Faculty concern about student safety and mental health in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy occupied the majority of discussion during the Faculty Senate meeting Wednesday.

“I know people have security issues on their mind,” Provost Ray Alden said. “I do want to make sure everybody recognizes that we do have an emergency operational plan.”

The emergency operational plan is currently being reviewed by a task force that is looking at what can be learned from the Virginia Tech tragedy, Alden said. The task force aims to improve upon the existing plan using the information obtained from new reports on the tragedy.

Accompanying the emergency operational plan are pamphlets concerning recommended procedures for emergency situations that should start appearing around campus over the next two weeks, Alden said.

The pamphlets should start showing up in classrooms over the next two months, he said.

The brochures are designed to be flipped to different sections that address the recommended procedures for the given situation and the front page will include emergency contact information, Alden said.

Also, NIU is making an effort to work through Student Affairs on a plan for what faculty or staff should do when they encounter a student or another faculty or staff member that appears to be having emotional problems or exhibiting disruptive behavior, Alden said.

“The approach that seems to make the most sense is to have adequate psychiatric services available for the students,” said Alan Rosenbaum, psychology professor.

The Faculty Senate also briefly addressed a change in the expiration for the opportunity to retake a class for an incomplete. Instead of a maximum deadline of 10 weeks into the following semester, the new deadline is 200 days, said Joseph “Buck” Stephen, associate professor of mathematical sciences.

If a student does not complete an incomplete course by the deadline, the incomplete will change to a failing grade.

The issue is due to an incompatibility with the new Oracle software used by NIU, Stephen said. The complication is caused by how the software processes the summer semester, he said.

Also at the meeting, Faculty Senate elected a new vice president and secretary. Associate professor of anthropology Kendall Thu was elected vice president, and Nancy Castle, professor of rehabilitation counseling, was elected secretary.

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