(11:24 a.m.) Killeen’s bonus was awarded, along with several other appointments on various campuses.  Trustee Patrick Fitzgerald said Killeen has earned every dollar of his performance-based bonus, $100,000, with his terrific leadership.

Fitzgerald emphasized that the funds are a performance-based incentive and not a bonus. He also mentioned that Killeen gave up a retention bonus of $225,000.

Trustees also approved a $75,000 bonus for UIC Chancellor Michael Amiridis for performance-based incentives.

***

(10:35 a.m.) The University is preparing to launch a Sesquicentennial Celebration for its 150 anniversary. The celebration will start Feb. 28, 2017, marking the day the state legislature created the university. The celebration will run until May 2018 at the Urbana commencement ceremony.

The branding and logo for the celebrating is “Shaping the Future Since 1867.”

***

(10:30 a.m.) Trustees will vote on a $100,000 performance-based bonus for President Timothy Killeen today, according to a newly posted item on the agenda. The bonus is for achievement on set goals decided earlier by the board.

Killeen earns a base salary of $600,000.

Trustees will also vote on head football Coach Lovie Smith’s revised contract. The total amount of money he receives is the same, but he will receive more money earlier in his second and third year of coaching and will receive less money in his fifth and sixth year coaching.

***

(9:45 a.m.) The University system has enrolled a record amount of students this year, according to enrollment statistics released Thursday.

UI enrolled a record number of 77,073 on-campus students at its three universities and total enrollment is expected to reach 81,000 students combined with online courses.

The Urbana campus increased enrollment by 1.8 percent with 44,880 students and has the largest freshman class ever with 7,592 students. This breaks the record set in 2005.

“We are fitting all of our students into residence halls as we speak,” Interim Chancellor Barbara Wilson said. “We had a bit of an overflow this year, but that is good news.”

African-American enrollment increased by 9.8 percent — from 1,786 to 1,961 students — and Latino enrollment rose 11.2 percent — from 3,110 to 3,457 students.

This is the second year in a row that UI has had record enrollment, a goal in the Strategic Framework the University approved earlier this year. Last year’s fall enrollment was 80,292 students.

“Our enrollment gains are a testament to our global reputation for academic excellence, to our unwavering commitment to student success and holding down student costs, and to ongoing efficiency and effectiveness efforts that put their needs first,” President Timothy Killeen said in a news release.

The Board of Trustees completed its executive session and has resumed its regular session.

***

(8:30 a.m.) The Urbana campus is cutting $20 million in its budget this year, trustees learned at a subcommittee meeting Wednesday.

The campus cut $49 million in 2016 and was still short on its budget by $140 million. This year, the campus is $50 million short on its budget. Despite cuts made, the overall state funding for 2016 and 2017 is still behind $190 million, Interim Provost Ed Feser said.

Feser warned that a large portion of cuts came from the administration in 2016 and that in 2017, it will hard to make similar large cuts from the same unit.

He also showed trustees that the campus has continued to give out financial aid to students, totaling $69 million in 2016, but he warned it will be harder to continue to do this without some support soon.

“We put a lot of investment in financial aid and to maintain the accessibility of the institute,” he said. “This will get harder to do unless we see some relief.”

Marilyn Marshall, interim vice president for Academic Affairs, said the lack of state budget funding has heightened the need to maximize each campus’ resources. She said there are many parts to academic unit planning, including the current budget uncertainty and ensuring that classes offered fit with the critical mission of the University.

At the Urbana campus, there has been a shift in enrollment over the years, as students have been choosing STEM and social sciences programs over the humanities, Feser said. The campus is looking for ways to add in interdisciplinary options, such as CS+X, which combines computer science with other humanities, such as linguistics.

By adding these new programs, such as a masters in computer or data science and the iMBA, the University hopes to award 2,666 more degrees per year by 2022 — a 21 percent growth.

A budget reform group is currently working on new ways to plan for the campus, and the group is expected to have the plan reviewed by the provost in May 2017. The new system is expected to begin July 2019.

***

(8:05 a.m.) Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting has began with trustees entering executive session to

Read what the board is reviewing and voting on today here.

Public session will begin at 9:30 with an update on 10-day enrollment numbers from President Timothy Killeen.

***
This story will be updated live as the session goes on. Stay tuned with The Daily Illini for updates.