Legislation was passed to add a non-traditional student to the Illinois Board of Higher Education because they represent a large percentage of students in Illinois colleges and universities.

According to IBHE, about 163,000 of the undergraduates in Illinois are 25 years or older, which is approximately 25% of the total undergraduates.

“[The legislation] will make sure an important part of our population is [represented],” said Lucy Sloan, vice chairman for IBHE.

It was the number of non-traditional students that made Senator Edward Maloney propose a bill for adding a non-traditional student, making a total of two student board members.

Adding a non-traditional student will help IBHE in making decisions that might affect them differently as opposed to traditional students.

“It will be good to have a different perspective on student life,” said Matt DeRosa, student member for IBHE. “I personally think it’s going to be really helpful.”

Sloan also thinks that adding a non-traditional student will be useful because they have a different role in education.

Non-traditional students have to pursue a higher education degree after having been out of high school for years and while balancing work, school and sometimes a family, she said. These students will be given a voice through the student member that will be added.

Although adding a non-traditional student to IBHE will affect board decisions, it will not affect Eastern directly.

“There really should be no direct effect on this institution,” said Blair Lord, vice president for academic affairs. “Someday, of course, one of our students may be selected for this position. That would be an honor for the individual and nice for Eastern.”

Although Lord does not have a strong view on the addition of a non-traditional student to IBHE, he does think that the legislation will be helpful and realizes that there are a large number of non-traditional students, even at Eastern.

“Student voices are valuable in these kinds of governing processes, and the specific issues faced by non-traditional students are often somewhat different than those of other students. Overall, this is probably a useful addition,” he said. “Our current niche is especially robust with more traditional students. That said, we have a significant cohort of non-traditional students, and we do pay a good deal of attention to them.”

Governor Rod R. Blagojevich signed the legislation, Senate Bill 2312, which will take effect January 1, 2007.

The IBHE Student Advisory Committee will select a non-traditional student that it sees fit in qualifying for the position. The non-traditional student must be at least 24 years old and be either employed or a parent.