The University Council approved NIU’s proposed constitution Dec. 16 despite student concerns regarding changes in the amendment procedure.

In the current document, a three-fourths vote is needed to amend the constitution. However, in the revision the vote is changed from three-fourths to two-thirds.

Student Association President Jim Fischer said students would not be able to stop constitutional changes with the procedure changed to a two-thirds vote. In addition, he said the change would make the constitution easier to amend.

However, members of NIU’s Presidential Task Force on Constitutional Revision discussed the students’ concerns and decided to keep the two-thirds change in the proposal, Task Force Chairman Jim Giles said.

“The constitution needs to be flexible … to be more responsive to the university community,” Giles said.

However, some UC student members were concerned the amendment change would weaken the students’ voice in the council and also, might result in removal of the students from the UC in the future.

“When we take the chance of changing this now, what could stop the students from getting kicked off the UC twenty years down the line,” a student council member said.

Giles said the task force did not intend to “disfranchise” students by changing the amendment procedure. “Disfranchising” students would be a violation of the constitution’s preamble.

NIU President John LaTourette said the constitution has to be approved by the Board of Regents and they would look in “disfavor” of removing students from the council.

Council members decided to vote on the constitution by secret ballot, and the document was passed by a 36 to 12 vote.

The next step in the adoption of the constitution is a faculty referendum, UC Executive Secretary Judith Bischoff said. Copies of the proposed constitution were sent to faculty members, and they will receive ballots by the middle of this week, she said. The ballots are required to be turned in by Feb. 5 and will be tallied by the elections committee of the UC.

Bischoff said the results of the referendum, which needs to pass by a simple majority, would be announced at the Feb. 10 meeting of the council. The constitution also needs to be approved by the Board of Regents.

During the approval process of the constitution, the task force and the UC will be working on the bylaws, Bischoff said. The constitution will not go into effect until the bylaws are also approved by the UC, she said.

“Many faculty members are interested in it (the constitution) being approved because it means improvements for the faculty and for the faculty governance of the university,” Bischoff said.