DeKalb Police Chief Gene Lowery visited the Student Association (SA) Senate to discuss growing concerns about off-campus crime Sunday.

During the meeting, Lowery told the Senate he was not happy with the northwest corridor of DeKalb. He indicated the northwest corridor represented Blackhawk Road, Greenbrier Road and Edgebrook Drive.

Lowery talked about the new strategies the DeKalb police are enacting to keep the northwest corridor safer. He said the DeKalb police have increased the number of foot and bike patrol officers in that area.

“We’ve put a lot of officers in the northwest corridor,” Lowery said.

SA Senate Speaker Austin Quick mentioned in his report that the northwest corridor has been a problem area for some time. Quick said the Senate has been working with the DeKalb police to create the Not On My Campus campaign. The campaign has been working to distribute fliers around campus with safety tips that teaches readers what to do if a student sees a problem, Quick said.

Quick also talked to the Senate about the status of the plus/minus grading system at NIU. He said the plus/minus grading system had been discussed for multiple years, and he found last week that it had been approved by the necessary committees to go into effect for the fall 2013 semester.

“Thanks to many students on University Council and faculty members, we have postponed that vote and sent it back to the committees that oversee that,” Quick said.

The Senate also passed a bill to amend the Senate bylaws. Quick said the changes to the bylaw will help give the SA director of cultural affairs a broader working group. The changes will also allow the director to help engage and assist different religious groups on campus.

Seven senators-at-large were confirmed at the meeting. One senator was absent from the meeting.

Senators Confirmed:

Demetrius Strong

Blake Goldman

Shawn Hannan

Matthew Dunn

Derek Koegel

Mathew Wellington

Stephanie Wiggins