A bill that would break the two governing systems into eight separate boards, including one for NIU, is getting mixed reactions from DeKalb’s political players.

State Rep. Mike Weaver, R-Macomb, wants to abolish the Board of Regents and the Board of Governors. His bill would give the eight schools under these systems their own boards and make a place on the Illinois Board of Higher Education for a representative from the schools.

The seat would be rotated between the eight schools in two-year intervals.

Weaver said the bill is still rough, and minor changes might be made. However, its substance, creating separate governing boards, would stay the same.

Rep. Brad Burzynski, R-DeKalb, said he will join the bill as a cosponsor because the bill would benefit all the schools.

But Phil Adams, the Regents’ legislative liaison, disagrees.

Separate boards would create more bureaucracy, Adams said. It also would cost too much money because the state would have to hire enough people to fill the six additional boards, he said.

Weaver said the IBHE would take care of the schools’ long-range outlook while the separate boards would concentrate on local issues.

Adams said the IBHE “is structured, both statutorily and staff-wise, to be a coordinating and advising board. It’s not set up as a governance mechanism,” Adams said.

Calling the bill “interesting,” NIU Faculty Senate President J. Carroll Moody said he expects the senate to talk about the bill at its meeting later this month.

Bills for NIU’s separate governing board failed partly because legislators were afraid of a domino effect—other schools rushing for their own boards. Moody said he is intrigued by Weaver’s bill because he is bringing the domino effect with the bill.

Additionally, the bill might be a spark to “reopen again the question of what kind of structure does higher education need as we move into the 1990s and beyond into the 21st century,” Moody said.

Weaver said he got the idea for the bill from former DeKalb Rep. John Countryman, when he tried for a separate governing board for NIU.

“The bill would give a little more autonomy to these institutions,” Weaver said.

The BOG governs Chicago State University, Governor’s State University and Northeastern Illinois University, all in Chicago. It also governs Eastern Illinois University in Charleston and Western Illinois University in Macomb.