Plans for a student grievance procedure were shown at the University Council meeting on Wednesday alongside the formal introduction of NIU’s interim chief financial officer.

Student grievance policy

Bill Pitney, University Affairs committee chair, gave an update regarding the formation of the grievance method. With this policy, students will be able to air complaints, particularly in regard to their interactions with instructors, in a formal system.

This structure has been in development since 2003, but Pitney said it had “never gained any traction.” Now, the proposal is in the drafting stage and is planned to be presented to University Council in the spring.

“It’s at around a third-draft stage within the committee, so we’re fine tuning the language in it currently,” Pitney said. “The way we’ve got the language right now is fairly broad in terms of what’s a reportable act, but I think that’s important at this stage.”

Pitney said participants are planning on conceptualizing scenarios to see how certain types of student cases would run through the grievance process, and the student grievance policy is based on the policy used to mediate conflicts between faculty members.

Serving as a representative from the Student Association is Mike Theodore, SA chief of staff and senior political science major. Theodore, who was put on the committee three years ago, said part of the difficulty in drafting the policy was ensuring faculty, staff and departments like Human Resources were in accord.

“Now that it’s developing into a simple, easy-to-handle, non-burdensome policy, I’m confident that we’ll be able to get this through this year,” Theodore said. “The mood of the university is right. The students overwhelmingly feel the need for this grievance policy; it gives us the ability to have a say in the process.”

One concern about the policy is “frivolous or vindictive student complaints,” Theodore said, but without this policy there is no “official, formal process for conflict mediation.”

“There needs to be that process of getting conflicts resolved then bringing people to the table, and a grievance procedure is a way to compel that,” Theodore said. “This is a process that is there to enforce university civility and collegiality. Right now there’s no method for students to enforce that.”

Pitney and Theodore are confident this policy will be entered into the university bylaws by the end of the spring semester.

Interim chief financial officer

NIU President Doug Baker gave Nancy Suttenfield, interim chief financial officer, an official introduction to the University Council during the meeting. Suttenfield will serve as CFO for the next 11 months until a permanent candidate is found.

Suttenfield said her duties as CFO entail “oversight responsibilities over all things relating to financial management of the university.”

“It includes all of the accounting and payments, billing and collection of revenue, and then controlling where each of those dollars is dispersed through the budget process,” Suttenfield said.

Suttenfield described NIU’s budget as in a “stable position.” She said she is examining funds that have possible unknown commitments to how they are spent, and trying to get a feel for what funding is available for use in academic initiatives.

Suttenfield believes if students are more aware of administrative matters, it can put things such as the budget into a relatable context.

“It represents all the resources that support the people and internal programs that ultimately result in the delivery of education and the support of outreach and public service programs,” Suttenfield said.

“If you have a better understanding of the budget and its challenges, it puts in context the reason that things like tuition are the levels that they are.”