University Council discussed the Cole Hall options survey Wednesday.

As of the meeting’s beginning, the university had received over 5,000 survey responses since Monday, NIU President John Peters said. Additionally, the survey received over 800 responses in the first hour of availability, he said.

Peters said he encourages everyone to fill out the survey to have a decision about the future of Cole Hall. The survey will tell public officials what the university community wants, he said.

“There is no perfect choice because the situation is far from perfect,” Peters said. “There’s no perfect choice, but I know we will get to the point that we can all stand behind the decision.”

Also, NIU will host the NIU Community Thank-You at the Convocation Center from 3 to 5 p.m. May 13, Peters said. The purpose of the event is to thank all members of the community who helped NIU on Feb. 14 and aid the process of moving on, he said.

“The community responded so well,” Peters said.

Additionally, the Feb. 14 Student Scholarship Fund has now received over $350,000 in donations from 1,300 individuals, Peters said.

UC also discussed the Ad Hoc Committee for Finals Disruption.

“We’ve had various types of disruptions of finals week throughout the years,” said Faculty Senate President Paul Stoddard. “It has been determined that there really needs to be a set policy in place for this.”

The committee will consist of essential representatives from each college, an advising dean and representatives for mass exams, Stoddard said. However, none of the colleges have gotten back with names for representatives yet, he said.

Over the summer, the university will test an emergency response text message system.

The call for a text messaging-based warning system stems from the desire to alert people about an emergency through an additional method.

“Redundancy is everything; not one system does it,” Peters said.

The system is for students, faculty and staff, and may eventually extend to parents, Peters said. Signup for the service will be available online, he said.

The system is only for use in emergencies, which will help keep costs down, Peters said. If the system works, it will be implemented in the fall, he said.