SIU board trustee sidelines vote on allowing Carbondale campus to borrow from Edwardsville

CARBONDALE — On a technicality, one board member stopped the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees on Thursday from taking up a proposal to allow the Carbondale campus to borrow money from the Edwardsville campus.

System President Randy Dunn said that means the board likely will have to reconvene for a special meeting in May to try again. Around that time, the board also is expected to move forward with hiring a chancellor for the Carbondale campus, so both matters may be able to be addressed at once, Dunn said.

The proposal that came before the board would have allowed Carbondale to tap Edwardsville’s unrestricted reserves — on paper only, without an actual transfer of cash — to keep it from dipping into the red, Dunn said. Carbondale has already burned through its own unrestricted reserves and what it can responsibly utilize of those associated with the SIU School of Medicine, and it cannot operate in deficit spending. Without the borrowing agreement, Carbondale could find itself in that position within six weeks, give or take, depending on cash flow, which is hard to predict, Dunn said.

Based on the statements of board members during the open portion of an executive session meeting the day prior, it appeared the proposal likely would have passed if it was called for a vote, though not unanimously.

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