Greater communication between university bodies, committee representation and the NIU Physical Plant were topics of discussion at the first Executive and Steering Committee meetings of the year.

– Executive Meeting

The Executive committee met Jan. 11 at 1:30 p.m.

Paul Stoddard, executive secretary of the University Council, led a discussion on the role of the University Council in overseeing issues such as advising and grades

– Shared Governance

The committee saw a need for greater communication between the University Council and the Undergraduate Coordinating Committee.

The UCC currently is only required to submit an annual report. The undergraduate catalog sometimes is published before the UC gets the report.

The committee said changes in student advising and grading scales are major enough to warrant a review of decisions made by the UCC.

The committee also decided it would be best to have a point person from the UC on the UCC and possibly a couple of UCC subcommittees. Having a “fly on the wall,” as one committee member said, would allow the UC to be aware of any major decisions being made.

– Student Representation

Executives also expressed a need to have the student positions on committees filled.

There are spots available on virtually all committees for students and Stoddard said he wants all committees to be filled.

“We have to get students to volunteer time,” Stoddard said. “It is a great learning experience, it looks good at resumé time, but sometimes not the most fun.”

– Faculty involvement

Faculty members on the committee said the supply of people to serve on committees is “tapped out” and committees with tenured membership fill up first and the rest get “the luck of the draw.” Stoddard said a nice new piece of criteria for the provost search would be to find a way to “sweeten the pot” for faculty members to serve on shared governance.

– Steering Meeting

The Steering committee met Jan. 11 at 3 p.m.

Andy Small, lab and facilities manager in the NIU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, was invited to attend the meeting as a speaker. He spoke on the need to address staffing issues with the Physical Plant. The plant deals with building maintenance, services, heating and material distribution.

“[Staff cuts are] a problem in our mission to educate students,” Small said.

He made the example of a classroom in his building where most of the light bulbs were burnt out. He said staffing for the plant has remained the same while the number of buildings and responsibilities of the plant have increased. Committee members also said preventative maintenance is near non-existent.

The issue quickly turned to the way work orders are handled by the plant. Committee members said they wanted a better way to prioritize the work orders sent there.

The committee adjourned after consenting to refer the issue to the Recourses, Space and Budget committees.

Correction – An article in Tuesday’s Star incorrectly reported the name of an NIU body. The correct name is the Undergraduate Coordinating Council, not Undergraduate Coordinating Committee. The article also stated the UCC only had to submit an annual report to the University Council. The UCC must, in fact, submit its meeting minutes to the UC, which are subject to approval or disapproval from the UC. The Star regrets these errors.