I guess you missed the part where I work for a state university. I believe I have WAY more knowledge of Illinois politics, and the inner workings of state universities than you do. And the article you linked means very little in my eyes. Eastern Illinois University is getting ready to layoff over 200 people because of the state budget crisis. You may know that Illinois is a mess but I don’t think you have any idea what going 8 months without a budget means and the impact it is having on the state. Without a budget the comptroller can not release funds. The Universities are working right now on their reserves. U of I is in better shape with their reserves then the smaller Universities but they are not out of the woods.
The idea that you think the University is “sensitive to the feelings and expectations of the resident community” is laughable. Anything done in Illinois is political and about the money. The stats of applicants are very important but politics and money play a much larger roll than you will ever know.