SIU President Updates Dire Financial Picture

SIU President Glenn Poshard says the state's continued cutbacks in funding for public colleges and universities means fewer jobs for southern Illinoisans.

Poshard says because of budget struggles, jobs have been left open on the Carbondale campus... and that may continue or even grow given the steep cuts coming in the next fiscal year.
 
"Right now, we have left open 505 positions here. There's about 320 people that have already turned in their paperwork to retire at the end of June, who likely would not have been retiring this early."
 
Many state employees are choosing to retire early this year due to a change in the way pensions are tabulated. That is in addition to potential changes to the overall pension system, which Poshard says could mean more lost revenue for SIU and other institutions.

The university as a whole will see a 13-million dollar decline in state revenues in the fiscal year that starts next month, and the Carbondale campus portion of that is roughly 7-million.

Poshard says a six-percent cut in state funding is already putting quite a pinch on things, and it may mean job cuts:
 
"We've never laid anybody off yet, and we don't want to start down that road. But to be honest, it could be a possibility. That's a substantial cut for us.