The Faculty Senate met Wednesday to discuss a range of topics, including how much NIU spent on the Orange Bowl and the search for NIU President John Peters’ successor.

According to Faculty Senate President Alan Rosenbaum, there have been 27 candidates contacted for Peters’ position; only six of them have completed the application. Most applicants wait until the last minute to apply, according to Rosenbaum.

The next topic that was brought up was the Discover Orange Bowl.

Matthew Streb, department chair of political science, said the school won’t be getting rich from the Orange Bowl. The cost of each Orange Bowl ticket ranged from $75 to $85 and there were 17,500 tickets sold to NIU. Including the hotel costs, the overall estimated cost for NIU was about $2.9 million, according to Streb.

With the help of the Mid-American Conference (MAC), NIU will be able to cover these expenses. The MAC received $8 million from the Orange Bowl, according to Streb.

“We still don’t know the profit we will get from the Orange Bowl,” Streb said.

After the announcement that NIU would be in the Orange Bowl, there was a spike in student applications, according to Streb.

Sonya Armstrong, assistant professor of literacy education, also attended the meeting to discuss the Illinois Board of Higher Education’s current issues. Currently, delayed payments to higher education total $888 million in Illinois.

Additionally, the Student Association is talking with the DeKalb Police to help students contact people while remaining anonymous.

Another topic was the passing of James Norris. There will be a memorial for Norris but the dates are yet to be determined. Norris served as a dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for more than two decades. He died at 82 on Jan. 16, according to NIU today.

Finally, the Faculty Senate discussed the Bob Lane Advocacy Award. The award will go to a member who has been recognized for being “a thorn in the administration’s side.”

Last year, the award has giving to Charles Cappell. The deadline to nominate a candidate is Feb. 11.