The Board of Regents will wait another year to determine if the three presidents of the universities they govern are doing their jobs.

An advisory committee to the Regents agreed with its decision to stall the regular five-year evaluations because one of the presidents is resigning and there is no rush to review the other two.

Along with NIU, Illinois State University in Normal and Sangamon State University in Springfield are governed by the Regents. However, SSU President Durward Long is leaving before his review takes place.

Some think his performance should be evaluated to set guidelines for future SSU presidential candidates. Over Long’s seven years at SSU, he was accused several times of sexual harassment of students and faculty.

Doug Anderson, chairman of SSU’s Faculty Senate, said “some members of the Staff Senate suggested there should be a review of him, anyway.”

Stalling the five-year reviews only adds to the off-track schedule.

“I believe, but am not positive, that the Regents have never done an in-depth appraisal of the performance of a president at SSU,” Anderson said. However, Anderson said his information is what he was told by other faculty who have been there longer than he.

SSU presidents left before they could have their five-year evaluations every year, Anderson said.

However, Regency presidents are reviewed on an annual basis for determining things like salaries, but no one else participates, said J. Carroll Moody, executive secretary of NIU’s University Council.

Moody, along with Anderson, also is a member of the Joint University Advisory Council, which reports to the Regents. JUAC members raised questions about its role in reviewing the Regency presidents at its meeting Oct. 18.

NIU President John La Tourette has not faced the five-year review because this year marks only his fourth.

Regency professor and former president William Monat was the last president to undergo the five-year review, which is a part of Regency regulations, Moody said.

JUAC is questioning who will participate in the evaluations and what type they will be. “What role does JUAC have and what roles do campuses have in the reviews?” Moody said.

There’s been mention of comparative reviews, but JUAC is against the idea, he said.

JUAC decided that Monat, its chairman, will draft a position for the group and discuss it at their next meeting in December.