Teacher pension, support for higher education, teacher evaluations and a new academic advising center for undecided majors were all topics of Wednesday’s Faculty Senate meeting.

Bob Pritchard, the state representative for NIU’s district, spoke at the meeting and answered questions from the Faculty Senate for about half of the meeting, said Faculty Senate President Paul Stoddard.

Faculty members who attended asked Pritchard several monetary questions.

Pritchard also addressed teacher pensions, which has been an issue for teachers for a long time, and the state legislature’s decision to not fund pensions due to a lack of available funds.

Pritchard spoke about the state’s support for higher education, stating its importance in the increase in business and the benefit of the economy.

Teacher evaluations were questioned for being inconsistent among departments across campus, Stoddard said.

The Faculty Senate also decided on new rules for merit and tenure teacher evaluations, including having both written and multiple choice questions be standard on all evaluations for students to fill out.

Another topic discussed was the creation of a new academic advising center, to be used primarily for students with undecided majors.

The Faculty Senate consists of 30 elected members of the University Council. For colleges with less than 50 faculty members, one elected member of each college also represents that college. For those with more than 50 faculty members, two represent that specific college, according to the Faculty Senate Web site.

The next Faculty Senate meeting will take place Nov. 2.