NIU President John Peters addressed the fight to restore MAP funding at Wednesday’s University Council meeting.

“Everyone’s for it, but we need to get the money restored,” Peters said. He added that the issue that needs to be discussed now is where the funding for MAP will come from.

The state budget crisis is a major roadblock for any progress concerning funding, Peters said. He also noted that, in addition to MAP, a number of other grant programs have lost funding as well. He did not specify them.

“The state is having trouble paying its bills, that’s for sure,” Peters said. “They’ve got to buckle down and solve this.”

According to the Chicago Tribune, Illinois comptroller Dan Hynes said Tuesday that the state has a backlog of unpaid bills worth $2.9 billion. The article mentions that some state agencies have been waiting for state money for as long as three months.

Peters said he remains optimistic that these issues will be addressed during this legislative cycle.

The student rally, occurring in Springfield on Oct. 15, in support of MAP restoration was brought up by Provost Ray Alden.

Alden said the faculty is allowed to excuse students missing class to attend the rally. Faculty members are encouraged to inform their students whether their absences will be excused or not.
Also discussed were the new guidelines required by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

The NSF will now require institutions who receive funding from it to have a plan for the proper ethical conduct of research, said Jim Erman, interim vice president for research. The NIH will require a similar plan to prevent conflicts of interest.

Erman said both of these plans will guarantee students and staff get the appropriate training to conduct ethical research.

“Students shouldn’t use ignorance as a reason for doing something that will later become a problem,” Alden said.

Alden added that responsible conduct should be applicable to all funded research.

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