District 428 needs a new elementary school, and has decided on a so-called “rent to own” deal for NIU’s School of Nursing to get it. This is based on a reading of state law that says a school district can do renovations on a building without a referendum if leasing it. Here are three reasons…
Tag: NIU
DeKalb’s commuter rail roadmap, ignored
City of DeKalb is spending $98,000 on a study of the feasibility of bringing commuter rail service to our city. But the information is already available. DeKalb County examined feasibility at the end of 2015. Led by then-county board chair Mark Pietrowski, an informal meeting of the Metra Rail Exploratory Committee included representatives from DeKalb,…
Attorney General determines NIU Foundation must respond to Freedom of Information Act requests
The determination resolves at least three requests for review of NIU Foundation’s refusals to release information on payments to vendors. It followed an examination of the relationship between NIU and NIU Foundation. Hover over the top of the PDF to enlarge it and turn pages. NIU has sometimes used NIU Foundation to hide purchases and/or…
Student Voting
During one of my rummages through emails obtained from FOIA requests, I stumbled across the National Study on Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) from Tufts University. This study combines enrollment data with voting records to determine the student voter turnout of participating campuses. Because of the controversy over the long line at the polls in…
Alderman Marquardt is so very tired of you spoiled NIU students
Monday night, DeKalb’s city council members wrestled with proposed parking restrictions in neighorhoods adjacent to campus. Except for Ald. Mike Marquardt, who lost a wrestling match with his tongue. At a local town hall meeting a few years ago, an audience member who pays attention to such things said the DeKalb-NIU relationship might be a…
Open letter to NIU’s Board of Trustees regarding Dr. Baker’s severance package
***This letter from DeKalb resident and NIU faculty member Michael Haji-Sheikh references a Washington Post article by Jon Marcus, “Golden parachutes for presidents of public colleges with thin budgets.” ~yinn Dear Board of Trustees, As a citizen of Illinois, I have become aware of another embarrassing news article. Unfortunately, the severance of Dr. Baker (and…
Ask me how I feel about the Annie Glidden North project when I know how NIU is involved
DeKalb city council had a special meeting on Tuesday to discuss what they’re calling the Annie Glidden North (AGN) “revitalization plan.” AGN is what they call three neighborhoods in the northwest section of the city on either side of Annie Glidden Road. According to the 100-page memo that accompanied the meeting agenda, DeKalb in 2016…
Here are statutory provisions applicable to severance of an NIU president
…and I’m not altogether sure all of them were followed. Chapter 110 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) is the Chapter that governs higher education. You can see how it is organized here, that it has general provisions and then provisions specific to the Board of Higher Education, each public university, community colleges, and student…
Comment on the announced departure of NIU President Doug Baker
The departure of NIU President Doug Baker is not simply a response to an OEIG report of mismanagement. In my opinion, it’s also the product of citizens’ efforts that began in May 2014 when someone anonymously mailed the College Town Partners agreement to a founder of a group of concerned DeKalb residents called Preserve Our…
NIU Faculty Senate Discusses President Baker’s Performance
The NIU Faculty Senate is examining actions taken by NIU President Doug Baker. A vote of no confidence in his leadership appears possible. Michael J. Haji-Sheikh of NIU’s Department of Electrical Engineering has collected emails regarding the hiring of contractors and affiliate employees of NIU from the beginning of Baker’s tenure. He compiled the most…