The University Council will meet at 3 p.m. today in the Clara Sperling Sky Room in the Holmes Student Center to discuss a wide variety of topics.

The topic on the agenda most likely to stir debate from the UC members concerns a University Council Personnel Committee (UCPC) recommendation of a revised policy on hiring faculty with degrees from NIU to teach at NIU, said Curtiss Behrens, executive secretary of the UC.

Behrens said he does not expect debate over the issue of hiring NIU graduates to teach, but there is concern about the wording of the policy.

“The concept is very common. Generally, universities do not hire faculty from their own degree program. It’s kind of a concern like ‘inbreeding.’ Students hired that were taught by NIU faculty, then become faculty does not generate new ideas,” Behrens said.

Currently, there is a college-by-college policy about hiring NIU graduates. But now the UCPC is proposing a change in the wording of the policy, which might make the policy university-wide, Behrens said.

Also at the meeting, two proposals to create search committees to fill the Director of Human Resource Services and Director of the University Health Services will be brought to the council.

At the Faculty Senate meeting last Wednesday, the senators approved removing term limitations from the ombudsman position. However, the UC will have to vote the change into NIU’s Constitution and Bylaws, Behrens said.

“Normally the council doesn’t change these proposals. It’s a very straightforward process,” Behrens said. “This is an opportunity to inform the university community.”

Also at the meeting, Dan Reynolds, associate law professor, will report on the Joint University Advisory Committee to the Board of Regents. David Ripley, leadership and educational policy studies professor, also will report to the council about the Faculty Advisory Committee to the Illinois Board of Higher Education.