Despite the Faculty Senate vote to have a national search to fill the positions of provost and vice president for alumni affairs, NIU President John La Tourette still is not sure if one is necessary.

La Tourette said he is waiting two weeks for input from administrators and faculty before he makes a final decision on whether to have an internal or external search.

A letter stating La Tourette’s intention to limit the search to NIU was introduced at the FS meeting for faculty approval, but it met fierce opposition from faculty members who thought the decision was made without their input or consent.

The letter stated, “I believe it is in the best interests of the university to conduct internal searches for both … positions … (and) unless I hear compelling reasons to the contrary within the next two weeks, I will establish the necessary search committees and proceed with internal searches.”

La Tourette gave several reasons why he thought the search should be kept internal.

In his address to the FS, La Tourette said, “We have excellent candidates, people who know the campus, who can do this with the support of faculty, students and staff.”

He also said the price of a national search would be high.

“People have to realize that if we do appoint someone from outside the university, we’ll have to pay them much more just to be competitive. Also, the search would cost between $30,000 and $50,000,” he said.

La Tourette’s call for an exclusively in-house search to fill the two positions contrasts with comments he made in June of last year.

In the June 24 issue of The Northern Star, La Tourette was reported as saying NIU was required by its regulations to conduct a nationwide search.

La Tourette said Monday he didn’t recall making those comments, stating he would have never said them because they are totally false.

Indeed, the University Constitution and Bylaws, in its listed procedure for the appointment of the provost and vice presidential positions, makes no distinction between internal or external searches, focusing instead on the make-up of the search commitee.

Many faculty senators objected to La Tourette’s proposal.

“It (the provost) is the most important academic position in the university and we shouldn’t be casual about just passing it around,” said Robert Albritton, assistant professor of political science and faculty senator.

In a letter to La Tourette, Robert Suchner, associate professor of sociology and one of the senate’s most outspoken critics of La Tourette’s proposal, stated, “The credibility of a succesful internal candidate depends a great deal on his/her having the opportunity to compete against the best that apply.”

Many faculty are upset at the tone of La Tourette’s letter, saying the FS was told of La Tourette’s decision, not consulted.

The American Association of University Professors, the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and the Presidential Commission on the Status of Minorities are among those who have sent or are preparing to send letters protesting La Tourette’s proposal.

In a letter to FS President Curtiss Behrens addressing La Tourette’s letter, Suchner stated, “I’d never get away with ‘I believe it is in the best interests’ and ‘unless I hear compelling reasons to the contrary’ language being interpreted as a ‘request for input’ from my department or family.”

Suchner said the resolution passed by the FS calling for a nationwide search “put the administration on notice that if the administration excludes the Faculty Senate, many of the faculty would not cooperate with the new provost.”

Albritton said if the senate’s decision was ignored by La Tourette it would anger many faculty senators. “It would be another example of how the FS has no authority,” he said.