Military science teachers are not the only ones barred from the doors of the Faculty Senate.

More than 400 NIU faculty members are considered “temporary” and are not seated on the senate either. This has led a group of them to take steps to form the Council of Temporary Faculty.

“There is no body on campus that includes us,” said Sandra Flood, a physical education instructor involved in starting the council.

Flood said the council wants to advise campus organizations which decide the temporary faculty policies.

The group of temporary teachers got a boost when it secured the Faculty Senate’s approval last week. After nearly an hour of debate, the senate accepted Sherman Stanage’s motion to “support with enthusiasm their attempt to create a temporary council.”

Because no prospective members of the council attended a Faculty Senate meeting concerning the matter, some senators were reluctant to support them without knowing their intentions.

“I don’t want them helping to determine my future,” said College of Business Professor Bob Lane, expressing his concern about the agenda of the teachers who don’t have a permanent role in the university.

However, Stanage said their agenda is “irrelevant” since they are only looking for the right to organize.

“We are not just here today and gone tomorrow,” Flood said. Many temporary teachers get hired for the long-term, she said.

“We’re pleased to have the senate’s support,” she said.

Flood said the temporaries next will approach the University Council for its approval.