Board of Regents Chancellor Roderick Groves and the three Regency presidents will undergo performance reviews with the Regents Saturday as part of an annual analysis.

The review will take place during the board’s executive session in Woodstock, Ill., following the public meeting Friday and committee meetings Thursday, Groves said. In addition to Groves, the Regents will interview NIU President John LaTourette, Sangamon State University President Durward Long and Illinois State University President Lloyd Watkins.

LaTourette said Groves would participate in interviewing the presidents. Groves said Regents Chairman Carol Burns would preside over the interviews, which he said occur every fall. Burns also holds this responsibility at the public meetings, he said.

“Obviously, it’s a means for the presidents to communicate goals and aspirations,” Groves said. “It’s tailored to each individual. You can’t detail what the questions are.”

Burns was unavailable for comment.

LaTourette said last year much discussion centered around athletics because NIU entered its first year as an independent. However, he said, he does not expect many questions about that this year because he has informed the Regents about changes resulting from the athletic department’s internal and external reviews and sent them copies of the review.

LaTourette said some topics he will discuss Saturday include space and parking needs, probable decreases in on-campus undergraduate enrollment, strategies to implement these decreases and off-campus enrollment. Reducing on-campus enrollment might be necessary because of the budget situation, but it could be made up by off-campus expansion and charging higher tuition there, he said.

“A lot of the interview is where I think the strengths are and where I’d like to see the university in the future,” he said. “You try to develop a picture of where it’s going in the future. It’s sort of informal. I will try to lay out some of my thoughts.”

LaTourette said the interviews look at the present and the future and how the Regents can help. He said the drawback is they tend to move to concentrate on the present.

Groves said the board also had a separate, more comprehensive review for the same people every four years, but each of the four was evaluated in different years. The Regents approved a different review at the July board meeting, which would occur every five years.

Groves said the five-year review is broader than those for one year. He said the board might consider hiring an outside consultant to help with the extra work.

The board or consultants also will talk to the residents of the communities where the university is located and the legislators who represent that city, Groves said.

“If you’re appraising the performance of the presidents, you’re looking at how well they interact with the community, and a very important component is talking to legislators,” he said.