Faculty and students at Illinois State University said they are pleased with the Regents’ delay of proposed policy changes, but concern exists over its possible passage.

The Board of Regents announced Monday that it will delay action on the proposed policy changes until the October meeting. A resolution passed by the University Council last week requested the delay.

“I’m pleased that the board reacted the way it has,” said former Regents Chancellor Bill Monat. “This shows the Board of Regents listens to these concerns.”

The Board of Regents governs NIU, ISU in Normal and Sangamon State University in Springfield.

The ISU faculty lobbied for a separate governing board earlier this spring after a similar attempt was started at NIU. The bill, sponsored by Sen. John Maitland, R-Bloomington, also failed in the Illinois General Assembly this summer.

“I think that if the proposed policy is passed in its present form, it could certainly lead to additional interest in a separate board,” said Leonard Schmaltz, ISU Academic Senate president.

ISU faculty said they are hoping the wording of the policy will be altered, or a compromise can be made between the universities and the Board of Regents, he said.

Although the interest in an NIU separate governing board has existed for a longer time, the ISU faculty is concerned with the fate of their university.

Many ISU faculty members believe that NIU was favored by the Board of Regents in previous years, while some NIU faculty believe the situation has changed, Schmaltz said.

“In reality, NIU was not favored in the past and ISU is not favored now,” Schmaltz said. “The BOR treats the two universities equally.”

The Student Government Association at ISU is preparing a petition of about 1,000 names of students opposing the proposed changes and asking the Regents to reconsider the policies. The SGA, similar to the NIU Student Association, will submit the petition to the Board of Regents at the board’s meeting next week at ISU.

“We haven’t even put it (separate governing board) into consideration,” said Brian Bernardoni, vice president of the Student Body Board of Directors, “We do feel we are ready for one. We have talked briefly about it.”

ISU student efforts this spring for a separate board bill were “a couple steps behind” the NIU effort, he said.