DeKALB – Faculty Senate formally endorsed a national statement in support of higher education in the face of federal funding cuts at its first meeting of the semester on Wednesday in Altgeld Hall.
NIU SIGNS ONTO NATIONAL STATEMENT
Faculty Senate endorsed the “Statement in Support of the Core Mission and Shared Values of Higher Education in the United States of America.” This resolution was initially created in April and endorsed by various universities, including University of Iowa, Northwestern University, Purdue University, and affirms the First Amendment, universities’ service of the public good, and opposition to discrimination against students, faculty or staff.
Faculty Senate President and Chair Ben Creed spoke to the senate about the rationale of signing.
“You know about activity at the national level in higher education these past eight months. This has come primarily in the form of executive orders, ‘dear colleagues’ communications, changes to age and priorities, and other efforts which include moves to fundamentally shift how congressionally appropriated funds get disbursed through various government agencies,” he said.
Creed alluded to legal battles that have occurred at the federal level between various universities and the Trump administration since January.
“There have been a number of lawsuits, a number of injunctions and other activities that have stopped, paused or otherwise clouded and shaped various aspects of the higher education landscape,” he said.
The motion passed in a 41-4 vote.
Following the meeting, a federal judge in Boston ruled to reverse the Trump administration’s billions of dollars in research funding cuts to Harvard University.
ANNUAL HERD SURVEY
Dara Little, associate vice president of the sponsored programs administration, and Jeff Reynolds, program director of decision support and analysis within the division of academic affairs, urged the Faculty Senate to complete the Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) survey.
The survey is an annual census conducted by the National Science Foundation.
According to the Sponsored Programs Administration, the survey “collects detailed data on HERD defined research and development (R&D) expenditures from U.S. higher education institutions that spend at least $150,000 annually on R&D.”
NIU is one of many universities which fits these criteria and works with Higher Education Research and Development.
George Slotsve, a professor of economics, raised concerns about the annual survey and how information collected from it might be used in the future.
Little maintained that there would be “no plans to use the data other than for the HERD survey.”
Evgueni Nesterov, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry, expressed his concern over whether this effort is mandatory, citing that data could potentially be eventually used against the faculty.
“Many people would be hesitant to self-report this kind of effort,” Nesterov said.
Reynolds reassured the senate the survey is merely a request and not mandatory.
The next Faculty Senate meeting will take place at 3 p.m. Oct. 1 in Altgeld Hall.
