Minutes of the
NIU Board of Trustees

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS, STUDENT AFFAIRS
AND PERSONNEL COMMITTEE

April 14, 1998

Dr. Moody reminded the Committee of the process for evaluating faculty for tenure, which is quite a lengthy and thorough process, he said, but one that produces a good result. These recommendations, with the Committee's concurrence, will be forwarded to the full Board of Trustees for approval in its next regular meeting. Included are both tenure and promotion recommendations, with some cases of tenure with promotion. Normally, promotion to associate professor accompanies the granting of tenure. Also included are recommendations for promotions from associate professor to full professor and a few tenure only promotions. Most cases of tenure only are people who came with the rank of associate professor, but without tenure. The College of Law uses a different approach, Dr. Moody said. Promotion to associate professor usually comes before the recommendation for tenure; however, the College of Law is on the same six-year probationary period for tenure as the other colleges.

Trustee Sanchez said he recalled that Dr. Moody had explained a rather demanding tenure process used at NIU, and he thought it was worth repeating. He assumed that the university had not relaxed its standards in any way. Dr. Moody assured him that it had not. He said the real key to faculty having a successful route to being tenured starts with the hiring of faculty. The university hires people who have great promise and already have a number of accomplishments. They are then on a six-year probationary period and are evaluated every year up through the sixth year on their progress toward the point where they will have a positive recommendation for tenure. In the third year of the probationary period, there is a very thorough review of progress toward tenure, which more resembles the actual tenure review. It is at this point, Dr. Moody said, that faculty members are sometimes advised if there is very little chance in the following two or three years that they will be able to accomplish the kinds of things needed to become tenured. This allows probationary faculty adequate warning and an opportunity to look for other positions or to make major changes in their performance. The process goes from the department and chair to the college and the college dean, and from there to the University Council Personnel Committee (UCPC), which is the university-level personnel committee. Another recommendation goes from the members of the UCPC and the Provost to the President. Finally, after the President has reviewed the tenure and promotion recommendations, they come to the Board.

Chair Grans asked for a motion to approve the Recommendations for Faculty Promotions, Tenure and Promotions with Tenure. Trustee Sanchez so moved, seconded by Trustee Raymond. The motion was approved.

Agenda Item 6.b. – Recommendations for Faculty and Staff Sabbatical Leaves for 1998-99

Dr. Moody stated that the sabbatical process is very similar in many ways to the tenure process. Tenured faculty members and supporting professional staff are eligible to apply for sabbatical leaves. They must submit proposals explaining both the nature of the project and its relationship to their classroom teaching. These come up from the departments through the college to the University Council Personnel Committee and Provost and finally to the President. Trustee Raymond asked about the proposals submitted for the sabbatical leave. Dr. Moody said they are much like grant applications. Student Trustee Kovacs asked about the alternate list, and Dr. Moody explained that the alternate list is by rank order. If any of the faculty on the original list do not take their sabbatical for some reason, the opportunity would go to the first person on the alternate list and on down. Chair Grans asked for a motion to approve the Recommendations for Faculty and Staff Sabbatical Leaves for 1998-99. Trustee Raymond so moved, seconded by Trustee Sanchez. The motion was approved.

Agenda Item 6.c. – Reports on FY97 Sabbaticals by Representative Faculty

Provost Moody said that we sometimes hear people in Springfield question sabbaticals and suggest that they are paid vacations for faculty. In order for the board to be confident that sabbaticals are a valuable expenditure and used wisely, we have asked three faculty members to tell you what they did during their sabbatical leaves last year.

Virginia Cassidy, a Professor of Nursing in the School of Nursing, gave a report on her sabbatical topic, "Nursing Leaders' Perceptions of Ethical Issues in Healthcare Delivery." Professor Gary Coover, Assistant Chair and a Professor in the Department of Psychology, talked on his sabbatical proposal, "A Neural System Through the Globus Pallidus That Profoundly Influences Goal-Directed Behavior." J. Dixon Esseks, a Professor of Political Science in the Division of Public Administration, who is also affiliated with the Center for Governmental Studies, reported on his sabbatical proposal, "A Quasi-Regulatory Program to Protect Highly Erodible Farmland." All three of the faculty commented on how the sabbaticals had affected their teaching and their ongoing research. Two of the projects had involved students in the research, and two of them have clear public service outcomes.

Trustee Sanchez commented that hearing these reports really helped to clarify the purpose of sabbaticals. Unfortunately, he said, sabbaticals have become synonymous with vacations in political circles, and it has been made clear here today that they are anything but. As a Trustee, Sanchez said, I feel privileged to have this view of a subject that I probably, like most lay people, do not know a whole lot about. When approving university recommendations for sabbaticals, these presentations help me appreciate just how valuable and important they are, not just to the recipient but to NIU as well. Trustee Raymond asked Dr. Coover if conferences and seminars were available to be taken advantage of during the sabbatical leave. Dr. Coover said that each year nearly every Psychology faculty member goes to at least one meeting, and about half the faculty go to meetings at which they present original research that has been accepted by a review committee. When asked if extra time was needed to prepare for presentations, Dr. Coover said that preparation time is considered a normal part of the faculty member's responsibility to take research from data collection through analysis to a presentation and, finally, to an article that will be accepted by a top-level journal. Chair Grans commented that Dr. Esseks should share some of his sabbatical findings with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which she thought could really benefit from some of his in-depth research. Dr. Esseks said briefings had been given to the USDA offices at the state level and those in the Corn Belt states. He said having a contact at the DNR was a good idea.

Student Trustee Kovacs said there were many times in the last year that he felt very fortunate to be on the Board as a student to learn more about the university. Today, you talked about legislators questioning sabbaticals, and students share some of those concerns. It is good to hear these reports and to realize the level and depth of research professors do to make their students' learning experience more valuable. Chair Raymond commented that the Northern Star might think about doing a series of articles covering faculty sabbatical experiences.

Agenda Item 6.d. – Requests for Degree Authority at Off-Campus Sites

Dr. Waldeland reminded the Committee that the IBHE has to approve any request by a public or private university to deliver a program at a location away from the home campus and that the university brings such requests to the Board first. She presented two proposals for off-campus delivery of existing NIU programs. The Department of Accountancy has been planning for the impact of the adoption of a new CPA licensure policy for seven years. Illinois has joined thirty other states that require those who wish to sit for the CPA examination to have 150 semester hours of coursework. The undergraduate degree requires 120 hours. The department anticipates that most of the students who wish to seek CPA licensure will do it via the route of gaining the 30-hour Master's of Accounting Science degree. The department has been planning for how they can meet the continuing need for the undergraduate program and what they believe is going to be expanded need at the graduate level. The department believes that many of those who will be seeking CPA licensure in the next few years will be people who have a baccalaureate degree and are in the workforce. This requirement will affect all those taking the test starting in the year 2001. In order to accommodate their need for the 150 hours, the department has decided to make the Master of Accounting Science program available at the Hoffman Estates Education Center, which is centrally located in an area with many employed professionals.

The other request was to offer the M.S.Ed. in Instructional Technology to teachers in the Chicago Public Schools in response to a direct request from the Chicago Public Schools. The program has offered this degree program on a contractual basis to two Chicago elementary schools that were able to sponsor it through grant funding. At this point, Dr. Waldeland said, the school system has asked the university to make the program available more widely to school employees. The program is willing to do so and is working with the Chicago Public Schools on a plan to rotate the program through multiple sites in Chicago so that it will serve teachers from different parts of the city. Delivery sites will be limited to facilities that are technologically ready to accommodate the program. We are very pleased with this program's willingness to respond to the IBHE's call for colleges of education in the state to be particularly mindful of the needs of the Chicago Public Schools. The university is requesting degree authority in Chicago at multiple sites to accommodate what we believe will be a continuing partnership with the Chicago Public Schools. Trustee Raymond asked if this program will be offered to other school districts. Dr. Waldeland said this program has not been offered at off-campus locations because it is equipment-intensive, and it has no off-campus degree authority at present. The faculty has offered summer workshops for teachers in various school districts through the northern Illinois area. The program wanted to meet this challenge from the Chicago Public Schools first, she said, but now it will proceed to develop a request for off-campus degree authority at Hoffman Estates. Trustee Raymond thought it was a terrific way for NIU to meet a need in the northern Illinois and Chicago areas and to establish this university as one of the primary centers dealing with the issue of how to train teachers in the use of new instructional technologies in order to keep them current. The university requested that that Committee endorse these proposals and ask the President to forward them for final approval at the next full Board meeting. Chair Grans asked for a motion to approve the two requests for degree authority at off-campus sites. Trustee Sanchez so moved, seconded by Student Trustee Kovacs. The motion was approved.

Chair Grans said that the next informational item was the update on the Advisory Committee on Minority Concerns requested at the last meeting by Trustee Myles. She then called on Dr. Admasu Zike for an update.

Agenda Item 6.e. – Update on Provost's Advisory Committee on Minority Concerns

Dr. Zike said that the title of the Provost's Advisory Committee for Minority Student and Staff Recruitment and Retention had been shortened to a more manageable Provost's Advisory Committee on Minority Concerns and had met twice. When Trustee Myles was a member of the Board of Regents, he chaired a committee that held hearings on minority concerns in several areas of the state and subsequently published a report of findings. It was decided that this advisory committee should review that report and discuss its applicability at present. The committee met for the first time with Trustee Myles present. They gave reports on minority graduate and undergraduate admissions, retention and graduation. Trustee Myles was very pleased with the results and congratulated the committee.

A second meeting was held on February 19, Dr. Zike said, primarily to prepare for the university's annual reception for regularly-admitted minority students, Asian American, Latino and African American, held on April 4. The reception included staff who provided financial aid advice and academic advice to students and parents. Some staff also provided tours of the campus. Dr. Zike said the annual reception has become a very good tool for recruitment. The applicant pool has grown. From last year's group, 83 percent who attended enrolled at NIU. Similar results are expected from the numbers invited this year. Last year, 329 Latino students attended, and 407 have been invited this year; 401 Asian-American students attended last year, and 475 have been invited this year; 465 African-American students attended last year, and this year 402 have been invited. Dr. Zike said they will continue to expand on their activities. He mentioned that Chair Raymond's committee endorsed a budget of $850,000 for a Center for University Resources for Latinos and Latin American Studies, which will enable them to do more. Trustee Sanchez said he was pleased to see the 10+ percent increase and looked forward to seeing that continue. He also asked that the Trustees be notified when the date is established for the next reception so they could attend and participate. Chair Grans said the reception is a good idea because it creates a comfort level for parents as well as the students and allows them to see the heart and soul of NIU. 

Agenda Item 6.f. – The Role of the University Honors Program in Recruitment for 1998-99

Dr. Rosalie Hewitt spoke about the recruitment efforts of the University Honors Program, primarily in collaboration with the Office of Admissions, but also with faculty in departments. She indicated that this past year has been very good in recruiting honors-eligible students, and the coming year looks very promising. The numbers of honors-eligible students are increasing along with the average ACT score and class rank. She talked briefly about other activities of the University Honors Program and its involvement in advising, the development of the curriculum, and in offering various events for faculty and student interaction. All of the directors and coordinators and graduate assistants directly advise individual students from the time students enroll at NIU through their graduation. During the recent review of advising on campus, the Undergraduate Coordinating Council cited the University Honors Program as a model program for effective ongoing contact with students.

This year, the Honors Program has initiated a new honors fellowship program in which the student recipients of the scholarships will contribute to strengthening the community of honor students. One major component will be peer advising in which upper division honor students will participate in lower division advising and offer their talents in various aspects of program development. The directors of the Honors Program, both members of the professorial faculty, work directly with departmental faculty in designing curricular offerings each year. At the lower division level, honor students are required to take cornerstone courses, which are small enrollment courses that meet the university's general education requirements. At the upper division, students are required to take an honors seminar in a discipline other than the student's major. In addition, several departments offer a variety of academic options for students ranging from special honors sections of regular courses to apprenticeship research programs and independent studies with professorial faculty. To graduate with full university honors, students are required to design a capstone experience in which they produce an academic project under the guidance of a member of the faculty. The University Honors Program staff includes a program coordinator who facilitates academic and other university planning for honor students. The coordinator also is responsible for coordinating academic events related to the honors floors in the residence halls as well as scheduling cultural activities throughout the academic year that honors students attend together off campus. Activities also include community building field trips, such as annual participation in Habitat for Humanity projects at Pensacola, Florida. The NIU honor students have shown such a strong commitment and work ethic over the years that the Florida Habitat organizers give priority in scheduling to them. During this past March spring break, students were involved in the building of three houses.

The University Honors Program gains its strength from the collaboration with a number of units and departments on campus but also creates its unique identity by promoting the value of linking student academic achievement with campus and community involvement. As NIU increases its number of honors eligible students at both the freshman and transfer levels, the University Honors Program is itself steadily advancing the quality of its own programming. Dr. Hewitt introduced the director of the University Honors Program, James Massey, who is also a professor in the Department of Sociology, and Dr. Winifred Creamer of the Department of Anthropology, who is the assistant director.

Chair Grans said this was an important report because of the quality of a degree from NIU, the diversity of students, the diversity of ACT scores and all the things that come together to make it happen. I think it is proper to give this recognition to you, Chair Grans said, and to the Honors Program and the students who carry forth the banner of excellence in academic performance.

Trustee Sanchez said he also thought it significant because too often there might be assumptions that certain public state universities are not really as focused on honor students or those terrifically talented students in high schools, and that clearly is not the case. This sends the message throughout the state that NIU is very much interested in recruiting those talented students who already academically demonstrate a high level achievement.

Agenda Item 6.g. – FY99 Increment Priorities for Clerical Employees

Steve Cunningham, Associate Vice President for Administration and Human Resources, reported that since the Board's inception, one of its key priorities had been the competitiveness of faculty and staff salaries. The university has continued to work toward that goal, within the constraints of the availability of resources, which are very difficult to obtain through the appropriation and reallocation processes. The Board issued statements in October regarding FY99 increment priorities, which were a follow-up to the market equity program initiated in FY97. The FY99 priorities emphasized the status of clerical civil service salaries in relation to state code agencies at other comparable universities. The most important things included in looking at salary equity programs were (1) merit, (2) the maintenance of salary competitiveness for all faculty and staff within the context of limited resources, and (3) the cost-of-living issue in this region. As the region develops and grows, Mr. Cunningham said, we face somewhat different circumstances than do many other public universities in the state. The target of this program, he said, is to deal with the classifications and positions that are the furthest off the mark in terms of average salaries, especially clerical classifications. There are approximately 45 classifications that fall into preestablished EEO clerical categories. Of the civil service positions at Northern that are below the statewide average, 82 percent fall within the clerical category, so it is appropriate to have a program that targets this group. Human Resources has been working with the Operating Staff Council, the Secretarial Advisory Council and other aspects of the shared governance system at Northern to endorse a program targeted at these clerical employees in FY99. This program will involve a total change to the base of about 500 positions that would be eligible for the increment of 10 percent in FY99, including the anticipated merit component. This will then move the distribution of salaries in relation to the statewide average, Mr. Cunningham said, so that most of our civil service positions will be at or above the statewide average. This is an aggressive program targeted at the positions that have the most serious living wage and comparability issues at the university.

Agenda Item 6.h. – New SURS Retirement Plan Options

During the last two years, Mr. Cunningham said, we have had a number of reports on the retirement system. There have been retirement enhancement legislation, internal retirement initiatives and now the implementation of a new SURS retirement options program. There has been the traditional benefit plan, which involved a formula benefit that was upgraded to 2.2 percent per year of service with legislation that became effective last year, and a money purchase benefit, which takes the money in the employee's retirement account plus interest and divides that by an annuity factor based upon age at retirement. Those two calculations are compared, and the maximum calculation then becomes the employee's annuity. At the State Universities Retirement System (SURS), Mr. Cunningham said, the rate of interest applied to the money purchase accounts, 8.5 percent, is going to be increased to 9 percent in FY99.

Mr. Cunningham announced two additional optional retirement programs effective April 1 for Northern Illinois University employees. One is called the Self-Managed Plan, which involves the employee participating in private sector funds instead of the State Universities Retirement System, an entirely independent option from the SURS. In this case, the employee is fully responsible for the status of his/her account. There are no guaranteed benefits. It is strictly a defined contribution program, not a defined benefit program. This is especially significant for new employees. A technicality in the legislation results in current employees who transfer into the self-managed plan forfeiting the employer contributions plus interest, so that only the employee contributions transfer. If an employee has very long service, the forfeiture of those compounded earnings would make participation in the self-managed plan less desirable. The other plan is called the SURS Portable Benefit Plan, which is similar to the traditional plan, except the employee would have the ability to receive refunds and roll-overs of his/her SURS account, including both employer and employee contributions. The portability aspect is the major difference in the SURS portable plan. However, that is paid for by a reduction in survivor benefits, so employees have to think very carefully about what their priorities are in making these selections, Mr. Cunningham said. Current employees have one year from April 1, 1998 to make these choices. New employees have 60 days. Informational materials will be sent to employees. Three seminars have been held, and additional programs will be held to make sure employees have the information they need to make these decisions.
 

Chair Grans asked for a motion to adjourn. Trustee Raymond so moved, seconded by Student Trustee Kovacs. The meeting was adjourned at 2:45 p.m.
 
 
Respectfully submitted,
 
Sharon M. Mimms
Recording Secretary