A group of NIU students and faculty is planning to go to Springfield soon to protest a bill stating practicing marriage and family therapists would have to be licensed.

Gov. Jim Edgar recently vetoed this bill, which might mean anyone could call themselves a family and marriage therapist without proper training, said Dr. Tony Heath, coordinator of specialization in marriage and family resources.

“(If the therapists were licensed), they would then be identified to the general public as being qualified and educated,” Heath said. “There have been many horror stories of family and marriage therapists being misrepresented.”

Heath also said the biggest impact of the bill would be more students in the program and the demand for the program to expand.

About 50 people from the human and family resources department are planning to go to Springfield on Oct. 22 and Nov. 6 to protest the veto of the bill.

Karri Chwala, a graduate student studying specialization for marriage and family therapists, is planning to go to Springfield to protest the veto of the bill which will greatly affect her, she said.

“The bill will affect my ability to get a job in the future, which is why I’m very interested,” Chwala said.

Lonnie Southard, a graduate assistant in the marriage and family therapy program, said the bill is essential in order for the public to be better served and protected from misrepresented therapists.

“The public will be better served by licensed therapists who have had training,” Southard said.

Heath of HFR will be discussing the implications of the bill at an informal meeting Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 11:30 a.m. in Wirtz Hall Room 308B. Anyone interested in finding out more about the bill and the trip to Springfield is invited to attend.