At a press conference sparsely attended by reporters from the three Regency schools, TV-8 news and WNIU-FM radio, Board of Regents Chancellor Roderick Groves said he is “pleased” with the policy changes the Regents passed Thursday.

The press conference followed the board’s meeting in the Regency Room of the Holmes Student Center. The Regents govern NIU, Illinois State University in Normal and Sangamon State University in Springfield.

When one reporter asked Groves if he felt he had been treated fairly by the press the last three months, he answered, “You always take your lumps.”

“They have to do their job, and I’m doing my job. The media is doing the best job they can,” Groves said.

Proposed in July, the policy changes were labeled by members of the Regency campuses as retribution for NIU and ISU’s bids for a separate governing board. Groves met with NIU’s Faculty Assembly and ISU’s Academic Senate at the start of this semester to discuss the changes with the campus communities.

“It’s no secret, I didn’t see it as a power grab,” Groves said. The changes were made to clarify language, adding that the situation was “dramatized excessively,” he said.

The approved policy changes grant NIU President John La Tourette, ISU President Tom Wallace and SSU President Durward Long access to board decisions, but the presidents cannot vote. The revised policy states members of Regency campuses will participate in presidential searches.

The phrase “matters requiring system coordination” is not intended to increase the chancellor’s policy and decision making authority, the policy states. Last month, Groves withdrew a proposal to alter chancellor level tenure review which would have increased his command of the tenure selection process.

Groves addressed the possible addition of NIU and ISU alumni to the board. Groves said he favors the presence of alumni on the board, adding, “I speak for myself and not for the board.”

“It should be criticized by nobody,” he said. Groves said he also would like to see an SSU alumni on the board.

The Regency schools have produced “outstanding alumni,” he said. Two SSU graduates hold government positions in Washington D.C. Adding alumni would strengthen the board, he said.

Groves addressed the issue of revenue available for higher education. He said the Regency system receives the second highest amount of funds in the state, after the University of Illinois system. The Regency schools also have the second highest number of graduate and undergraduate students, he said.

It is “too early to lobby” for more funding because the Illinois General Assembly currently is dealing with vetoes, Groves said. Illinois Gov. James Thompson vetoed a proposed NIU branch in Rockford because the proposal did not go through the normal process, Groves said.

Groves will tour the NIU campus today and visit various NIU projects under renovation or construction.