University of Illinois President Timothy Killeen sent a mass e-mail Thursday, saying a merit-based 2-percent salary program is coming in February and March of next year. He said leaders have worked hard to manage resources effectively despite the state budget impasse. Administrators and leaders on each campus will announce the timeline for the raises in January.

A reporter for Inside Higher Ed has talked with university administrators across the country about how they are handling the "sanctuary campus" issue, both in rhetoric and in practice.  Illinois Public Media's Brian Moline spoke with Inside Higher Ed's Elizabeth Redden.

University of Illinois President Tim Killeen says the school’s three campuses can not serve as a sanctuary for undocumented students - citing the need to uphold state and federal laws. In a mass e-mail Tuesday, Killeen says the sanctuary concept is not well defined. But he says leaders will continue to do all they can within the law to support and protect all students, including those who are undocumented.

University of Illinois leaders are backing proposed legislation that would tie levels of state funding with performance metrics like awarding financial aid, graduation rates, and holding down tuition costs. President Tim Killeen says the 5-year pact would guarantee ‘baseline’ state funding would increase by the rate of inflation during each remaining year.

The second medical marijuana dispensary to open in Champaign County is now seeing its first customers. Nu Med is located at 105 East University in Urbana, the site of a former Blockbuster Video location. It joins Champaign-based Phoenix Botanical as the two dispensaries allowed by the state's pilot program in State Police District 10, which includes Champaign, Vermilion, and seven other Central Illinois counties.