Tag: Illinois Board of Higher Education
In Springfield … The Illinois Senate Executive Committee voted to approve House Bill 3810, a bill that will eliminate the General Assembly Scholarship Program on Sept. 1, 2012. Senate President John Cullerton, who had picked up sponsorship of this bill, testified that this program was good overall and that it had helped many very deserving...
In Springfield … The majority of activity in both the Illinois Senate and Illinois House of Representatives last week and again this week will involve trying to move substantive bills through committees The deadline to get bills out of committee is Friday, May 4. House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 49 (HJRCA 49), sponsored by Speaker...
Students from Illinois community colleges and universities convened in Springfield this week to urge members of the General Assembly to invest in their futures through support for Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants. On Thursday, April 19, Gov. Pat Quinn told several hundred students gathered at the Lincoln statue on the Capitol grounds that “ …...
In Springfield … The Illinois General Assembly returns this week from a two-week spring break. Lawmakers are now scheduled in weekly until they are expected to convene by May 31. If they go past this deadline, a super-majority is required to pass any bill. Members of the Governor’s Work Group on Pension Reform is scheduled to...
The Illinois Board of Higher Education has approved a request from NIU’s College of Education to offer a Ph.D. degree in educational psychology. The program will be offered beginning this fall. “This is a major step forward for the department and for the college,” said Charles Howell, chair of the Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology...
On a personal note … I would like welcome Zachary Jordan, a senior at NIU majoring in political science and philosophy, who is interning with our Government Relations Office this spring and will be helping with this column and our legislative updates. Zach has been in the NIU Honors Program for three years, in the...
NIU nursing professor Jeannette Rossetti will spend the spring semester in Ireland teaching as well as learning about advanced training methods for college-age nursing students learning to care for patients in mental health facilities. During her three-month stay, Rossetti will tour and lecture at Northern University of Ireland at Galway’s School of Nursing and Midwifery....
Members of the Illinois Committee on Black Concerns in Higher Education (ICBCHE), in collaboration with the Office of Precollegiate Programs and the NIU Black Faculty Association, will hold a town hall meeting Monday, Dec. 5, at NIU. The group will develop strategies for assuring black access and equity in Illinois education. Two years ago, the...
In Springfield … The Illinois General Assembly reconvened Tuesday to try to finalize some issues left pending during the regularly scheduled fall veto session. Senators passed, with a veto-proof majority, a Chicago Mercantile Exchange/Sears tax relief package (HB 1883); however, this bill was defeated in the House by a vote of 99-8. This bill was a...
In Washington, D.C. … As expected, Congress last week approved the first “minibus” Fiscal Year 2012 appropriations, which included funding for Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science and Transportation-HUD. It also included an extension of the Continuing Resolution so that the government can operate until Friday, Dec. 16. Of special interest to NIU is the increase in the National Science...
In Springfield … The first week of the Illinois General Assembly’s fall veto session begins Tuesday, Oct. 25, and will run through Thursday, Oct. 27. It promises to be an interesting week, with many issues on the table. The House of Representatives Personnel and Pensions Committee has posted five pension reform bills for hearing –...
In Springfield … Fall Veto Session begins Tuesday, Oct. 25, and we are seeing public statements by various elected officials on items they hope will be addressed during the six days of this session. Gov. Pat Quinn, who used his amendatory veto on House Bill 1353, is hoping that the General Assembly will not override...