Members of the NIU Faculty Assembly discussed Wednesday the final draft of bylaw changes to the NIU Constitution that would create a faculty senate.

The changes consist of the addition of two new articles to the bylaws. These articles would establish the purpose and composition of the proposed senate.

Several basic changes were made in the composition and size of the senate, said NIU Regency Professor William Monat. “At the last (Faculty Assembly) meeting, most of the discussion centered around these changes,” he said.

A faculty senate would increase faculty representation from the 31-member Faculty Assembly to a senate of 80 voting members and would allow for more diverse representation of faculty and departments, said University Council Executive Secretary Judy Bischoff.

NIU faculty have passed—by 88 percent of voting faculty—a constitutional referendum concerning the proposed senate. The proposal will be voted on by the Board of Regents, NIU’s governing board, at its June meeting. Pending this approval, the Faculty Senate could be established during the 1989-1990 academic year, Bischoff said.

“With the compromises that have been made in relation to the composition, it is very likely that the proposed senate will pass the University Council.

“We (the Faculty Assembly) have done our homework and we have strongly supported the senate. After it passes the UC, it then becomes the Board of Regents’ task to pass it,” she said.