CHICAGO – The University of Illinois Board of Trustees raised tuition for incoming students and some fees for the next school year, authorized officers to undertake short-term borrowing if necessary because of the state financial crisis, hired a president and streamlined administration, all in voice votes Thursday with almost no discussion.

The board unanimously elected Michael Hogan, currently president of the University of Connecticut, as the 18th UI president, at a salary of $620,000.

Outside the Chicago meeting, protesters led by state Sen. Martin Sandoval unsuccessfully asked that Hogan give up $170,000 of that, making his salary equal to that of former President B. Joseph White.

The three retiring student trustees all went on the record against the 9.5 percent tuition hike, which is guaranteed for four years.

Base tuition for incoming students will increase $902 per year to $10,386 at the Urbana campus. It rises $792 per year to $9,134 at the Chicago campus; and $706 per year to $8,108 at the Springfield campus.

The four-year tuition guarantee means the increase is an average of 3.6 percentage points per year over that period.

Interim President Stanley Ikenberry and Board Chairman Christopher Kennedy stressed that the UI needs to hold tuition down in these hard times.

In public comments, Urbana campus student Ben Rothschild made an impassioned plea for keeping tuition and fees down, saying that the school was unaffordable for many.

The trustees also voted to combine two top vice president posts into one new executive position.

The executive vice president would take on the duties of the vice president for academic affairs, Mrinalini Rao, and the vice president for technology and economic development, Avijit Ghosh.

The board also voted on a Mumford House resolution, voting to "take necessary steps to stabilize and protect it from further deterioration; and conform with all extant laws and regulations applicable to historically significant buildings."

An earlier proposed resolution had called for rescinding last year's trustee promise to rehab the oldest building on campus forthwith.

In the public comments section, James Peters, the president of Landmarks Illinois, which has put the 1870 building on its endangered list, disputed that it would take millions to fix up the farmhouse.

He said $70,000 would be enough to fix many of the problems, removing non-historic additions and giving it a new coat of paint in the process.

The site belongs where it is, he said, despite its proximity to modern buildings, noting the Chicago Water Tower still works in its urban environment.

It too dates to about 1870, he said.