The NIU Faculty Senate will conduct its first meeting at 3 p.m. today in the Clara Sperling Sky Room in the Holmes Student Center.

The Faculty Senate consists of 30 elected faculty members of University Council and one member from each academic department or school.

The Senate meets the first Wednesday of each month and serves as a faculty advisory committee to the University Council.

“It’s a pretty full agenda, especially since it’s the first meeting and we have a lot of appointments,” said Curtiss Behrens, Faculty Senate president.

Behrens was referring to the appointments and election of alternates to the University Council, Joint University Advisory Committee (JUAC) replacement, the Unity in Diversity Steering Committee, the University Council Personnel Committee and various other steering and review committees.

“We will be appointing two faculty members to serve on the Ombudsman Review/Search Committee. They shall determine whether the current Ombudsman should be appointed to a second term,” he said. “The review committee will review the performance and make a recommendation regarding reappointment.”

Behrens said he will start out the meeting with the president’s announcements, in which he will discuss the upcoming Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration.

“In my announcements, I will address that as an entire campus, we should all be aware of the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial dedication coming up on September 17. That is going to be my major announcement,” he said.

“I want to encourage the faculty to be aware of the dedication and attend the celebration which will start at noon,” Behrens said.

The parking issue on campus will also be discussed by the Senate.

“There has been a resolution proposal by a member of the Faculty senate to address some parking concerns,” Behrens said.

Many subcommittees also will give reports to the rest of the Senate.

“We will also discuss resolutions regarding a search during the upcoming year for the Vice-President of Academic Affairs/Provost and the role of faculty senate in those searches,” Behrens said.

“I don’t anticipate any lengthy discussions or debate from the floor, everything should go well for our first meeting,” Behrens concluded.

“In my announcements, I will address that as entire campus, we should all be aware of the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial dedication coming up on September 17 at noon.

Curtiss Behrens

Faculty Senate President