Governors State University President Joyce Ester hosted a meeting with faculty and staff on Nov. 17 to discuss finances and ask for help balancing the budget. 

In an email to faculty and staff on Oct. 27, Ester, who took over as president in July, announced the university has been operating at a loss. She explained that GovState had an operating loss of $5.5 million in fiscal years 2023 and 2024. She also cited a “Budget-to-Actual Report for fiscal year 2025, which showed an operating loss of $3,418,984 for the year just ended on June 30, 2025.” 

Board documents show that university administrators have presented balanced budgets to the GovState Board of Trustees for approval over the last three years. Audit documents show that the university was relying on unrestricted reserve funds to cover budget shortfalls. 

At the Oct. 27 board meeting, trustees voted to approve a final operating budget for fiscal year 2026, expecting a further deficit of approximately $4.7 million. In her email on the same day, Ester told employees that the university’s unrestricted reserve fund balance was around $17.5 million at the end of fiscal year 2025. She also referenced a letter the board received in August “from the institution’s accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission, expressing concern regarding the university’s financial position.” 

At the Nov. 17 meeting, Ester asked administrators, faculty and staff to find ways to reduce spending in their departments. She told employees she didn’t expect to eliminate any positions this fiscal year, but said it might be needed to balance the budget for next year. Employee salaries account for the largest share of GovState’s budget. The university is currently on a hiring freeze and is considering offering employees incentives for early retirement.

In addition to reducing expenditures, Ester said the university will diversify revenue streams and seek creative ways to increase collaboration and reduce inefficiency. While she hopes employees can cut spending on their own and reduce the deficit in the proposed budget, she said the administration will begin working on a plan to balance next year’s budget.

“The 2027 budget will be based on a flat enrollment and a flat appropriation,” Ester said. “I’d much rather build our budget around the minimum, and then we can wrap our arms around what we’ve got to work with.” 

She acknowledged that keeping revenue numbers flat would make balancing the budget more difficult. She stressed that despite plans to lobby Springfield for more funds, relying on the state to increase its share of GovState’s revenue is not sound financial policy. Citing a conversation with a government official, Ester said that the chances of a significant funding increase from the State of Illinois are slim.

GovState’s budget issues came as a surprise to many faculty and staff members. During her talk on Nov. 17, Ester said, “From everything I have read and everything I have dug into, I do not think that there was any malfeasance as to how we got here. I think there were people who just wanted to say ‘yes’ to everything. ‘Yes’ to things that we couldn’t afford.”

On Oct. 7, Ester announced that Vice President of Administration and Finance Corey Bradford had “separated from his role as Vice President, effective immediately.” An email acknowledged Bradford’s contributions to GovState and announced that Associate Vice President Villalyn Baluga would serve as Interim Chief Financial Officer of GovState. Bradford served as the university’s interim president after President Cheryl Green’s retirement in March.

Ester refused to speculate any further on events that happened before she became president and said she could not comment on any issues related to individual employees. She told GovState faculty and staff that she is committed to transparency and collaboration throughout the entire budgeting process, to maintaining GovState’s values and mission, and to ensuring a consistent student experience.