NIU is expected to suffer budget cuts over the next fiscal year.

At Wednesday’s University Council meeting, the main concern was the state’s deficit, Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s recent actions and the consequences of those actions.

The state of Illinois currently has an estimated deficit of $2 billion, and as a result of that, Gov. Blagojevich has ordered that NIU and other public universities hold 2.5 percent of their revenue budget in reserve.

President Peters sent out an e-mail Wednesday afternoon addressing the faculty, staff and students about the outlook of NIU’s financial future. Peters stated in the e-mail:

“Given the size of Illinois’ budget deficit in the context of an increasingly unfavorable economic outlook, we need to be prudent and prepare for the possibility of further reductions this year and in FY2010.”

As for how these budget constraints will affect students, they will be more effective next year, Peters said in an interview.

“In the short term, it has less of a direct impact on students this year,” Peters said. “The real issue is what happens next year if we have to permanently reduce, which, of course, blends into revenue issues like if we have to raise fees and tuition.”

It is not known how fees and tuition will be affected as it is a long and detailed process, but of the things students may notice that will be impacted by these budget cuts, Peters said, will be equipment, recreation, student activities and anything requiring “one-time expenditures.”

Other topics discussed at the meeting were the upcoming commencement ceremony and the anniversary of the Feb. 14 shootings.

In an effort to facilitate the commencement ceremony without having a good portion of the audience leave before the ceremony’s conclusion, the ceremony will be divided into two different ceremonies at different times: one for graduates, one for undergraduates.

“We looked at ways in which we can make the commencements in a reasonable time,” said Vice Provost Earl Seaver. “We’ve seen in the past when it gets to be over two hours later, we start to see large numbers of students just leaving.”

Plans have also been made for a memorial on Feb. 14 to remember those who suffered from the shootings last semester. A memorial program at the Convocation Center is planned as well as a candlelight vigil that evening in the MLK Commons.

“Planning isn’t complete yet, but we’ve had two groups working since September, and we just want to connect to and remember those who had lost their lives and those who were directly involved,” said Brian Hemphill, vice president of student affairs.