As one Faculty Senate member commented, as the cookies get smaller, so does the attendance of members at the meetings.

The Faculty Senate meeting held yesterday at the Holmes Student Center Skyroom not only had a smaller attendance, but also a smaller agenda.

“I think we set a record with thickness of the packet,” Faculty Senate President Sue Willis said, regarding the thin agenda. “I think the trees are a lot happier with us today.”

One of the few concerns addressed at the meeting that was met with lengthy discussion was over the senate’s evaluation of NIU President John Peters.

Willis commented that when she mentioned the matter to Peters in spring 2002, he considered it, but when the idea was brought up again this fall, he was more unsure about it, she said.

“I have spoken to him about us evaluating him and now he doesn’t favor it,” Willis said. “The president is stuck in the mud between us and the Board of Trustees. It’s a muddy relationship that doesn’t really need to be muddy.”

Because the BOT is responsible for hiring the president, setting his salary and setting goals for him, the Faculty Senate sees it as only fit for it to evaluate him, Willis said.

The BOT takes its role seriously and is extremely faculty- and student-orientated, Peters said. It isn’t his decision to allow the Faculty Senate to have input, but he said he would relay the request to the BOT.

Peters went on to comment on items that he left out of his State of the University Address, particularly those regarding the faculty.

“There were things left on the cutting room floor that I didn’t address,” Peters said. “I am so pleased in what a solid, solid state we’re in. You [the faculty] are the bricks that make up this institution. We’re only here a short time, so we have to make it work, we have to change things.”

Items that Peters referred to included different strengthening moves to fulfill the experience at NIU for both students and faculty.

Such key items include changing the presidency from an external role to a more internal structure. Peters went on to tell the senate that one Saturday morning he cut the mission statements for about 20 Midwestern colleges from their names and tried to match them. He said that he found a definite convergence between all the schools, but NIU held a richness above all.

External funding was another strengthening move that Peters said NIU does better, but it is not where it needs to be, he said. Also, the curriculum was another move that Peters is working on.

“It is a never-ending process for an educated person,” Peters said. “We are aiming at getting a handle on our enrollment mixture, which doesn’t happen overnight, but instead takes years.”

Peters briefly went over the results of a marketing study, which pointed out different characteristics that potential students saw at NIU.

Some of the positive points about NIU was that the students saw that many programs offered here have high recognition, a good academic reputation and experienced faculty. Other pluses were the admissions process and that orientations were marked with high regard. Some of the negative points mentioned was that NIU’s image isn’t well-defined and the area around it isn’t as vibrant as other schools.

The next discussion was with Paul Stoddard, chair of the General Education committee, who announced a future luncheon for faculty members to discuss the importance of general education courses.

“General education has always received a less-than-stellar reputation from students and faculty,” Stoddard said.