NIU President John Peters, along with 13 other Illinois university presidents and chancellors, has been named in a lawsuit filed Tuesday by a university professionals union regarding the Illinois Board of Higher Education citing a violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

University Professionals of Illinois Local 4100, which represents several Illinois universities, filed suit in Cook County asking the presidents and chancellors who comprise the Council of Presidents, an advisory board to the IBHE, to give advance notice of their meetings and open them to the public.

Currently, the Council of Presidents usually meets in a closed session before IBHE members convene. UPI representatives want to see these meetings opened so the public can participate in decisions regarding their tax dollars and higher education.

“Our point is that as a public body, they really can’t do that sort of thing,” said Barbara Stott, a UPI representative. “They have to make their meetings open to the public so that they can be involved, so they can listen and be aware of what’s going on.”

Stott said the suit was filed when union representatives received an unfavorable response after approaching IBHE officials back in spring with the issue. Sandy Flood, president of the NIU instructors union and a physical education faculty member, said UPI members met this past weekend and decided to move forward with legal action.

“We talked about doing this in the spring, but we held off because we were doing budget work,” Flood said. “We felt it was our right to go to these meetings.”

NIU General Counsel George Shur said that while deciding whether or not the Council of Presidents is a public body, the courts will have to discern the difference between formal and informal advisory boards. He cited Pope vs. Parkinson, a case involving the University Assembly Hall Advisory Committee, included in the Open Meetings Act that says informal advisory committees are not accountable to the public.

Don Sevener, IBHE director of communications, said the council is comprised of university presidents and chancellors who get together before the IBHE meetings to discuss common problems and issues. He didn’t want to comment on the lawsuit because he had just become aware of its filing on Wednesday afternoon.

Regardless, Shur said the suit is external to NIU.

“I can’t imagine Dr. Peters or NIU, as an institution, is involved,” Shur said. “He may have been named because he was at a few of these meetings, but it does not affect the university as a university. It’s an IBHE issue.”

Stott disagreed.

“It’s as applicable to NIU as it is to the IBHE,” Stott said.

In talking with President Peters on Wednesday, Melanie Magara, assistant vice president for NIU Public Affairs, said the board is a loose gathering of top university officials that talk about national and local issues before the IBHE meetings. She said the presidents and chancellors don’t have formal advisory capacity, meaning they don’t take votes with respect to the group or approve decisions.

Stott said UPI members are worried that the council discusses prominent university issues that eventually become topics that are voted on by the IBHE and therefore, should receive public input from the start. Flood also believes the group’s apparent formality is reason enough to be subject to the Open Meetings Act.

“You’re bringing people together from all across Illinois and setting an agenda,” Flood said. “That’s a long way to travel for a chit-chat and a cup of coffee.”