from the state this year and be prepared to make additional budget adjustments throughout the coming fiscal year should it be necessary,” President Doug Baker said in the report.

Baker provided leaders in each division with a spending reduction goal, which resulted in $15 million in cutbacks campus-wide, according to the report.

The remaining $20 million will be made up for in unspecified “increases in central revenue generation and expense reductions,” according to the report.

As a result of these spending reductions, a portion of university employees will be losing their jobs. Some have already been made aware of their terminations, while others will be notified of their status this month. Those who may be influenced by the cutbacks include professional staff, operating staff and buildings and grounds staff, according to an April 17 Northern Star article.

“Because leadership worked diligently to find additional cuts in non-personnel areas, staff reductions will not be deep or as widespread as we initially anticipated,” Baker said in the report.