In the fiscal year 2009, the University of Illinois Board of Trustees determined that the utility budget will be $120 million dollars, and of this, $65 million dollars will be spent on natural gas.

A proposal was made which would formulate a policy in order to help the University obtain natural gas at lower prices.

This policy would allow the University to contract with their natural gas provider, Nicor, allowing it to purchase natural gas in advance. Doing so would allow the University to make purchases when the price of gas is lower.

By advance-purchasing natural gas, the University would pay the provider the price the natural gas was when they purchased it.

The board will readdress this plan when they meet in November.

Earlier today Chancellor Richard Herman focused on keeping University faculty members’ salaries competitive compared to other institutions as he addressed the University of Illinois’ Board of Trustees Thursday.

Accompanied by slides comparing faculty salaries at the University and comparably sized institutions, Herman said he believes University salaries have become too low to be competitive.

According to one of the chancellor’s presented slides, the University averages at $10,000 behind the University of Michigan per faculty member and $20,000 behind Berkeley.

“This is something that should concern us all, as we seek to recruit the best faculty in the world,” Herman said.

Herman also addressed several of his goals for the year, including reaching a 100 percent voter turnout for students of the Champaign-Urbana campus.

Herman said he has reached out to the Champaign City Council to hold a voter registration drive. Students also received a mass e-mail early Thursday morning with information about the drive and places on campus to register.

Herman said he is also pleased to finally see the creation of an Office of Sustainability and to present the first president of that office, Professor Richard Warner, to the board for approval.

“I want this institution to be the leader in sustainability,” Herman said.

Board Chair Lawrence Eppley began the first meeting since the school year began by going through a slideshow of the newly finished capital projects on campus.

Eppley remarked that resolutions for buildings such as the Business Instructional Facility and the Activities and Recreation Center go through the board, but how rarely the buildings are finished in one term.

“Very seldom do we see a project go from start to finish,” Eppley said.

The slideshow showed time-lapse photos of Memorial Stadium and Eppley recognized members of the Division of Intercollegiate Athletes including Ron Guenther, director of athletics, for their work on the stadium construction.

“This is something we will be proud about for many decades to come,” said trustee Robert Sperling.

After public comment, Mike Bass, representative of Willard Airport, gave a slideshow presentation regarding how the airport is dealing with different budget problems. Bass said the airport wants to remain competitive with airports in Bloomington, Decatur, and Peoria, Ill., but it is finding that hard to do so because of its increasing expenses.

“What is this area going to be in 10, 15, 20 years?” Bass asked.

Bass said the airport is important not only to the University, but the community at large as well.

The airport is currently operating on a $4.3 million total budget with $2.5 million for operating and $1.8 for capital.

In order to attract more students and faculty and benefit the community, the airport wishes to increase its total flights, which mainly go to O’Hare Airport but also go to Dallas and Detroit, by working with its main airline partner American Airlines. Bass said that if the airport can ride out the current downturn caused by fuel price increases, it can build relationships with other airlines to expand.

“If we do it correctly, it can provide better transportation,” Bass said.

Trustee members agreed that the airport was an important asset to the University, but many asked how possible this goal could be with the airport running mostly off University subsidies.

“This seems to be a community resource with a University subsidy,” Eppley said. “How long can it sustain itself for?”

It is currently experiencing a loss in profitability since decreasing its flights and breaking its partnership with Delta Airlines, Bass said. This lead trustees to question how the airport can increase its profits through other means, such as parking. Currently the airport makes the most profit from its car rental system and spends the most money on labor.

“If we want to do something with Willard, we’re going to have to be innovative,” said Vickrey.

The airport is also not finished paying off the new terminal that was partially paid for by Champaign County. This combined with fuel costs increasing from 20 percent to 40 percent of the operating budget have hindered the airport’s ability to expand, Bass said. To help transport students and faculty and make the University more competitive, Chancellor Richard Herman said the airport cannot be ignored.

“I don’t think we should let this one go to the backburner,” said Sperling. “Transportation is a significant issue.”

The Budget and Audit Committee gave a presentation to approve next year’s budget and academic appointments.

The committee also plans to request $109 million dollars from the state for the 2010 budget to strengthen academic quality and address facility operation needs, said Walter Knorr, chief financial officer for the University.

The budget has increased $265.2 million to $4.2 billion for the 2009 year. There has also been a $98.5 million increase in unrestricted funds that can go for any project and a $166.7 million increase in restricted funds.

However, Sperling believes that, as an alumni, that the Lincoln Hall project should be a top priority for the University in the 2010 budget regardless of other concerns.

“We are going to lose one of our premier facilties,” Sperling said. “We can’t let the University fall apart.”

The 2010 operating budget request is currently apportioned to strengthen academic quality by asking for $85.8 million, but facility operations is currently at $5.9 million. But Sperling believes that number should be higher and the University should re-evaluate the budget priorities.

“Faculty cannot stay loyal in these troubled economic times,” Sperling said. “There is no excuse for it.

Joseph B. White, president of the University, said that though he believes the state will have a capital bill for the building, he believes the University should still have a back-up plan to remodel the building.

“We’re trying to stabilize Lincoln Hall to prepare it for renovation,” White said. “But we can’t close the gap in a year.”

Knoll said the committee will look over the budget and re-evaluate it for later meetings. The budget is constructed to attempt to reduce any tuition costs to minimum, but the board will not know if a tuition increase is necessary until the March meeting, White said.

In the fiscal year 2009, the Board of Trustees determined that the utility budget will be $120 million dollars, and of this, $65 million dollars will be spent on natural gas.

A proposal was made which would formulate a policy in order to help the University obtain natural gas at lower prices.

This policy would allow the University to contract with their natural gas provider, Nicor, allowing it to purchase natural gas in advance. Doing so would allow the University to make purchases when the price of gas is lower. By advance-purchasing natural gas, the University would pay the provider the price the natural gas was when they purchased it.

The board will readdress this plan when they meet in November.

Keep checking DailyIllini.com throughout the day for more updates.