The Faculty Senate Task Force, an arm of NIU’s Faculty Assembly, will meet Wednesday to discuss the possible formation of a faculty senate at NIU.

Last year, the Faculty Assembly discussed the possibility of replacing itself with a faculty senate which would better represent NIU’s teachers, William Monat, task force chairman and NIU regency professor, said.

Wednesday’s meeting will be at 4 p.m. in room 406 of the Holmes Student Center.

Monat said replacing the faculty assembly with the faculty senate would require a minor change in NIU’s constitution and bylaws. “If the faculty assembly wants to pursue it, (the assembly) will have open forums to discuss it,” he said.

Judy Bischoff, committee member and University Council executive secretary, said the task force is made up of 12 members who represent both sexes and different racial groups.

The committee was originally established in October, 1987, and established its membership in February, 1988. It was originally proposed in response to a questionnaire on university governance which the American Association of University Professors sent to all NIU faculty. The questionnaire asked if faculty would be interested in establishing a senate, which was favored by a majority of those who returned the questionnaire.