A look into a different way to fund the Campus Recreation Center was reported to the Faculty Senate Wednesday.

Austin Quick, Student Association Senate Speaker, told the Faculty Senate he was working with the university administration to create a dedicated fee for the center. The fee would not be added to the original fee students pay for the center, he said. The purpose of the fee would be to improve the condition of the center for students and make it marketable.

“One of the areas we keep hearing from students about why they don’t choose NIU is because of the Rec Center,” Quick said.

Quick said he was working with Brian Hemphill, vice president of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, and John Jones III, associate vice president of Student Affairs, to investigate lighting on campus. While the campus was very well-lighted, the areas behind DuSable Hall and the day care centers near DuSable could use more lighting, he said.

Faculty Senate President Alan Rosenbaum said University Council voted to continue the office of the ombudsman at its last meeting. The NIU constitution specifies the creation of a search committee to find the next ombudsman, he said. NIU President John Peters has yet to approve of the search but has approved the collection of names for the committee.

“We’ll hopefully get a search committee together and begin doing work and get it done over the summer,” Rosenbaum said.

Rosenbaum nominated himself to be on the committee, as did Greg Long, a professor from the College of Health and Human Sciences.

Faculty Senate approved of the Committee on the Economic Status of the Profession to continue reviewing a study on how age, gender and ethnicity accounted for differences in faculty salaries. Issues concerning college readiness among high school students were reported by Earl Hansen, NIU representative for the Faculty Advisory Council to the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Sociology professor Charles Cappell was awarded the Bob Lane Faculty Advocacy Award.