Displeasure and questions about the commitment of administration and the Board of Regents toward salary increases were the main reactions from NIU faculty after the state legislative session ended last week.

“(Raises) should have been won last spring,” said Jack Bennett, vice president for the Regents council of University Professionals of Illinois.

“We were the only group to lobby for the tax increase,” said Bennett, an NIU biology professor. “Quite frankly, this fall we went into it knowing it would be hard. Twice in the last 10 years we got veto overrides, and other times we’ve flat-out got shut out.

“The only people not doing a good job are faculty administrators and board (Regents) members,” Bennett said. “Last spring I was down there and talked to 25 legislators. They said none of their constituents wanted a tax increase. Almost any legislator will tell you that if they get 20 letters, they feel the roof has fallen in.”

Jim Kennedy, UPI treasurer and an English professor, said the legislature is not necessarily at fault for the situation because the NIU administration did not emphasize raises enough.

“The administrators and the Board of Regents gave no priority or interest in faculty raises,” he said. “They wanted the tuition money. It’s clear where their priorities lie. But the positive side was students and faculty were able to convince legislators of the need for more funding.”

Kennedy said the faculty’s lack of a bargaining agent also harmed chances for faculty raises.

“If we had a collective bargaining contract, we’d have a much better chance to convince administrators of the need of raises,” he said. “We’re not collectively organized yet. We hope to do that before there are cuts in faculty and classes. There will be cuts, but the right cuts could be assured if we have a bargaining agent.”

NIU President John LaTourette was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

Gordon Dorn, American Association of University Professors vice president, said faculty will have to rely on students because “you can only do so much from a Northern lobbying base.” He said students who vote outside DeKalb have to inform legislators about problems facing higher education.

Dorn, an art professor, said he received a letter dated Nov. 3 from Lee Daniels, House of Representatives minority leader, R-Chicago, informing him about Gov. James Thompson’s budget cuts. He said the letter was not encouraging.

“If they (legislators) don’t have a university in their district, they don’t feel it, and their constituents don’t feel it,” Dorn said, referring to higher education’s needs. “We will probably have direct lobbying to see and talk to legislators to make them aware of the problem.”

Daniel Griffiths of Professors for Shared Governance (PROS-S), said a lot of university groups worked for additional funds. However, he said the $6 million for tax increment funds, which Thompson vetoed but the legislature overrode, might have caused problems for the faculty.