The possible establishment of an NIU faculty senate will be discussed at the Faculty Assembly meeting Wednesday in room 505 of the Holmes Student Center.

University Council Executive Secretary Judy Bischoff, who also served on last year’s faculty senate task force, said the proposed faculty senate would be parallel to other constituency organizations at NIU and replace the existing structure of the assembly.

There are currently 30 faculty members elected by their respective colleges, such as the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, to serve on both the assembly and the University Council. Under the proposed senate structure, 75 members would be elected by their respective departments to serve on the senate. The 30 members elected to the assembly would remain representatives to the UC and procedures for future UC representative elections also would remain intact, Bischoff said.

Bischoff said she believes that the proposed senate would allow for better representation of faculty and departments and also lend some “discipline diversity.”

The idea of a faculty senate is not new, she said. Two open hearings were held in November and December of last year to discuss the possibilty of a senate, assess faculty reactions and gather their input. An ad hoc committee was then established to further examine possible structuring of a senate and make a report to the assembly, which endorsed the committee’s report.

Authorization of a faculty senate, which involves an amendment to Article VII of the NIU constitution, would require a two-thirds vote by the UC, Bischoff said.

The proposed constituional change will have its first reading at the UC meeting Feb. 8 and be brought to a vote in March, she said.