URBANA – Employee buyouts might be the next method the University of Illinois uses to reduce costs in the spring semester.

Earlier this month, campus units were told to make contingency plans for spending reductions of 7 percent, 10 percent and 15 percent, and the plans came due Wednesday.

Twenty-four hours later, it was too soon to talk specifics about what was proposed, administrators said, but certain terms keep coming up, including "buyouts."

"We are certainly looking at some sort of voluntary separation plan," said Associate Chancellor Robin Kaler, adding that it was too early to be specific.

The way one prominent faculty member, Senate Executive Committee Chairwoman Joyce Tolliver, heard it was "golden parachutes" for veteran employees, though Tolliver said she'd heard no details.

Among the reasons the UI is running behind is a statewide budget crisis. State reimbursement to the UI system remains behind by $400 million, chief spokesman Tom Hardy said Thursday, up from an earlier $388 million.

In the past, he has said there are reserves to keep paychecks coming, but those reserves are not infinite.

Kaler said nothing is written in stone, and if the state's financial picture brightens, it may be possible to avoid harsh measures.

"The university is exploring all the options we can, to try to mitigate the negative impact," she said.

"Our goal throughout is meet the challenge to make sure that we are keeping the quality of our education at its highest, while doing as much as we can not to impact our students and employees for worse."

Hardy said that many units suggesting different options may lead to a confused picture of what is really on the table.

"There's a variety of things on the drawing board being examined to deal with the financial crisis," said Hardy, who added that he had not heard about any buyout or early retirement plans.