NIU President John Peters has a full plate.

In addition to presiding over the university, he was elected as the Chair of the Council of Mid-American Conference Presidents by his fellow MAC presidents this past February, and has been active in his role since then.

For the next two years, Peters will focus on improving athletic and academic difficulties at MAC schools. Peters is one of the first chairmen who is not from Michigan or Ohio, which dominate MAC sports.

On his agenda is increasing media exposure of MAC athletics. He has started working with MAC Commissioner Rick Chryst to negotiate television packages to gain more Chicago-area TV coverage of MAC games involving NIU and other universities. He also hopes to schedule upcoming MAC media events in Chicagoland.

“I would like to do what I can to promote NIU sports to the MAC and the rest of the nation,” Peters said.

One goal Peters has is holding this year’s football media day in Chicago, which Director of Public Relations Melanie Magara described as “the press’ first look at the teams for the year.” Media day is usually held in Michigan or Ohio, where most of the MAC schools are, but Peters hopes to change that this year.

Peters said he was chosen as the chairman because it is not only recognized that NIU is a solid member of the MAC, but also because of NIU’s competitive programs. Peters also has an athletics background.

“The other MAC presidents chose Dr. Peters because he does have extensive experience at large schools with very large athletic programs,” Magara said. “He understands what a successful athletic program can bring to a university.”

In the past, Peters has been involved with the athletic administration at both the University of Nebraska and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

One issue that will also be focused on is the new academic progress standards that the NCAA has put forth, which are aimed at trying to get higher graduation rates among student athletes. Peters said the implementation of those standards over the next few years will be a challenge.

A national issue that Peters intends on tackling for the MAC is sportsmanship and fan behavior. Although there have been few occasions where Peters has witnessed problems in these areas at NIU, he said that there have been MAC games in which NIU has been involved in where there have been some “post-game antics that were not appreciated.”

To combat these situations, Peters said it starts with having enough security and making sure that the visiting teams are visibly protected. But just that is not enough.

“We have to do some education,” Peters said. “I think everyone has to get involved.”