NIU students will be able to head out of DeKalb a few hours earlier on the Wednesday before this Thanksgiving without having to worry about missing classes.

On Wednesday, the University Council voted 27-12 with five abstentions in favor of extending NIU’s Thanksgiving Break by cancelling classes held the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Previous breaks officially began at noon Wednesday.

Although most council members advocated the change because class attendance traditionally has been scarce on that Wednesday, the department of mathematical sciences, the School of Nursing and the College of Education objected because they could not afford to cut any more days from the academic calendar.

The adjustment to the academic calendar will affect only students. The eve of Thanksgiving will remain a work day for university employees.

The council favored the change because it would have minimal impact on students, said Sue Willis, executive secretary of the University Council and president of the Faculty Senate.

The day will not be considered a holiday by the university, nor will the academic calendar be adjusted to make up for the missed day; however, the council may revisit the issue in the future, Willis said.

President John Peters also addressed NIU’s budget crisis at the meeting, saying that he expects to have a budget for fiscal year 2003 ready by July, after the state’s fiscal year 2003 budget is approved and a number of appropriation meetings are held in April and May.

“There’s not going to be a lot of help on the revenue side, so [Gov. Blagojevich] has an issue that needs to be grappled with,” Peters said.

NIU will be represented on appropriations committees downstate by Rep. David Wirsing and Sen. Brad Burzynski, Peters said. Peters also is working the Washington, D.C., circuit by trying to sway legislators in favor of providing more funding to NIU.

Although Congress is focusing on a possible war with Iraq, legislators still have a receptive ear to NIU’s progress, Peters said.

The University Council also addressed an office privacy policy that recently was proposed by the Faculty Senate. The council decided to present the proposal to the Supportive Professional Staff Council and the Operating Staff Council before considering its approval at the next meeting, which will be held March 19 in the Clara Sperling Sky Room at the Holmes Student Center.