The call for independent governance from the dissimilar Board of Regents universities had gained traction by the 1980s. Even former Regents Chancellor and NIU President Bill Monat supported an end to the “system of systems,” expressing frustration with BOR efforts to keep NIU and ISU as similar as possible.
But it wasn’t just the system that Illinois’ public universities chafed against – it was the increasing power of an Illinois Board of Higher Education that favored private universities and the University of Illinois, but failed to provide any leadership to fight against seriously damaging budget cuts.
In 1990, Jim Edgar was sworn in as governor. Edgar, a graduate of Eastern Illinois University (and the only Illinois governor to have graduated from a public university other than the U of I), expressed an interest in revisiting the system of systems. Privately, many believed he was prompted by the IBHE’s abrupt and unexplained dismissal of his friend Stanley Rives, former president at EIU.
In fall 1994, the state general election brought in a Republican House majority. By early the following year, State Representative David Wirsing of DeKalb and State Senator Brad Burzynski of Sycamore had quickly re-introduced previously-failed bills allowing independent governance. In the fast-track period after the election, it took just 19 days of legislative consideration before the system of systems was a thing of the past.
Not content to leave such things to chance, President John La Tourette convinced Gov. Edgar to accept a bipartisan alumni screening process to review and recommend trustee candidates. In October of 1995, when Gov. Edgar announced his appointments to the NIU Board of Trustees, six out of seven came from the lists submitted by the alumni screening process.
The legislation that created independent boards called for seven trustees on each governing body, with no more than four from the political party of the appointing governor and three from the other party. They serve six-year, staggered terms.
Two came from the former Board of Regents: former Chicago labor leader Jim Myles, and Myron Siegel, a lawyer from Northbrook.
Others included Chicago lawyer Manny Sanchez, industrialist Bob Boey of DeKalb, banker George Moser of Hoffman Estates, Sears Vice President David Raymond of Glen Ellyn, and Rockford businesswoman Susan Grans.
Student Trustee Willie Fowler had also served on the Board of Regents. Student trustees were initially appointed by the Student Association, but later became elected by the study body at large.
Two of the new trustees (Siegel and Sanchez) were NIU alums. In the 24 years since the board was established, some 24 men and women have served as appointed trustees, while 25 have served one-year elected terms as voting student trustees.
President John La Tourette hailed the new board and NIU’s new ability to create its own future. “We now have a board that really represents and understands the region we serve – who our students are, what they need, and how partnerships with government, business, industry and other concerns can help us further our mission.”
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