UIC Chapter of SUAA Minutes of the Fall Meeting Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Frank Tachau called the meeting to order at 10:00am.

1. Minutes of the Spring 2004 meeting were presented and accepted by the membership. It was noted that all minutes are now posted on the UIC SUAA website.

2. Wally Wadycki presented the treasurer's report; it consisted of three main points:

• Balance as of June 2003 was $25,202; balance as of June 2004 was $30,820.
• Balance as of October 13, without some deductions for recent expenses, was $32,596.
• The UIC SUAA Chapter's participation in the State SUAA pilot dues modernization project has proven successful. Springfield will collect dues and deposit them to chapter accounts via electronic transfer.

A recent audit of the Chapter's fiscal records that was submitted to SUAA was approved.

3. The membership report was presented by Gerry Piorkowski. The membership news is excellent: we had an increase last year from the previous year and received an award from SUAA in June for this achievement. Since then, two new recruitment efforts have assisted us in adding 75 new members to date for the current year. The recruitment efforts have included a campus-wide e-mail to current employees and a direct mailing to those who retired in the past 5 years. In the case of the latter, colleagues from colleges and/or departments personalized the message. We now have a record number of members - 1125, which is important in our advocacy efforts. Gerry asked any non-members in attendance to join SUAA and to encourage any colleagues, currently employed or retired, to join.

4. Dick Johnson provided a legislative report. He explained how the State government has deferred pension fund payments in order to meet current budget needs without a tax hike. Illinois continues a policy of not addressing structural problems in the budget and places future administrations and pensions at greater fiscal risk.

• Illinois House Bill 750: This bill would raise funds for K-12 education by taxing retirement income over $75k and increasing the State income tax. It probably will not pass in its present form. SUAA is monitoring the situation.
  
  
• SUAA legislative goals for 2005:

i. raise SURS death benefit from $1000 to $5000
ii. allow employees to use up to 2 years of sick leave as service credit
iii. press to eliminate the Social Security offsets for public pensions (see http://www.uic.edu/orgs/suaa/legislat.html)

5. Roz Hoffman presented an update on future program activities and mentioned that the Dick Simpson's lecture - the first in a series that Irv Miller is organizing - was well attended. Future events are:

• Wednesday, December 15, 2004: the Holiday Party, to be held at the Parthenon Restaurant in Greektown.
• Thursday April 21, 2005: the annual Spring Meeting

6. In the President's report, Frank Tachau noted that the Chapter has been offered new office space by the Executive Director of Facilities Management, Mark Donovan. Thanks are due to Art Savage for helping us reach the right person. The office space will be looked at after the conclusion of this meeting.

• We also need 3 more individuals to fill positions on our Chapter Board. Any volunteers?
• Merrill Gassman urged members to use our website for information and connection to matters of interest for us all.
• A motion was made and passed unanimously, thanking Merrill for his excellent work in getting our website up, running, and maintained.

Presentation by Tom Lemont, Executive Director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education

Tom Lemont discussed the role of the IBHE in representing all of the higher education (187) institutions in the State. It is calculated that 10cents of every State revenue dollar goes to higher education. Important facts for us and legislators to consider:

• The ranking of the State of Illinois on the National Report Card for higher education among the states has declined. Four years ago we were #1, and now we are #8. We really were hit hard on our affordability rating.
• While the higher education budget remains level for 2005 after much negotiating and fighting, the damage from previous cuts may continue if State budget problems persist. The U. of I. is expected to request a 7.9% increase for 2006, and no one knows where any new money will come from.
• Priorities for the IBHE this year for any new funds are: affordability, faculty/staff compensation, and deferred maintenance.
• Accountability and reporting continue to be a major thrust of the budget office as well as IBHE.
• Another major push is to continue to develop the complex area of distance learning as a revenue stream for higher education in Illinois degree programs, certificate programs, and continuing education and to somehow regulate out of State competition to be in sync with the quality of Illinois based programs.
• Relationships with the legislature and the governor's office are good.
• More challenges are ahead as Illinois continues to provide leadership in higher education.

Meeting was adjourned at 12:00pm .

Respectfully submitted,

Susan R. Levy, Secretary

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Last modified: Jan. 12, 2005

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