The NIU Board of Trustees approved a 9.5 percent tuition increase for the 2009 fiscal year at the Finance, Facilities and Operations Committee meeting June 5.

The increase will affect only new freshman and transfer students for the 2009 fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2008. It was calculated in part by the Truth-in-Tuition (TnT) Act, an Illinois legislation which was enacted to guarantee fixed tuition rates for entering undergraduates for four continuous years.

John Butler, the board’s newest trustee, spoke out against TnT saying it created a “flawed formula for complacency.”

“This law silences the opposition – anyone who might oppose it is in high school,” Butler said.

Because incoming students’ four-year tuition is established before they arrive, Butler suggested the legislation’s logic be reconsidered.

Trustee Myron Siegel responded that the increase was necessary to fund the university.

“Unfortunately for our students, there are no other viable sources for funding this institution,” Siegel said. “To not support it probably will fall on deaf ears in Springfield,” said BoardChair Cherilyn Murer.

The increase was approved without opposition.

Also approved were several university contracts, including one for Transportation Services to provide the university with fuel for $3.27 a gallon for the entire year, as well as an amendment to a Health Services contract to cover testing for chlamydia and gonorrhea.

The final agenda item was the approval of a project budget of $956,359 to renovate the Wesley Foundation building, which will house academic advising and the office of retention services. The Wesley Foundation building is on Locust Street, between the parking garage and Founders Memorial Library.

At the following meeting of the Legislation, Audit and External Affairs Committee, Lori Clark from NIU External Affairs spoke on the progress of receiving federal grants to recuperate expenses from the Feb. 14 shootings.

Grants from the Department of Justice, Department of Education, and Illinois Emergency Management are in progress, totaling $4.1 million. The Department of Justice has said, according to Clark, that progress on its grants is looking very good.