SIU trustees hear FY26 budgets show balanced finances after multi‑year deficits; board moves to executive session on personnel and litigation

President Daniel Mahoney and campus leaders briefed the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees on FY26 operating budgets for SIUE and the SIU School of Medicine and described the system’s progress shrinking prior structural deficits and improving cash reserves.

Chancellor James T. Minor told trustees SIUE had submitted an FY26 budget without structural imbalances after a FY25 submission that included a roughly $10,300,000 structural deficit. Minor credited better-than-expected enrollment and improved retention for part of the improvement and said the university achieved the balanced budget without drawing on reserves.

Minor and other presenters described key budget drivers: an expected increase in salary expenses of roughly $6 million to $8 million, an energy and utility cost increase of approximately $2 million to $2.5 million, and continued emphasis on vacancy savings. The transcript records that vacancy-management efforts produced about $6.4 million in savings in the previous year and that the university expects about $6.7 million in vacancy savings in FY26. The presentation also listed FY26 salary increases totaling about $3.6 million, including roughly $2.5 million for collective-bargaining agreements (CBAs), $463,000 for CBIZ consultant–recommended minimum adjustments, roughly $430,000 for compression adjustments and $208,000 for nonrepresented employees.

SIUE administrators reported progress reducing a historical cash deficit: the Edwardsville campus’ “cash deficit” figure declined from about $19 million in 2019 to roughly $5.8 million at the end of FY25, and administrators said further reductions were expected in coming years. The all-funds projection included a planned use of about $15.5 million in cash in FY26, with roughly $9.2 million attributed to athletics-related spending in that total; trustees and staff discussed fundraising and other strategies to reduce the athletics draw.

The SIU School of Medicine finance briefing noted a mostly balanced FY26 outlook across fund groups and that research indirect-cost recoveries had declined; the school’s presenters also said a new $2.5 million, five‑year grant for a street‑medicine demonstration project had been confirmed during the meeting and would add to grant-funded work.

Trustees commented on the budget presentations. Trustee Paula Hightower and Trustee Curtis praised the administration and credited the leadership team for steering the campuses from multi‑million‑dollar deficits to improved financial metrics. President Mahoney and governing trustees described multi-year restructuring, an early-retirement incentive, and other operational changes as contributors to the turnaround.

At the close of the open meeting portion, a trustee moved to close the meeting to the public “for the purpose of considering pending, probable, or imminent court proceedings against or on behalf of the board; appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees; collective negotiating matters; deliberations concerning salary schedules; and review of executive session minutes,” citing the Illinois Open Meetings Act, 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1), (2), (11) and (21). The motion was seconded and the board took a roll call; the transcript records the motion as moved, seconded and put to roll call but does not include a final numerical roll-call tally in the provided excerpt. The motion’s stated purpose included personnel, collective bargaining and litigation matters.

The transcript includes introductions of new or recently hired administrators in the context of the budget discussion: Yvonne Thompson, executive director of internal audit (approved previously in July); Justin Oates, vice president for financial and administrative affairs and board treasurer (appointment on the next-day agenda; he started two days before the meeting); and Anne DeToy, director of university budget and analytics. The transcript does not show a board vote to adopt the FY26 budgets in the provided excerpt.

Clarifying details in the transcript include the FY25 structural deficit figure ($10,300,000), vacancy savings ($6.4 million in the prior year, $6.7 million expected in FY26), salary-increase totals ($3.6 million with subcomponents), projected utility cost increases ($2–2.5 million), and the School of Medicine’s newly announced $2.5 million, five-year street-medicine grant. Trustees referenced historical deficits and named administrative strategies used to reduce them.

Following the executive-session motion, the public portion of the meeting closed and the board proceeded to the cited closed-session topics, as recorded in the transcript.