NIU plans to stay out of new attempts to get the school its own governing board.

However, the Board of Regents, NIU’s governing body, doesn’t think NIU either needs or will get its own board.

“This always puts us in a little bit of a difficult position,” said Ken Beasley, assistant to President John La Tourette. “But we are part of the Board of Regents and will continue to work within the BOR.”

“We stay out of questions like this,” Beasley said. “It’s a no-win situation for us.”

“I don’t think that anything has changed that will make it a more reasonable concept than it’s ever been,” said Phil Adams, the Regents’ legislative liaison. Adams said the system shouldn’t be tampered with because it works.

Nobody looks at the downside of NIU’s separate board, Adams said. Competing for limited state dollars and additional costs of having a separate board outweigh NIU “going it alone,” Adams said.

Rep. E.J. “Zeke” Giorgi, D-Rockford, said he introduced the bill because NIU deserves autonomy.

Giorgi wouldn’t make a prediction on how the bill will fare, but said he expects it “to draw a lot of interest.”

Gene Hoffman will not play a role in the bill because his duties lie in getting the temporary surcharge made permanent and building relationships with the Chicago suburbs, Beasley said. NIU hired Hoffman in March.

Rep. Brad Burzynski, R-DeKalb, said he would support the bill, but doubts its passage because legislators fear NIU’s own board would open the gates to other schools wanting separate boards.

Sen. Patrick Welch, D-Peru, is ready to take the measure to the Senate if Giorgi can get it through the House. However, Welch said bills giving NIU its own governing board have stalled in the House.

Also, for the money NIU is paying Hoffman, Welch said he should come out one way or another on NIU’s separate governing board.

Faculty Senate President J. Carroll Moody said the senate likely will talk about the separate governing board at its meeting later this month. He declined to speculate what position the senate would take.

The Student Association is studying the bill and will direct the Illinois Student Association to either lobby for the bill’s passage or defeat.

During previous attempts, SA and Faculty Senate members testified in Springfield for the separate board. Beasley said he doubts any NIU administrators would testify.

Pointing at past bills calling for NIU’s own governing board, Giorgi said the only thing NIU can do is keep trying.