Student lobbying efforts at Illinois State University in Normal appear to be the cause of recent plans by Sen. John Maitland, R-Bloomington, to throw ISU’s hat in the separate governing board ring.

Sen. Patrick Welch, D-Peru, said recently that he believes Maitland intends to amend Welch’s Senate Bill 0001, which proposes a separate board for NIU, to include a separate board for ISU as well.

Dan Schramm, ISU student body president, said Maitland’s actions concerning a possible amendment to the bill are in direct response to student lobbying and the unanimous endorsement by ISU’s student governing body for a separate ISU governing board.

However, Welch was quoted in Wednesday’s Northern Star as saying, “ISU is being used to stop NIU (from getting a separate board).”

Schramm disputed Welch’s comments by saying that he believed Maitland’s intentions were supportive of ISU and not intended to prevent NIU’s chances.

“It (Maitland’s amendment) is more to show his support (for ISU) than hurt the bill,” Schramm said.

Leonard Schmaltz, chairman of ISU’s Academic Senate, agreed with Schramm, saying that Maitland “has ISU’s best interests at heart.”

Maitland’s possible amendment is only to make certain that both schools fare well if NIU splits from the Board of Regents, Schmaltz said. The Regents govern NIU, ISU and Sangamon State University in Springfield.

ISU’s Academic Senate, a body similar to NIU’s University Council, recently endorsed a resolution in support of a separate board for ISU following faculty and student endorsements. The resolution is modeled after the proposed NIU Board of Trustees, which received unanimous endorsements from both NIU’s Faculty Assembly and Student Association.

NIU’s University Council has not taken any action involving NIU’s case. The issue has been placed on hold by the council’s External Affairs Committee for further legislative developments.