DeKALB — The Illinois Attorney General’s Office ruled Monday that President Lisa Freeman’s Staff Committee is not a public body and thus not subject to the Open Meetings Act.

Teresa Lim, assistant attorney general and head of the Public Access Bureau, said the OMA was not intended to force informal meetings into the public body, citing the Pope v. Parkinson of 1977 in the 4th district of the state.

DeKalb resident Derek Van Buer initialized the review process for the attorney general Dec. 28 with a letter to the Public Access Bureau.

The ruling follows a proposal from Freeman to University Council to remove Article 6.5 and 18.1 from the NIU Constitution.

The proposal would remove the President’s Staff from the list of Administrative Committees in favor of the Senior Leadership Roundtable created by Freeman.

Proposed amendments to Article 6.5 of the NIU Constitution passed a faculty referendum April 19 by a vote of 159 in favor, 49 opposed and 3 abstaining.

The Board of Trustees will be the final group to vote on the proposal when they meet 8:30 a.m. May 9 at Altgeld Hall. A passing vote would put the amendment into the constitution.