DeKALB | As a result of tight state budgets, universities across the country are experiencing a shortage in capital funding for maintenance.

Some schools have had to increase student fees to fund maintenance and NIU administrators have discussed the topic as a last resort, said NIU President John Peters.

“It is something NIU may have to do, but I think this is the responsibility of the state,” Peters said.

Government mandates and a less-than-satisfactory financial state in Illinois are two causes of the shortage in funding for the state’s public universities.

In response to a build-up of deferred maintenance, the University of Illinois initiated a $500 student fee to be phased in over the next four years. The fee will address health and safety concerns that are student and instruction related, said Randy Kangas, the assistant vice president for planning and budgeting at U of I.

Kangas explained that some instructional facilities at U of I are in dire need of funding for maintenance, and funding for much of this maintenance has been deferred for the past decade, Kangas said.

The goal of the fee is to “try and help us catch up with deferred maintenance,” Kangas said.

Universities in need

NIU and all other state public universities rely on major capital funding from the Illinois Board of Higher Education for the maintenance needed to function. Funding from the IBHE has been frozen for an extended period of time. Ken Zehnder, associate director of NIU’s External Affairs, said there has not been a capital bill released from the IBHE in nearly four years.

Whether the funds will remain frozen will remain uncertain until it is discussed this spring.

“The feeling is that there may be some discussion after the election during the veto session,” Zehnder said. “They could consider doing a capital bill during the veto session, but it is unlikely because they only have two weeks.”

A capital bill is difficult to pass because it requires a three-fifths vote, requiring support from both political parties in the Illinois legislature, Zehnder said.

Zehnder also said there hasn’t been “enough momentum, enough cooperation between parties to get something” done about the frozen funding.

For NIU, the Stevens Hall project is the top priority and the project grant request submitted to the IBHE is for $19 million. The total of all capital projects submitted to the IBHE by NIU is $143 million, but Zehnder said the chance of having all of the projects completely funded is bleak.

The Stevens Hall project is also a priority for the IBHE, who ranks the project in the top twenty on the list of projects to be funded.

Like U of I, which doubled the request for deferred maintenance, NIU’s listing of requests will be the same this year as the last two years as a result of the frozen funds.

Turning to students for funds

So far, students and parents don’t seem to mind the $500 fee at U of I.

“Up until now, there has been no negative feedback,” Kangas said. “There has really been no feedback at all.”

The fee is being phased in over the next four years, so students who are new to U of I this year will pay the fee, but students who have been attending U of I before the fee was required are not responsible for paying, Kangas said.

In addition to the new fee to address deferred maintenance, Kangas said U of I has reallocated money and continues to ask donors for funds.

Kangas also said the fee is not a direct result of frozen funding because the deferred maintenance has been a concern for U of I for the past decade.

Other Big Ten universities have instituted a fee similar to U of I’s, Kangas said.

Despite the need for funding, Peters said the funding for maintenance should not come from the students.

“These are buildings that were built with state money and it is the responsibility of the state because this is a state-funded institution,” Peters said.

Peters is hopeful the funding will continue before NIU has to resort to charging the students.

“These are buildings that are in need of renovation, of repair,” Peters said. “We’re hoping that the state will turn around and restart the funding with the turnaround of the economy.”

Carlene Eck is a Campus Reporter for the Northern Star.