NORMAL - Illinois State University President Al Bowman said Friday that Gov. Pat Quinn is a friend to higher education, and that he's optimistic a Quinn administration could bring good news for campus funding.

But Bowman acknowledged the state's $9 billion budget deficit makes that a challenge.

On Thursday, Quinn - governor for less than a month - spoke of his belief in higher education at ISU's Founders' Day convocation.

"I think it was more than rhetoric," said Bowman, speaking Friday after the ISU board of trustees' quarterly meeting.

At that meeting, ISU trustees: OK'd spending $2.2 million to expand the renovation of Stevenson and Turner halls; agreed to hire a consultant to help implement a new payroll system; and renewed student health insurance, among other actions.

The ISU president said that in Quinn's short time leading the state, he's already shown a shift in approach to higher education.

While Quinn asked state agencies to pull back an additional 1.1 percent from their budgets, he exempted universities from that call. That kind of action is quite different than how Gov. Rod Blagojevich treated campuses, said Bowman.

Last fall, ISU and other public colleges and universities had to return about 2.5 percent of their state funding. That translated to roughly $2.1 million for ISU.

"I think the desire is there, to do the right thing for higher education. The challenge is the deficit. Until that core problem is resolved," ISU and others shouldn't expect a huge difference in state funding, he said.

Bowman said he's optimistic, though, that with Quinn in charge, funding will change for the better for higher education.

Also Friday, ISU trustees approved hiring Atlanta, Ga.-based CedarCrestone as consultant for implementing the university's new PeopleSoft payroll system. The agreement calls for a three-year contract up to $3.5 million.

In a related matter, trustees also approved spending no more than $810,000 initially to purchase a campuswide software license from Oracle, the maker of the PeopleSoft system. That agreement also calls for an $180,000 annual fee to maintain and upgrade the software.

The board also OK'd Illinois State's plan to spend $2.2 million to expand the Stevenson-Turner renovation project, a multiyear update of life-safety functions in two campus academic buildings. The $2.2 million will pay for extra work on window replacement and new plumbing systems.

The state is paying for the already planned life-safety work and asbestos abatement in the $23.4 million project.

The state's Capital Development Board is overseeing the entire project, and it has to sign off on the changes ISU's board approved Friday. A decision is expected in March.

In other action, the trustees voted to renew student health insurance at the same rate as last year. Those rates are $161 a semester for fall 2009 and spring 2010, and $116 for summer 2010.