^ The University of Illinois and Its Financial Program The University of Illinois is one of the great universi- ties of the United States. In the character of its work, its past achievements, and in the tremendous possibili- ties which exist here for further con- The University tributions to educational, cultural, as a State scientific and other phases of social Developmental ... , ., , . , progress, it is one of the best and most comprehensive examples of the place and function of the state university. That it enjoys such distinction is due to the interest of the pe&pl-e of . Illinois who, through their representatives in the ■State' Government, have supplied the financial resources nec- essary to carry on this educational enterprise; to State officials themselves for their vision and public-spirited attitude toward the University; and to the Trustees and Faculty of the University for its development. Altogether aside from the education it provides for thousands of young men and women to prepare them for the various professions of life, aside from the scientific achievements of members of its Faculty which, in some instances, have been worth many times the entire cost of the institution, the University of Illinois performs a public service which cannot be measured in numbers of stu- dents educated or dollars saved. It is simply this: these thousands of students, while here, receive cultural stimu- lation and develop ideals which are bound to make bet- ter and more useful citizens of them when they return to their home communities. These influences they pass on to others with whom they associate, and thus the University indirectly affects many people who have never even had an opportunity to visit its campus. What the University of Illinois has done in these respects is but a small beginning of what it can do in future years. Its geographical location makes it a logical center of culture here in the heart of the Mississippi Valley. Here in Illinois is the center of population, of industry and agriculture, of land and air transportation, and of inland waterways. Some philosophers and scholars have expressed the view that the Mississippi Valley has possibilities of becoming the center of a new American cul- ture. If this is destined to occur the University has an op- portunity to give direction and inspiration to this cultural development. It has already shown by its research work what it can do for agriculture and the industries. The same forces which have made the University what it is today drive it to newer achievements. It must continue its normal development at least, if it is to oc- cupy the high place it holds. No educational institution can hold its prestige by simply marking time. It is not necessary that its enrollment must necessarily continue to increase; there is an ultimate limit to expansion in that direction. Development is not limited to expansion of quarters or new buildings, although some of that is es- sential to an institution even after its enrollment has passed its peak. Rather, development in an educational institution, in addition to physical expansion and improve- ment, means improving the quality of its work, and re- adjusting its activities so that it can successfully contend with the changing social forces which our increasingly complex civilization creates. It must develop and modify its curricula as the needs for them change, it must re- tain and attract good men in order to make itself more and more useful as an instrument for the advancement of human intelligence and welfare. No institution of the size of the University of Illinois can accomplish this without the cooperation of the Faculty and Trustees in the common enterprise, and the confidence of the public. Like many other institutions of higher education the University of Illinois suffered from the pressure of war conditions. The cost of operation and of building had increased tremendously. Following the History of war, in 1919 and 1920, the enrollment of the , r the University increased 30 per cent over University's the max i mum enrollment immediately Program before the war. This produced a very acute situation, due to the fact that dur- ing the war there had been very little expansion, either in a physical way or in additions to the faculty. In 1920 a committee of some of the most responsible administrative officials in the University was appointed to study the situation and to recommend a financial policy that would gradually relieve the University of its em- barrassment. This committee met at least once a week for a period of eight months, studying conditions and considering various solutions from the points of view of the University and the general public. The report of this committee formed a basis for the University's financial policy adopted by the Board of Trustees in 1921 and approved by the Legislature. This plan provided for total appropriations of $10,500,000 every two years throughout a series of four or five biennial periods. Beginning with 1921 it was proposed that $2,500,000 of this total would be expended for buildings and other permanent improvements, and $8,000,000 for operation. In each succeeding biennium $500,000 was to be transferred from the building side to the operating side of the budget on the sound theory that as new build- ings are constructed the expenses of operation increase. It was generally understood that this was a ten-year plan, although the Trustees could not foresee what conditions would arise during that period and could not, therefore, guarantee that this amount would be sufficient. Never- theless it was their hope that they would be able to go through a period of eight or ten years without the neces- sity of asking for any increase and at the end of that time the Legislature could take up anew the question of future financial support for the University. This plan suffered a setback of two years in 1921 be- cause, while the Legislature approved by unanimous vote the full amount of $10,500,000 requested, the sum of $1,640,000 was finally cut out of the budget. Since 1923 the Legislature has approved the full amount asked and the plan has been carried out. In the meantime a situation developed in the College of Medicine which made it necessary for the University io put up to the Legislature a proposal for relief in that quarter. For a number of years the University has not been able to accommodate in its medical school all duly qualified residents of Illinois who have applied for ad- mission simply because it did not have sufficient class- room, laboratory and hospital facilities. This has resulted in a good deal of dissatisfaction throughout the State and consequently the University was under a great deal of pressure during the last seven or eight years to seek funds to secure adequate quarters. To relieve the situation, the University in 1929 took advantage of a temporary decrease in the enrollment of the College of Dentistry, due to a change in the entrance requirements, by pro- viding space for medical students in the Dentistry Build- ing. This made it possible to admit 40 per cent more students in the first year medical classes. It was clear, however, that when these enlarged classes enter upon the third and fourth, or clinical, years additional class- room and laboratory space would be needed by 1931. So in 1929 the Trustees proposed to the Legislature that it restore $1,500,000 of the $1,640,000 which was cut out in 1921 in order to provide for the first unit of a classroom and laboratory building for the Colleges of Medicine and Dentistry. Thus the appropriation passed in 1929 was not an actual increase or a departure from the plan. The difference between the apparent increase was almost the identical sum that was cut out of the first bill, thus con- firming the accuracy of the original plan, which, except for the loss of the amount cut out of the first bill in 1921, has worked very well. Experience has shown that $10,500,000 each biennium would have sufficed for the full ten-year period. It is expected this first unit of the new medical building will be ready for use in September, 1931. Since 1923 the Legislature, of its own accord, has been appropriating as a separate measure funds ranging from $20,000 to $30,000 biennially for a small agricultural ex- periment station in Cook County for the benefit of vege- table growers. In 1927 the Legislature, of its own accord, again, appropriated $30,000 for the establishment of a School of Journalism which provision has since been added to the University's biennial budget. Financial provisions adequate to maintain the develop- ment of the University of Illinois are simply an investment by the State in its own future citizenship. The so-called ten-year program has actually been The Budget carried out without any real increase in for 1931-33 funds during that time except, as stated above, for the addition by the Legislature itself of $30,000 for a School of Journalism, and funds for the Cook County Experiment Station. The Trustees could easily justify a new enlarged program in view of the growth of the University's student body during the past ten years and the increased demands upon it for new lines of work. Instead, the Trustees feel that because of economic conditions the University should, for the present, confine itself to the maintenance of its present activities. The financial program for 1931-33 is designed to insure such development, yet it is a conservative one, represent- ing an actual decrease of a quarter of a million dollars from the total of 1929. I want briefly to explain what this budget is and the reasons which have led to its adoption. Therefore I present below the current budget side by side with that proposed for the next biennium: State Appro- priation for Proposed 1929-31 for 1931-33 Operating (per year) (per year) Salaries and Wages $ 3,515,000 $ 3,675,000 Office Expense, including printing and pub- lications 150,000 150,000 Travel 35,000 35,000 Operation 485,000 500,000 Repairs 160,000 165,000 Equipment 290,000 315,000 Permanent Improvements 130,000 100,000 Total per year $ 4,765,000 $ 4,940,000 Total biennium $ 9,530,000 $ 9,880,000 liuiUlini/s- Total biennium 2,500,000 1,900,000 Grand total for biennium $12,030,000 $11,780,000 Budget for 1931-33 We are asking only $1,900,000 for building purposes in the coming biennium. The $350,000 increase in the total of the operating funds is essential in order to provide for necessary additions to the teaching The Operating an( j research staff, to replace worn out equipment and to provide for the ad- ditional cost of operation and mainte- nance in general due to the increased enrollment and the enlarged physical plant which this growth requires. During the last decade the enrollment of the University has in- creased more than 53 per cent in the Urbana departments and 100 per cent in the Chicago departments. Within the past two years this increase has amounted to almost 600 which is about the size of the average small college ! In other words, while the University asked for a total of $10,500,000 ten years ago when it had a total of 9,493 students in all departments, it now has 14,896 students, a total increase of 57 per cent; but it is asking for total appropriations for the next two years of $11,780,000, an increase of only about 12 per cent over the appropriation requested in 1921 and an actual decrease from that of two years ago ! We are proposing an increase of only $350,000, instead of $500,000, on the operating side of the budget, despite the fact that the needs of the medical unit in Chicago necessitate a larger operating increase at this time. This unit will move into enlarged quarters next fall and is in the midst of a program of development which involves the reorganization of and addition to its work. In addition to the normal expansion of the school due to the increased enrollment it has long had responsibilities in orthopedic surgery and in psychiatry, the support of which are not yet on a stable basis. There must also be reorganization in at least two departments and the administrative work of the College of Medicine. In spite of economies I believe the in- creased expenditures for the College of Medicine will con- siderably exceed $100,000 for the biennium. Slight in- creases in the tuition of the school have also been adopted, effective in September. It is only by the methods in- dicated above that I am able to see how we can take care of the operating needs of the College of Medicine without unduly cramping the development of the departments at Urbana. The addition of $350,000 to our operating budget for the biennium, is, therefore, essential. It was generally understood in 1929 that $1,500,000 would not be sufficient to rehouse the Colleges of Medicine and Dentistry but that it would be necessary to secure an appropriation for a second unit in 1931. It may be neces- sary as the years go on to add still a third, and perhaps even a fourth, unit to the medical plant, but that will have to be decided on the basis of conditions some years from now. In the meantime the appropriation for this second unit will enable the University to meet some of the most acute needs of the Chicago departments. The building program therefore includes $1,400,000 for building's in Chicago and $500,000 for use on the Urbana Campus. The Trustees are asking for $1,400,000 instead of $1,500,000 because it seems that by this decrease of $100,000 in buildings we can most fairly meet the largely- increased operating needs of the College of Medicine. This increase can be borne in this way with less hardship than in any other. This amount of $1,400,000 would be devoted to the construction of laboratory and teaching quarters for Medicine and Dentistry and to the construction, if possible, of a clinical building and an assembly hall. It is doubtful whether the rehousing program can be finished with the indicated sum, but many of the pressing needs of the College of Medicine will have been met. In order to make this construction in Chicago possible we are holding back to a minimum the building program in Urbana. There are still plenty of building needs but what has seemed the wisest thing, after a good deal of consideration, is to take one single step during this bien- nium in a program which has been planned to cover a series of years. This calls for the relocation of the agri- cultural laboratories, both because they are inadequate and unsafe, and because the vacated space can be re- modeled to house some of the scientific departments of our Liberal Arts and Sciences group, thus consolidating this work in a central location and providing for its normal expansion. Both the Trustees and I would have been glad had it seemed possible to go farther at this time. A variety of requests have come to us from outside, the totals of which would have increased our proposed budget very largely. In addition to these, there are numerous internal developments that, desirable as they are, must wait. However, the budget for 1931-33 includes no extraordinary requests. Only es- sentials have been included and the budget as submitted to the Legislature represents a decrease of $250,000 be- ^ cause the State is faced with serious financial problems due to decreases in general revenue and the University wants to do its share to help meet this situation. Actually this reduction would seriously hamper the University's work and it is necessary to off-set it by a slight increase in incidental fees in the Urbana departments. So far as present economic conditions are concerned, ■ institutions for higher education, like the University of Illinois, keep on growing, even though business conditions are not of the best. I certainly hope it may not be neces- sary to repeat what most of the institutions in the country went through just after the war. In other words, if the institutions start falling behind in financial support again, as they did just after the war, there is going to be the same sort of difficulty in catching up, and in the mean- time the quality of their teaching and research work will be impaired. As soon as present conditions improve somewhat, judging from the general experience of ten and eleven years ago, the strain which will be caused by refinancing institutions which have been obliged to practice retrenchment is going to be greater than if they are able to maintain their important activities without curtailment through the period of depression. The University's financial program for 1931-33 was adopted after months of study of its needs from all points of view, careful consideration being given to present business conditions. I feel confident that any group of citizens who would take the time and trouble to study the situation carefully would say that the budget is extremely conservative under the circum- stances. It is one behind which Trustees, Alumni and other friends of the University can all stand and about which we shall be glad to answer any questions. c The Financial Program of the University of Illinois 1931-33 A Message from the President of the Uni- versity, Dr. Harry Woodburn Chase