The University Council will vote Wednesday on the proposed replacement of the NIU Faculty Assembly with a 75-member faculty senate.

The council will meet at 3 p.m. in the Holmes Student Center’s Clara Sperling Skyroom.

A 2/3 majority vote is needed to pass the constitutional change authorizing the senate. UC Executive Secretary Judy Bischoff said she believed that all UC faculty members favor a possible senate.

If the senate is authorized, faculty will vote on a referendum in March or April. Upon approval, the proposal will go to the Board of Regents, NIU’s governing body, for a possible vote in April.

A senate would increase faculty membership to 75 senate seats from the current 30 faculty members on the assembly, Bischoff said.

Unlike the assembly, the proposed senate would draw representation from all NIU academic departments, rather than only NIU colleges.

Bischoff said a senate would not affect faculty’s election to or representation on the UC. Currently, faculty members elected to the UC are chosen to represent the colleges in which they teach. The number of representatives is proportionate to the size of the college.

The only difficulties Bischoff said she could foresee would involve proposed senate bylaws. She said, however, that should not affect authorization of the senate. Proposed senate bylaws would come to the council for a first reading in April, Bischoff added.

NIU faculty began deliberations last November in a series of open hearings to assess the needs facing faculty and gather their reactions and input. While several faculty members voiced concern during the November and December hearings, Bischoff said she does not know of any faculty opposition concerning the establishment of a faculty senate to exist now.

The assembly discussed the senate issue last Wednesday, and no members voiced opposition to its authorization.