For the past several years the University of Illinois Board of Trustees has approved tuition rates at its March meeting, but because of the budget uncertainty at the state level, administrators will not be making a tuition decision Wednesday, said University of Illinois spokesman Tom Hardy.

“It’s not tradition as in the capital ‘T’ tradition,” Hardy said. “But the Board typically handles tuition at the March meeting.”

He also said it is not certain when the Board will approve tuition rates because the University is waiting to hear how much money it will receive from the state.

While current students are unaffected by this decision, incoming freshmen are waiting for this announcement.

In the meantime, incoming freshmen can look at past trends, Hardy said. They can look at state funding for the University and tuition rates in the past.

The board approved room and board and student fee rates at the November meeting, so incoming freshmen can also access this information to gain a better idea of how much they will be paying next year.

Student trustee Paul Schmitt said the lack of a tuition decision makes Wednesday’s overall agenda rather lackluster.

“Its not a very controversial agenda,” said Craig McFarland, student trustee from Springfield.

Both student trustees said the most significant issues will be those related to Global Campus.

There are two agenda items pertaining to Global Campus. One is the approval of duties, appointment and evaluation of the chief executive of the entity. The second is to approve the constitution for the academic policy council of Global Campus. The academic policy council was established at the January meeting to provide faculty oversight to the entity.

These items are on the agenda because they are necessary for Global Campus’ independent accreditation process, Hardy said. It is necessary for these agencies to be established to legally protect the education and the integrity of the institution.

This will also be the first meeting for Elias Pittos, the newly appointed student trustee from Chicago.

Pittos replaced former student trustee James Winters, who resigned from the position in February. Since Winters’ resignation, McFarland received the binding vote given to one of the three student trustees, allowing him to vote as part of the nine-member board.

“It’s a huge responsibility,” McFarland said. “I’ve been talking to Paul Schmitt about issues on his campus. It would be foolish of me not to.”