The Student Association is trying to legally force the Board of Regents to explain a controversial appointment made last month.

SA Senate Speaker Preston Came mailed a certified letter to Board of Regents Chancellor Roderick Groves under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requesting information on the newly-created position of vice chancellor for Strategic Planning. The position is held by former Sangamon State University President Durward Long.

NIU Student Regent Jim Mertes said the FOIA request was “unprecedented.”

The letter, mailed Feb. 25, requests “access and copies of all letters, documents, memoranda, agreements, contracts, terms of renumeration, and all related records” on the creation of the vice chancellor position.

The letter stated Came requested the information to help the SA provide more information to NIU’s student body.

The letter was filed after Mertes refused to disclose certain information to the SA about the vice chancellor position.

“I asked questions about Long’s appointment to Mertes and he said he could not reveal the information,” Came said.

Mertes stated in his Feb. 24 report to the SA he recognizes that Regents should be held accountable to the students but “The Chancellor (Groves) has very harshly suggested that I refuse to disclose such information.”

“In that the Chancellor’s warnings were substantial and severe, I have decided to delay such disclosures pending legal advisement,” he said.

According to the law, Groves has 10 working days after receiving the letter to comply with the request. As of Wednesday afternoon, Groves had not received the letter, said Groves’ assistant Cheryl Peck.

The request was filed at the suggestion of SA Sen. Henry Treftz. Treftz stated in a memo to Mertes the information is needed for the SA to take an informed stand on the issue.

Treftz said Came filed the request because under the law only individuals, not entities such as the SA, can file an information request.

“I don’t even see why we should have to do this. Long is an employee of the board and his paychecks are signed by the state of Illinois, so the condition of his employment should not be something we should have to pry out of the Board of Regents,” Treftz said.

Mertes supports the SA request. In his Feb. 24 report to the SA he said, “I will not deny the students’ right of access to public information. I will act to protect that right whenever possible.”

Mertes said Groves’ comments had offended him publicly. “His scare tactics don’t scare me, they anger me,” he said.

Long and the vice chancellor position have been surrounded by controversy.

The board announced Long’s reassignment without taking a formal vote outside of executive session, where the press and public are not allowed. As SSU President, Long was accused of being a drunkard and harassing women. He was never convicted of anything.