NIU trustees approve consent agenda including faculty tenure and three appointments

The Northern Illinois University Board of Trustees approved a consent agenda that included recommendations for faculty tenure and promotion effective 2025–26 and three senior appointments during a public meeting that the board conducted before moving to a closed session.

Board Chair Montell Gales presided over the meeting. President Freeman read the consent items and the board voted to adopt the consent agenda by voice vote.

The consent agenda, listed as agenda items 7a through 7d, included: a recommendation for faculty tenure and/or promotion effective 2025–26 (item 7a); the appointment of a dean of the College of Education (item 7b); the appointment of a dean of the Graduate School (item 7c); and the appointment of a vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement (item 7d). President Freeman presented those items to the board as moved to the consent agenda.

Trustee Veronica Herrero moved to approve the consent agenda. Hearing no discussion, Chair Gales called the question and members indicated their approval by saying “aye.” The chair announced that the motion carried.

The approval places personnel decisions and faculty promotion recommendations on the board record under the consent process; the board did not take separate roll-call votes on the individual items during the public portion of the meeting.

The board next moved on to other matters and scheduled the next full board meeting for June 12, 2025, at 9 a.m., and then voted to close the public meeting for a closed-session discussion.

The meeting record shows that the consent agenda items were read into the record by President Freeman and approved by the trustees present.