The Board of Trustees‘ bylaws, policies and regulations had not been reviewed or revised in more than 10 years.

That time span is in the process of being altered.

In order to review the board’s bylaws, policies and regulations, the board first established a committee.

“This was the first time a systematic review was undertaken since the board was established in 1996,” said Jill Nilsen, vice president for external relations.

A proposed revision of policies was submitted to the board for a first reading at its Sept. 12 meeting.

The revisions were then opened to the university community for public comment.

Comments will be accepted until Nov. 11. The board will then review the comments before a vote is called at the Nov. 21 meeting.

Trustee Leo Welch chaired the board committee. ?Welch said there were a number of reasons that revisions were needed.

He said in some cases, the changes needed were just cosmetic.

Because the document had not been reviewed in more than 10 years, the language had to be changed so it corresponds with the university as it currently exists, Welch said.

He said the language also needed change for clarification. The language was made more exact so the meaning was not open to interpretation, Welch said.

Another reason for revisions is statutes needed to be included in the document.

If a state law affecting public universities is passed by the General Assembly, those aspects have to be imported into the regulations, Welch said.

“We want to make sure the language corresponds with what is required to do by law,” he said.

The document needed to be updated to make sure the policies correspond to the way the university is functioning.

Welch said nothing fundamentally different in the way the board operates needed changing.

A paper copy of the proposed revisions is available at Booth Library’s reference desk, and it can be found online at www.eiu.edu/~trustees.

Written comments need to be addressed to Roger Kratochvil, chair of the board, at the Office of External Relations, 1117 Old Main, and should include the sender’s name. Anonymous comments may not be considered.

Emily Zulz can be reached at 581-7942 or at eazulz@eiu.edu.