The Board of Regents’ secret arrangement to give an NIU professor a year off with pay might send the wrong message to state legislators about the need for more higher education funding.

State Sen. Patrick Welch, D-Peru, said he is afraid the Regents are giving the appearance that additional funding for state universities is really unnecessary since $70,000 will be given to Clyde Wingfield while he is working with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in Washington D.C.

“This issue will be raised when the Regents’ budget comes before the appropriations committee in the spring. There has been all this talk of inadequate funding for higher education, but money is now going to professors on their way to think tanks in Washington,” Welch said.

Rep. John Countryman, R-DeKalb, has expressed similar concerns and might suggest that the Illinois Audit Commission investigate the matter.

Regents Chancellor Roderick Groves said, “I think that, obviously, different people have different opinions about (the Regents’) actions. Some legislators are strong supporters of higher education, and I think their support will continue.

NIU Provost Kendall Baker said it is too early to tell how the Regents’ deal with Wingfield will affect legislators’ opinions, but he hopes there will not be a “substantial” negative effect.

Welch said he believes NIU should consider gaining more “local control and accountability” by getting out of the Regency system, of which it has been a member for 20 years. He said the board is more “insulated from criticism because it controls three universities.”

The argument for NIU’s withdrawal from the Regency system has been a topic of discussion for years. Baker said there are supporters for both sides of the argument, and this most recent issue is “only another factor” in the discussion.

Groves said, “I believe the system of government at present is effective and appropriate.”

Regents member Milton McClure said it is the legislature’s “duty and right” to amend NIU’s governing system if it so desires, since the board was established by the legislature.

The Illinois Attorney General last week questioned the ethics under the Open Meetings Act of the approval of the arrangement that was made in closed session at the July 20 Regents’ meeting. The governing board did not specify the details of the arrangement when it was approved.