A Chicago State University board committee spend several minutes today admonishing administrators for not giving the board time to review a list of planned construction projects for the next two years.

But the committee, comprising three of the five board members, unanimously approved both that construction plan and CSU’s budget anyway. Both must still be approved by the full board at its Sept. 23 meeting.

“To give the board only a short notice when you’re going to make major capital investments and (build) fixed assets, I think puts the board under a lot of pressure to make decisions,” Chairman Leon Finney said.

He wants the board to have extra meetings to review those plans, which would require changing its current quarterly meeting schedule. But no, let’s not shake things up too fast.

“This becomes a rubber stamp and a fait accompli, which I think makes the board uncomfortable when it is asked to act at this late hour,” Finney said.

The beginnings of a board revolt? Not hardly. Just a few minutes later, Finney and the other two board members at today’s committee meeting unanimously approved both the budget and the capital plan.

So what’d they vote on? We’d tell you, but the board couldn’t immediately produce a copy of the capital plan. It's supposed to be e-mailed to us later today.

Two items from the capital plan came up in the brief discussion. There is money to repave CSU’s entrance and create a turnaround for CTA buses that don’t currently stop there. And there was mention of building a television studio, which perked our ears up, but no details on that.

CSU’s $73.8 million operating budget for the coming year is “essentially a flat budget” compared with last year, Trustee Betsy Hill said.

It includes $3.5 million in federal stimulus money to offset personnel cuts the university otherwise would have had to make.