Some public university employees have figured out a way to keep their jobs and double their salaries. CBS 2 found employees at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the City Colleges of Chicago, and Chicago State University who also retired and returned to draw both a university pension and a university salary.
The head of the state Senate Higher Education Committee is planning hearings next month to look into Chicago State University's out-of-control financial situation.
An audit released last week found CSU failed for several months to send tuition bills to students. It's also paying vendors more than called for by contracts and allowing students to graduate without completing required courses, among other problems.
That comes on the heels of an earlier audit showing that a university official spent nearly $2,200 at the Sheridan Manhattan, but failed to submit receipts documenting the expense. Other charges exceeded state limits on hotel spending, including a $5,600 transaction at the luxury Plaza Ocean Club in Florida and $57,000 at Hyatt hotels. Read more...
Illinois General Assembly quickly passes pension reforms
State legislators swiftly approved a bill that would raise the retirement age for future government employees and force them to wait longer to collect on their pensions.
The bill, passed last night in the Senate after it sailed throught the House, would not affect anyone who is currently in the retirement system. Read more...
After months of unexplained delays, Gov. Pat Quinn last week named four new members to Chicago State University’s board of trustees.
The four new members are Lisa Morrison Butler, who runs City Year Chicago; Gary Rozier, a vice president at Ariel Investments; Julie Samuels, the Openlands Project’s outreach coordinator; and Zaldwaynaka Scott, an attorney and executive inspector general under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Earlier this year, as the City Colleges pondered how to trim expenses and balance its budget – an exercise that eventually lead to 58 layoffs – technicians at Kennedy-King College were installing a $166,000 robotic camera system in the upscale Sikia Restaurant.
The project, pushed by then-Chancellor Wayne Watson since mid-2008, culminated in an invite-only dinner in May that featured singer Terisa Griffin – and which was broadcast live on WYCC, the district’s PBS station. Read more...
