The NIU Student Association began circulating a petition Wednesday against the Board of Regents for its decisions to give ex-NIU President Clyde Wingfield a paid leave of absence.

The petition condemns the Regents’ actions because of the tuition increases which students face each semester.

SA President Paula Radtke said that many students cannot get classes because of a lack of available teachers, and it is “wrong to send a teacher away and still give him his salary.”

Radtke said it would be “much more appropriate to make him stay and teach classes.”

SA Treasurer Diana Turowski said petitioning began at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday and about 320 signatures were collected before noon.

She said the SA’s goal is to collect 2,500 signatures on the petition. “That’s 10 percent of the student population,” Turowski said.

“I’ve had a few people say no, surprisingly,” she said. “A lot of people aren’t informed.”

She said the SA is going to present the petitions to the Regents at their September meeting.

Regents Vice Chairman Brewster Parker said, “We’re always concerned about student attitudes.” He said it is possible the board would consider reevaluating its decision.

NIU Student Regent Nick Valadez said that, in his opinion, the board will “probably not take any rescinding action.”

It is stated in the petition that “Wingfield is receiving a $70,000 ‘vacation’ at our(students’) expense, while we cannot get classes because there are not enough teachers.”

Parker said Wingfield’s leave is not a vacation. “He’ll be going to work everyday.”

Wingfield was asked to resign from his position as NIU president in May, 1986, after it was revealed he had authorized about $100,000 in university funds for the remodeling of his home. At a closed session of the Regents’ July meeting this year, it was decided Wingfield would receive his full salary while on leave from NIU this year.

He will be spending the next academic year working with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in Washington D.C.

It is difficult to understand why people would protest spending $70,000 to send Wingfield to Washington, Valadez said. He said that if Wingfield were to stay at NIU, the university would spend more than $1 million on Wingfield’s salary before he retired. “That’s a real issue,” Valadez said.