The Faculty Senate voted to delay any action on a “vote of confidence” for Douglas D. Baker last Wednesday. This vote, if passed, would have put members of the Faculty Senate on record as supporting Dr. Baker to continue as NIU President. This action was tabled i.e. put off until the Fall of 2017 to give the NIU Board of Trustees an opportunity to deal with the “360 degree review” that they have initiated. The new State law, Public Act 099-0694, requires that an unprecedented amount of transparency be applied to Dr. Baker’s performance review.

The following are the applicable sections of the law:

(110 ILCS 685/30-200 new)

Sec. 30-200. Executive accountability. The Board must complete an annual performance review of the president and any chancellors of the University. Such annual performance review must be considered when the Board contemplates a bonus, incentive-based compensation, raise or severance agreement for the president or all chancellors of the University.

And

(110 ILCS 685/30-195 new) – (8) Board minutes, board packets and annual performance reviews concerning the president or all chancellors of the University must be made available to the public on the University’s internet website.

During the Faculty Senate meeting, Dr. Greg Long commented that the Board of Trustees did not have to include the faculty in this process. He was right. However with all of Dr. Baker’s ethical issues, it would be a failure of their oversight responsibility not to include the faculty and staff in this process.